Asia 2016, the next big journey

8 hours and counting…

I booked the first flights in June last year and now it’s finally – almost – time for me to embark on my second big journey, this time through Southeastern, Eastern and Central Asia. I’ve pondered on where to go, what to see and how long to travel for, and I’ve changed my mind many times. Originally, I wanted to travel for four months and had included China, Russia and North Korea on my itinerary, but due to visa issues, I’ve decided to leave those for later (hopefully this year).

Instead, I’ll be going to 11 amazing countries: Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysian Borneo, Brunei, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Macao, Hong Kong again, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

I’ll only have 17 hours on my first visit to Hong Kong and I’ll spend them getting to know the city. In Indonesia, I’m spending two days in Jakarta before flying to Pulau Belitung, where I’ll be viewing the Total Solar Eclipse – well, that is if the clouds don’t get in the way again like they did in Faroe Islands last year. Afterwards, I’ll be going to Bali for a week, where the plan is to meet up with Elien and Liam, who are also in Indonesia to watch the eclipse.

In Borneo, I’m hoping that the weather will be good enough to climb Mount Kinabalu and I really want to see some cute orangutans! I’ll be very disappointed if I don’t 😉 I’ll also be going on a small trip to Brunei, a country that I know absolutely nothing about – apart from the fact that it is way more expensive than the rest of Asia.

From Borneo, I’ll be flying to the first country in Eastern Asia, the small island state of Taiwan. I only have 5 days to explore the island and the plan is to explore Taipei and the national parks on the East Coast. Next up is Japan, where I’ll be spending my birthday with my dear friend Victoria and her boyfriend Joachim! I’m hoping to see loads of Cherry Blossoms here and also in the next country – South Korea. I’ll be catching a ferry from Japan to Busan and working my way up to Seoul during the 10 days that I have available.

From Seoul I’ll be flying to Macao, the Asian Las Vegas, but due to the high prices on everything there, I’ll only spend an afternoon there, before catching a ferry to nearby Hong Kong. Once again, I’ll be exploring the city, this time for 1,5 days, so a bit longer than before, but still, it probably won’t be enough.

The next destination is a really exciting one! I’m going to Mongolia!! It has been a dream destination of mine for as long as I can remember and now it’s finally happening! I’m spending two weeks there and the plan is to explore as much as possible of the enormous country, but mainly Ulaanbaatar and the Gobi Desert!

The last flight that I have booked so far is taking me to Kyrgyzstan, another exciting and different destination. My brother even thought that it was something that I had made up, but Kyrgyzstan is in fact a country – and an amazing one, if you ask me. Once in Kyrgyzstan, the plan is to get a visa to Tajikistan, which should be an easy process, and also head there for a while.

I’m not sure how long I’ll be spending in these two countries, all I know is that my last date for travelling home is June 11th, as I’m starting work two days later. But who knows if I want to come home earlier? I haven’t tried to travel for so long before, so I really don’t know how it’ll be. But I’m very excited – and I’m ready to go!

I’m leaving home at 5.30 AM tomorrow morning, catching a bus from Aarhus to Copenhagen at 6.25 AM, flying to Heathrow at 12.50 PM, waiting there for 6,5 hours, flying to Hong Kong at 8.35 PM – and then the adventure begins! Stay tuned! <3

See you on the other side!