Where to go on RTW trip?

youcancallmeal

I've been doing a lot of research over the last few months to try and plan a RTW trip with my girlfriend and now that we have fully decided on our route and are going to book the flights shortly I'm beginning to think we would enjoy ourselves much more with a different route. Our itinerary at the moment is Dublin > Hong Kong (A few days) > Bangkok (SE Asia for 3 months) > New Zealand (1 month) > Oz (2 months) > Jo'Berg overland to Nairobi (2 months maybe more depending on cash situation). We've about 9 months planned We hope to have around 15K each which includes flights, insurance, vaccines etc so say around 12K spending money.

From what I've been reading though we could see a lot more if we didnt spend as much time in OZ/NZ and cut Africa altogether. Maybe fly back from OZ through Asia and spend a few months doing China, Tibet, Nepal etc? Both myself and the girlfriend arent really too bothered about seeing south/north America at all really.
What do people think or should I just stick with the plan we have?

breadmonkey

Doesn't really make snese to go to NZ before Oz! How much are you planning on budgeting for those places btw? (I'm trying to organise something similar myself)

youcancallmeal

Well I was planning on flying into Adelaide and then over about a week or two make my way to Melbourne via the great ocean and then fly out to Auckland from there. After New Zealand fly back to Sydney and work our way around east coast.

I was thinking around 3k for 3 months in south east asia and then about 3k for 2 months in Oz and about 2k for 6/7 weeks in New Zealand and then whatever is left to be spent on an overland tour from Johannesburg to Nairobi.

Glowing

Oz for 2 months will kill your budget - not really worth it in my opinion since you get a whole lot more 'experience' for your money in Asia ...... what is there to see in Oz for 2 months anyway? 18 year old gap year students jelly wrestling and Ms. Backpacker competitions in every pub? Great country to live in, but you'll be so dissapointed going there after HK and Asia!

China is great though - definitely worth a month or two.

Jugs82

Oz for 2 months will kill your budget

Absolutely agree - 3k for 2 months wont go very far... Oz is on a par with Ireland for costs and hostels, food, nights outs, trips - they all add up

I left Oz early after 8 months-ish to go back to Asia - one of the best decisions i ever made

Maybe think about less time in Oz and add China like Glowing mentioned in the previous poster

Also, HK is pricey - took me by surprise but its a very cool place

Enjoy the trip

youcancallmeal

Didn't know Hong Kong was expensive, probably only gonna spend a few days there anyway as a gateway into China. Have just been reading your travel blog Glowing, sounds like you had an amazing time. Definitely want to do a route fairly similar to yours. I haven't read far enough into it yet but how come you didn't get to the Philippines in the end? I think thats definitely somewhere I would like to go.

Glowing

Hiya - much as I'd love to have gone to the Philippines, flights tended to be expensive then the price of boats/flights among the islands were huge! We just didn't think it'd be worthwhile for the sake of a few weeks. We did however go to Borneo instead which was a really interesting experience, and we got to see a wild orangutan to top it all off!

NiallJKelly

If you want my opinion I'd think about Oz before I go spending too long there. Everyone that goes ends up drinkin til they run out of money cos theres not a whole lot else to do!As someone else said in a reply Oz is great to stay in and work for a while but all it is is cities and not much else. I spent 3 months in NZ and would reccommend that big time. There is a lot to do if your interested in outdoor stuff and the drive down through the country is one of the best journeys Ive ever taken. Its like a new country every few hours it changes so much. Queenstown is also a serious party town and if you go in winter there are some good mountains to ski!Also it is a lotr cheaper than oz and more compact so you wont have a 10 hour drive between cities. Id say the cost of living there is about half of that here. Also you can rent camper vans from a company called wicked for about 20 or so euro a day-no catches!Best place I ever visited!5 weeks in NZ and you can leave saying you saw everything there is to see there!Spend 5 months in Oz, youll see less and spend more!

youcancallmeal

I reckon at this point we'll probably try and spend around 6+ weeks in New Zealand and then head to Sydney and see how our finances are at that stage. I would be in agreement with everything you guys are saying about oz it just convincing the missus of it. She's fairly adamant about spending two months there so we can see "everything". Also we are flying out of Perth to Jo'Berg so we kind of have to make our way around Australia or else fly to Perth. Is the west coast similar to the east I wonder?

