Planning in progress - any comments?
 

I finally have enough AA FF miles for a good OneWorld business class award, so I'm finally planning to go back to Asia! Can't believe it's been five whole years.

Plan A was mostly the 'stans, India and Sri Lanka, but itineraries for the 'stans work better in the spring and it put me in Japan in February. After I decided I was procrastinating because I didn't really want to do the 'stans on this trip, I moved on to Plan B. I think I've avoided bad weather, except I'll be too early for much of Europe, and holidays, except that I'll arrive in Bangkok in search of a visa for Myanmar the week of Chinese New Year. (Where is the best place in SEA - either quiet or a really great festival - to spend CNY?)

Assuming I can get the biz class award seats (I haven't called AA yet), this is the current plan:

Sep 15 2010 - fly RDU to Vancouver (via Dallas)

Sep 19 2010 - fly Vancouver to Tokyo (arr. Sep 21)

Oct 10 2010 - fly Tokyo to Seoul

Oct 21 2010 - fly Seoul to Taipei

Nov 01 2010 - fly Taipei to Hong Kong (day trip to Macau)

Nov 06 2010 - fly HK to Kathmandu

Nov 21 2010 - overland to India at Sunauli

Jan 09 2011 - fly Chennai to Colombo (this flight isn't in the award) (there are Intrepid and Imaginative Traveler tours starting Jan 9th in case I decide I need a tour for SL)

Jan 28 2011 - Fly Colombo to Bangkok (Myanmar, Thai island, Penang, Laos?)

Feb 28 2011 - Fly Bangkok to Paris (via Helsinki) (Portugal, Nice, London?)

Mar 21 2011 - Fly Paris to RDU (via JFK)

So any comments? I still have a lot of work to do on the details, especially for India, where I'll be heading for areas I didn't get to last time. Once the award is set I can change dates but not places.

I'm so jealous of how far (and for how long) Thursday's child gets to go. I just found a day of the week calculator to see what day of the week I was born. It figures--Saturday's child works hard for his living...

Sounds like a wonderful trip! Someday...

What a wonderful trip!

Condolences, Marija - I got lucky with the birth day! But I did work hard for quite a while - I just decided to retire "early" so I could travel before I got too decrepit. And there won't be any Oberoi or Peninsula stays on this trip, believe me!

Thursday child has far to go......
What a lovely itinerary. What are you planning in Japan? You will be in Seoul one month before us, are you blogging,lol

Aloha!

WOW!!!!

Please post a blog or a live trip report on Fodor's so that we can live vicariously with you and look forward to having the time to travel like that.

fantastic....but where will you do laundry?

Can I go too?

<b>indianapearl</b> - maybe you could come and carry my netbook so I can blog?

<b>Craig</b> I will try to blog and post, but if I don't take my netbook (and I don't really want the extra weight), that will depend on access to internet cafes. The blog will be at mytimetotravel.wordpress.com

<b>Bob</b> Laundry? Where I always do, in the bathroom sink... (this is supposed to be a budget trip!)

<b>HT</b> - sorry to miss you, a Seoul GTG would have been fun. I'm still working on the details of the Japan itinerary (along with everywhere else!) but I know I want a night in Hakone, several days in Kyoto, Nara, Koya-san, some time on Kyushu, Hiroshima, and perhaps the area around Takayama. What else shouldn't I miss? (I'm into architecture, food, scenery, religion, "culture", a little hiking...)

<b>eks</b> - where are you now???

My only comment was to see if you need anyone to follow you around and carry your bags for you -- or if you had a bag big enough for me to tuck in and come along too! Sounds A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!

Too young for me to retire yet -- guess I'll have to live vicariously through your trip report.

For getting from Taiwan to Hong Kong, you might look into flying from Taipei to Macau first. This should be cheaper than flying into Hong Kong. You can then see Macau for a day and perhaps a night, and ferry to Hong Kong later. There are several flights a day from Taipei, some on somewhat questionable airlines (in terms of financial situation, not safety) but at least one on Eva Air, which is a “real” airline.

It is probably possible to get to Katmandu from Macau more cheaply than from Hong Kong by going via Bangkok or something, not sure if the price is worth the traveling to Macau, but you might look into it. Air Asia goes from Macau to Bangkok.

