I’m soliciting suggestions (in the comments area for this posting or via email if you prefer) for a round-the-world trip departing westbound from Boston around December 10. Here are some constraints:
- want to be back in town after 5-6 weeks to catch up with friends, dog, etc.
- want a good amount of daily sunshine (Southern Hemisphere) but not extreme heat (35C/95F max; 26C/80F would be ideal for a daily high)
- prefer to avoid visa application hassles so want to visit places where U.S. citizens can just drop in (my passport has an Israeli stamp in it from a June 2003 visit to a university there so I wouldn’t be able to get a visa to most Muslim countries in any case)
- would like to get some in some cultural tourism but also do some snorkeling and bicycling
- my best languages are, in descending order of competence, English, French, Italian, and German
Here’s a tentative itinerary:
- Boston
- either
- SF/LA, Maui (never been), South Pacific (Fiji?)
- Argentina via Mexico City (art museums)
- SF/LA, Maui (never been), South Pacific (Fiji?)
- Tasmania
- Perth (plus the coral reefs farther north on the coast of Western Australia or will it be too hot in Dec/Jan?)
- Chiang Mai, Thailand (never been) if I have to continue via Bangkok (visited before)
- Cape Town, South Africa (too hot?)
- London (dreary but maybe go to the theater for a night or two?)
- Boston
I might try to get a Star Alliance (United, Lufthansa, Singapore, Thai et al) round-the-world business class ticket (reasonably cheap and flexible, comfortable for those insanely long segments). So it would be best to find places that are easy to get to on these airlines.
Of the hawaiian islands, which one you go to may depend a lot on what you want to see. Kauai is have a fair bit of preserved, natural beauty. Depending on when you are leaving, winter brings big waves & surfers to Oahu’s northern shore. The big competitions are usually then. I also recall reading a travel article on washingtonpost.com about lavender farms in the uplands of the big island (I think) some time ago.
Also, and I’ve never been, but I hear Rapa Nui can be something special.
How about visiting Nepal? Thai airways does daily trip to Kathmandu from Bangkok and the flight duration is about three hours. Getting visa should be easy.
I should have noted that I’ve been to three Hawaiian Islands already: Kauai, Oahu, and the Big Island (my favorite though all three are nicer than Boston in December!). Hence the plan to visit Maui.
Nepal sounds like a good idea. Thank you. Is December/January a good time of year to visit? What is the best time of year in Nepal? And didn’t they recently have a bit of civil unrest there? Has that all calmed down?
December/January is a good time to visit Nepal because there won’t be rain and the temperature will be nice and cold (it will be freezing only in northern mountaineous region). Also there won’t be tall grasses in the National Parks around that time. There’s a “war” (guerilla war, sort of) going on between Maoist and Royal Nepalese army but not a single foreigner has been attacked or killed by Maoists. Maoist may charge you extra tax of around $10 if you visit their area.
I’d skip Perth and head over to Lombok. It is a small island to the east of Bali in Indonesia. Great diving, good food, friendly people, wonderful beaches and lots of cool hiking. Or you could head up to Northern Sulawesi and dive with a friend of mine who runs a dive operation there.
The North West Cape in Western Australia may be a bit hot, the mean daily maximum is around 36-38 in Dec/Jan. It’ll be fairly warm in Perth too, but Tassie should be nice.
Star Alliance are the best option for stopping off in the Pacific (Air New Zealand) but you’ll need to add on your own flights around Australia as they no longer have a partner here. To do South America you’ll need OneWorld as LanChile is the only option for South America – Australia, you’ll get your Australian domestic on Qantas then also.
It’s hard to get to Easter Island (Rapa Nui) on these Round the World tickets without backtracking. LanChile fly there from Santiago and on to Papeete but then you’re stuck as Qantas don’t fly to Papeete any more, to fill the gap back to Auckland you’re probably looking at around USD600 (economy) or about the same for a round trip from Papeete if you were on the Star ticket with Air New Zealand.
If you go OneWorld you can take Qantas straight on to Johannesburg (though you’ll need to fly back to Sydney to do it) or up to Singapore or Hong Kong (and on to anywhere in Asia on Cathay). On Star you can get anywhere in Asia via Singapore or Bangkok.
If you go to Capetown you should go to ThunderCity and take a spin in some of the nice little planes they have there. A short blast up to the edge of space will cost you around $15,000 but is worth it.
Given your aviation interest, also consider renting a Cessna (with an instructor because your US license won’t let you fly their planes) and flying around the Cape, over downtown and the islands. A 2 hour flight will give you absolutely fantastic views, you can do some of the flying and hand the controls over when you want to take pictures. I did it from Stellensboch, 40 minutes or so from Capetown.
You must visit India and China because:
a. Together they represent 1/6th of the worlds population.
b.They are two country’s undergoing a huge transformation – from a socialist (?) to a capitalist(?) economy.
c. If you plan to come to India, I can give you(for no charge!!) a nice and intelligent guide ;)to surviving here
I recommend Goa on India’s west coast. October to February is the best time to be there. Lufthansa flies to Bombay and Bangalore (via Frankfurt), both equidistant from Goa. Goa itself has an international airport, but I’m not sure what airlines fly here. You will need a visa to travel to India.
