Trip advice RTW needed

ro1798

just wonder if this is a decent itinerary, please have a look

fly to bangkok 4 weeks (€450)
fly to burma 2 weeks
return to bangkok
4 weeks islands thailand
laos 4 weeks
cambodia 4 weeks
vietnam 4 weeks
hanoi to hong kong to beijing train 3 months
fly to Chile from beijing (€650) 4 weeks
argentina 4 weeks
bolivia 4 weeks
peru 4 weeks
brazil 2 weeks
fly to cuba 2 weeks
fly to mexico from cuba
mesico 4 weeks
enter US buy mini van make way to canada over 3 months
enter canada work for a year.....


what have i missed out what should i take off?

Neamhshuntasach

Seems solid enough. If anything probably a bit too much time in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Spending 3 months between would be a bit too much for me. I wouldn't want to ruin my experience by becoming bored.

By saying the Hanoi - Hong Kong - Beijing do you mean getting off and satying a while in little small towns or just staying in Hong Kong and Beijing? Because 3 months between them would take a fair whack outta your pocket. They are more expensive than the rest of China.

Just looking at your flight prices and they seem a little low. I think you might get to Bangkok through India for the price you mentioned. But the Beijing - Santiago flight seems really cheap to what i thought it would have been. Well over a grand i would have thought. And is there even a flight from China to Chile? Probably a connect in Canada or LA.

You'd also get a cheaper flight from a Spanish speaking country to Havana rather than Brazil.

And find out about your US leg of the trip as to whether you can enter the country without proof of exit before 90 days. Proof of travel into Canada or Mexico will not count as the law is proof of travel outside of North America.

Overall your intinerary seems good but it looks like it's going to cost you a hell of a lot. The 3 months in the US alone would blow my budget for 6 months in South America. Anyways if possible you should try get in to Ecuador. I'd also recommend Guatemala and Nicaragua if you can get into them.

And try learn some Spanish since you'll be in Latin America for a while. It will make life easier and give you a better experience. Even just a few phrases.

Glowing

Well you probably won't get a 4 week visa for Vietnam, or Cambodia either - you are usually given 3 weeks each. More than enough to be honest.

When travelling from HK to Beijing, don't take the coastal route, travel up west and through the Yunnan and Szechuan provinces, amazing! Internal flights are not much more expensive than the train, book through www.elong.net AFTER arriving in China!

ro1798

hi thanks for replies....

i have the flight booked and paid for to bangkok was pretty cheap....
been looking last few days at flights from china to south america via canada is €650 that is 29 hours and 3 stops nightmare but need to do it cheap...

the visas will dictate the time in the countries in laos, cambodia etc...


need to fly from south america to mexico so looking into flights to cuba then to mexico..

how will i get around the us visa thing...might have to book a flight from ny to canada, but i wanted to bring the van or camper i am buying in the us into canada and use that up there for road trips etc... what is the story on a non us person buying and insuring a car in america?

oh yea i need to do this on €15,000 will have the major flights paid for though..

Neamhshuntasach

Regarding the car have a look at this thread that i replied in.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055272727

Oh so that's why it is 650 euro. Damn that's some journey.

I'll have a flight from Cuba to Venezuela in November. I'll probably fly with Copa and it is around 350 euro. Cuba isn't the cheapest place to fly to.

Not sure how you'll get around the US visa situation. My mates are in the same situation who are traveling with me and i called up the US embassy to ask. They said that they will need proof of a plane ticket outside North America. And as mentioned earlier, a flight from NY to Canada will not suffice. The flight would have to be from the US to outside of North America, e.g. somewhere in Central America other than Mexico or Europe, etc.

You'll be hard pressed to spend less than 15K in the 14.5 months it is taking you to make it to Canada where you will work. Eastern China is much more expensive than the west and you'd be spending upwards of 50 dollars a day. Argentina's economy is also bouncing back and prices have shot up nearly 100% in the past few months. Again 50 dollars a day would be about right. Chile is more expensive than Argentina. Brazil is on par with Chile if not more expensive. Especially for accommodation. Cuba is also expensive. I know i'm using the term expensive here a lot but it is nowhere near expensive by Irish standards. Just expensive for the region they are in. And i probably shouldn't need to tell you how expensive the US is.

Having traveled most of the world and set various budgets for each trip i can see you being lucky to get away with all of that for 15K.

ro1798

girlfiend is coming with me so maybe some pimping in the andes will be needed...:D she is bringing 15k so everything will be shared halved etc...

should make it easier:D


trying to get usit to gice me answers about the under 35 work permit. will be in china when the deadline closes for applications...so that is messy also.

been to thailand cambodia before so ahve some idea there...

what is the story with visa to thailand... last time i went was 2003 i just landed and got passport stamped no visa or anything.. now i hear i need to apply to get a visa?

any nfo is great... tell me this where was the most memorable part of the world you have been in...

Neamhshuntasach

I sent my passport to the Thai council in America. Then they sent me back my passport with the Visa attached into it. I think they said i had to enter the country before 90 days or the visa would expire. Try get a multiple entry visa if possible because the standard one doesn't allow you to free leave and re-enter Thailand. As far as i know you'd have to apply for another visa but can be easily done in Vietnam, Cambodia, etc.

My most memorable country is a toss up between a few. Probably Guatemala, Cuba, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela. I love Latin America so it's hard to distinguish. But if i had to pick one it would probably be Guatemala.