TRIP DIARY: India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Australia 2009/2010

28.10 10:55AM.. Me, Francesca and Marco had a flight from Rome to India, stopping few hours at Doha in Qatar, finally our trip can start!

INDIA 

29.10 - 1.11 NEW DELHI, (11hr flight) It's always a shock landing the first time in India, we stayed at Paharganj, the cheap backpackers suburb, visiting: (30.10) Connaught place, Red Fort, Jama Masjid, Gandhi memorial, Lotus temple, Humayun's tomb. (21.10) Indian gate. (1.10) Birla Mandir, Central Ridge reserve forest
2.11 - 4.11 JAIPUR, by an overnight sleeping bus (8hr) visiting the Pink city, Albert museum, Hawa Mahal, Jal mahal, Amber fort and city palace
5.11 - 8.11 AGRA, by morning train "hard sleeper" (8hr), visiting the Agra fort, Taj Mahal and we went by car at Fatehpur Sikri
9.11 GORAKHPUR, by night "sleeper" train (14hr) one of the worst trip packed with other 3 Indians seating on my bed, we arrived at this dirty and sandy town not far from Nepal's border

NEPAL 

10.11 - 11.11 BHAIRAHAWA, by bus (5hr) we stayed at this border town, and the day after we went to Lumbini by bus, taking 3hr for doing 30km as we broke down several times, engine, tyre and windshield, to reach the Buddha's birthplace
12.11 - 14.11 KATHMANDU, by minivan (12hr) staying at Thamel district and where we could organize and buying some stuff for the trekking on the way to the "Everest Base Camp"

EBC TREK

15.11 PHAKDING (2500mt) arriving first at LUKLA (2840mt) in the morning by a scaring half n'hour flight with Agni Air and then 5hr trekking to reach Phakding
16.11 - 17.11 NAMCHE BAZAR (3400mt) after 9hr trekking, here we spent 2 days for the altitude acclimatization, the second day was fortunately the only one during the whole trek where was raining and snowing at night, we could walk around some market and Buddhist temple 
18.11 DEBOCHE (3800mt) after 7hr trekking, stopping few hours on the way at the Tengboche monastery
19.11 - 20.11 DINGBOCHE (4400mt) after 5hr trekking, other 2 days for the second altitude acclimatization stop, reading some books and doing the laundry using ice instead of soap 
21.11 LOBUCHE (4900mt) after 4 ½ hr trekking, we started feeling effects of altitude and cold with temperature dropping at -10 C° at night
22.11 GORAK SHEP (5200mt) after 2hr trekking, one of the highest settlement in the world, all day long with temperature below zero and rare air, sleeping at night with about -15C°, we took the last 2 ½ hr uphill trekking to the top of KALA PATTHAR (5545mt) and it's stunning view of Mt. Everest
23.11 - 24.11 DINGBOCHE (4400mt) after 5hr trekking, we stopped again here and the second day we went up to Ama Dablam's lake after 2 hr trek
25.11 - 27.11 NAMCHE BAZAR (3400mt) after 7 ½ hr trekking, where the 24.11 from there we went up to KHUMJUNG after 1 ½ easy trekking, where we could see the Yeti's scalp into a Buddhist monastery
28.11 LUKLA (2840mt) after 8hr trekking, our last day around the Himalaya's range, we where totally exhausted after a total of 59 hr trekking in 2 weeks but was a great experience 

29.11 - 1.12 KATHMANDU, flying back with the mini "unsafe" plane from Lukla, we had finally enough time to visit the Boudhanath Stupa, Pashupatinath, Patan square, Swayambhunath Monastery and around the city centre
2.12 Travelling from Kathmandu to Varanasi (28hr trip) by bus first to Birganj, then we get an horse coach from there to the Indian border first and then to the city of Raxaul, where we found a local train to Sagauli and there we changed to another train taking the "hard sleeper" class to Varanasi

INDIA

3.12 - 6.12 VARANASI, also know as Benares, the holiest Indian city, on the Gange's banks whit it's numerous Ghats, a real sacred experience
7.12 - 8.12 Travelling from Varanasi to Kolkata, 35 hr "hard sleeper" train, it was supposed to be an 8 hr trip, but we took the wrong train first, getting lost in some Indian country side, and changing to another slow train that brought us after two nights and one day to destination
9.12 - 15.12 KOLKATA, one of the most catholic city in India, we stayed at the YMCA hostel, visiting around Sudder and Park street, Victoria Memorial and the Millennium Park, and we arranged the Bangladesh visa

