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Round the World Trip 2007-8

These are my plans for my travels around the world…

Bangkok (Lonely Planet Guide)

  • Friday 28th September: Leave London Heathrow on Flight QF2, 22:15, arrive 15:35
  • Saturday 29th September: 2-day GAP Adventures pre-trip Citybreak, staying at Royal Hotel.
  • Monday 1st October: GAP Adventures: Indochina Encompassed, presumably Royal Hotel.
  • Wednesday 3rd October: Chaing Mai
  • Thursday 4th October: Chiang Kong
  • Friday 5th October: Mekong River [Boat]
Laos (Lonely Planet Guide)

  • Saturday 6th October: Luang Prabang [Flight]
  • Tuesday 9th October: Vientiane
  • Thursday 11th October: Hin Boun
Vietnam (Lonely Planet Guide)

  • Friday 12th October: Hanoi
  • Sunday 14th October: Halong Bay
  • Tuesday 16th October: Hue
  • Thursday 18th October: Hoi An [Flight]
  • Saturday 20th October: Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon)
  • Monday 22nd October: Chau Doc
Cambodia (Lonely Planet Guide)

  • Tuesday 23rd October: Phnom Penh [Flight]
  • Thursday 25th October: Siem Reap/Angkor Wat
Thailand (Lonely Planet Guide)

Singapore (Lonely Planet Guide)

Perth (Lonely Planet Guide)

  • Monday 12th November: Flight QF72, depart 09:00, arrive 15:10
    First 2 nights: The Emperor’s Crown
    Independent sightseeing to include Margaret River, Freemantle and Rottnest Island
Alice Springs/Ayers Rock (Uluru) (Lonely Planet Guide)

Sydney (Lonely Planet Guide)

Melbourne (Lonely Planet Guide)

Sydney (Lonely Planet Guide)

New Zealand (Lonely Planet Guide)

  • Thursday 10th January 2008: Flight QF43, depart 11:40, arrive 16:45
    Independent travel (No set itinerary)
    First night, Auckland International Hostel (look out for the Airbus)
  • Purchased: Spirit of New Zealand Magic Buses pass, route:
    • Sector 1 & 2: AUCKLAND-WAITOMO-ROTORUA
    • Sector 3: ROTORUA-TAUPO
    • Sector 4: TAUPO-TURANGI-WELLINGTON
    • Sector 5: WELLINGTON-PICTON-NELSON
    • Sector 6A: ABEL TASMAN NATIONAL PARK
    • Sector 6: NELSON-GREYMOUTH
    • Sector 7: GREYMOUTH-FRANZ JOSEF
    • Sector 8: FRANZ JOSEF – QUEENSTOWN
    • Sector 9A: MAGIC MILFORD DISCOVERY
    • Sector 9: QUEENSTOWN-DUNEDIN
    • Sector 10: DUNEDIN – TEKAPO
    • Sector 11: TEKAPO – CHRISTCHURCH
    • Sector 12: CHRISTCHURCH-KAIKOURA
    • Sector 13: KAIKOURA-PICTON-WELLINGTON
    • Sector 14: WELLINGTON-NAPIER
    • Sector 15: NAPIER-TAUPO-ROTORUA-MT MAUNGANUI
    • Sector 16: MT MAUNGANUI-THAMES-AUCKLAND
    • Sector 41: AUCKLAND – HAHEI – WHITIANGA
    • Sector 42: WHITIANGA – AUCKLAND
    • Sector 17: AUCKLAND-WAIPOUA FOREST-BAY OF ISLANDS
    • Sector 17A: PAIHIA – CAPE REINGA DAY TRIP
    • Sector 18: BAY OF ISLANDS-AUCKLAND

Ended up with an extra 2 weeks in New Zealand, and everything else of course then moved back 2 weeks!

Santiago, Chile (Lonely Planet Guide)

  • Monday 18th February: Flight QF321, depart 17:25, arrive 12:45 (bit of time travel involved there!)
    Staying Happy House Hostel
    Independent city sightseeing (think what want to see).
Lima, Peru (Lonely Planet Guide)

  • Wednesday 20th February: Independent flight with LAN Airlines, LA634, depart 08:35, arrive 10:20
    Sightseeing; Hostel to book, maybe Barranco’s Backpackers or Inka Hostel, but think I will see if anyone at the Asia end has been to Lima!
  • Friday 22nd February: GAP Adventures: Southern Cross (this trip is not yet guaranteed, so here’s praying!), staying at Hotel La Castellana
  • Saturday 23rd February: Pisco
  • Sunday 24th February: Nazca
  • Tuesday 26th February: Arequipa/Chivay/Colca Canyon [Flight]
  • Friday 29th February: Cuzco (Leap Year)
  • Saturday 1st March: Ollantaytambo
Machu Picchu (Lonely Planet Guide)

