One Year Update: South East Asia & Back. Next: Western Africa

 
Kuala Lumpur. Oct 25 2009. I am back from my 5 week organized group trip to Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Laos. I am skipping Malaysia and Singapore as I don't really need to see these countries. So I left early to prep for my big West African Odyssey starting on Nov 8. The group however are continuing down to Singapore. I may catch up with them when they breeze thru KL in a couple of days. It has been a hectic 5 weeks. 2 nights here and there and early morning departures. Organized travel is not my cup of tea. Though, it is for most folks in the group. Some people just don't like to travel alone or don't want the hassle of organizing logistics while on the road, or rather have a fear of going it alone. On the contrary, I love it. The West African trip simply has to be with an organized group. The tourist infrastructure is not in place as in Eastern Africa and planning logistics can be expensive, and going it alone is rather insecure, in W. Africa, that is. Eastern Africa is quite developed in the arena as loads of Brits and Ozzies make their way up and down the coast either going or coming from the UK. Anyway the Ozzie thing has not happened and I am not sure when it is going to show any movement. I am hoping that it will clear by the time I am back next Spring (2010). I will be traveling with a group on an overland truck over the course of 5 months down the western coast of Africa. The big disappointment at the mo is the canceled visit to Timbuku in Mali up the Niger River which has been taken out due to warning against all essential travel to the area due to Al Qaeda kidnapping of a British tourist earlier this year. I have lots to prep from money, layered clothing, sleeping bag/mat, malaria tabs, and the big challenge of squeezing it all into my pack and still being under 20 Kg. The map here shows the planned route which will take me from Gibraltar to Cape Town over the course of 5+ months where an overland truck will be my home and a 3 person tent will be my daily shelter. The adventure continues...