Around the world in 245 days!

Heheh… not in 80 days but 3 times as long. Can you even start to imagine the amount of laundry you’d have to do to keep from smelling like the durian fruit? Happy New Year!

Can you stomach being aboard a cruise ship for almost a year? Well, if you have say £67,000 to spare (and that is per person), then this one’s surely one to put on your list… 113 ports in 59 countries. Now if you were looking for some way to increase your ‘how many countries I’ve travelled to’ count, surely this will bump up the score.

If this article (here) pricks your interest, well start saving or borrowing and make your booking. You still have some time…

It has been more than 13 years since we last set foot on a cruise ship – and the small yachts that we’ve been do not count. Eight months is a very long time. Might not be a cruise a single traveller will consider we think, but who knows? Well the comment at the start of the post about laundry wasn’t really a joke. Because the logistics of rotating clothing will be but one of the challenges. Unless one intends to buy and keep changing the OOTD, every day!

But hey!

We’re talking about a grand adventure where more than 50 countries will be touched. Sure is cost a small fortune, but it’s YOLO ain’t it?

PS: alternatively one can seek a job aboard the cruise… perhaps one cannot get off at all ports, but at least a stab at half of them?

The Long Journey Q1-18

Just a week back, we welcomed the new year. Today though, we are sharing with you our first newsletter issue for 2018. This is also the tenth and final year in which we will be issuing this quarterly newsletter.

Yes!

It has been almost a decade, and the fourth issue in October this year will mark our 40th newsletter. Wow. And to think it all started because one of you suggested that we ought to bring to life our travels from a time before blogging became the popular platform and IG an obsession for many. Cannot imagine having started this all these years ago and still having some of you as our faithful readers. Many thanks for your support.

So what has been happening recently?

For one thing we’ve survived. The desert that is. Phew! And we have been awed. It was definitely not a journey that we regret and when our journalogs are published you will surely understand. We are talking about our just concluded journey to Jordan and Israel.

Well we hope you had a wonderful December break too and are freshly rested for the start of yet another exciting year. Here’s our latest issue : The Long Journey Q1-2018. Time to get the engines started again as we roll back into a 9-5 mode.

Let’s all make it a good start to the year!

How to get to Petra

You know the privilege of having regular business travel is that you can combine leisure with it – “bleisure”. A number of posts back, we mentioned about budget planning for 2017. Well, that is serious business when it comes to mapping out where next to place our handprints. Viably and economically.

So it is with ticking one more bucket list item : touching Petra.

We believe that we shall have an opportunity to fly to Zurich in May next year. With the airmiles on hand, Mel will be redeeming a return ticket for Suan. Guess where we can fly to from Zurich? Tel Aviv of course! Now the trick is to make the right arrangements to get across the border and into Jordan – from Israel.

From tripadvisor, numerous folks shared how it can be done – Tel Aviv (or Jerusalem) through the border and towards Wadi Musa. We are now looking at Abraham tours and a few others and they all seem to be making their way via Amman southwards. At a cost of NIS 1,860pp for 3D/2N, this seems fair enough for staying in a beduoin ‘camp’.

Fortunately there are twice daily flights from Zurich to Tel Aviv. Good hotels aren’t that cheap in Israel and we are likely to stay 2 nights (one in and one out). Might as well use that time to see Jerusalem. From Megan’s blog, we have gleaned a considerable amount of “intelligence” on both places even as she made her journey across both countries (well she’s a globetrotting vet who has apparently just returned from Egypt).

Next step, work out the budget and intinerary plan. Petra, here we come!

Perched over the edge

Now this is a real heart stopper! A number of weeks back, we read of tourists perching over a valley 1,300 feet high. About the only comfort you will have is that the glass panels are solid and able to take much more than your weight. And hopefully the titanium is as strong as they say it is.

Only 40+ km from Beijing, this glass bottomed platform is said to be larger than the one at the west rim of the Grand canyon. Just found another item to add to the bucket list when we are next in Beijing!