First Round the World Trip

After working as an English teacher in Japan for two years, I'd saved enough money to buy the biggest purchase of my life so far: a Star Alliance round-the-world air ticket. One chilly winter afternoon in Manchester, Helen, Ursula and I spent about 4 hours booking the thing, trying to eek out every last mile allotted. On February 20th, 2001, we set off. First stop was Rio de Janeiro. From there, we made our way throughout South America, up to North America, over to China and SE Asia (where Scott joined me, and I went my separate way from Helen and Ursula). We then flew down to Australia where we lived in a hippie van affectionately named "Sunny", drove around New Zealand in a not-as-cute but far more reliable rental car, before jetting off to our last stop - India and Nepal. That gave us LOTS of stories to finish off our adventure!

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Trip Length: 17 months
Blog Entries: 30
Photos: 120
Words: 17171

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Blog Entries

Date	Blog Title	Location
February 24th 2001	First Stop, Rio De Janeiro	South America » Brazil » Rio de Janeiro » Rio de Janeiro » Ipanema
March 3rd 2001	Water Everywhere!	South America » Argentina » Misiones » Iguazú National Park
March 5th 2001	Bargain e-mail Cafe	South America » Argentina » Buenos Aires » Buenos Aires
March 12th 2001	Mad Dogs and English Women	South America » Chile » Los Lagos » Puerto Montt
March 16th 2001	Sea shame	South America » Chile » Aisén » San Rafael Glacier
March 23rd 2001	Climbing Volcan Villarrica.	South America » Chile » Araucanía » Villarrica Volcano
April 9th 2001	Atacama Desert and Crossing the Atiplano Salt plains	South America » Chile » Antofagasta Region » San Pedro de Atacama
April 15th 2001	Easter Bells	South America » Bolivia » La Paz Department » La Paz
April 23rd 2001	Strange Dreams and Incas	South America » Peru » Cusco » Cusco
April 26th 2001	To Wee or Not to Wee	South America » Peru » Arequipa
May 7th 2001	Red Hot Chilli Peppers	South America » Peru » Lima
May 13th 2001	Jungle Jane	South America » Ecuador » Centre » Baños
May 24th 2001	Going Loco.	North America » Mexico » Guerrero » Acapulco
July 4th 2001	'Luna' in the USA	North America » United States » California » San Francisco
July 15th 2001	Maple Madness!	North America » Canada » British Columbia » Vancouver » Stanley Park
August 22nd 2001	Near Death Experience in China	Asia » China » Beijing » Great Wall of China
September 3rd 2001	China and Change of Plans	Asia » China » Guangxi » Yangshuo
September 13th 2001	Hong Kong	Asia » Singapore
September 16th 2001	The 'Moonshine Experience'	Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City
October 25th 2001	Live and let Dive!	Asia » Thailand » South-West Thailand » Ko Tao
November 15th 2001	Goodbye Asia, Hello New Zealand	Asia » Singapore
November 24th 2001	Rafting Over a Waterfall	Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Wellington
December 10th 2001	Goodbye New Zealand	Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Franz Josef
December 12th 2001	Hippie Time! Then disaster!	Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Sydney » Bondi Beach
February 5th 2002	Revenge of the Killer Fish!	Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Airlie Beach
February 13th 2002	Hotter Than Hell!	Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Whitsundays
May 7th 2002	Byron Bay	Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Byron Bay
May 15th 2002	Dengue Fever!!	Asia » Thailand » Central Thailand » Bangkok
June 15th 2002	Indian Madness!!	Asia » India » National Capital Territory » New Delhi
July 24th 2002	From 45 degrees to 15!	Asia » Nepal » Chitwan