In terms of places to spend Lunar New Year, if you have not seen celebrations you might want to. Places like Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan would be good choices for seeing fireworks, food and flower markets, and trying the special holiday foods on offer. New Years fireworks in Hong Kong harbour are hard to beat, IMO, although Singapore does some nice ones. Shop and restaurant closures are not major in these places other than the first day of the holiday (remote areas of Taiwan might be an exception to this). Vietnam for Tet would be very interesting as well, you may run into more closures there than in Hong Kong or Singapore, and of course Vietnam really deserves a good chunk of time and does not appear to be on your itin. Bangkok’s Chinatown might not be a bad place to be either, although things will be closed on the first day of the holiday most likely. Of course there is the whole PRC to consider, that will require a visa and you may have more closure of shops and restaurants. (Lots of the PRC will of course be very cold in Feb.) And you can have some real travel issues, esp on trains. Use air when possible, and try not to be traveling the day before the first day of the holiday.

One thing you might want to think about is timing a visit to be in Singapore or possibly Malaysia to see the Thaipusam celebrations. This is a Hindu holiday but is largely only celebrated now in Singapore and some sates in Malaysia, primarily at the Batu Caves outside KL. Devotees walk on hot coals, and wear huge headdresses which they attach to themselves by piercing their skin and tongues. It’s quite something go behold (esp in Singapore, where the guy walking by you in a trance is more than likely in his working life an accountant for Citibank…) It is generally celebrated toward the end of Jan or early Feb (depends on the moon phase) and has not yet been set for 2011. By if it roughly coincides with Lunar New Year, it might be interesting to be in Singapore where you could see both.

For quiet places with little or no celebrations, IMO you want to avoid beach areas in Thailand during the Lunar New Year as prices are high and hotels are booked as expats from SE Asia tend to hit the beaches for the holidays. You might run into that in resort areas like Chiang Mai as well. Bali is very popular at that time too. Beaches or inland rice terrace areas like Banaue in the Philippines are less popular, and in very good weather and might be a good choice. Someplace like Java (other than perhaps the Jogya area) or Sumatra which are not as touristed, might be a good choice. Do watch the weather issues in places, as you can have very heavy rainfall in areas like the east coast of Malaysia and Borneo in February.

The first day of the New Year is a Thursday in 2011. That means most people will be travelling on Wednesday, Feb 2, and lots of offices/businesses will close half-day on that day as well. (It's like the day before Thanksgiving times a zillion, esp in the PRC.) That is the day to avoid travelling in or to the PRC, and actually you probably want to avoid air travel generally in SE Asia on that day, only because prices will be higher and airports more crowded as locals are going home and expats are going on holiday. February 3 may be a good day to travel, at least by air, as most locals will already want to be home that day before.

If you are in Bangkok, it is unlikely, but of course possible, that Thursday and Friday are holidays in Bangkok or Myanmar, and the Myanmar embassy may be closed, so check the embassy website to make sure. That would be the case for sure in for the embassy in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam and the PRC.

Did you ever think of Nth. Korea? I have chapter and verse on that.

KTM to India - via Pokhara, Tasnen, Lumbini to Sunauli is a pleasant drive - if you must. What's reason for that land crossing?

Thursday: I am home and dreaming about a return to Asia!

Hello Thursday.
I'm now in HK, just back from Macau. Will be back in TX next week and can maybe answer any questions you might have on Japan...

Have you thought about flying from Kyushu to Seoul in order to avoid backtracking? You could get a JR Pass and travel by train down Japan...

<b>Cicerone</b> - thanks so much for the detailed reply! It was your posts on Hong Kong that convinced me to go back, and I'm following the current thread on hotels with interest.

All my flights through to Kathmandu will be on the OneWorld award, and I can't fly into Macau on that, nor I can I have an open segment (I only get one, and that's Nepal to Sri Lanka). I'm looking at the Dragonair flight from HK to Kathmandu.

I appreciate the info on New Year. It sounds like I should consider revisiting either Singapore or KL for that if it coincides with Thaipusam, and then go north to Penang, which I haven't seen. It would be great if I could go into Myanmar from there, but I hear that the border is closed in that direction, and possibly the other as well. But then there's your warning about rainfall. The Philippines is the one country in SEA I haven't visited, maybe I should consider it.

