On the 21st of September, we will officially leave Hong Kong for the start of our 10-month long journey across Asia (and New Zealand). There are so many things to plan ahead that we will forget a few things for sure!
Right now, our Chinese Visas are being processed in Hong Kong which is quite a convenient place for such an administrative task: just pop-in into a travel agency with your passport, some ID pictures and some cash... wait 4 days and there you go, your visa is ready. Well ours should be next Friday!
We will start our journey with Western China, right during one of the busiest travel seasons in this country... think about it: millions of Chinese traveling at the same time. This promises to be epic! Luckily enough, we found a company (DIY China Travel) which assists in purchasing train tickets online as it is close to impossible to buy tickets from overseas and without a Chinese bank account. They only charge a little fee which is really worth it given all the hassles that you get to avoid. Hence bear in mind this piece of advice when planning to travel through China during peak seasons... Trains are booked pretty quickly when the tickets go on sale (last year at the same period, it was a matter of hours until all trains were sold out!).
So we'll have to eat more rice and less meat to balance that extra-expense! But all things considered, their service is good value and it saved us many troubles!
Right now, our Chinese Visas are being processed in Hong Kong which is quite a convenient place for such an administrative task: just pop-in into a travel agency with your passport, some ID pictures and some cash... wait 4 days and there you go, your visa is ready. Well ours should be next Friday!
We will start our journey with Western China, right during one of the busiest travel seasons in this country... think about it: millions of Chinese traveling at the same time. This promises to be epic! Luckily enough, we found a company (DIY China Travel) which assists in purchasing train tickets online as it is close to impossible to buy tickets from overseas and without a Chinese bank account. They only charge a little fee which is really worth it given all the hassles that you get to avoid. Hence bear in mind this piece of advice when planning to travel through China during peak seasons... Trains are booked pretty quickly when the tickets go on sale (last year at the same period, it was a matter of hours until all trains were sold out!).
So we'll have to eat more rice and less meat to balance that extra-expense! But all things considered, their service is good value and it saved us many troubles!
Tourists in China during the Golden Week: busy times!
We have also started to book some hostels and flights for our trip in China and further: New Zealand, Thailand, Myanmar. Some activities need to be booked quite ahead of time and so do need flight tickets! The website Bookings.com allows you to book hostel rooms without paying any advance fee... and you can cancel your booking up to 48 hours prior to your arrival, meaning that you get much more flexibility! So we are using Bookings.com quite a lot! As far as flights are concerned, we use the great website Skyscanner.com which compares flight tickets prices on various websites, ensuring that you always get the best deal! It also check low-cost carriers prices so you get sure not to skip those possibilities too! Finally, a great website for those of you who are thinking about using trains in various countries: the man in seat 61. It explains how train systems work in many different countries. It's like the Bible to us!
Many many things to talk about already but I guess we'll go through all those details when we discuss each destination! Until then, you can check the confirmed itinerary with updated dates on the dedicated webpage.
We are also busy preparing the first interviews of expats so you should be able to check the first videos real soon! :) Once ready, they will be uploaded on our dedicated "Expats Page". Feel free to discuss in the forum and to let us know your thoughts for future improvements!
And by the way, for those of you who would like to support our adventure as well as to support a great charity (discover more on Make-A-Wish Hong Kong), feel free to connect on our donation page. We welcome your support!
Many many things to talk about already but I guess we'll go through all those details when we discuss each destination! Until then, you can check the confirmed itinerary with updated dates on the dedicated webpage.
We are also busy preparing the first interviews of expats so you should be able to check the first videos real soon! :) Once ready, they will be uploaded on our dedicated "Expats Page". Feel free to discuss in the forum and to let us know your thoughts for future improvements!
And by the way, for those of you who would like to support our adventure as well as to support a great charity (discover more on Make-A-Wish Hong Kong), feel free to connect on our donation page. We welcome your support!
We'll be in touch soon!
Andrea & David
Andrea & David