Cape Town is fairly far south and enjoys balmy weather from December through February, largely thanks to its Atlantic coastline which moderates the sun’s heat. The real problem at that time of year is the visitors, both foreign (mostly Euros) and “in-landers” (mostly yuppie-scum).
Having said that, the opportunity to visit shouldn’t be missed. My favourite month there? February.
May the road rise gently to meet you.
New Zealand, son, New Zealand. South Island (aka “Middle Earth”)
It sounds like an interesting trip, but it’s a lot in a moderate period of time. I guess the biggest question is do you really prefer to cover that many locations, with a very peripheral view, or delve more in depth in a less broad region. Of course one could plop at a single locale for 6 weeks and still get only a cursory look, but ask yourself what would really give you a quality experience that you’ll remember and grow from.
Nepal lowlands, Chitwan park, would be good then. The mountains would be on the cold side. But if its a short trip, you wiould not have time for much of a trek. I do not know enough about your interests to recommend a lot. I am a nature person and I like some historical stuff. I spent 6 weeks going from Chaing Mai down to Bali and had a terrific trip. I really would like to spend about 2 weeks visiting Angkor Wat in Cambodia and hanging out on some SE Asian beaches. Vietnam seems to be a really up and coming location that would be good to get to before its too touristed. Indonesia is perhaps not an option until you ditch that passport. When I went to Israel we were all emphatic about having a removable card and not an Israeli stamp in our passports. Really kinda silly since one can see I entered Jordan at the Allenby bridge and since I did not land by parachute, I must have been to Israel.
Happy Trails,
Stella
I was in Egypt a few years ago with Jewish friends who’d been to Israel. I assume their passports had the stamp for Israel but were apparentlly no problem for Egypt. I’d be nervous about Cairo, but there are flights to Luxor and Aswan that would allow a day or two for the Valley of the Kings and the Great Temple. The weather is supposed to be good in December. We got up very early in the morning in Aswan and flew to the temple at Abu Simbel so that we could see it in the dawn. There might be airplanes for rent and the photographic opportunities are super. The timing of your trip is a little late for it, but the big temple is aligned so that at the Winter Solstice the dawn sunlight lights up the entire length of the interior.
I was in Egypt a few years ago with Jewish friends who’d been to Israel. I assume their passports had the stamp for Israel but were apparentlly no problem for Egypt. I’d be nervous about Cairo, but there are flights to Luxor and Aswan that would allow a day or two for the Valley of the Kings and the Great Temple. The weather is supposed to be good in December. We got up very early in the morning in Aswan and flew to the temple at Abu Simbel so that we could see it in the dawn. There might be airplanes for rent and the photographic opportunities are super. The timing of your trip is a little late for it, but the big temple is aligned so that at the Winter Solstice the dawn sunlight lights up the entire length of the interior.
I would have loved to see some photos and read your travelogues in India (specifically the state of Rajasthan in the west, Karnataka in the south – home state of the city of Bangalore). Winter is a good time to visit. However, US citizens do need visa to travel to India (to my knowledge).
I have been to New Zealand a few years ago and have traveled to the Mt. Cook area and was enchanted. Also in the south island, Queenstown, Dunedin, Christchurch are worthy of visits. Hope you have a nice and safe trip. Looking forward to seeing your photos and reading your articles from the trip.
Thanks, all! I probably should have listed the places to which I’ve already been… New Zealand (for two months in 1993; travelogue and photos at http://www.photo.net/nz/), India and China (brief visits so far; would like to return but maybe not to China on this trip due to cold temps), Egypt (my sister lived there for 3 years around 1991). I’ve not been to Greece and Turkey and they are on the way back if I stop in India. Is Athens too cold and rainy in Dec/Jan?
Sierra Leone, definitely. Believe it or not, most of the people speak one form or another of English there. Arrange a tour of a diamond mine. Do a nature tour as well. Buy some diamonds dirt cheap. Everybody will want to sell you some. Hire somebody of the well digger clan/tribe to smuggle the diamonds out for you. Reflect in the glory of how uncorrupt the US actually is. And really, the money you spend there will help a lot of poor people. One would think that it would be a most excellent country for photography.
Knowing your interest in photography, it would be a shame to set foot in Africa without taking at least a day or two to photograph wildlife (elephants, lions, hippos, zebras, leopards, monkeys, etc. etc.) The best single country is Kenya but Botswana is pretty good. The best outfit to arrange a brief sortie into the brush just about anywhere in Africa is Abercrombie & Kent.
They can arrange just about anything including your own personal tent style safari with a staff of 12, but I imagine that the most efficient use of your tiime would be to fly from whatever major airport you land at to a small, exclusive, permanent camp in the brush. Then you can sortie with your own guide and vehicle from there.
If you do this, you will not be able to use a tripod. (You can’t get out of the Land Rover – illegal and dangerous.) What you need is a bean bag to rest your lens on as you look through a rolled down window or a hatch in the roof. You might also want to pop for a Canon or Nikon telephoto with built in image stabilization if you do not have one. The Nikon 80-400 works for me but I hear that the equvalent Canon lens is just as good.