I had trouble with Myanmar embassy in Bangkok closing last time - one day was for the King's birthday, I forget what the other one was, but it was only open for three days instead of five and was packed.

<b>chickenlittle</b> - I'm a packing light true believer, so if you weigh less than my netbook....

<b>dogster</b> - yes, I did think about N. Korea (I'm on the Koryo tours email list), but I'd have to start from Beijing, and that doesn't fit this trip so well, plus I didn't want to mess with a Chinese visa just to get to N. Korea.

Yes, I know I could fly from Kathmandu to Delhi, but I'd have to back track to get there, as I was thinking Kat - Bandipur - Pokara - Lumbini (maybe Chitwan, more likely not - will look into Tansen). My original thought was to head east and cross at Mahendranagar, as I'm headed to the Shimla area, but I'd rather spend time on Indian trains than Nepalese buses. Remember, despite all the flights on this trip, I'm an over-lander at heart.

<b>gertie</b> - an advance welcome home - looking forward to hearing more about your trip. Same problem with flying out of Kyushu as with Cicerone's Macau suggestion - only one open leg on my award flights.

<b>eks</b> - welcome home! But I did I miss the trip report???

Thanks for the interest - keep the suggestions coming!

Well, I just spent an hour on the phone with American. I now have a routing on hold until Monday!!!

Some good news, some bad. There was biz seat availability on the Vancouver-Tokyo flight, which I was worried about, but I'm going to have to route through JFK instead of DFW, which puts me into Vancouver at 1:30 in the morning and ups my mileage to where I have fly back to Boston and buy a ticket on to RDU.

I couldn't get availability on the Colombo-BKK flight anywhere close to my dates, so I'll have to fly into Singapore. Now I have to decide whether to fly on to BKK or take a flight back to Europe out of Singapore.

Plus, I ALSO couldn't get availability (even booking this far out) for BKK-CDG for a week either way, so I'll be flying into London instead - I was trying to avoid the higher taxes out of the UK. Speaking of taxes... I don't have the total for that yet.

But definite progress - and an hour is a lot better than the last time I booked one of these. I'm excited!

You could be even more efficient and modify your itinerary to include the Boston GTG...

Marija - well... if the GTG were next April...

I think a day trip to Macau would be rushing it a bit. We spent 2 nights there (booked through a travel agent in HK who got us a posh hotel for about a quarter of the advertised price). I'm sure you don't want to spend your time gambling (?) but there is nice European atmosphere to enjoy and good Portuguese restaurants to indulge in.

gertie - thanks to the (un)availability of award seats it looks like I'll have an extra day in HK. I was thinking of spending one night at the Salisbury Y for the view, and then moving somewhere cheaper for the other nights, so I suppose I could spend that extra night in Macau since I'd be moving anyway - but it would mean schlepping the luggage along. I am totally uninterested in gambling or casinos. Although they might make for some interesting photos.

Did you book with the TA after you got to HK? Could you share contact info?

thursdaysd, I'd love to explore more of Kyushu and have it planned in 2011. Going to rent a car for a few days and drive from Kumamoto towards Aso and do a little ryokan there then on to Beppu and the hells. Then off around the coast towards Kagoshima then back to Kumamoto stopping and staying along the way.

Have you thought of doing some of the pilgrimage to the 88 sacred places of Shikoku? I plan to do a few in the future when we have time to get back there. Beautiful area with some great hiking I've heard....

http://www.shikokuhenrotrail.com/

Also was thinking of Hakone and while everyone does the loop you can also walk along the Old Tokaido Road, easy to do and lots of history along the way, quite beautiful in spots
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5205.html

Getting up in altitude late in your time there like Takayama or Matsumoto will enhance you chance of seeing the koyo of Japan.

Aloha!

