BootsnAll Travel Community

We're still a year and a half away from our RTW, but I LOVE planning trips, so want to start thinking about our itinerary. We'll probably change it a lot of times, but I want to toss out my initial thoughts to the group for your comments. Sorry in advance for the long thread.

Our RTW structure:
1. We will travel for 12-13 months.
2. We will return to the U.S. every three months for about 3 weeks (this is primarily to be with our dogs because we can't be apart from them so long --- please don't try to dissuade me from coming back every three months because we've thought about it long and hard and are set on this structure.)
3. In each 3 month segment, we want to focus on one continent/region.
4. We would like to spend at least 3 weeks in each country.
5. Of all the countries, we would be willing to skimp on our India portion and just go for one week, because all my family is in India and we've both been a bunch of times and will definitely go back to see family.
6. Ideally, we want to spend at least a week in South Africa during the 2010 World Cup.

Okay, so here's the proposed itinerary:
Part I - Mainland Asia:
October 2009: Four weeks in China
October/November 2009: Four weeks in Japan
December 2009: Four weeks in India [or 1 week India and 3 weeks elsewhere - maybe Nepal?]

Part II - Southeast Asia [or would you do 3 months in South America or 3 months in Eastern Europe/Middle East instead?]
January 2010: Four weeks in Thailand
February 2010: Four weeks in Cambodia/Laos
March 2010: Four weeks in Vietnam

Part III - Africa:
May 2010: Three weeks in Egypt [super hot, is it worth it? What about Morocco instead?]
May/June 2010: Five weeks in South Africa
June/July 2010: Four weeks in Tanzania/Uganda

Part IV - Australasia:
August/September 2010: Six weeks in Australia
September/October 2010: Four weeks in New Zealand
October/2010: Three weeks in Fiji [or elsewhere?]

I am really confused about Part II because we want to go to Southeast Asia, but also want to go to Middle East/Eastern Europe, and South America. Which would you pick?

Part I:
Not enough time in India. If you really only want to spend one week there, skip it and spend some time somewhere else. It's simply not enough and will be very stressful. How about South Korea? China --> SK --> Japan?

Part II:
Check.

Part III:
Sounds good.

Part IV:
Six weeks in Oz is probably a bit on the short side. Remember, it's pretty vast out here. If you 'only' have six weeks, decide for either the West or the East. Both have advantages. The East is more touristy, has more infrastructure, more parties and more rain forest. The West - well, it's the wild West. A friend of mine from England came over a few weeks ago and she and her bf went up North *(here in the West) and she figured, that THIS is exactly what she expected Oz to be...
The rest sounds good.

quote:

Originally posted by elAdi:
Part I:
Not enough time in India. If you really only want to spend one week there, skip it and spend some time somewhere else. It's simply not enough and will be very stressful. How about South Korea? China --> SK --> Japan?

It sounds like they're just visiting for a week to visit relatives, and have already been there multiple times and will go back more. I think that'll be fine, given their circumstances. I'd lean towards spending 3 weeks somewhere close to India though, maybe Nepal or Sri Lanka (depending on the circumstances at the time, of course.) Depends on where you want to go!

As for SE Asia vs Middle East vs Europe, it really comes down to where you want to go. You can't cover everywhere, alas

For Part 4, it's probably pretty safe to cut back your time in Fiji to spend more time in Australia or NZ.

Malena - you got it exactly right on the India bit. We MUST go to India for at least a week to see family (otherwise my grandparents will be heartbroken, and I can't do that to them.) Here's the dilemma on India: we would be happy to spend a month in India because there's so much to see even though we've been there many times before. Neither my husband or I have spent much time in Kerala, and my husband hasn't been to Mumbai or Calcutta, so we could pick a region and check it out. But, we would also love to trek the Himalayas too. My concern is the weather in Nepal in December --- too cold for trekking, right?

