Vietnam and Cambodia plans coming together

As you can guess I am still in "have a play around and see what the blog can do" stage. So let's test uploading pics and links...

 

Links of some of the places we are staying in South East Asia...

Vietnam
HCMC - Alcove Hotel -  http://www.alcovehotel.vn/
Mui Ne - Mia Resort - http://www.miamuine.com/index.php
Halong Bay - Annam Junk Boat - http://www.annamjunk.com/index.html

Cambodia
Siem Reap - Frangipani Hotel -  http://www.frangipanihotel.com/overview-siemreap-hotel.html

Thailand
Bangkok - Oriental Residence - http://www.mrandmrssmith.com/luxury-hotels/oriental-residence

Def goes down hill from here... Nat better prepare herself from the move from the Oriental Residence to a $20 guest house in Northern Thailand the day after!

The Itinerary and the open invitation

Thought I would share our itinerary with you all and for any of our nearest and dearest who can't bear the thought of not seeing us for 5 months, an open invitation to come and join us at any point on the journey - we'd absolutely love to see some familiar faces along the way*

The itinerary (subject to minor tweaks/changes)

Country	Destination	Nights	Arrive	Depart	Cumul. Days
South East Asia
Vietnam	Ho Chi Minh City	2	17/11/2013	19/11/2013	3
	Mui Ne	4	19/11/2013	23/11/2013	7
	Hanoi	2	23/11/2013	25/11/2013	9
	Halong Bay	1	25/11/2013	26/11/2013	10
Cambodia	Siem Reap	3	26/11/2013	29/11/2013	13
Thailand	Bangkok	3	29/11/2013	02/12/2013	16
	Chiang Mai	2	02/12/2013	04/12/2013	18
Laos	Huay Xai, Bokeo	1	04/12/2013	05/12/2013	19
	Pak Beng (boat)	1	05/12/2013	06/12/2013	20
	Luang Prabang	3	06/12/2013	09/12/2013	23
	Vang Vieng	3	09/12/2013	12/12/2013	26
	Vientiane	3	12/12/2013	15/12/2013	29
Thailand	Phuket	5	15/12/2013	20/12/2013	34
	Ko Phi-Phi	0	20/12/2013	20/12/2013	34
Malaysia	Kuala Lumpar	2	20/12/2013	22/12/2013	36
Singapore	Singapore	2	22/12/2013	24/12/2013	38
Indonesia	Bali	5	24/12/2013	29/12/2013	43
Australia	Sydney	4	29/12/2013	02/01/2014	47
New Zealand	Auckland	5	02/01/2014	07/01/2014	52
South America
Chile	Santiago	5	07/01/2014	12/01/2014	57
Bolivia	La Paz	2	12/01/2014	14/01/2014	59
	Lake Titicaka - Copacabana	2	14/01/2014	16/01/2014	61
	Lake Titicaka - Isla Del Sol	1	16/01/2014	17/01/2014	62
Peru	Lake Titicaka - Puno	2	17/01/2014	19/01/2014	64
	Cusco 1	2	19/01/2014	21/01/2014	66
	Inca Trail	1	21/01/2014	22/01/2014	67
	Cusco 2	1	22/01/2014	23/01/2014	68
	Lima	3	23/01/2014	26/01/2014	71
	Iquitos (for amazon)	5	26/01/2014	31/01/2014	76
Ecuador	Quito Canton	3	31/01/2014	03/02/2014	79
	Galapagos Islands	5	03/02/2014	08/02/2014	84
Colombia	Bogota	3	08/02/2014	11/02/2014	87
Brazil	Sao Paulo	4	11/02/2014	15/02/2014	91
	Belo Horizonte	6	15/02/2014	21/02/2014	97
	Salvador	6	21/02/2014	27/02/2014	103
	Rio	5	27/02/2014	04/03/2014	108
Argentina	Iguazu	2	04/03/2014	06/03/2014	110
Uruguay	Montevideo	2	06/03/2014	08/03/2014	110
Argentina	Buenos Aires	11	09/03/2014	20/03/2014	122
North America / Mexico
Mexico	Mexico City	4	20/03/2014	24/03/2014	126
	Tulum	4	24/03/2014	28/03/2014	130
US	New Orleans	3	28/03/2014	31/03/2014	133
	Houston	2	31/03/2014	02/04/2014	135
	San Antonio	1	02/04/2014	03/04/2014	136
	Tuscon	1	03/04/2014	04/04/2014	137
	San Diego	2	04/04/2014	06/04/2014	139
	Los Angeles	5	06/04/2014	11/04/2014	144

Target Return Date = 11th April 2014


* So far we have the following confirmed/pencilled in:
Vietnam/Cambodia - Caroline, Dave, Lynne
Rio/Iguazu Falls/Buenos Aires - Mum & Dad (Bean), Nige and Elaine

The build up begins...

Getting very excited now - only 77 days to go before we depart these shores for 5 months!

Key milestones that have already been reached:

1) We both have our leave of absence signed off (always a good start)
2) Itinerary pretty much locked down (will share in next post)
3) After 3 solid days of trawling the internet and trying to get the best prices, the main flights have been booked (15 out of the 24 planned flights) 
4) All hotels booked for the first part of the trip with Caroline, Dave and Lynne (Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand) including our stay on a junk boat in Halong Bay
5) Extortionate travel insurance purchased
6) Created a whopping great spreadsheet complete with conditional formatting and "what if" analysis (naturally)!

and last but not least....

7) Started a blog so our nearest and dearest can stay in touch!

Few interesting things I have learnt already

1) Whilst South East Asia to South America looks (relatively) close on a map of the world they are actually on other sides of the planet and very difficult to get directly from one to the other
2) Never accept the first price from a travel consultant depsite their promises that "this is the deal of the century and the best price you will get" - they can always do better
3) It's easier/cheaper to see the Amazon from Peru (Iquitos) than Brazil 
4) La Paz is the hood
5) I will need to remortgage the flat to stay in Sydney over New Year (luckily we have friends there)
6) The needle for the Yellow fever jab is pretty big
7) It's true what people say South East Asia. It is dirst cheap and great value. Can't go wrong with $20 per night for a place to stay.
8) The Lonely Planet "on a shoestring" books are the best guidebooks (if you are on a shoe string of course)
9) Out of the 21 countries we plan to visit only one of them requires a visa before arriving (Vietnam) (Or at least I hope this is the case!)
10) I have no idea whether an average of £35 per day for both of us is enough to live on (excluding hotels obviosuly)

Aaron