Wow, what a fantastic trip!
My only word of advice is for the European portion. At that time of year, head south to Sicily or Andalucia where it's warmer. Since you are probably flying into London, you should be able to pick up a cheap budget flight from there anywhere you might want to go.
Oh, one more thing, bring the netbook! :-)

A poster here named laartista who was visiting Hong Kong recently on a budget was planning to stay at the Hop Inn, which on the website looked very cute (although rooms seemed <i>microscopically</i> small), it’s a block or two behind the Salisbury. I cannot find the website any longer, but see her post at http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...-hong-kong.cfm, and perhaps post a thread here to ask if she liked it. It may also be in Lonely Planet (which is where I think she found it, I don’t have the latest edition). There are other budget options in Kowloon. If you don’t mind a bit of a journey every day into town by ferry, there are places on Lamma Island which might be interesting, see posts like http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...mma-island.cfm for info. In late Oct and November the weather is so lovely to be on the island, you could actually just spend time on the island. There are two small villages, one of which is rather bohemian chic in its own way. Lantau would be another place to consider, some superb beaches and hiking there, several remote monasteries and villages. See the thread above for some info on Lantau. Also try vrbo.com, as there usually are some flats for short-term rent, especially on the “Gold Coast” west of Kowloon which IMO would be interesting; very local and good sea views in some cases.

For your Macau trip, you can store bags at the Airport Express train stations in either Kowloon or Hong Kong side if you don’t want to schlep luggage to Macau. I believe that there are some luggage lockers at the Macau ferry piers in both Central and Kowloon as well. It is also possible that the Salisbury would hold them for a night or so. (The Hop Inn did not look like it would have room for anything!)

<b>hawaiiantraveler</b> - this is my first trip to Japan (I don't count the one night between planes in '97). I had planned most of an itinerary in '08, but then went to Morocco instead... Thanks for the suggestion to save Takayama or Matsumoto for the end. I was wondering about the autumn color (had to look up koyo, lol) - on the one hand, should be beautiful, on the other, could be very crowded? I suppose if I book this far ahead I should be able to get accommodation anyway?

I remember reading a book by a woman (American?) who did the whole circuit on Shikoku, but I'm not sure I have time to visit on this trip. I do want to save plenty of time for Kyoto. Also, I will be traveling by public transport, and some of the places I wanted to see on Shikoku looked to be a little hard to get to. Kudos for driving yourself! Do you speak/read Japanese?

Love the idea of walking the Old Tokaido Road! Once I get my plane tickets sorted out (probably another hour on the phone), I'll start detailed work on the itinerary, beginning with Japan.

<b>Kristina</b> - definitely the south of Europe in March! Although maybe global warming will have improved things - I've encountered unseasonably warm weather in London a couple of times lately. I loved Sicily, but am thinking of southern Portugal (haven't been south of Lisbon) and France. Or maybe Corsica or Sardinia - need to check their spring weather. Having the netbook along would be so convenient, but if you add in the power cord it's another couple of pounds to carry.

<b>Cicerone</> - thanks for the links. Staying on Lamma or Lantau is an interesting idea, although I had been thinking of moving to Hong Kong island, maybe to Bishop Lei if the rate is good for my dates, although cheaper would certainly be better. I did have a harbor view room for two nights on my first (only) visit to HK (back when I was working), so I could even do without altogether this time.

Love the idea of an apartment!! And good to hear about the luggage lockers.

lol thursday, those little < things are a bugger, eh? One weeny mistake...

I've been reading your trip reports on Poland and Siberia, Mongolia and the Trans Siberian today - plus your Bongo saga in Romania [?]. Sounds like my Bhutan Bongo.

thursday,no I don't read or speak any Japanese. Well I can say a few words and phrases here and there but that is about it. Driving on Shikoku and the less inhabited parts of Japan is very easy to do. If you read my tr last fall it tells my experiences with driving in Japan. All signs are either Int'l or in Japanese/English. There are more English signage in Japan than you would ever imagine

I mentioned Matsumoto because when we traveled there last fall(see my tr) I saw some of the most beautiful views of the koyo on the little JR run train that travels between Nagano and Matsumoto. It is a small train that makes the small mountain village stops between Nagano and Mats. A few locals would get off at one stop and walk around, take pics then get on the next train to the next town or scenic area, looked like a good idea to me. I remember one stop just outside of Nagano where the train stopped at the top of the hill for maybe 5 to 7 minutes while the train tracks switched. Everyone on the little train(maybe 5 people)got out to stretch and take pics.

