Travelling
 

A mate of mine is going to go travelling next year, starting sometime in April. Here's where he's going and how long he's planning to stay in each place (in order) :

India (4-6 weeks)
Thailand (2-4 weeks)
Cambodia (1-2 weeks)
Laos (1-2 weeks)
Vietnam (1-2 weeks)
China (3-4 weeks)
Japan (2-3 weeks)

Australia (3-4 weeks) (He plans to spend New Year in Sydney, maybe fly back from New Zealand)
New Zealand (3-6 weeks)

3 months in South America going to:

Chile
Argentina
Brazil
Paraguay
Bolivia
Peru
Ecuador

I'm planning to go with him. Initially I was going to see him in Peru for a couple of weeks holiday. Then I figured I might as well do the whole of South America with him. Then I realised I'd have to quit my job to do this so I might as well go to Australia and New Zealand with him as well.

Thing is I've done some reading up on Asia and a lot of that seems cool too. Especially China. His route would take him to the Terracotta Army (in Xiang I think it is) and Beijing where we could see the Great Wall. Only problem there is I've been to Japan before (where he's going next). That plus the fact that Japan's very expensive makes me not too keen to go again. Though I might just go to Australia for those 3 weeks and meet him there later. He's been to Australia before so I could do the bits he's already done during that time.

The earlier countries seem cool too though. I don't really fancy 4 or more weeks in India but I could meet him in Thailand and go on from there.

I have enough money and nothing really to tie me here (my job is shit, I would be looking for a new one if I wasn't planning to go travelling) but I'm just not sure if I could handle travelling for so many months.

Anyway, I was wondering if any of you have any experience with these countries or travelling in general. Also if you think there could be some improvements to the itinerary, I might be able to persuade my mate to change his plans.

And oh yeah, after Ecuador I'm planning to head to the US and go to San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas. My mate doesn't want to come with me but I think it's worth doing while I'm in the neighbourhood.

Re: Travelling
 

Actually the terracota army is in London, or at least the best of it for the rest of the year.

It seems to me (sans the crap) that you know what to do based upon the section i quoted. Extropolate from the evidence you have.

Re: Travelling
 

It is sad that I will never meet horn and say to his face the words he has been longing to hear:

"hi could you tell your supervisor that I will have a big mac and fries"

Re: Travelling
 

Actually there are about 8 figures (out of 8000) from the army on display in Britain.

Re: Travelling
 

San Diego is very cool. You could stay there for a couple of weeks no problem. I'd personally not spend more than a day or two in Los Angeles. It's a dump but i suppose still go there so you can say you've seen it. Depending on what time of year it is you might not want to spend too long in San Fransisco. The weather can be a bit shit. If you're going to Las Vegas you might as well get a sight seeing trip to the Grand Canyon whilst you're there. Also if you're in California a trip to Yosemite national park might be a good idea.

Re: Travelling
 

Well, once you're in South America you could also visit the caribbean/central america, e.g. Panama (Panama Canal!) or Costa Rica as its pretty close and really nice there. From Costa Rica, Mexico and some Caribbean islands flights to Europe are rather cheap, too.

One tip would be to make sure to get visum documents ready for where you need them (china?), sometimes getting this stuff can take a while.

Re: Travelling
 

Don't forget to pack a wife.

POL POT!

Re: Travelling
 

The only real reason I wanted to go to San Diego was to see the zoo. I wasn't planning to spend much time there. There don't seem to be any real attractions. Though a couple of days looking around might be ok.

As for LA, I wasn't too keen on it either. Then I looked up the tours of the Hollywood studios and that seemed cool in a "I'm such a tourist" kind of way. I think there are a couple of interesting museums too. Not planning to stay too long though.

I'll definitely be going to the Grand Canyon. Possibly the Hoover Dam too. I had a look at Yosemite and I'm not too sure about that. For one thing it's a couple hundred miles away from San Francisco so it's a bit out the way. Plus I'm not a big nature fan. Depends on time scales really.

A problem with the US bit is that another mate of mine wants to come with me for that. Problem is he only wants to go for 2 weeks. So I was thinking maybe meet him in LA after doing San Diego myself, then cram the rest in 2 weeks. I was planning to rent a car and drive to San Francisco from LA as that's supposed to be a very nice drive.

Central America is a possibility. My parents went to Costa Rica a few years ago and they said it was cool. I haven't done any real research on it though so I'll do that and see what I think.

I'm not really up for the Caribbean. I've been to Cuba and Puerto Rico before and nowhere else really appeals. I mean, what's left? Jamaica? No thanks. Mexico I'm not too keen on either, though I might look into it.

Yeah, can't leave it too late. Strangely enough even us Brits need a visa to go to India so I should really make my mind up soon wether I want to be in the trip from the start. At first I didn't like the idea of going to India for over a month but people who've been there say it's amazing.

Re: Travelling
 

a bit of a off-note, are you rich?

Re: Travelling
 

avoid india, unless you know exactly what you are doing i cannot emphasise this enough


be very careful in south america, or you will lose all of your money, even in the more law abiding countries