I know that you are all tired of hearing me talk about my Around-the-World trip. But it is about to happen. I've spent hours into the planning of many details and anxious to get it all started.
I've never been on such an extended trip, so this will be many firsts for me. This trip had 3 purposes. I'm going back to a couple of places that I've been before and wanted to revisit (Bangkok and Hong Kong), Tim and I will be spending almost 3 weeks in China which is something we have wanted to do for a long time, and then I'm going to places that I've always wanted to visit (Australia, Singapore, India, and South Africa). These last locations are "teasers" as I'm going to case them out to see if we want to revisit them for a more extensive visit in the future (when Tim has more time off!!!!) (:-))
So here is the itinerary - I'll try to update along the way as I get access to a computer in many new and excited places:
May 1 Leave Ft Lauderdale - fly to Charlotte to change planes - on to San Francisco
May 2 Leave San Francisco for overnight trip to Sydney, Australia
May 3 A "lost day" - I'll be on a plane over the Pacific but arrive in Sydney on May 4
May 4 Arrive in Sydney, Australia - Staying at the Marriott Sydney Opera House!
May 5 Taking Sunset "Bridge Walk" up to the top of the Sydney Opera House Bridge!
May 6 Exploring Sydney, Australia
May 7 Exploring Sydney, Australia
May 8 Sydney, Australia - Leave early afternoon to go to Singapore - Arrive pm
May 9 Singapore - Exploring the city (I think 1 day is enough in Singapore!)
May 10 Leave early morning for Bangkok, Thailand - Arrive before noon
May 11 Exploring more of Bangkok and surrounding area
May 12 Exploring more of Bangkok and surrounding area
May 13 Leave mid morning for Hong Kong - meet Tim there mid afternoon
(Tim arrives from Germany - he's going Around-the-World the opposite way!)
May 14 We are on a R. Crusoe Tour - Hong Kong is the focus
May 15 Exploring Hong Kong (Hope to meet up with Nancy Testa in Hong Kong!)
May 16 We complete the Hong Kong touring and fly to Guilin, Mainland China
May 17 Explore Guilin, China - then on to Yangshuo, China
May 18 Longsheng and Chongqing, China
May 19 We board a River Boat for a luxury cruise on the Yangtze River
(Note: The Yangtze River will be flooded by 2009 so we will be seeing things
for the last time! The 3 Rivers Gorge Dam will flood this entire area.)
May 20 Cruising the Yangtze River
May 21 We complete the cruise and head to Yichang and then on to Shanghai
(Hope to meet up with Ed Riley in Shanghai!)
May 22 Tours of Shanghai
May 23 Exploring Shanghai
May 24 Complete Shanghai touring and then fly to Xian, China
May 25 Xian Touring
May 26 Exploring Xian
May 27 Complete Xian - then fly to Beijing (formerly Peking)
May 28 Beijing Touring
May 29 Exploring Beijing - but most importantly . . . . . . .
It's my Birthday Celebration in China (let's see . . . 28 for the 33rd time?)
May 30 The China Tour ends - Tim heads back to US - I head to India via Bangkok
May 31 I have a private organized tour of Delhi with R Crusoe Tours
June 1 Exploring Delhi, India
June 2 Complete Delhi Tours - head to Agra, India for tour of Taj Mahal then back
to Delhi for overnight flight to Germany enroute to South Africa (this is going
to be a LONG day!)
June 3 A traveling day - Delhi to Frankfort, Germany, then on to Cape Town
June 4 Arrive early am in Cape Town, South Africa - I may be sleeping this day!
June 5 Exploring Cape Town, South Africa - want to visit prison where Mandela was
June 6 Exploring Cape Town, South Africa
June 7 Leave late evening for overnight from Cape Town for London Heathrow
June 8 Leave London to head back to the United States - Heading Home
June 8 Arrive at Dulles Airport in Washington, DC - Staying in Fredericksburg,
VA with my son, Chris
June 9 Heading down to Richmond, Virginia to visit Mom and Dad
June 10 The journey comes to an end - leave Washington in late afternoon for hom
June 10 Arrive back in Ft Lauderdale around 8 pm - my Dream will have come True!
June 11 Rest!