You can use Matsumoto as a base to the Giro Valley(Takayama) or vice versa. I mrwunrfl were here he might be suggesting a visit and overnight at a minshuku in Shirakawago where I have not been yet but is on my ever expanding radar.

Use this as a base of timing for viewing the fall colors in Japan. 2010 will be about the same as last year. You may ask how I know this, I don't, but I'd bet a cup of coffee it will be close,lol

BTW, have you seen this site about bus schedules in Japan?

http://www.bus.or.jp/e/index.html

oooops, gotta get back to work ;)

Aloha!

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2014.html

oops, link for the koyo timeline guide

<b>dogster</b> - yes, I apologize for shouting - should have previewed...

And yes, your Bhutanese saga did remind me of the delightful Ciprian. Would you believe he still occasionally sends me email trying to get me to take that piece down? Initially he threatened to sue me, but I pointed out that every word was true.

dogster - just reread the Czech and Polish piece - it's been a while. Still devastated by Auschwitz. Hope you noticed my dogster move to the Warsaw Marriott!

Are you thinking of a European jaunt? Hope you're enjoying my scribbles.

<b>hawaiiantraveler</b> As a solo traveler I seldom rent a car - not really cost-effective, and I don't like to drive and navigate at the same time. However, with the advent of GPS I may have to rethink that.

Once I get the flights nailed down (after I get my car back from having its AC fixed) I plan to settle in with a bunch of guidebooks and Fodor's TRs (yours will certainly be among them) and get the Japan leg laid out. Loved your cherry blossom photos, but those were some big crowds!

Thanks for the info about the train - I've been looking forward to the trains in Japan, and I just love little ones. And I'll certainly check into the minshuku. Can't wait!

I did it! Just got off the phone with American and have the itinerary ticketed. (And I'm stone cold sober, too.) I'm so excited. After a few minor changes I have:

Sep 10 2010 - AA RDU to LGA - since I couldn't route through DFW I figured I'd give New York another chance, but if it rains on me this time, that's it!

Sep 14 2010 - CX JFK to Vancouver - I was booked on this flight back in August 2001, and it was canceled - hope that doesn't happen this time! Also, it gets into YVR at 1:30 am...

Sep 19 2010 - JL Vancouver to Tokyo (arr. Sep 20)

Oct 10 2010 - JL Tokyo to Seoul

Oct 21 2010 - CX Seoul to Taipei

Nov 01 2010 - CX Taipei to Hong Kong - may change day trip to Macau to overnight, as I now fly to Nepal a day later.

Nov 07 2010 - Dragonair HK to Kathmandu via Dhaka

Open segment Nepal - India - Sri Lanka

Jan 27 2011 - CX Colombo to Singapore (no availability Colombo to BKK for one week either way!)

Jan 30 2011 - CX Singapore to Bangkok (very subject to change of date)

Mar 01 2011 - QF Bangkok to London (no availability on Finnair to Paris)

Mar 05 2011 - AA London to Raleigh-Durham (I will move this out as soon as dates at the end of March become bookable)

All of that came in it at just under 25,000 actual flying miles, so business class seats cost me 150,000 FF miles. In cash this cost $433 for the 15,000 FF miles I was short, plus $430 in taxes and fees. Love the OneWorld awards!

Now I can get down to some serious planning - I'll probably start country-specific threads for that.

Thursdays, it looks great. Congrats on getting your award flights - the hardest part of any trip!

Yes, I expected problems with outbound flights in September (a mere five months away, lol), but the difficulty with Colombo - Bangkok and Bangkok - Paris flights next year was a surprise.

BTW, just so I know, trip report penalties don't start until after I get back, right?

"Jan 27 2011 - CX Colombo to Singapore (no availability Colombo to BKK for one week either way!)"

Thats not possible, too unrealistic! I think CX is just not accepting booking that far ahead! BKK flights are frequent and not so hard to get at all.

The problem was that I was booking OneWorld business class award seats, which are often in short supply. CX was certainly accepting bookings, as I'm booked on CX to Singapore.

Ok, probably they don't have allocation of the "OWBC award seats" for that sector. There are some other airlines also that fly to CMB/BKK in case that sector is important you may considder.

Have fun planning your trip and even better fun on the trip...