Around The World

PH4T

Anyone any tips on planning an around the world trip?

I'm thinking of doing India - Oz - South America.

I called Trail Finders and they quoted my the following itinerary for €1859 (inc taxes):

Dublin - London – Mumbai - Kolkata - Delhi – Singapore – Sydney – Auckland – Santiago –Buenos Aires – London - Dublin

This is the standard BA Quantas ticket.

dory

You'd probably get more responses in the Travel forum.

But anyway.....

It seems grand. Just a few months ago the cheapest you would have gotten this in €2200 or so, good ol' oil prices. Only thing I will say is maybe check out if it's cheaper not to do all that crazy flying around India. You don't need to pay BA prices in a country that has an abundance of Ryanair type airlines. Most between city flights are €20-50 all included tax etc. Also, trains are the way to see India! And with Agra (Taj) between Delhi and Mumbai is sort of makes sense. But doesn't matter, if you do take those flights you can easily pop down to Agra from Delhi.

And make sure you check out weather. In 2005 they had a heatwave and it was 50 degrees in Delhi. Dangerous heat! Head for the hills if that's the case.

South America sounds good but if you plan on going to Brazil at all I'd change Buenos Aires for Sao Paulo.

Have fun and pack light!!

breadmonkey

Just on the whole India thing:

Major Indian cities are, imo, total sh!tholes to be avoided at all costs. I was in all three of the cities you listed and Chennai too. Delhi is the worst place I have ever been in my life. Kolkata not far behind. I thought Mumbai was much nicer. So what I'm saying is that you should consider if these are the places in India that you want to see.

I don't know how long you have there but if I could go back and replan my trip there I would probably get a connecting internal flight from Delhi to Leh in the north and make my way by bus/train to Mumbai from there. Of course, the distances invovled in getting around India are enormous so an internal flight to Kolkata could be useful but only if you're planning to travel around other parts of West Bengal. I don't think Kolkata is worth visiting on its own.

Give it some thought.

Also, depending on how you want to travel around NZ, Auckland is not necessarily the best place to fly into.

PH4T

dory wrote: »

You'd probably get more responses in the Travel forum.

Could the Moderator move this to Travel or will I just post a duplicate thread there?

PH4T

dory wrote: »

And make sure you check out weather. In 2005 they had a heatwave and it was 50 degrees in Delhi. Dangerous heat! Head for the hills if that's the case.

This may be a problem. I'm planing on going to India in June for a few months. I know this is not the ideal time to go but it can't be avoided. Would this impact on what parts of India I go to?

dory wrote: »

South America sounds good but if you plan on going to Brazil at all I'd change Buenos Aires for Sao Paulo.

What about getting around South America? I have heard that the flights there are expensive. I was thinking of doing some kind of clockwise trip such as Chile - Peru - Columbia - Brazil - Bolivia - Argentina.

Ritchi

breadmonkey wrote: »

Just on the whole India thing:

Major Indian cities are, imo, total sh!tholes to be avoided at all costs. I was in all three of the cities you listed and Chennai too. Delhi is the worst place I have ever been in my life. Kolkata not far behind. I thought Mumbai was much nicer. So what I'm saying is that you should consider if these are the places in India that you want to see.

I don't know how long you have there but if I could go back and replan my trip there I would probably get a connecting internal flight from Delhi to Leh in the north and make my way by bus/train to Mumbai from there. Of course, the distances invovled in getting around India are enormous so an internal flight to Kolkata could be useful but only if you're planning to travel around other parts of West Bengal. I don't think Kolkata is worth visiting on its own.

Give it some thought.

Just said that in another thread. Agree with the rest too, stay out of cities if you want to enjoy India. Trains are great, cheap and interesting.

v.e.r.b.a.l

I hear Columbia can be very dangerous. Don't ask me, though, I've never been there! But it's worth checking out!

My trailfinders ticket cost €3600 for Dublin-London-Mexico-Cuba-Jamaica-Quito then Chile-New Zealand-Fiji-Australia-Singapore then Bangkok-London-Dublin

So it sounds like a good deal you're getting there! Maxmiles isn't it?

dory

PH4T wrote: »

This may be a problem. I'm planing on going to India in June for a few months. I know this is not the ideal time to go but it can't be avoided. Would this impact on what parts of India I go to?

It's up to you really. You can wait and see when you get there. In the summers I go a place called Shillong in Meghalaya because it's so high up that it's not hot. Darjeeling is the same I believe. Also, another poster mentioned Leh. I've never been over that side but I think it'd be the same cool climate because of the mountains. Manali is supposed to get great too and cool. The staying out of cities things is a good idea too. Hampi, Darjeeling, little places along the way are great.

PH4T wrote: »

What about getting around South America? I have heard that the flights there are expensive. I was thinking of doing some kind of clockwise trip such as Chile - Peru - Columbia - Brazil - Bolivia - Argentina.

That is one hell of a loop. It's hard to even imagine how big Brazil is. Going from north to south is the same as Dublin to Morrocco (as far as I know). Chile - Peru is fine, but usually people would go Chile - Bolivia- Peru. Else you'll be travelling a lot later to get to the good bits of Bolivia that are near the Peru/Chile border.
Columbia is well out of the way, and make this thing harder. You going to try and get a boat to Columbia? It'd be hard to cut of Ecuador there, boat way you'd need an internal flight to Bogota as that is a rebel area.
Then Columbia to Brazil. How do you plan to do that? Sounds like a flight. Then Brazil to Argentina is no problem.

buccsboyo

Hey guys, Id like to contribute my 2cents on India. I thought the Indian cities were an immense experience. It is for the most part a 3rd World country so the cities will not be as aesthetically pleasing as Western cities. But just immersing yourself in the hustle and bustle, the sounds ,the smells i thought was brilliant. Kolkata in my opinion is a real nice city and there is lots to see,if you have time head up to the MotherHouse and do some volunteering its a sobering experience and you will meet lots of backpackers there (ignore the religious front thing and just remember you are helping real people) Most people staying on Sudder Street will be volunteering there so just ask around.

I agree that you are wasting money on the internal flights, it has the biggest train network in the world and numerous low cost airlines http://www.whichbudget.com/#from96

On S.America there is a whole other thread below of Irish people who traveled around Colombia and had a ball. It is not in the slightest bit dangerous.I got a bus from Quito to Cali to Bogota without any problem.
I would change my flight into S.America to either Caracas or Bogota or if you cant, fly to Santiago and get an Avianca flight they often have cheap deals from Santiago to Bogota. And from there bus it in anti-clockwise direction to Ecuador,Lima-Cusco-Bolivia-Chile-Mendoza-BA-Igazu-SP-Rio with trips to Amazon or Patagonia in between via internal flights. Going the other way would be less interesting and is mostly Amazon ( and you can do a trip to the Amazon from Colombia,Ecuador,Peru or Bolivia I did one from La Paz to Rurrenabaque)
Anyway thats all just my opinion hope it helps.