BANGLADESH

16.12 - 19.12 DHAKA, by bus (14hr) the capital city and also one of the busiest city in the world, spending few days here we could see the Supreme Court, Curzon Hall, Ramna Park, Old Dhaka, Nawabpur and Baitul Mukarram Mosque

MALAYSIA

20.12 - 21.12 KUALA LUMPUR, by flight (3½hr) our stop over on the way to Perth, 2 nice and relaxing days, staying at Matahari Lodge near Chinatown, visiting the Tasik Perdana lake, Butterfly park, Dataran Merdeka and back at the Batu Caves

AUSTRALIA

22.12.2009 - 10.2.2010 PERH, by flight (5hr) staying at Beatty Lodge first and then at the same house with Francesca and my friends Paolo and Francesco Moro, and other few people from Marzocca and Senigallia.. we spend all together Christmas and new years eve there, we went on Rotnest Island as well and after the festivity Marco moved to Mildura for working and get the extension visa, me I did many jobs but as I was only with tourist visa was impossible to keep any job for more than a week so me and Francesca decided after 2 months to move to Sydney, so we found a campervan to relocate in 6 days to Syd for just a dollar per day and we started our coast to coast trip.
11.2 SOUTHERN CROSS, 11hr driving, our first stop, we picked up Kart, an Estonian girl who needed a lift to Port Augusta and we did the trip together,  we arrived here via Wave Rock
12.2 CAIGUNA, 13hr driving, stopping on the way at Coolgardie, Karlgoorlie, Mt. charlotte, the Superpit and Norseman
13.2 WIRRULLA, 12hr driving, via the Nullarbor Plain and stopping at the Great Australian Bight
14.2 YUNTA, 15hr driving, via Kimba, Iron Knob, Whyalla, Port Augusta where we dropped off Kart, Orroroo and Peterborough
15.2 NARROMINE, 15hr driving, stopping at Broken Hill where we visited the Miners Memorial, Desert Sculpture and the White Rocks site
16.2 - 8.3 SYDNEY, 8hr driving, via the Blue Mountain. Here we stayed at Tokyo Village hostel, and finally I could find a cash in hand job into a clothes factory and we visited around the city, we did the beautiful coastal walking and we went to Parramatta and back from there by the river boat. 

TRANSIBERIAN TICKETS

That's how we did the cheapest way for travelling from Beijing to Saint Petersburg in 2010.

Beijing - Erlian, 200RMB (24 Euro) by bus "sleeper"
Zamiin Uud - Ulaanbaatar, 28.000 MNT (17 Euro) by train "sleeper"
Ulaanbaatar - Irkutsk, 79.340 MNT (48 Euro) by train "kupè"
Irkutsk - Krasnoyarsk, 1.415 RUB (38 Euro) by train "platskart"
Krasnoyarsk - Novosibirsk, 1.130 RUB (30 Euro) by train "platskart"
Novosibirsk - Tyumen, 1.789 RUB (47 Euro) by train "platskart"
Tyumen - Tobolsk, 530 RUB (14 EURO) by train "platskart"
Tobolsk - Yekaterinburg, 768 RUB (20 Euro) by train "platskart"
Yekaterinburg - Kazan, 1026 RUB (27 Euro) by train "platskart"
Kazan - Moscow, 1.021 RUB (27 Euro) by train "platskart"

In total we spent 292 Euro Beijing to Moscow

Moscow - St. Petersburg, 958 RUB (25 Euro) by train "platskart"
St. Petersburg - Moscow, 606 RUB (16 Euro) by train "soft seat"

Total cost is 333 Euro, so don't trust the travel agency asking over thousand euro, do it yourself!

TRIP DIARY: Asia and Oceania 2007/08

YEAR 2007, PHILIPPINES AND AUSTRALIA

15.9 Bangkok, the first stop over after I've left Italy with my friends Lorenzo and Francesco Moro
15.9 - 26.9 Philippines, where we met Paolo coming from the white sandy beach of Guam and we stayed at Anthony's house in the countryside nearby Manila and we spent a few days on the island of Boracay
27.9 Bangkok, back here for another stopover with Lorenzo and Francesco

28.9 - 11.10 Sydney, where we spent few days holiday and stayed at Tokyo Village backpackers
12.10 - 21.10 Mildura, working and saving money with all my friends at Morello's farm
22.12 - 6.1.2008 Sydney, I moved here for Christmas and new years eve holidays with Paolo, Lorenzo, Francesco Moro, Taka, Ronnie, Megumi, Jan and others Morello's workers back again at Tokyo Village backpackers

