Round the World 2008

It took me a bit over 48 hours to get from Lima to Auckland.  The flight from Lima to Atlanta was 8 hours,  Atlanta to Seoul was 14 hours and Seoul to Auckland, 11 hours.  I had some time in Atlanta to call friends and family.  At the Seoul airport, I had 4 hours where there wasn’t a whole lot to see.  I bypassed the Quiznos and Subway and had lunch at a traditional Korean restaurant.  A tasty spicy fried rice dish with soup.  Later, for the meal service on the plane to Auckland, I had to choose between chicken and a traditional Korean meal called bibimbap.  Being adventurous I chose the Korean meal…the flight attendant seeing I wasn’t Korean, went into the galley and got me an instruction card on how to make/eat the bibimbap.  The Korean guy next to me was laughing because I had to use the instructions, so he told me to just follow him.  It was basically a rice bowl where you had to put in all the ingredients separately with different vegetables, sesame oil and a tube of spicy hot sauce.  It came with a bowl of seaweed soup. Pretty good for airplane food. It turns out I’ll get to spend more time in Seoul next month.  My connecting flight was rescheduled so I’ll get an evening and a full day there.  There’s a subway to downtown Seoul right from the airport so it should be easy to get into the city for a look around.

When I arrived in Auckland I was a little concerned about my drive from the airport to the city because a) I haven’t driven on the other side of the road since South Africa, b) I was sleep deprived after all the travel, and c) it was pouring down rain.  I took it slow, concentrated and kept reminding myself to stay left. My hotel is downtown a couple of blocks from the Sky Tower, supposedly the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere. I got to the hotel too early and my room wasn’t ready, so I decided to go check out Auckland.  The rain had stopped so I walked to the waterfront where there were restaurants, shops and a ferry terminal. I took a ferry to Devonport based on info I got at the terminal. It was a good choice and I ended up spending much of the afternoon there.  Devonport’s a quaint seaside village filled with places to eat, coffee shops, art galleries, used bookstores and antique shops. I followed the walking tour map which I got from the info center and kept stopping at places along the route.  I bought a book on New Zealand road trips at a book shop which will be a good reference as I drive south through the country over the next 12 days.  The views from Devonport of the city were great as you walked along the waterfront. Devonport was one of those places where I kept saying to myself that I could easily live here as I walked around.

When I got back to the city I walked around the downtown area for a while more.  I’m glad I was able to get a full day in Auckland.  Tomorrow morning I’ll head out into the country and start to see some of the natural beauty NZ is known for. 

I´m back in Buenos Aires where I left off in November. “End of the Earth” tour to Patagonia to begin tomorrow. Thanks Dean for staying with me at JFK on Monday night and for taking the farewell photo:

Although the trip won’t officially start until Feb 26, 2008, I promised friends and family that I would set up a blog to document my adventures on this round-the-world trip. I’m in New York today getting visas. I was successful with the Nepalese visa, but it’s too early to apply for both the China and India visa.

Here is my itinerary. I’m still working on the details of each of the segments:

                                  Bkng                          Meals/
Day Date        Flight     Status Class      City         Time  Other  Cabin
--- ----- ---------------- ------ ----- ---------------- ------ ----- -------
Tue 26FEB Continental Air    OK     G   LV NYC-KENNEDY    530A       (G)
          Line 1027                     AR HOUSTON-INT    841A       

Tue 26FEB Continental Air    OK     G   LV HOUSTON-INT    355P       (G)
          Line  590                     AR LIMA          1125P       

Fri 11APR Delta  274         OK     N   LV LIMA          1225A  B     Coach
                                        AR ATLANTA        807A       

Fri 11APR Delta   91         OK     N   LV ATLANTA       1120A  L     Coach
                                        AR INCHEON KORE   310P#
                                           A SO          

Sat 12APR Korean Air  131    OK     U   LV INCHEON KORE   720P       (U)
                                           A SO
                                        AR AUCKLAND       940A#      

Thu 22MAY Korean Air  126    OK     U   LV MELBOURNE AS   915A       (U)
                                           TRLIA
                                        AR INCHEON KORE   710P
                                           A SO          

Thu 22MAY Korean Air  867    OK     U   LV INCHEON KORE   805P       (U)
                                           A SO
                                        AR ULAN BATOR    1035P       

Fri 25JUL Air France  147    OK     X   LV DELHI INDIA   1240A       (X)
                                        AR PARIS-DEGAUL   605A
                                           LE            

Fri 25JUL Air France 1732    OK     X   LV PARIS-DEGAUL  1235P       (X)
                                           LE
                                        AR ATHENS GREECE  450P       

Mon 01SEP Air France 1533    OK     X   LV ATHENS GREECE  255P       (X)
                                        AR PARIS-DEGAUL   520P
                                           LE            

Mon 01SEP Air France 1880    OK     X   LV PARIS-DEGAUL   700P       (X)
                                           LE
                                        AR LONDON-HEATH   720P
                                           ROW           

Tue 07OCT Air France 1681    OK     X   LV LONDON-HEATH   600P       (X)
                                           ROW
                                        AR PARIS-DEGAUL   810P
                                           LE            

Tue 07OCT Air France  442    OK     X   LV PARIS-DEGAUL  1115P       (X)
                                           LE
                                        AR RIO DE JANEI   520A#
                                           RO            

Wed 29OCT Delta  120         OK     N   LV S PAULO-GUAR  1030P  D     Coach
                                           ULHOS
                                        AR NYC-KENNEDY    625A#

The first part of the trip (South America) is pretty much planned:

Mar 1 – Mar 14 End of Earth – GAP Adventures

A challenging 15 day exploration of one of the world’s most pristine wildernesses: Patagonia! Mountain hiking, camping, and an unlimited supply of clean, fresh air are all yours on this adventure full of activity and scenery.

Mar 16 – Mar 30 Volunteer, Teach English, Santiago, Chile

Mar 30 – April 6 Inca Discovery – GAP Adventures

Spend a week retracing the steps of the ancient Inca civilization, highlighted by the spectacular Inca Trail hike to Machu Picchu.