Planning 1

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13.06.10
I'm sat in Carcassone airport (in the South of France), waiting for my flight back to Liverpool. I spent the week-end at my parents' house and “announced” my semi-imminent round the world adventure. I was kind of expecting the Spanish inquisition but it didn't really happen. There was no real opposition to my plans. I have to admit that the way I presented it to them was more of a statement of facts than something that was up for some sort of debate. Still, my father only seemed to be worried about security and health (considering my choice of destinations, I have to let him off on that one). My mother (the one from whom I was expecting the big reaction) just said something along the lines of “Well, you're in your thirties now and you're old enough to make your own decisions.” Really? When did that happen?
So I'm off then? I mean, really? There's nobody trying to stop me? OK, bring it on then!

The last couple of weeks have been more or less dedicated to destination planning.
My birthday occurred in the middle of those, which handily provided me with a Lonely Planet Guide: South America on a Shoestring and a travel friendly Netbook, which I'm using just now and weighs in at 1.2kg and apparently has a 6 hours battery life (of which only 23% left at present, will that keep me going until I board the plane?) I spent my spare time at work reading up online about Central America and my spare time outside work reading the South America guide. So here is what I have come up with so far:
I think I will aim to leave early January 2011 and fly from the UK to Mexico City. From there I will go North, but not really to Northern Mexico, more like to the North of Mexico City. I have had a good look at the different tours organised (budget and not so budget) to give me an idea of what places there are to visit and somehow, Northern Mexico doesn't seem to be the chosen destination. So I am planning a 9 day tour to the North and the plan is as follows:
Arrive in Mexico city (afternoon arrival by the look of things) and spend the first night there, before heading for Morelia, 5 hours bus ride away, where I'd spend the afternoon, night and next morning visiting. On day 3, I'd head to Patzcuaro (1.5 hours) and stay there for one night. Only problem is the lack of hostel there, so I'm considering couch surfing if I can find a host. On day 4, I'd make my way to Guadalajara (5 hours bus ride) and stay there for night 4 and 5. Day 6 would take me to Guanajuato for another 2 nights, including a day trip to San Miguel de Allende (1h away) on day 7. Day 8, I would go to Santiago de Queretaro (2 hours 15) for my final northern night, before getting back to Mexico City on day 9 (3 hours).
I have looked into hostels and bus prices and I have found cheap hostels almost everywhere (around £6-7 a night including breakfast), whilst bus transport seems to cost about £3.25 per hour travel but also seem VERY slow. I'm aiming for about 3 hours on the bus per day on average and that does not take me very far at all.
After this little 9 days “Colonial Mexico” tour, I intend to spend a couple of days in Mexico City (maybe 3 if I do a day trip to Teotihuacan) before heading for the Mayan trail followed by Cancun and it's peninsula, soaking up some sun on the Gulf of Mexico's beaches. I think that should take about 2 weeks and here is the plan as it stands:
Day 12: Mexico City to Puebla (2 hours), night in Puebla
Day 13: Puebla to Oaxaca (4 hours), night in Oaxaca
Day 14-15: Oaxaca to Puerto Escondito (11 hours!), 2 nights in Puerto Escondito
Day 16-18: Puerto Escondito to San Cristobal de las Casas (approx 12 hours), with one night between the 2 and 2 nights in San Cristobal
Day 19: San Cristobal to Palenque (5 hours), night in Palenque
Day 20-21: Palenque to Campeche (5 hours), 2 nights in Campeche
Day 22: Campeche to Merida (2h30), night in Merida
Day 23-24: Merida to Cancun (4 hours), 2 nights it Cancun
Day 25: head to Belize.

Prices seem very similar to the Northern part, so if I'm really careful, I reckon I can get the first month done for about £600. I don't intend to do any snorkelling or diving or any special extra attractions and from having read about some of the destinations coming up later in the trip, I know this will come in handy to stay on budget overall.
Did I mention my budget already? My budget is as little as I can get away with as I reckon I'll run out of money before I run out of time. My budget also depends on how much I can save between now and January, but I'm hoping to get away with £1000 a month, although that does need to include flights. It's tight, I know, but at this stage, I'm just hoping it can be done.

After Mexico, I'll be heading for Belize and I'm only thinking of spending about 3 days there but I have not really looked into it at this stage. After Belize, comes Guatemala. I am really looking forward to that one, especially the lake and the £2.50 a night hostel by the lake. I think I'll have to have a bit of flexibility there, in case I like it and want to stay. Overall I think a couple of weeks for Guatemala and Belize should just about do the trick. I haven't exactly planned the route but have a list of places I'd like to go to and have had a look at hostels prices. Around the £5 or £6 mark seems to be the norm. I intend to finish planning that bit next week. That should hopefully take me to 5 weeks, maximum 6 into the journey.
That's about as far as I have planned so far for Central America. I had a quick look at Costa Rica and think that will need 10-15 days but the other countries don't seem to attract as much interest from what I have read so far. At that stage I'll probably need to get a move on anyway otherwise I'll never get to New Zealand!
The other thing I have decided / found out is that I'll have to get a boat from Panama to South America (Colombia) as there is no sensible way to cross by land. It would involve an 80 miles trek through the jungle, along a path only used by drug smugglers... I might be adventurous, but I'm not insane (yet).
Right, this battery malarkey isn't working out for me, so I'm going to have to go now!

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