See ya India!

India. Out. Why? Visas. I hate visas. They have become the bane of my existence. I hate having to apply for visas, because on a trip like this, I feel like the itinerary will be pretty fluid. And applying for visas ruins that fluidity. Even though I really want to go to India, it just seems like it can not happen! Why? Here's why:

April 1-7 Buenos Aires: learn spanish, eat steak, get used to living in a foreign country

April 8-11 Iguazu Falls (UWHS): travel to, explore, travel back to BA

April 10-15 Travel to and explore Peninsula Valdes (UWHS)

April 16-22 Travel to Bariloche

April 23-30 Travel into Chile, Up to Santiago

May 1-May 5 Easter Island!

May 6 - May 14 Mendoza and start travelling up towards Jujuy, possibly via coastal Chile

May 15 - May 22 Travel from Jujuy through Bolivia to Lake Titicaca (hehe!)

May 23 - May 31 Travel to Cuzco/Macchu Picchu

June 1 - June 8 Manu/Peruvian Rainforest

June 9-June 13 Up Peruvian Coast/Nazca Lines/Lima

June 14 - July 12 South Africa, world cup, safaris, johannesburg, cape town, etc.

July 13 - August 1? Tanzania, Kilimanjaro, Serengeti, safari?, Lake Victoria?

August 2-August 24 Egypt

August 25 - September 7, India?

Wait... what? two weeks? I know, right?

So visas for India are good 6 months from the day they are issued and you have to get them in your home country. Also, there's some weird rule about showing proof of address. So conceivably, I could get a visa on say, March 25 which would be good until September 25. Which would give me a solid month to explore, but realistically, I don't want to wait that long. March 7 seems like the latest date when I'd feel comfortable getting it... so some other time India. And goodbye BRIC countries, as my uncle Peter might say.

Anyways, whatever am I going to do with myself? Let's add cambodia and vietnam to the list. And tack on a few extra weeks in thailand and indonesia or maybe tack on Malaysia! And a month or two in Australia could round it out nicely.

Sorry for the lack of links and pictures, but I gotta go to sleep.

p.s. UWHS = UNESCO World Heritage Site

Adios Brazil!

Why would I get rid of Brazil? "It's fucking Brazil, man. You're crazy."

Mainly, size. It's a huge fuckin country. So many places to go. So many things to do. And they're all so far apart. Distance means money. And time. And while it seems like I may have a bunch of time on my hands. I only have like three weeks to a month for Brazil. I think ideally I'd like to spend longer there. And then there's the whole getting a visa thing before you go, which is a huge turn off for me right now. And the clincher? Portuguese. I was trying to learn it briefly. Learning that and Spanish is hard. Some day Brazil, I'll see what you have to offer.

So now, i'm gonna spend more time in Argentina. Go to Chile and Easter Island work my way up to Peru and continue on from there....

Tentative Itinerary!

So, I know there's a billion of you reading this and you're all dying to know where I'm thinking about going, so here's a picture:

I know that's not quite coming out right, so for more detail you can go to this site and put in this code as the itinerary reference number: b304-d229-901f-4c44

Click on Next, and you'll see it's coming out to 7,400 USD. Whoa... More than I was thinking, but it'll be worth it, I think.

But basically, the plan is this:

Fly to Rio

Bus/Fly/Train around South America (Brazil, Argentina, Chile/Bolivia, Peru, Macchu Picchu!)

Fly to South Africa (World Cup! Safari!)

Fly to Tanzania (Kilimanjaro! Safari!)

Fly to Cairo (Pyramids! Sphinx! Fight Dragons!)

Fly to Mumbai (Taj Mahal! Curry!)

Fly to Bangkok (Beaches! Elephants! Possibly Bus over to Cambodia for the Angkor Wat!)

Fly to Indonesia (Beaches? Bali?)

Fly to Australia (Outback! Uluru! Kangaroos! Great Barrier Reef! Koalas! Mick Dundee!)

Fly to New Zealand (!!!!!!)

Fly to Fiji (Bottled water!)

Wanna join me?