Two more continents
I’ve had a goal for much of my life to visit all seven continents. It had been a while since I took a vacation, so I booked some tickets and visitied some countries in Asia and I added Australia to my trip. I’ve already been to North and South America, Europe, and Africa, so these were my fifth and sixth continents. My itinerary was very inefficient, and reflects a lot of updates to various plans and objectives up until the very last minute.
First, SFO to Dalat by way of Ho Chi Minh: 7971 total miles (SFO->SGN is 7838, and SGN-> DLI is 133).
Dalat is a beautiful city up in the mountains. It is cooler, has a lot of French architecture, and a nice local food scene. It was also full of blooming flowers when I was there, which were consistently lovely throughout the city and in surrounding regions.
Dalat to Siem Reap by way of Ho Chi Minh: 8366 total miles (DLI->SGN is 133, and SGN->REP is 262).
I was here to see the temples - they were magnificent. This was my first encounter with Cambodian food, and I really liked it. My guide also took me to a land mine museum, and it was inspiring to see the work to remove landmines from the countryside. A chart of the signatories to the international land mine treaty reminded me that the USA has not signed it, which I had known at some point in the past but had forgotten. It is long past time for the USA to formally sign the treaty.
Siem Reap to Hoi An by way of Ho Chi Minh and Da Nang : 9002 total miles (REP->SGN is 262, and SGN->DAD is 374).
Back to Hoi An for the lantern festival. There were some similar street food dishes to Dalat, but there was a lot of regional spin on the street food as well. Hoi An had thriving markets, and the lanterns were spectacular.
Hoi An to Bangkok by way of Da Nang : 9530 total miles (DAD->DMK is 528)
I originally planned on spending a little more time in Bangkok, but some very incremental planning meant that I really only had a day. My main objectives were to visit the Amulet Market and a medical museum, neither of which allowed pictures. I also visited a couple temples, then I was out of time.
Bangkok to Sydney 14192 total miles (BKK->SYD is 4662)
Sydney was the start of the Australian part of my trip. It was also the end. The original plan was to bum around in Sydney for a bit, then take the train to Melbourne. Instead, I just spent a couple days in Sydney - it’s a beautiful and friendly city. I took a harbor cruise and some bus tours, and visited the Powerhouse museum, which had some spectacular curation and a science exhibit for children that was remarkably well designed and really kept kids engaged. I also got a decent down jacket on clearance for the next leg of my journey (I was there during Australian summer, and winter gear was deeply discounted).
Sydney to Seoul : 19356 total miles (SYD->ICN is 5164)
Aha. There was a last minute curveball, and I found myself cooling my heels in Seoul for a day en route to Ulaanbataar. I visited an abandoned amusement park (Yongma land) and an incredible modern art museum, with the best interactive art that I have ever seen.
Seoul to Ulaanbataar : 20582 total miles (ICN->ULN is 1226)
Had a side quest here, then I had a day to take a tour. Cambodia was in the 90s (F) when I was there, and Ulaanbataar was -20 (F) the first night I was there. Given that I didn’t check bags this trip - it was all carry-on luggage - this was kind of a packing challenge. UB had a lot of soviet architecture, which was kind of interesting if somewhat jarring in context of all of the modern buildings that have been built recently.
Ulaanbataar to San Francisco via Seoul: 27467 total miles (ULN->ICN is 1226, ICN->SFO is 5659).
It was some time over the pacific that the length of my combined routes exceeded the circumference of the earth.
Started my day at 4:30 AM on Wednesday in Mongolia, and landed in SFO on Wednesday around 11:30 AM, Wednesday. The international date line makes time weird. I ended up staying awake for about 30 hours, all together, then slept for about 12 hours, then I was pretty much in sync with the local time.