the side trips 2: south east asia

This is a picture of me in Saigon at New Year 2 years ago. On the menu, scorpions, some sort of local rodents and worms - mmmmm! I believe I stuck to the pork though I did try the giant snails on a later occasion. In fact, the food is really good there, with lots of salads and spicy barbecues.



The next phase will be in Thailand and Vietnam over Christmas and New Year, when I am hoping to meet up with Yasser, Ian and Mo, joining us from Singapore. We will be in Jomtien and Bangkok, then later Hanoi and Hoi An in Vietnam, where we are hoping to stay in the newly opened hotel the Nam Hai. We hope it will be ready in time - it's on a soft opening at reduced prices, but this is going to be quite special as Ian will be celebrating his 50th birthday.
When Ian and Yasser leave I am going to travel on to Saigon by rail and then I hope up the Mekong to Phnomh Penh in Cambodia.
I've stayed in Vietnam the last 2 years with Sean, who's amazingly friendly and good at showing people around.

the side trips 1: india and the himalayas

I'm starting to fill in the detail of the bits in between the main flights. I'm arriving in Delhi on 10 November and flying out over a month later, and the plan is to go to Nepal and Bhutan, where I have reserved a place on a trek with Himalayan Kingdoms, the experts in trips in those countries. The detailed itinerary is similar to this. Bhutan is not an easy place to get into as an independent traveller so it seems like a good idea to go on an organised trip - not to mention it's billed as a 'gentle trek' where they carry all your luggage for you and you stay in well appointed accommodation. I hope their idea of gentle is the same as mine!
Bhutan has always fascinated me. There's something about those remote little independent states, the flotsam and jetsam of nationhood, that I have always been attracted to. (Places like Andorra, San Marino, Liechtenstein also come to mind). There is also the sense that Bhutan is a Shangri-la that carefully protects itself from outside influence. I expect to see some amazing sights.
I do want on this trip to get to places I would never have the chance to visit ordinarily.
Other ideas when I am in India (map) are a trip to Jodhpur and Jaisalmer, in the far north west of Rajasthan. I have previously visited Udaipur and Jaipur, which were fascinating, but Jaisalmer in particular seems very remote and even has sand dune deserts nearby. Ian recommended this trip - and I would love to go around on the Indian rail system if that is possible. I had a limited experience of this (Mumbai to Pune) and it still seems to be one of the transport wonders of the world.
As I only have about 11 days before leaving for Kathmandu, and about 4 days after returning, I will have to be careful not to cram in too much. But I am also thinking about going to Goa for the few days after Kathmandu. I'll wait to arrange this until I am there, though, in case I decide to rest in Delhi after the trek.
Another idea would be Chandigarh, which is close to Delhi and famous for its le Corbusier architecture.

the trip

30 years is a long time to wait for a gap year. But why should kids get all the fun? Anyway, now seems just about the perfect time. I've been putting a little money aside, I've got no real commitments, the mortgage is paid off, and I'm not too old to enjoy it...

After 30 years continuous employment - exactly 30 years this week in fact - and five years at my current job, I decided to go for it.

Two weeks ago, I went out and bought the round the world ticket, and now I'm off on 10 November for six whole months of complete hedonism, and no doubt a few shaky moments too.

The slightly eccentric routing (thanks to the one world alliance options available) is:

London
Delhi
(with side trips to Nepal, Bhutan and Rajasthan)
Hong Kong
Bangkok

(ditto to Vietnam, Laos and maybe others)
Singapore
Bali
Sydney
Auckland
Santiago (Chile)
Rio de Janeiro
...and home

Here are some images of places I hope to visit, scenes I hope to see: http://www.picturetrail.com/k-e-i-t-h-m