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Edinburgh to New Zealand overland (and sea) - request for advice (longish)...
Hi,
My partner and I are planning a trip from Edinburgh to Wellington overland (and sea). We're aiming to travel by train from Edinburgh to Berlin to Moscow to Irkutsk to Beijing to Hong Kong. From there it looks like it will get a little more chaotic, but we're aiming to get to Hanoi, then Saigon, then Phnom Penh by bus. We'll try to get to Siemreap for a day or so to see Angkor Wat, then onwards to the Thai border. From there, train to Bangkok, then Kuala Lumpar, then Singapore. Our schedule (as it stands at the moment) is: Thursday 24th Jan - Depart Edinburgh for Berlin (GNER, Eurostar and German Railways sleeper) Saturday 26th Jan - Depart Berlin for Moscow (Moskva Express) Tuesday 29th Jan - Depart Moscow for Irkutsk (Number 10 'Baikal') Tuesday 5th Feb - Depart Irkutsk for Beijing (Number 20 'Vostok') Sunday 10th Feb - Depart Beijing for Hong Kong (T97) Friday 15th Feb - Depart Hong Kong for Hanoi (train and bus) From here it gets a little more chaotic, and travel may have to be booked as we arrive...: Sunday 17th Feb - Depart Hanoi for Saigon (train) Wednesday 20th Feb - Depart Saigon for Phnom Penh (bus) Thursday 21st Feb - Depart Phnom Penh for Siemreap (bus or boat) Saturday 23rd Feb - Depart Siemreap for Bangkok (taxi/bus and train) Tuesday 26th Feb - Depart Bangkok for Kuala Lumpar (Train 35, Train7) Thursday 28th Feb - Depart Kuala Lumpar for Singapore (Train 5 or Train 1) Sunday 2nd March - Depart Singapore for Brisbane (MV Theodor Storm) We've then got about 10 days in Australia before we get on a cruise ship from Sydney to Auckland. Most of the information we've had so far has come from seat61.com. So, can anyone offer any pearls of wisdom? In particular, I'd like to hear about the rigours of travelling across Russia and China in February, and any info about the level of clothing we'll need would be invaluable (we should be able to post some back from HK, so we're planning on getting down jackets that will pack to nothing). Also, any insights at all into the SE Asian legs would be great - it seems to be much more difficult to find out information ahead of time, and we will necessarily be on a reasonably tight timetable. I hope I've built in enough leeway to get to Singapore before our ship leaves - I'd love to take several months doing this trip, but we can only take so much time off. In fact, any advice or observations at all will be warmly received! Thanks in advance - Adam... |
#2
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Edinburgh to New Zealand overland (and sea) - request for advice (longish)...
Why don't you simply fly between London and Hong Kong? Not sure if it's
a good idea to travel overland in Russia and Siberia in February. Also, you would have more time for the Asian sights. -- Alfred Molon http://www.molon.de - Photos of Asia, Africa and Europe |
#3
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Edinburgh to New Zealand overland (and sea) - request for advice (longish)...
"Alfred Molon" wrote Not sure if it's a good idea to travel overland in Russia and Siberia in February. No it isn't- take it from one who's done it!- www.TruckDrivingInRussia.co.uk However, it *is* "adventure"! -- Regards, Vince. International Trucking Photographs- - http://200476.aceboard.net/ |
#4
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Edinburgh to New Zealand overland (and sea) - request for advice (longish)...
"Alfred Molon" skrev i meddelandet ... Why don't you simply fly between London and Hong Kong? Not sure if it's a good idea to travel overland in Russia and Siberia in February. Also, you would have more time for the Asian sights. Well some people understand the adventure and experience of travelling overland while others don't..... why don't you fly... or why don't you just stay at home and watch the tv ? |
#5
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Edinburgh to New Zealand overland (and sea) - request for advice (longish)...
On Aug 9, 3:35 pm, "Lennart Petersen"
wrote: "Alfred Molon" skrev i pernews.com... Why don't you simply fly between London and Hong Kong? Not sure if it's a good idea to travel overland in Russia and Siberia in February. Also, you would have more time for the Asian sights. Well some people understand the adventure and experience of travelling overland while others don't..... why don't you fly... or why don't you just stay at home and watch the tv ? Overland travel can be great, but the OP should make sure that he knows what he's getting into. The schedule he has planned would have him on the move almost constantly, mostly in countries where transport is very slow and often unpleasant, with very few days to actually see any of the places he's passing through, and then there's the issue of winter in Berlin, Russia and Beijing. |
#6
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Edinburgh to New Zealand overland (and sea) - request for advice (longish)...