The problem with Part II is that Southeast Asia isn't yet a must-see destination for us. We want to go to Southeast Asia at some point, but I don't have a burning in my soul to get there. Peru, Egypt, and Jordan, on the other hand, are must-see destinations for us, but we feel like we can take 2-week vacations to those locations much easier than we can pick up and spend two weeks in Thailand. So, humor me for a moment, and let's just play the what if game on Part II:

If we did a three month South America leg, it would look something like this:
1 month in Peru
1 month in Chile
1 month in Argentina

If we did Eastern Europe/Middle East, we would do:
1 month in Egypt
1 month in Jordan/Israel (subject to the politics)
1 month in Turkey

Give me some opinions! Should Southeast Asia be a must-see destination? We love food, wine, incredible scenery, monuments, and art. We will be scuba certified so would like to hit some good dive sites. We're not huge party people though we love relaxing on the beach and chilling in relaxing bars. So, based on that criteria, of the three regions, which would you recommend? And, if we did Jordan/Israel and Turkey in February and March would we freeze?

I think for Australia, we were thinking about just staying in the East, because I've got family in Melbourne and Sydney, and we want to do the drive up to Cairns. How does 6 weeks in Australia, 6 in NZ, and 1 in Fiji sound?

One way to think of it is Southeast Asia is changing more quickly than Egypt or Jordan and maybe even Peru. That is, if you're looking for a reason to convince yourself to go there now.

I would try and move Jordan/Israel/Turkey into Spring or Fall. I don't think you'd freeze; it's more likely to be cold and rainy.

Of your choices for Round II, I've been to Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, and Thailand. My take:

Food
World Class: Turkey
Great: Thailand
Mixed: Jordan
Pretty Bad: Egypt

Wine
Good: Turkey
Imported Only: All the rest.

Incredible Scenery
Wadi Rum, Mount Sinai, The Eastern Mediterranean, the Valleys of Cappadocia, Thai Islands, The Bosphorus. The Red Sea was too cold both times I was there.

Monuments
See Before You Die: Petra, Luxor's East & West Bank, Cappadocia's Underground Cities and Cave Churches, Hagia Sophia, Sunset on the Golden Horn. I'm sure Angkor Wat and Abu Simbel would go here, though I didn't make it to either.

Art
Istanbul is the only city I know of in these regions with a thriving modern art scene.

SE Asia is fantastic, but I just don't think it can compare with the Middle East & Turkey.

Sounds like a lot of fun. Trips home every few months definitely has some benefits. When we went on a long trip a couple years ago, we found that we got kind of road weary into the fourth month, and were exhausted after 5, when we came home. However, it only took 2 weeks or so at home to remember how great life on the road is.

For part II, I'm biased on choices, as my last trip was focused on the Middle East, and a bit of southeastern Europe. I absolutely love the middle east, and would recommend a trip there to anyone. My suggestion would be 5 weeks Turkey, 2 weeks Syria, 2-3 weeks Jordan, 2-3 weeks Egypt, but those are only the countries I've visited. From what I've heard, Oman would also be a great choice, and while Yemen can be a little sketchy at times, it also sounds intriguing. A middle east route would also allow you to move Egypt to a bit earlier in the year, instead of in May.

I should, however, say that I'm not much of an Egypt fan, but I accept that most people see it as an unmissable attraction. Unfortunately, I think the way Egypt may be best enjoyed is by staying away from the historical monuments and other tourist zones, since they attract the absolute worst kind of people. If you go, don't miss a trip out into the desert.

I also love Turkey, but am a huge fan of Thailand too. On the food front, I prefer Thai food to Turkish I think - so it's all a matter of opinion. Turkey would be chilly at that time of year.

If you are going to the middle east, it might be worth trying to visit Morocco too. Fez rates as one of my top three places in the world. It is a complete, living and working mediaeval city with no road wide enough for a car. I would strongly urge anyone vaguely thinking of going to Morocco to visit it.

So much to think about --- it's interesting to hear all this support for the Middle East since it seems like every RTW trip includes Southeast Asia.

Michael C brings up a good point about the cold and rainy weather in January to March in the Middle East. We could move the Australasia portion to Part II, if we did the Middle East in Part IV, but then won't we be stuck in jellyfish season in Australia and not be able to swim much? It's hard trying to get good weather all the way around!

I was in Jordan in late February and it snowed!