A brief update on my itinerary...
Yes, it's been AGES since I posted.
Yes, that makes me a bad person.
Yes, I'm cross-posting a facebook post because I'm rushed for time. Sorry. There will be more soon. (In more recent news, I just got word, as I was typing this, that my Mongolian visa has been OK'd... Hooray!)
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I've been getting piles and PILES of people asking where I'm going, how long I'm gone for, etc. etc. etc. over the last few weeks... I hardly mind explaining my travel plans to people, but after the 30th or 40th time, it gets a bit old... SO... Here's what I'm doing, where I'm going, and all that... You can keep track of my on my blog and webpage if you're so inclined...
As most of you know, I was laid off from the Times Colonist at the end of February, 2007. Not having much of a freelance editorial market in Victoria, I figured now would be a GREAT time to take off and visit some places and do some work that I've always wanted to. Chernobyl seemed like a good idea, and I've always been quite curious about the area and it's stories) ... After getting myself vaguely set-up to visit the worlds only urban nuclear disaster area, I figured a brief jaunt up to Russia would be in order... From there I got hooked on the idea of taking the Trans-Siberian (Technically Trans-Manchurian in my case) Railroad across the continent, and ending up in Mongolia for a month, before progressing on to China... After that, and seeing as I'd be in "that corner of the world" I figured a stint down to Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand would be in order too. Laos is supposed to be nice that time of year as well...
After South Asia, I've got two options:
a) If I'm utterly travel-weary and exhausted, I'll head home.
b) If I'm having a blast and not burned out, I'll keep heading south.
If I take option A, I plan on hitching a ride on a freighter over to Vancouver... if I choose option B then I expect I'll head down through the Indies, into Australia, then New Zealand, then catch a freighter from THERE over to Punta Arenas or somewhere near the south end of South America, and work my way back north from there... If I can find a way to go anywhere NEAR Antarctica at the same time, I'd love to do that too. We'll see...
I've got a very rough travel itinerary that gets me as far as Thailand so far. The dates are as follows:
June 1: Fly Vancouver --> London England. Get put up by exceedingly generous friends, try and network a bit, and visit some old friends.
June 8-ish: Train to Budapest via Paris. Spend some time in Budapest visiting my nephew (who is also generously putting me up)
June 16: Kiev. Spend 3 1/2 weeks in Kiev and Chernobyl doing documentary work around the old reactor and the surrounding area.
July 7: Leave for St. Petersburg. Most "tourist" stuff here, though I hope to find some interesting stuff to shoot as well.
July 14: Moscow. A few tidbits of remaining doc. work on Chernobyl. There are some cemeteries and memorials I want to visit, and one survivor in particular I want to try and track down.
July 21-ish: Trans-siberian express to Irkutsk. Possible stop in Yeketarinburg. End up in Irkutsk.
August 4: Enter Mongolia. 1 month based in / around Ulan Bataar. Hope to get out into the Gobi for a bit just to check it out. May try for a train-trip to Uliastay. We'll see.
September 1: China. Have a dual-entry visa. Expect to only stay a month, and want to hit Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and (somehow) see the Three Gorges dam as well.
September 29-ish: Vietnam: No plans beyond staying a month. Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are both (obviously) on the list.
Late October: Cambodia. Ditto to Thailand re: no specific plans. Will see what haapens.
November: Thailand or Laos.
Things get awfully fuzzy from here on in. I'm not about to try and plan things beyond 6 months out. I'm QUITE confident in my own ability to find trouble / end up in the middle of a civil war / get arrested / whatever.
So. There you have it. That's where I'll be. If anyone feels like joining up with me along the way, feel free to drop me a line (nic@nichume.com, or facebook, are the best ways to reach me these days. Obviously my cell phone and land-lines are NOT the best ways to reach me.)