YEAR 2008, AUSTRALIA

7.1 - 18.2 Mildura, back to work again there at Morello's farm
19.2 - 25.2 Sydney, I went to pick up my parents and start travelling with them for a month

NEW ZEALAND

26.2 - 27.2 Christchurch, capital of southern island, visiting the Banks peninsula and Akaroa, then we started travelling around by campervan
28.2 Greymouth, via the Arthur's pass
29.2 Franz Josef Glacier, via Punakaiki and visiting the Paparoa National Park
1.3 Queenstown, via Fox Glacier and Wanaka
2.3 Te Anau, via Manapouri Lake
3.3 Kingston, visiting the Milford Sound
4.3 Twizel, via Cromwell, Lindis Pass, Mount Cook (Aoraki) and the Tasman Glacier
5.3 Hanmer Springs, via Lake Tekapo, Geraldine and Ashburton
6.3 Kaikoura, via Mt Lyford
7.3 Motueka, driving road 63 and via Blenheim
8.3 Pohara, visiting Marahau, Takaka Hill, Waikoropupu Springs and the Farewell Spit
9.3 Wellington, stopping at Nelson and taking the ferry at Picton to the northern island
10.3 Wanganui
11.3 Taupo, visiting the Tongario National Park and Whakapapa
12.3 Rotura, visiting Huka Falls, Crater of the moon, Orakei Korako, Waiotapu, Tamaki Maori village and Pohutu Geyser
13.3 Orewa, via Tauranga, Waihi beach and visiting the Karangahake gold mine
14.3 Kerikeri, stopping at Whangarei Falls, Paihia and Rewa's village
15.3 - 16.3 Auckland, via Opononi, the Waipoua Forest hostint the famous Kauri trees, and Ruawai

AUSTRALIA

17.3 - 18.3 Melbourne, back here by flight with my parents, then we rented a car on the way to Sydney
19.3 Port Campbell, via the Great Ocean road
20.3 Warragul, via Melbourne again and stopping at Camperdown
21.3 Narooma, stopping at Lakes Entrance and Genoa
22.3 - 26.3 Sydney
27.3 - 9.4 Mildura, back to work again here after my parents went back in Italy from Sydney
10.4 - 13.4 Darwin, by flight from Melbourne with my friends Taka, Nils, Christof and Ben, ready for backpacking around south east Asia, here I also met Emiliano and I've worked again in his restaurant "Pizza Pasta"

SOUTH EAST ASIA

14.4 SINGAPORE: Arrived here by flight from Darwin, we lost Ben because for visas problem he couldn't leave Australia, we visited the city and Sentosa island, and decided to throw out our cheap ticket to Bangkok and travelling by train through Malaysia

MALAYSIA

15.4 - 17.4 Kuala Lumpur, by train, visiting around the city and we went to the Batu caves
18.4 - 19.4 Penang island, by bus, we stayed at Georgetown and we went on Ferringhi beach

THAILAND

20.4 - 23.4 Phi Phi island, by bus to Krabi and then boat, where we enjoyed Long and Monkey beach, and Phi Phi Ley
24.4 - 25.4 Phuket, by boat, we stayed at Patong beach, into a strange Swiss cottage in thailand! we spent only 1 full day as we didn't like, too many tourists around
26.4 - 28.4 Koh Samui, by minibus and boat, nice relaxing place, we did some gun shooting, hiking to the Hin Lad waterfall and driving around by a rented 4WD visiting the big Buddha, Chaweng beach and the fishermen village
29.4 - 1.5 Koh Phangan, by boat, where we just enjoyed parties at Haad Rin beach, from here we had lost Christof because he had to get back in Australia
2.5 - 3.5 Koh Tao, by boat, only me, Nils and Taka, this place is famous for divers, but we couldn't do anything because of a typhoon bad weather
4.5 - 9.5 Bangkok, by boat and bus, stopping here for applying Laos and Cambodian visas, we visited around the city and went to Ayutthaya, the ancient capital
10.5 Chang Khong, by train and bus, on the Thai side of Mekong river, arrived here after a long trip via Chiang Mai