Spider_Baby

The trip I did a year ago sounds similar to yours.

I went to South Africa, South East Asia, China, New Zealand, Oz and a few places in America on the way home.
Don't skip South Africa. Absolutely amazing place!
I spent about 7 weeks in Oz, from Cairns to Melbourne. Didn't go near the west coast at all. Yeah I agree with the others, it is mostly about the night life in some towns, but still an amazing place.
I really enjoyed Oz as I was on the road 6 months already when I reached there, so after 6 months in China, Hong Kong, Korea, S.E. Asia, Singapore etc I was glad in a way to be somewhere that felt like home, but was still different from home too, that make sense?
I spent 6 weeks in New Zealand. 6 weeks well spent. Best part of my trip.

dory

I agree with everyone about Oz. Stick to the crazy places for an rtw trip. Especially if you're on a budget. How long do you plan to be gone for all together?
Also, great budget place that is amazing is India!

Xavi6

youcancallme>al wrote: »

I reckon at this point we'll probably try and spend around 6+ weeks in New Zealand and then head to Sydney and see how our finances are at that stage. I would be in agreement with everything you guys are saying about oz it just convincing the missus of it. She's fairly adamant about spending two months there so we can see "everything". Also we are flying out of Perth to Jo'Berg so we kind of have to make our way around Australia or else fly to Perth. Is the west coast similar to the east I wonder?

Not really no. For starter's there's only one city so it's nowhere near as built up and anywhere outside Perth is much more rural.

What I'd recommend is that you fly into Perth but don't stay here. Rent a car etc and drive up north to the likes of Kalbarri, Monkey Mia and Exmouth. The weather is stunning and you can do things like swim with sharks and dolphins, go whale watching, snorkling, scuba diving etc. It costs a bit of money to do those kind of things but hostels and that are dirt cheap and the scenery the whole way up the west coast is stunning.

And for those who said there's 'nothing to do in Oz' they clearly just went on the piss in Sydney/Melbourne and didn't think outside the box.

Red Soup

youcancallme>al wrote: »

Our itinerary at the moment is Dublin > Hong Kong (A few days) > Bangkok (SE Asia for 3 months) > New Zealand (1 month) > Oz (2 months) > Jo'Berg overland to Nairobi (2 months maybe more depending on cash situation).

If you have only 2 months for Africa I would say cut it down to maybe 2 or 3 countries. I know an overland truck from joburg to nairobi might sound great, but if you take only 2 months at it you'll spend half your time on the road! It depends what you want in Africa - if you just want to see national parks and stunning scenery and tourist lodges do the overland tour. But if you want to get to know a country better I would say do more independent travel and stay longer in each country. If I had 2 months in Africa for the first time I'd go to South Africa, Namibia and Botswana, or for a cheaper but equally amazing option - Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi.

From what I've heard, Namibia is prob the most recommended. I've lived in Malawi though, and it's beautiful, and more compact than most of the other countries.

youcancallmeal

Red Soup wrote: »

If you have only 2 months for Africa I would say cut it down to maybe 2 or 3 countries. I know an overland truck from joburg to nairobi might sound great, but if you take only 2 months at it you'll spend half your time on the road! It depends what you want in Africa - if you just want to see national parks and stunning scenery and tourist lodges do the overland tour. But if you want to get to know a country better I would say do more independent travel and stay longer in each country. If I had 2 months in Africa for the first time I'd go to South Africa, Namibia and Botswana, or for a cheaper but equally amazing option - Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi.

From what I've heard, Namibia is prob the most recommended. I've lived in Malawi though, and it's beautiful, and more compact than most of the other countries.

What your saying sounds good but other people have told us that to go overland from SA to Kenya independently is a fairly hardcore route. This is coming from experienced travelers who have done that route and more. I havent much experience traveling outside of Europe so I don't how confident I would be doing such a route on my own? If we do go to Africa we'll pretty much have as long as we want and the only thing we'll be worrying about is our money running out. With that in mind we'll probably make our own way around SA and Namibia and then get one of those overland trucks from Victoria Falls to Kenya(This seems to be a fairly popular route?).

