Travelling....Around the World (1 Viewer)

mserica

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Well as some of you know im taking 4-5 months off work next year (and uni) and travelling around the world!! I know its probably not the right thread and that it should be in the Travel thread however I know some of you have done some overseas stints and would like your feedback on where to go, what to visit and the tourist things that just arent worth it!!!

Im going for around 4-5 months (and I wont do contiki, as i cant stand having a schedule on a holiday)

Would be great to hear your thoughts!

Thanks
 
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xeuyrawp

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mserica said:
Well as some of you know im taking 4-5 months off work next year (and uni) and travelling around the world!! I know its probably not the right thread and that it should be in the Travel thread however I know some of you have done some overseas stints and would like your feedback on where to go, what to visit and the tourist things that just arent worth it!!!

Im going for around 4-5 months (and I wont do contiki, as i cant stand having a schedule on a holiday)

Would be great to hear your thoughts!

Thanks
In order of expense, you've really got these main arcs:

Middle East/North Africa,
Asia,
South America,
Southern Africa,
North America,
Europe.

If I had 5 months, I'd fly to Turkey, spend about 2 months in the Middle East -- Turkey/Syria/Jordan/Palestine/Saudi/Iran/etc. Then I'd go west and spend at least two months in northern Africa -- Egypt, Sudan, Morocco, Tunisia, (down to Ethiopia), and then across Islamic Spain. From there I'd go to Eastern Europe -- France, Germany, England.

If you were very frugal, you could do that with about $15-20k. Personally, 5 months would be too long for me. I could do all of that in 3 months, $10k, and be a very happy camper.
 

mserica

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PwarYuex said:
If you were very frugal, you could do that with about $15-20k. Personally, 5 months would be too long for me. I could do all of that in 3 months, $10k, and be a very happy camper.

Okay well i've allocated 45k for me and my partner... As i havent looked into it with detail just yet, but im assuming that I've allocated enough to enjoy our trip??
 

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Whoaaa 45k.. I guess I contributed $80 to that bwahahahha

Thailand was a pretty awesome experience for me.. You'd find tourist attractions everywhere, especially with the peep shows.. and you'd find huge condom shops too.. you'd get to try ride banana boats, play with jet skis, hang from a parachute dragged by a jetski.. I went to some zoo and got to feed a baby tiger milk whilst it was on my lap.. and you gotta try the pineapples there.. *drools*

Or you could try a thai style massage lol but you might break your back.. idk, it was something different I guess..
 
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Going off Rob's list here.

Middle East/North Africa
Have never been, but would love to go to Turkey... I'm a bit scared to go to 'the middle east but I think Turkey will be ok, plus it's so exotic!

Asia/Oceania

Malaysia:I have family over there. It's probably nice when you think about the hotels, often right next to the beach. The exchange rate is VERY nice for us, so it'd probably be pretty cheap too. Be prepared for a bit of a culture shock though - it can be very crowded! Fun things are going out to dinner in the marketplaces - for some reason it's like no-one ever cooks, so everyone goes out to one of the food places for breakfast/lunch/dinner. It's quite cheap and there's a great variety of food :) Beware of the 'western diner' type places though... my brother got a 'breakfast' meal once and we laughed so hard over it as almost everything was so processed, it looked like it was made out of plastic! haha! Hmm what else... oh yeah. Illegal cd's and dvd's galore :p I've never seen a legitimate CD store over there, apparently malaysia is the worst in the world for cd piracy? lol.

Singapore: Very similar to the above but a bit more cosmopolitan, and a heck of a lot smaller :p A lot of the hotels are build RIGHT on top of shopping centres, WHICH ONLY OPEN AROUND 10-11pm!! haha. They have a whole different body clock system over there - after work, *everyone* goes out for dinner and partying etc, so they go to bed later and wake up later too. Some nice places to go is Little India - great place for indian food obviously, as well as some nice temples. Arab St is fantastic if you're into fabrics - they have WONDERFUL silks, and even heavily embroidered/sequinned/beaded fabrics for good prices. They also have a pretty cool Animal Safari Zoo thing - can't remember the name, but you hop on a train thing and go around at night time... it's fun and cool!

New Zealand: My bro and I call this place Postcard-Land, because literally everywhere you look it's so perfect you could take a photo and it's like a postcard (duh). I never actually went to Auckland (which is apparently the 'Sydney' of NZ) but we went skiiing, climbed the Franz Josef glacier (fun! And you get a certificate!) and went on BUGGY RIDES!!! they're like mini 4WD's and you go on this 3-hour track. If you go to NZ, you MUST try this! I think they have some good horseriding too :) And they make the best hot chocolate!

