Need serious travel recommendations!!

Ideo

I'm stuck as what to do for my next back packing holiday. I've been to Asia 3 times, SEA, India and Nepal and China and SEA so I'm not too pushed on going back there. I'll have about 3 weeks to head off and just looking for suggestions. TransMongolian railway? Interrailing?

Think ill stay away from SA and leave that for when I have a lot more time and money! Any suggestions for 3 weeks and a flexible enough budget!? Would like to see the middle east but thinking of leaving that for another time!

Gaz

London to Iran by train ... fantastic journey and very cheap.
Istanbul to Cairo ... bit tight in 3 weeks but very doable, making sure to stop in Petra.
Trans-Mongolian ... Awesome journey and cheap enough if you get tickets yourself, visa's can be a bit of hassle but still very doable.

Ideo

Yeah I saw a post here and somebody said they done london to Iran which sounds pretty cool! Also saw some info on seat61 about it!

Transmongolian is in the lead so far I think though! Thanks for the suggestions, more suggestions are welcome!

Gaz

Its a great trip, I went west from Beijing ... if you can, allow for sometime in Mongolia, its an amazing country. Staying with locals in a yurt in the middle of the Gobi is just brilliant (stay away from the horse milk though :eek:)

Ideo

fermented horse milk?? sounds tasty!

Ah I just dont know what to do! Think I'd need longer than 10 days in russia if I wanted to have 10 days in mongolia, or there abouts!

bogtotty

How about Kazakhstan? Stayed there for 3 weeks in 2003 - it was magic. Went mountain climbing, hiking, horse-riding - visited glaciers and went out the steppes (where they were shooting the film 'Mongol'), trekked into Kyrgyzstan, looked over the Tian Shan mountains into China, and enjoyed the weird and fabulous nightlife in Almaty too. If you get your permits organised in time, you can also take a train trip to Baikonur, the former Soviet space shuttle base. If you're into winter sports, Chimbulak is within easy reach of Almaty (the season ends in April). In the Bolshoe Almatinskoe
lake area (mostly national park) there are wildlife attractions, mountain-biking etc - we stayed overnight in a mad observatory place where you can have a go on one of the biggest telescopes in the world while drinking vodka with armed & mounted border guards.
'Borat' it ain't.

themacman

I'd consider Tanzania if your budget allows. Dunno what your into but you can climb Kilimanjaro, safari in the Serengheti and Ngorogoro Crater, and Zanzibar has some of the best beaches ive ever seen. Also in neighbouring Rwanda you can go see the gorillas (ala Gorrillas in the Mist) and whitewater raft on the Nile.

themacman

bogtotty wrote: »

How about Kazakhstan? Stayed there for 3 weeks in 2003 - it was magic. Went mountain climbing, hiking, horse-riding - visited glaciers and went out the steppes (where they were shooting the film 'Mongol'), trekked into Kyrgyzstan, looked over the Tian Shan mountains into China, and enjoyed the weird and fabulous nightlife in Almaty too. If you get your permits organised in time, you can also take a train trip to Baikonur, the former Soviet space shuttle base. If you're into winter sports, Chimbulak is within easy reach of Almaty (the season ends in April). In the Bolshoe Almatinskoe
lake area (mostly national park) there are wildlife attractions, mountain-biking etc - we stayed overnight in a mad observatory place where you can have a go on one of the biggest telescopes in the world while drinking vodka with armed & mounted border guards.
'Borat' it ain't.

Sounds class. Do you reckon its still as magical 7 years on? I'd imagine there arent too many tourists around?

Ideo

Tanzania, now we have a real contender!! I'll look into it. Have you been? Keep a blog by any chance? Spend much??

themacman

Ideo wrote: »

Tanzania, now we have a real contender!! I'll look into it. Have you been? Keep a blog by any chance? Spend much??

Yes ive been twice, no blog unfortunately. A really beautiful country - have a look into it.

The cost of living is not high, but not as low as one might think for Africa - €1 for a beer, €3.50 for a dinner, €10 for a hostel. Zanzibar is much more expensive. Be warned though that the cost of activities can all add up. A six day Kili hike cost me $1000US, a three day safari would cost maybe $300 depending on numbers. A return flight to Zanzibar might cost another $100 etc.

bogtotty

themacman wrote: »

Sounds class. Do you reckon its still as magical 7 years on? I'd imagine there arent too many tourists around?

It's definitely not touristy, although apparantly it is getting easier to navigate as a tourist. We stayed with friends, so were lucky to have local knowledge. A lot of the stuff we did had only been recently started up - most of those activities have become more mainstream now and more easily accessible. There are still hangovers from the soviet-era, like sending a hundred dollar bill along with our passports when registering with the authorities, just to 'smooth' the process. Great place though. I know it's a cliche, but I have never met more friendly, interesting and interested people anywhere I have been.

Valmont

Gaz wrote: »

London to Iran by train ... fantastic journey and very cheap.

Ah I can't wait to start planning this one! It will probably be in 2011 but I can't think of anything else I'd rather do.

Four of a kind

Ideo wrote: »

Tanzania, now we have a real contender!! I'll look into it. Have you been? Keep a blog by any chance? Spend much??

I spent three months there: Heres the blog I kept

NoQuarter

Cape town is amazing, went down to dive with the great whites a couple of years ago, amazing experience and no need to be a certified diver!

youcancallmeal

I travelled from South Africa up to Kenya and it was amazing. Did about 10 countries in between and numerous safaris etc. Anyway I would also agree that East Africa(Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda) is a stunning place to visit but I don't think it can be done on a backpacker type budget mainly because the main 'Must Do' activities are so expensive! Gorilla trek $500+, Ngorongoro Crater/Serengeti safari $500+, Masaii Mara $500+, Kilimanjaro $500-$1000 and Zanzibar in general is quite expensive. Getting around can be done cheaply but you need to be very patient and give lots of time. When anything goes wrong the locals will just say T.I.A. (This Is Africa) and then shrug their shoulders. I could tell you a few horror stories about public transport in these countries!

Civilian_Target

Seconded on Africa. I'm just back from covering West Africa (Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana) and... well, it was gruelling to do but you see things you could never imagine. Though that route covers 2 of the five poorest countries in the world, it's not massively budget friendly, expect to spend 40 euros a day. Also, you wouldn't want to be in a hurry, it's not unusual to have to wait over a day for a bus.

But you can pretty much guarantee a life-changing experience on a route with virtually no other backpackers.