Red Soup

youcancallme>al wrote: »

I havent much experience traveling outside of Europe so I don't how confident I would be doing such a route on my own?

Yeah, this is the reason most people seem to join overland tours in Africa. It totally depends on what you want. Overland tour companies will give you a great trip, you'll see great places and have lots of fun, but you're always travelling with the same group of people (usually Europeans) and the only Africans you will speak to will be (a) kids begging outside your truck and (b) beach boys trying to sell you carvings and jewelery.

But the downside of doing the route on your own is you'll have to deal with all the haggling, bartering and waiting around for transport that you wouldn't have to do if you've got your own truck.

With that in mind we'll probably make our own way around SA and Namibia and then get one of those overland trucks from Victoria Falls to Kenya(This seems to be a fairly popular route?).

Yeah public transport's pretty good in SA and Namibia. And national parks in Zambia and Tanzania are hard to get to without transport, so that would seem like a good idea. Make sure your truck goes through Malawi! If it doesn't you'll be missing out on a gem.

youcancallmeal

Red Soup wrote: »

Yeah public transport's pretty good in SA and Namibia. And national parks in Zambia and Tanzania are hard to get to without transport, so that would seem like a good idea. Make sure your truck goes through Malawi! If it doesn't you'll be missing out on a gem.

Yeah Malawi is one of the places I'm most looking forward to. I hear Lake Malawi is supposed to be amazing but its riddled with something called bilharzia?

Red Soup

Bilharzia isn't much to worry about. I swam in the lake about twice a week for the 8 months i was there and I've had no problems. There are some areas on the lake that are bilharzia free - avoid reeds and stagnated ponds and you'll be fine. As a precaution I'd recommend taking the bilharzia tablets a few months after your last swim in the lake (it takes a while for them to grow inside you, if they do ). You can get the bilharzia tablets in any chemist in Malawi for about €1.

We used to see truckloads of overland tourists who weren't allowed to swim in the lake because of their companies insurance walking forlornly up and down the beach, wishing they could swim. And believe me, when you see the lake, you'll want to swim in it!

catbear

did a rtw about three years ago, agree with everyone who said OZ will drain your wallet. we were there for three weeks; having talked with backpackers on working visas in hostels, we realised we saw more in those three weeks than many of them saw in a whole year. pick what you want to see in OZ, try to cover as much of with your RTW ticket or do what we did, we relocated vans between cities, it saved us a packet. standbycars.com.au. Save your chilling out for NZ. it's cheaper than OZ. i'm planning another RTW for three years time, i'm planning at least three months for NZ, it is heaven on earth. mind you i haven't been to SA but that's on my itinerary too.
for SE asia, airasia is great. burma was my highlight, i think about it nearly everyday. rule of thumb for SE asia, the further you go from the main tourist strips like the ko san road the cheaper everything gets for the same service.
€3000 is perfect for SE asia. do not leave asia without seeing the temples at ankor.

Sony

How much would the africa trip cost??

youcancallmeal

Sony wrote: »

How much would the africa trip cost??

Do mean altogether or for the overland tour?

Sony

Alltogether - like one of the 2 month trips do you spend much aor anything along the way??? I drink a bit by the way!

youcancallmeal

Well I'm only planning my trip at the moment so I'm just making estimates from what I've read and heard of other peoples experiences. I'm planning on spending around 6/7 weeks traveling around South Africa and Namibia and then do an overland tour from Vic Falls to Nairobi which will take another 6/7 weeks. I reckon it'll be around €2000 for South Africa/Namibia and another €2000 for the overland tour. This is very rough estimates so i could easily be +/- €1000

Edit: Just realised you were asking about the overland tours. As far as I know you pay into a kitty at the start of the trip and pretty much all the food and booze is bought from that. So no you shouldnt need much spending money once you get out on the road.

Sony

I see - Can you recommend anyone?