LAOS

11.5 Mekong river, we spent 2 full days and one night riding a "slow boat" on the river on the way to Luang Prabang, an extenuate trip but with some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever seen
12.5 - 13.5 Luang Prabang, the nice old capital city with many temples to visit
14.5 - 15.5 Vang Vieng, by minivan, nice relaxing city, we went at the Blue Lagoon cave
16.5 - 17.5 Vientiane, by minivan, the capital, a mix of Asian and French culture and hosting the awesome Pha That Luang

CAMBODIA

18.5 - 19.5 Phnom Phen, by flight, a really chaotic city, we visited here the Wat Phnom, central market, national museum and the royal palace
20.5 - 23.5 Siem Reap, by bus, where we could get lost for 3 full days into the magnificent Angkor Wat complex

24.5 - 25.5 Bangkok, back here for my fourth time by car, an hard trip packed in 6 persons plus the backpacks in one car driving on the unsealed muddy road leading to Thailand border and then by bus

AUSTRALIA

26.5 - 28.5 Darwin, back here again by flight this time alone, but meeting here with Zeta, we arranged a relocation trip by a 4WD campervan on the way to Cairns and we picked up for sharing petrol a strange Italian guy called Marcello but renamed "Generale Badoglio" as he was a real fascist general
29.5 Daly Waters, our firs stop after leaving Darwin with the 4WD
30.5 Camooweal, at the border between Queensland and Northern Territory
31.5 Hughenden, stopping at Mount Isa along the way
1.6 Cairns, where we returned the car and arranged a bus to get to Port Douglas for finding a job
2.6 - 17.7 Port Douglas, where after long time I've met again Morosan, Paolo and lot of other friends, here I've been working as a pizza chef at the famous restaurant "Rattle & Hum"
18.7 Cairn, back here for leaving definitely Australia on the way to Korea and Japan

KOREA AND JAPAN

19.7 Osaka, by flight, I've been locked inside the airport for sleeping there and waiting my flight connection to Korea
20.7 - 26.7 Seoul, by flight, first 2 days visiting around the city and then I couldn't do anything because of a tropical storm, just waiting in the hostel for some better weather, but I had the chance to get into Panmujeon, the North and South Korean border village
27.7 - 28.7 Gyeongju, by bus, the ancient capital, visiting the Tumuli Park, Imhaejeonji site and doing some trekking on the mounts around the city
29.7 Seoul, back there by bus

30.7 - 7.8 Osaka, by flight, where I met Taka again and we stayed at his sister's house, he also did for me a guide for 2 weeks, we met also a lot of other Japanese friends and visited the Osaka castle, Dotonbori, Namba, and we went the 2.8 visiting Nara and the Todaiji temple, and the 6.8 and 7.8 to Kyoto visiting Fushimi, Inari Taisha, Rukuonji and Kiyomizu temple, always moving by train and getting back in Osaka for the night
8.8 - 13.8 Tokyo, by slow cheap train, staying at another Taka sister's house and going around the city, Tokyo tower, Shibuya, Asakusa, Shinjuku, Yasukuni, Akihabara
14.8 - 18.8 Nagoya, by fast "shinkansen" train, where I've separate with Taka and I went to stay at Yoshi's house, and she become my new guide around the city, visiting Nagoya's castle, Kasugai, Sakae, Agamon and the "Villaggio Italia" at the harbour
19.8 Narita, by a long trip by cheap buses and trains took me the whole day to get the airport where I've slept at night

ENGLAND

20.8 - 22.8 London, by flight, where I had the chance to do my last stop over on my way back home and visiting this city
23.8 Stansted, where I caught my flight to Rome

TRIP DIARY: Australia and Vietnam 2006/07

AUSTRALIA, YEAR 2006

11.4 - 20.4 Sydney, a week holiday.
21.4 - 25.6 Mildura by Greyhound bus, where i went to work in some different farms and grape yards and stayed at "Mildura City Backpackers"

26.6 I've left Mildura on the way to Darwin with a Japanese guy, Tom, and his car, a Ford Falcon, with Pierone, Marco and Yuka, first stop.. Burra
27.6 Port Augusta
28.6 Coober Pedy, famous for the opal mines
29.6 - 30.6 Stopping at Yulara, sleeping in a hostel and visiting the nearby Uluru, Kata Tjuta and the Kings Kanyon
1.7 - 3.7 Alice Springs
4.7 Mataranka, stopping on the way at the Devils Marbles
5.7 Katherine, visiting the Katherine gorge and Litchfield National Park
6.7 - 24.9 Darwin: I've settled here for the dry season working day time at the Gate Gourmet, the airport catering company, and evening time as a pizza chef in the italian restaurant "Pizza Pasta Pasta Pizza" and i bought my own car, a Ford Falcon made in 1988