New Caledonia: it's pretty close to Australia but still a island escape that doesn't speak english (they speak french). It's cute and the snorkeling is fun (I remember sitting down on the sand under the water, and all these angelfish came over and started circling me - weird but cute!), and there are cool nicknacks you can buy from the markets - I got this gorgeous silk sarong for $20 AUS or something like that. Only the food can get you down after the 5th day - it's very 'french' and almost everything has cream in it, gets a bit much after a while :/

South America
I would LOVE to visit Brazil one day!!!! Both for architecture and the big parties - Carnivale!!!!.

Southern Africa
Never been

North America

Canada: I can't remember much about this place, other than Niagra falls is massive, Canadian people all seem really tall, and we bought heaps and heaps of maple syrup. Kayaking is pretty big over there I think, if you're into it.

New York: I also can't remember much about this place as I went there when I was young :/ Shopping is fantastic though, and if you're like me, try to touch the traffic lights from the top level of a double-decker bus :p FAO Swartz used to be here (massive toy shop), but not sure if it still is...

Anaheim: DISNEYLAND! DISNEYLAND! DISNEYLAND! DISNEYLAND! A bit overrated with queues that even put Mac Queue to shame, but you can't go to this place and not go to disneyland. We went there for Halloween and everyone dressed up. They also changed some of the rides to reflect the holiday - the river ride thingo had 101 dalmations hidden all along the track, etc.

Los Angeles/Las Vegas: they seem so similar I'm going to group them together. One of the things I remember is going to Caesar's Palace - WOW! Massive. Incredible. I don't know whether I'm mixing it up with somewhere else, but there's a massive boat in it, and I think they have a mermaid show too? And I think these were the guys to have Celine Dion perform every night as well :) Another place to go in LA is Rodeo Drive, and Universal Studios.

Europe

Rome: Go to pompeii. Partake of the pizza. Both are divine! Esp with the latter, you'll never want to eat pizza hut again. Be careful of gypsies though - we had our passports stolen (mum was paranoid and took them out with us in her bag) on the train. Plus they're not nice like we are in australia, so no-one warned us about what was happening or anything like that... other place to go: Spanish steps (don't shop there, but gaze in awe at Versace, Valentino... all the big brands), and the other main tourist attractions like the Treveli Fountain, the Colosseum (and basically any kind of architecture you come across - Rome is BEAUTIFUL). Shopping is also great - even their cheaper stores still seem so stylish. Italians are the best designers, full stop! Oh and keep an eye on the skies just after sundown - when we were there every late afternoon the birds would fly in beautiful patterns in the sky for what seemed like no reason at all. It was breathtaking.

Paris: I was pretty disappointed with Paris. We did the eiffel towel, had our croissants, went to The Concierge where Marie Antoinette and many of the prisoners of the Revolution were held. But I didn't get that huge 'rush' of "WOW, Paris!". Maybe I went to the wrong places though. The exception to all this is of course, the Louvre. It's way bigger than I thought it would be, and the Mona Lisa almost seems depressingly small (and even though there's a sign saying 'no photos', there's an endless round of flashes from cameras).

Great Britain: outside of London, Stonehenge is a must-see. I know it's essentially just rocks, but it's actually really fascinating - they give you these little walkie-talkie type things, and when you reach a certain point you press in a certain number and it rattles off this history spiel. The town of Bath is also pretty cool - the big roman baths are massive and it's all very interesting if you're into history, as is the Bronte House. In London, Selfridges! (even if only to look) Trafalgar Square used to rock with the pidgeon thing and the birdseed stalls but alas some pompous politician with no sense of fun has made selling birdseed there illegal, and thus it's no fun anymore :( Hamley's is also fun to go - 5 levels of toys! I got my fluro pink piggie from there, it walks and oinks, I LOVE IT! I suppose watching the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham palace is one of those must-do's as well, if a little boring :/ What else... Tower of London, the big churches?

Edinburgh, Scotland: We visited that big castle where Queen Mary lived. Reall cool, and they had the cool little walkie-talkie thing too. I picked up a fascination for finding out more about Queen Mary while I was here. It was a beautiful, beautiful place.

Dublin, Ireland: rofl one of the funniest places I've ever been to. There is guiness EVERYWHERE. On the footpaths, in between fence gaps. Irish people also seem to be very funny and tell great jokes! They make great fish and chips too... mmm! I remember either going to Trinity College, or the museum part of it where you can look at the Book of Kells and find out more about the whole scribing thing, and that was pretty cool. I remember finding it hard to find a non-smoking place to eat though :/
 
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redruM

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glitterfairy said:
South America
I've never been, but I would LOVE to visit Spain and Brazil one day!!!! Both for architecture and the big parties (especially in Brazil - Carnivale!!!!).
 