"Iceman" skrev i meddelandet ups.com... On Aug 9, 3:35 pm, "Lennart Petersen" wrote: "Alfred Molon" skrev i pernews.com... Why don't you simply fly between London and Hong Kong? Not sure if it's a good idea to travel overland in Russia and Siberia in February. Also, you would have more time for the Asian sights. Well some people understand the adventure and experience of travelling overland while others don't..... why don't you fly... or why don't you just stay at home and watch the tv ? Overland travel can be great, but the OP should make sure that he knows what he's getting into. The schedule he has planned would have him on the move almost constantly, mostly in countries where transport is very slow and often unpleasant, with very few days to actually see any of the places he's passing through, and then there's the issue of winter in Berlin, Russia and Beijing. But actually I don't think that part of the journey is exceptional, it's cold in the winter but I've travelled the Transsiberian railway and those trains are quite comfortable. The most adventurous as I can see is from Saigon over Cambodia to the Thai border. Roads are real bad and you can't expect much of Western standard alongside the route , except for Phnom Penh. The rest down to Singapore is not much of a problem. However that's a challenge... |
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Edinburgh to New Zealand overland (and sea) - request for advice (longish)...
On 9 Aug, 21:25, Iceman wrote:
-8- snip-8- Overland travel can be great, but the OP should make sure that he knows what he's getting into. The schedule he has planned would have him on the move almost constantly, mostly in countries where transport is very slow and often unpleasant, with very few days to actually see any of the places he's passing through, and then there's the issue of winter in Berlin, Russia and Beijing. Thanks for the thoughts, Iceman. I don't actually think that will be the most difficult part, with the exception of having to take enough clothing to be comfortable in temperatures down to -40. The legs to Beijing can be planned in some depth and pre-booked; our stops are to break up the journey and to get a flavour but the central object is to make the journey to NZ without a plane. I don't anticipate too many problems with the transport - all of the train services are apparently pretty reliable and the time in Irkutsk is determined by the timetables of the trains we want to catch. We may take a day or two more to get to Moscow (although, again, very reliable train services take us there) and I'm seriously considering leaving 1 week earlier now to give us more leeway in SE Asia. Cheers - Adam. |
#8
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Edinburgh to New Zealand overland (and sea) - request for advice (longish)...
In article , Lennart Petersen
says... But actually I don't think that part of the journey is exceptional, it's cold in the winter but I've travelled the Transsiberian railway and those trains are quite comfortable. The most adventurous as I can see is from Saigon over Cambodia to the Thai border. Roads are real bad and you can't expect much of Western standard alongside the route , except for Phnom Penh. That's actually a kindergarten trip (in Cambodia). It used to be fun in September 2000, during the rainy season, when the road was a mud track with holes big enough to swallow a truck: http://www.molon.de/galleries/Cambodia/BKKtoSiemReap/ http://www.molon.de/galleries/Cambodia/SiemReaptoBKK/ I'm afraid that by now the road from Siem Reap to Poipet has been paved and in any case February-March will be the dry season in Cambodia. -- Alfred Molon http://www.molon.de - Photos of Asia, Africa and Europe |
#9
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Edinburgh to New Zealand overland (and sea) - request for advice (longish)...
In article om,
says... but the central object is to make the journey to NZ without a plane. Are you afraid of flying? -- Alfred Molon http://www.molon.de - Photos of Asia, Africa and Europe |
#10
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Edinburgh to New Zealand overland (and sea) - request for advice (longish)...
On 9 Aug, 21:51, "Lennart Petersen"
wrote: "Iceman" skrev i meddelandetnews:1186691157.175908.234670@e9g2000pr f.googlegroups.com... On Aug 9, 3:35 pm, "Lennart Petersen" wrote: "Alfred Molon" skrev i pernews.com... Why don't you simply fly between London and Hong Kong? Not sure if it's a good idea to travel overland in Russia and Siberia in February. Also, you would have more time for the Asian sights. Well some people understand the adventure and experience of travelling overland while others don't..... why don't you fly... or why don't you just stay at home and watch the tv ? Overland travel can be great, but the OP should make sure that he knows what he's getting into. The schedule he has planned would have him on the move almost constantly, mostly in countries where transport is very slow and often unpleasant, with very few days to actually see any of the places he's passing through, and then there's the issue of winter in Berlin, Russia and Beijing. But actually I don't think that part of the journey is exceptional, it's cold in the winter but I've travelled the Transsiberian railway and those trains are quite comfortable. The most adventurous as I can see is from Saigon over Cambodia to the Thai border. Roads are real bad and you can't expect much of Western standard alongside the route , except for Phnom Penh. The rest down to Singapore is not much of a problem. However that's a challenge... That's the bit that worries me most, too. As I mentioned above, I'm seriously considering moving the trans-Manchurian portion ahead by one week - as it stands at the moment we we only have about four spare days built in for delays - although we could leave HK a day or two earlier - and I appreciate how exciting and unpredictable bus travel can be in SE Asia (nhad my heart in my mouth a few times on bus journeys in Thailand and Indonesia)! The other biggest area of doubt is how easy the border crossing into Vietnam and the subsequent journey to Saigon will be and how close to our timetable we can keep. Thanks - Adam Cheney |
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