Yes! There are high tech bean bags for photography, And there are three different suppliers with their own unique designs and fillings. If you do go, please contact me at jmoule@earthlink.net for more on this.
Addressing another question you asked: One of the most miserable experiences in my life was a week in Athens in January. Can you imagine touring the Acropolis in a blinding snowstorm? That’s the ultimate white out. I love Greece and, despite what our President tells us there really is global warming Nevertheless I would not take the chance of visiting Athens in December or January. Ditto Venice.
Thanks for the Africa tips. Isn’t it too hot in December and January, though? And I thought maybe that was the rainy season in a lot of areas and therefore the roads become impassable. I’ve got a fancy bean bag and the 600/4 IS lens (12 lbs, comes in its own suitcase). I guess the 100-400 IS Canon is a better traveling companion. I could borrow one from a friend.
Sierra Leone is north of the equator. Plus make a side trip to the Azores. Have sex with the German and British tourist girls there. They will think you are a primitive just coming from Sierra Leone. Flash some uncut diamonds at them.
If you do decide to visit India, be sure to plan ahead on the places to visit. India is huge and travel between places can be a problem if you don’t plan well. A lot to see makes it even more difficult to decide what you want to see…:-)
Uganda has good weather in Jan. I’m heading there for 17 days starting Jan 8. You would need a Visa however. So much of Africa is like that. Ethiopia is really interesting historically and is fine in Jan, just a little dry. You could go to the Timkat festival, a real photo opportunity. I’m using my 100-400 IS Canon in Uganda. My husband thinks it will be too dark when we track Gorilla’s. He read the excellent gorilla report on photo.net and recently got a really nice light weight Minolta 200 2.8 (he’s a Minolta man) that he will use Gorilla tracking, and is coupling with a 2x for general safari shooting in Queen Elizabeth.
I think South India would be intreresting in that time frame. Cochin is supposed to be nice. Last year I spent a full week in Kanha, which is really great for Tigers. I travelled with a British company – Naturetrek, and I highly recommend them for good value and time in the field. Sri Lanka is fairly safe now and would also be good for some nice beaches, a bit of culture, and tracking wild elephants.
Looking for to some pics,
Stella
hi philip, my first blog comment ever . . . to say cape town is a great place! no, not too hot usually, though can be windy in the summer. i agree that february is probably the best month, but dec/jan are great too. i’ll be there from 30 dec to 11 jan, if that’s any incentive.
i recommend maui too, different and more developed than b.i., but beautiful, and ton’s to see and do.
L’Angleterre? Non, non. Si vous parler Francais, il faut se rendre en France!
Seconding what Matthew said, most of Western Australia
is not terribly tourist friendly during Dec/Jan. Daily temperatures can easily soar to 45 deg C, even on the coast. Most people touring Shark Bay (Stromatalites!) and the NW Cape do so during the winter when daily temperatures are 16-28 deg C.
Further North and it’s the Tropical “Wet season”. Far from ideal for Bostonian tourists.
However hiking in Tasmania would be exceptional in Dec/Jan — as would NZ.
Enjoy.
Maui is great. Make sure you take the Road to Hana – it’s the road that wraps around the southern edge of the island. And rent a Geo (aka Chevy) Metro (or equivalent) to do it in. It’s definitely not recommended, but it’s a whole lot of fun!
Hi Philip,
Going back to your questions about weather in East Africa in December, January. Being close to the equator, the temperatures are the same, and moderate, all year long. April, May, June is the rainy season. Some light rain in November. December/January is a very good (and popular) time to go.
In three weeks of photographing in Kenya and Tanzania there is only one rare instance in which I could have used a 600mm lens. 100-400 is more than adequate. With a good guide you are going to be very close to the animals and you are going to be using the whole range of focal lengths. Unless you want to photograph birds, leave the 600 at home. Most of the time, you will want something less.
If I had only two or three days to spare I would be thinking about Kenya and probably the Lewa Downs Wildlife Conservancy. Maximum game species and minimum tourists.
You will need a Visa, but they are easy to get if you use a passport service. I have used Zierer Visa Service (202) 265-3007 twice and have been very satisfied with them.
Take it from some one who’s been reading your work since the ‘Web Whore’ days… You need to go to India (Rajasthan and Goa particularly).
Wait come to think of it, havent you already done the Rajashtan bit?
Cheers,
V
If you’re going to Chiang Mai, you owe it to yourself to drop in on Mae Hon Song. It is very close to the Burmese border and the Thai culture there shows the Burmese influence. Plus it’s relatively unspoiled by tourism. You can get a cheap day flight from Chiang Mai. Happy travels.
I second asubedi’s thoughts. Nepal, if you are careful, is a truely amazing place to visit if you have your eyes and ears open.
And you appear to …
Robin
ps. Don’t take the bus to Chiang Mai. Sleep on the overnighter train or fly. Explore up to the Golden Triangle. Hire a motorbike and make your own trip.