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Geography? What's that? :p

will fix up earlier post now - thank you redrum! (just remembering now, spain is part of europe, isn't it? And it's mexico - not spain - that's in south america?
 

redruM

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glitterfairy said:
Geography? What's that? :p

will fix up earlier post now - thank you redrum! (just remembering now, spain is part of europe, isn't it? And it's mexico - not spain - that's in south america?
I'm sure Mexico is classified under North America.

Spain is sexy and, thus, in Europe.
 

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go to Europe!!!!! Tis awesome

and if you want a cheap way to travel around but not be fixed to a schedule - and also meet new people - i was told Busabout is good....its kinda like contiki but you chose which bus u want to be on, how long you want to stay etc...and you meet lots of people to party with! But I did a Contiki when I went - I had my doubts for the same reasons but figured that they were going to the same places i wanted to go to and I wouldnt have spent much more time at the places they took me (except maybe in Germanic Countries - but Im biased - ive studied german for 6odd years and lived in germany for a few months) - and I got to meet heaps of new people who I stay in touch with still! Each unto their own though

and Pwar Yuex "From there I'd go to Eastern Europe -- France, Germany, England" Are you saying they are Eastern Europe or youd do Eastern Europe then go to those countries? Because they are about as far west as you can go!
 

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pb is going on a trip too ( i think hers is europe mainly tho)

i would love to go once i graduate probably cant afford it though. I only beng overseas once and that was singapore i havent even gone to my native country ever. I probably lean towards going canada and america. Not sure where else i would want to go.
 

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Places I'd love to go: France, Denmark, England, Italy, Canada, NZ, Egypt.

I would love to go to the art galleries in Europe. Dear god. I would probably faint with happiness. <3.

I would definitely go to Lipari (an island off Sicily) because thats where my nan is from. they have a cute little house there (which her family built before coming to Australia) and apparently some sheep! lol. The cool thing is that Ancient Greeks such as Thucydides mention lipari (known as Lipara back then) and describes a fair bit of its history (the inhabitants were enslaved several times by Romans and Greeks, and it was also an important trade centre :) ) *Sigh*, this thread is making me wanting to go on a holiday, but no such thing will be happening this year!!

Personally, i wouldnt want to step foot in the United States. My brother and Dad went there and they said that LA sucked (and smelled). Its inhabitants were all obsessed with TV and Oprah. Apparently, the only cool bits were New Orlands and other Jazz centres. I wouldn't mind going to Canada, and (especially after reading Annes Threads) Mexico would probably be cool too.
 

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You will have plenty of time overseas so my advice is to spend some of that away from the tourist thing if you can. As amazing as it is to walk around the big cities and see the tourist sites, it's even more amazing to get away from it all and go to quieter areas.

Are you thinking about seeing a little of everything or a spending more time in some places?
 
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xeuyrawp

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I suppose the main thing I'll add is that I'd never want to go anywhere boring. North America, New Zealand, and I suppose the UK to an extent, are too much like home. At least the UK is in Europe. And considering you can catch trains from London to Hong Kong, and can drive from Hong Kong to South Africa, Eurasia-Africa really would be an awesome place to be. :D

Lynn: The Middle East is not really dangerous if you know what you're doing. Going to a Starbucks in Tel Aviv, for example, is not going to work out for you. :p
 
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Japan/Korea: YOu have to go to these two places, and if you can, China. I havent been to all of them, but I must say Japan is the most awesome spot, and depending what time of the year you go, there are always festivals in different places for you to hit. I have never been, but really want to, to the Snow/Ice festival in Sapporo. It is in early feb, on the northern island. Massive ice sculptures and shitloads of snow everywhere. Also, home of good beer.
But the country as a whole, is awesome. You can get a ticket which allows cheap travle on the Major rail line around the country (JR trains). This must be bought in advance but and can be purchased fro several different time spans.
 

AsyLum

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PwarYuex said:
Lynn: The Middle East is not really dangerous if you know what you're doing. Going to a Starbucks in Tel Aviv, for example, is not going to work out for you. :p
Cos she's too short and won't be seen over the counter? :p
 
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shut up! shut up! I have brand new 11cm heels now (zomg, like the tallest heels I have EVER owned or worn in my whole entire life) and can now see like I have never seen before :p

This does of course, raise my height to the far more socially acceptable level of 161 cms. Which is still shorter than average, but not ridiculously shorter than average. It's a pity I can't wear them for too long though as they make my feet hurt :( but damn they look good!
 

joe07

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hey im joe yeh just read ur msg.yeh you should go to japan its a great place, friendly people, its clean, and you will love it. hope u can reply back
 

n00dl3~danc3r

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South Pacific also has tons of cool places to see. Samoa, Tonga, Figi are some of the cheapest places on the planet to stay. However, it may not include hot showers, beds, privacy, security etc.

If u have time to kill at the end, but no cash i can definately recommend swimming with whales etc in Tonga. A must see.
 

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