  • Sunday 2nd March: Inca Trail
  • Thursday 6th March: Cuzco
  • Sunday 9th March: Puno (Birthday)
  • Monday 10th March: Lake Titicaca
Bolivia (Lonely Planet Guide)

  • Wednesday 12th March: La Paz
  • Friday 14th March: Uyani/Sular de Uyani Excursion
  • Tuesday 18th March: Potosi
  • Thursday 20th March: Sucre [Flight]
Brazil, Iguassu Falls (Lonely Planet Guide)

  • Saturday 22nd March: Santa Cruz/Puerto Suarez
  • Monday 24th March: Corumba/Pantanal
  • Wednesday 26th March: Bonito/Iguassu Falls
Rio de Janeiro (Lonely Planet Guide)

  • Tuesday 1st April: Curitiba/Illha Grande/Rio de Janeiro
  • Sunday 6th April: Rio de Janeiro, stay at Hotel Santa Clara. (end of group trip)
  • Sunday 6th-10th April: Visit Gaynor (unspecified)
Sao Paulo (Lonely Planet Guide)

  • Friday 10th April: Bus to Sao Paulo (unspecified)
  • Monday 14th April, Flight to UK, BA246, depart 16:20, arrive 07:30 15th April
  • Unless secure some TEFL work in Brazil, in which case could return any point by 27th September 2008.

All images are (c) and paid for from iStockPhoto.com

Follow the travels on : www.mytb.org/drbexl
Sign up to receive emails notifying you when an entry is added. Emails and texts (+447909521952) welcomed, although responses will probably come via the travelblog as internet access is going limited at many points, and phone is reserved for emergencies!

Find out more about countries on: http://wikitravel.org/

Find out the time: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/ or http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/

Travel Providers: STA (Chris Mettam @ Manchester Oxford Road branch); GAP Adventures; LAN Airlines; Wayward Bus; Contiki; Magic Bus

Travel Forums: GAP Adventures Watering Hole; Bootsnall Travel Forums; TravBuddy; Contiki Forums

Equipment Stockists: Cotswold Outdoor; Blacks; Millets; Decathlon; The North Face; Tesco; Ebay; World Nomads; Aerotag

Useful accommodation links: Although I’d bought a YHA card, and checked through hihostels, I ended up booking most of my accommodation through hostelbookers.com (kept coming up cheapest), checking trip advisor before booking. I also checked out hostelworld.com; hostels.com; HotelClub (although hotels aren’t featuring much on this trip) .

Rough Currency Conversions: (xe.com: September 2007)

  • Thailand: £1 = 66 Baht/1 Baht = 1.5p
  • Laos: £1 = 20,000 Laos Kips/1 LAK = £0.00005
  • Vietnam: £1=33,000 Vietnamese Dong/1 VND – £0.00003
  • Cambodia: £1 = 8,200 Cambodia Riels/1 KHR = £0.0001
  • Singapore: £1 = 3.09 Singapore Dollars/ 1 SGG = 32p
  • Australia: £1 = 2.45 Australian Dollars/ 1 AUD = 41p
  • New Zealand: £1 = 2.92 New Zealand Dollars/1 NZD = 34p
  • Chile: £1 = 1,050 Chile Pesos/1 CLP = £0.0009
  • Peru: £1 = 6.40 Peru Nuevos Soles/1 PEN = 16p
  • Bolivia: £1 = 15.71 Bolivia Bolivianos/1 BOB = 6p
  • Brazil: £1 = 3.97 Brazil Reais/1 BRL = 25p

By admin

Dr Bex Lewis is passionate about helping people engage with the digital world in a positive way, where she has more than 20 years’ experience. She is Senior Lecturer in Digital Marketing at Manchester Metropolitan University and Visiting Research Fellow at St John’s College, Durham University, with a particular interest in digital culture, persuasion and attitudinal change, especially how this affects the third sector, including faith organisations, and, after her breast cancer diagnosis in 2017, has started to research social media and cancer. Trained as a mass communications historian, she has written the original history of the poster Keep Calm and Carry On: The Truth Behind the Poster (Imperial War Museum, 2017), drawing upon her PhD research. She is Director of social media consultancy Digital Fingerprint, and author of Raising Children in a Digital Age: Enjoying the Best, Avoiding the Worst  (Lion Hudson, 2014; second edition in process) as well as a number of book chapters, and regularly judges digital awards. She has a strong media presence, with her expertise featured in a wide range of publications and programmes, including national, international and specialist TV, radio and press, and can be found all over social media, typically as @drbexl.

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