Return to About

I whinge a lot about jet lag, so to get that over with i am flying out to Hong Kong a few days ahead of the start of the tour in Beijing.   Also, i have never been to Hong Kong and those who have tell me it is definately not to be missed!!

So, leave London on Wednesday 6th September Cathy Pacific CX252 non-stop overnight flight to Hong Kong.   Then Cathay Pacific CX332 to Beijing on Sunday, meet up with the tour group Monday lunchtime......  always an interesting time on these tours, meeting for the first time the folks who are  going to be your companions for the next few weeks!! 

Here's the detailed schedule: we visit 29 different cities and the numbers on the list relate to each location on the map: 

1. Beijing two nights.   Fly to....

2. X'ian for two nights, then on the Sleeper Train to...

3. Lanzhou, followed by a short minibus drive to:

4. Xiahe for two nights and another Sleeper Train tonight heading for:

5. Jiauguan, one night.  Next by road to:

6. Dunhuang, one night.  Now the excitment of a Chinese Bullet Train to:

7. Turpan.  One night and by road on to....

8. Urumqui for one night before our first internal flight to:

9. Kashgar, two nights before we head by road to our second country: 

10. Sary Tash, in Kyrgyzstan where we sleep one night in a Home Stay.  We drive on to ....

11. Osh for one night in another Home Stay.  Again by road to our third country:

12. Kokand in Uzbekistan for one night.  Onward by car to:

13. Taskent, the capital of Uzbekistan for one night.  Next by fast train to...

14. Samarkand where we spend two nights.  Drive now on the Royal Road to:

15. Bukhara.  Here we spend two nights in a Guest House, before driving on to our fourth country:

16. Turkmenistan.  We stay in Mary two nights, then head off to the aiport to fly to....

17. Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan.   Two nights here, then we drive to the Iranian border.

18. Mashhad is our first stop in Iran.  One night and we take another internal flight to...

19. Tehran, the capital of Iran.  Two nights here, followed by a drive to:

20. Esfahan for a three night stay.  Next, a flight via Tehran to...

21. Tabriz in north west Iran for two nights.  On then to our final country

22. Dogubeyzi in Turkey, a one night stay and on the minibus to

23. Kars in whose castle British forces were besieged during the Crimean War.  I'm afraid Kars did not make it onto the map....Two days here before driving on to:

24. Erzerum for a one night stop.  We drive along the Euphrates to

25. Kemaliye where we stay one night, Kemaliye did not make it onto the map either.....  Drive on now to

26. Sivas the old Seljuk capital for one night.  Back on the minibus to

27. Amasya for another two night stop.   Today's drive then takes us to the capital of Turkey..

28. Ankara.  A two night stay here.  Onwards by high speed train to our final stop of the tour

29. Istanbul formerly known as Constantinople and before that as Byzantium.  Two nights in Istanbul then British Airways BA0679, back to Heathrow!!

Six countries, only one of which i have visited before.  12,000 km.  27 cities.  

Exciting or what??

Catch up with progress in the Daily Reports