VIETNAM

At the end of the season I’ve decided to travel a bit around Vietnam by train with my 2 mates Giovanni and Martina
25.9 - 1.10 Saigon where we visited around the city,  the Cu Chi tunnels and the Mekong delta by boat
2.10-3.10 Nha Trang, a beautiful beach north of Saigon, we couldn't move northern than here because of a Typhoon
4.10 - 5.10  Hue, we stopped on the way at Danang and Hoi An
6.10 Hanoi, The actual capital of Vietnam
7.10 Sapa, doing trekking around the beautiful mountains near Chinese border
8.10 Halong Bay
9.10 Hanoi, Back again here where i took my flight back to Darwin in Australia

AUSTRALIA

10.10 - 13.10 Darwin, working again and organizing the trip by car to Perth with Marco, Yuya, Angela, Filippo and a crazy Australian girl with her 4WD campervan
14.10 Ubirr,our first stop in this campsite in the Kakadu National Park
15.10, Kakadu, sleeping in a different campsite and visiting the Jim Jim falls
16.10 Timber Creek, via the Argyle lake
17.10 - 18.10 Kunnunurra visiting the Emma gorge
19.10 - 23.10 Broome, stopping here for a few days, relaxing a visiting the Dinosaurs footprint and cable beach, after separating with my friends i kept going with Marco and Yuya on the way to Perth
24.10 Port Hedland
25.10 Nanutarra via the Karijini National Park
26.10 Exmouth doing snorkelling at the Ningaloo Reef
27.10 Coral Bay
28.10 - 29.10 Monkey Mia seeing the dolphins, Shell beach and the Stromatolites
30.10 Geraldton via Kalbarry National Park
31.10 - 10.11 Perth via the Pinnacles desert. here I've worked for a while in the Italian restaurant Sorrento, I've sold out my car and decided to start travelling as soon as possible on the way back to Mildura
11.11 Manjimup, I'm arrived there by bus to meet Matteo and travelling on the way to Melbourne with his van
12.11 Albany stopping at the Giant Forrest
13.11 - 16.11 Esperance, Visiting and sleeping in a campsite at Cape Le grand National Park
17.11 Norseman where we started crossing the Nullarbor desert
18.11 Cocklebiddy
19.11 Nullarbor Roadhouse
20.11 Ceduna
21.11 Port Augusta
22.11 Adelaide
23.11 Warooka
24.11 - 25.11 Kangaroo Island
26.11 Dartmoor
27.11 - 29.11 Melbourne
30.11 - 21.12 Mildura, back again here and working at Morello's farm to save money for keep going travelling around Australia, then for the Christmas holidays i went with Paolo, Yoshi, Ed, Kevin and Mike in Tasmania, driving around with 2 rental cars
22.12 Melbourne
23.12 - 24.12 Devonport Via the Spirit of Tasmania Ferry
25.12 Launceston having a nice Thai Christmas dinner after we reached the peak of Ben Lomond Mountain
26.12 Bicheno, famous for the penguins around the city at night
27.12 Port Hartur via Wineglass Bay, the Freycinet National Park and visiting the prison colony
28.12 - 31.12 Hobart, visiting Lake Pedder and Lake Gordon

YEAR 2007

1.1 Queenstown
2.1 Devonport, taking the ferry back to Melbourne
3.1 Melbourne
4.1 - 24.2 Mildura, back here after the Christmas holiday to work again at Morello's farm
25.2 - 27.2 Sydney, where I’m arrived with Paolo for starting our trip along the East Coast by Premiere bus company
28.2 Byron Bay, famous for surfers and where we went to Ninbim, a nice hippie village
1.3 - 4.3 Surfers Paradise, where we stopped few days for relaxing and from here Paolo decided to get back in Sydney and me to keep going up north
5.3 - 6.3 Brisbane
7.3 - 11.3 Hervey Bay, and from here by boat to Fraser Island where I've spent few days
12.3 - 14.3 Airlie Beach, where I've been sailing around the Whitsundays archipelago
15.3 - 19.3 Cairns, from here going first to Cape Tribulation and the Great Barrier Reef and then by flight back in Sydney


20.3 - 9.4 Sydney, where I've spent the last weeks in Australia just enjoying with my friends before going back in Italy