THE THREE ALPHA TRAVEL

Hello out there!

I know it has been a while since I last wrote an up-to-date post but I was too busy climbing mountains and volcanoes both in Bali and Java Can’t complain really; the people are nice and hospitable, the food is good and the fruit is fresh! Right now i’m in Yogyakarta the biggest city I have been so far in Indonesia and I hope the next days I’ll find time to write up my impressions so far.

In general I am loving it and it proves to be a good introduction to Southeast Asia – even if most of the people I meet do it the other way round (from north to south). Oh well…

Last but not least I got a flight to Kutching (Malaysian Borneo) from Singapore until the beginnings of June. I’ll be staying in Singapore too for 3-4 days hoping to make contact with some colleagues of my ex-work (Autodesk) there. For more specific dates have a look at the updated THE TRAVEL page.

That’s that for now… more coming up soon (hopefully). Take care.

This is just a quick update that from 17th until the 31st of January I will be in New Zealand.  This is just a quick update thar from 17th of January until the 21st of February I will be in Zealand. It would be a pity to leave Oceania without seeing that magic place; the youngest country in the world! I found a cheap flight (about 160 Euros) with Jetstar and thought I’d let you know. I then had to change it because I would finally stay for a bit more than a month

More to come soon.

New Zealand here I come!!!

During my stay in Kenya, I always heard that there is only one good bus company to go from Nairobi to Dar Es Salaam; if it was your first time traveling this trip that is. This was Scandinavia. It resulted difficult to find it though, as they had moved a bit outside the city centre. So I did not bother and used another company (Sabco). For 22 euros I would be in Dar Es Salaam directly (or that’s what I thought).

To cut the story short, it took me 22 hours to get there. It makes you wonder though… Cheap transport in Africa might be a bit dodgy and all but the roads remain the same. On the other hand side, the people are much more sociable in cheap transport. Depending what you want, you choose. The roads though… THEY remain the same. It was quite an experience when we got lost in some Masai lands just after the borders. The driver did not want to use the main road as too many cars were parked in the middle of it. So we improvised. After nearly destroying the tires and the chassis we got on the “main” road.

In other anecdotes I met a guy working in the same bus that used to be a sailor, so he was cursing in Greek to me for fun and a Rasta friend of Stephen’s (see Nairobi – The Eastlands post), who was giving the tickets out. He also gave me a reference to go visit a reggae station in Dar Es Salaam. This guy actually made me trust the company and travel with them in the first place.

In the course of the journey I socialized with various people and they were all nice and super polite to me. When I finally show the Scandinavia bus in the last stop we made before Dar, I was happy that I had taken Sabco. It was full of tourists and even if it was a bit more comfortable, I would still travel with Sabco again (saved me some money there too).

Now I am in Dar Es Salaam, where I live in a friend’s house (Dave’s). It was six years when I last saw him, we were flat mates in the UK during our student years… I will be based here until the 23rd and then off to J’Burg. In the meantime I am planning on visiting Zanzibar and maybe some other smaller islands on the north of Dar. I will include a trekking if possible, I just have to inform myself more on Tanzania.

In any case I will keep you posted. Until then, have a good life you all!

PS: Oh… one thing I really valued… even if organisation and discipline are not big with Africans, the solidarity and how they help each other in difficult situations are exemplary to us “Europeans”.

I just received the confirmation by email that all is ok with the ticket.
Many years ago when I was thinking about the trip, more as an abstract idea than something that was going to do, I did not even imagine that a number passed on by email would allow you to travel for one year… The fact that the ticket is electronic, makes you wonder… and look at the past too!

Below is the final itinerary (the dates will most probably change):

Monday, Nov 03
Swiss – Flight 1957 Confirmed
De: Barcelona Arpt Barcelona, Barcelona, ES (BCN) 19:45 Terminal: A
A: Zurich Arpt Zurich, Zurich, CH (ZRH) 21:40
——————————————————————————–
Tuesday, Nov 04
Swiss – Flight 292 Confirmed
De: Zurich Arpt Zurich, Zurich, CH (ZRH) 09:35
A: Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta Int’l Arpt Nairobi, Nairobi, KE (NBO) 19:10
——————————————————————————–
Monday, Dec 01
South African Airways – Flight 189 Confirmed
De: Dar Es Salaam Int’l Arpt Dar Es Salaam, Dar Es Salaam, TZ (DAR) 07:25
A: O R Tambo Arpt Johannesburg, Johannesburg, ZA (JNB) 10:05 Terminal: A
——————————————————————————–
Monday, Dec 01
South African Airways – Flight 325 Confirmed
De: O R Tambo Arpt Johannesburg, Johannesburg, ZA (JNB) 11:40 Terminal: B
A: Cape Town Int’l Arpt Cape Town, Cape Town, ZA (CPT) 13:50
——————————————————————————–
Sunday, Dec 14
South African Airways – Flight 336 Confirmed
De: Cape Town Int’l Arpt Cape Town, Cape Town, ZA (CPT) 13:50
A: O R Tambo Arpt Johannesburg, Johannesburg, ZA (JNB) 15:50 Terminal: B
——————————————————————————–
Sunday, Dec 14
South African Airways – Flight 7700 Confirmed
De: O R Tambo Arpt Johannesburg, Johannesburg, ZA (JNB) 17:50 Terminal: A
A: Sydney Kingsford Smith Arpt Sydney, NS, Sydney, NS, AU (SYD) 14:35 Terminal: 1
——————————————————————————–
Sunday, Aug 30
Us Airways – Flight 6466 Confirmed
De: Hong Kong Int’l Arpt Hong Kong, Hong Kong, CN (HKG) 11:45 Terminal: 1
A: San Francisco Int’l Arpt San Francisco, CA, San Francisco, CA, US (SFO) 08:46 Terminal: I
——————————————————————————–
Sunday, Aug 30
Lufthansa – Flight 9053 Confirmed
De: San Francisco Int’l Arpt San Francisco, CA, San Francisco, CA, US (SFO) 13:51 Terminal: I
A: Frankfurt Int’l Arpt Frankfurt, Frankfurt, DE (FRA) 09:45 Terminal: 1
——————————————————————————–
Monday, Aug 31
Lufthansa – Flight 4454 Confirmed
De: Frankfurt Int’l Arpt Frankfurt, Frankfurt, DE (FRA) 13:00 Terminal: 1
A: Barcelona Arpt Barcelona, Barcelona, ES (BCN) 14:55 Terminal: A

Ciao for now!

UPDATE

Here is the new one as it stands as of November 13th, 2008. The changes are only in the dates.