Had always dreamt of going on a solo backpacking trip all my life, no more suit cases and roller bags trips (i.e. business trips). Finally got to do it with a trip to China in March 2008.
During the January trip to New Delhi, there was no opportunity to make a detour to Darjeeling, a place I was INSPIRED to visit after following HORN OK PLEASE! blog. A pity really!
I have always been enchanted by the beauty of Jiuzhaigou and so my mind was made up to go there instead. No big plans, Jiuzhaigou would be the main focal point and if conditions permit, a visit to Huang Long as well. The other place which I have always wanted to go was Tibet. And so the route planning began.
I hunt around a fair bit for the budget airlines flights to China -- Jetstar and Tiger Airways. The objective was to enter China via Shenzhen, I need a stopover at Shenzhen to get the batteries for my Compaq notebook. The thing about these budgies (i.e. budget airlines) was that the promotion changes almost every week, so there was a need to always be on the lookout which promos each one is doing week in week out. The possibilities were to either fly direct to Shenzhen (via Tiger) or through either Macau (Tiger or Jetstar) or Hongkong (Jetstar) then to Shenzhen. Whichever the combination I wouldn't mind spending a day or two in either Macau and/or Hongkong. After much deliberations, I took the Tiger 88% promo and booked the flight direct to Shenzhen. The departure date from Singapore was on 4 March and the return date from Shenzhen was 17 March.
Prior to the departure on 4 March, I finalised only the following through the internet apart from the 2-way SIN-SZX flights:
(1) Book the 4-day Jiuzhaigou bus trip through an agency (Dreams Travel) in Chengdu. (Period: 6 March to 9 March).
(2) Arrange for the Tibet entry permit through the same agency in Chengdu. This had to include the flight ticket into Lhasa. Fixed the period to be in Lasa: 10 March (IN) to 12 March (OUT).
(3) Inland air ticket from Shenzhen to Chengdu on 5 March.
(4) Hotel bookings for Chengdu.
There were still alot missing in the iterinary:
(a) The air ticket Lhasa back to Chengdu on 12 March.
(b) The hotel in Lhasa.
(c) The Lhasa iterinary.
(d) What to do after arriving back to Chengdu on 12 March, there was still 5 days to the flight back to Singapore from Shenzhen.
(e) How to get back to Shenzhen on 17 March to catch the flight back to Singapore and from WHERE?
As I could not book any air tickets online, I decided to do it in Shenzhen having tied down all the possible flights to book.
As it was not peak season in Lhasa, hotels should not be a problem I guess. Anyway there were plenty of options there so I was not too worried. Also nailed down a couple of possible budget places to stay through the internet so there were no worries on this issue.
For the 13 to 17 March gap, I shortlisted 2 options:
(i) do the Three Gorges cruise (4-days) ending in Yichang
or
(ii) do Leshan and Emeishan (both of which could be easily reached via Chengdu, daytrip or 2~3 day trips)
Both the above could be arranged by the agency in Chengdu, so I was well covered. My preference was the Three Gorges cruise but it was expensive for a single pax as I would be paying for a 2-person cabin for those locally operated ships. The other option was to go for the luxury class ships (operated by foreign companies) which allow sharing of cabin for single pax. As I had time on hand to decide, there was no hurry. Depending on the cabin availability, I should still be able to decide during the period in Lhasa.
So everything was more or less set for the journey to begin......................
During the January trip to New Delhi, there was no opportunity to make a detour to Darjeeling, a place I was INSPIRED to visit after following HORN OK PLEASE! blog. A pity really!
I have always been enchanted by the beauty of Jiuzhaigou and so my mind was made up to go there instead. No big plans, Jiuzhaigou would be the main focal point and if conditions permit, a visit to Huang Long as well. The other place which I have always wanted to go was Tibet. And so the route planning began.
I hunt around a fair bit for the budget airlines flights to China -- Jetstar and Tiger Airways. The objective was to enter China via Shenzhen, I need a stopover at Shenzhen to get the batteries for my Compaq notebook. The thing about these budgies (i.e. budget airlines) was that the promotion changes almost every week, so there was a need to always be on the lookout which promos each one is doing week in week out. The possibilities were to either fly direct to Shenzhen (via Tiger) or through either Macau (Tiger or Jetstar) or Hongkong (Jetstar) then to Shenzhen. Whichever the combination I wouldn't mind spending a day or two in either Macau and/or Hongkong. After much deliberations, I took the Tiger 88% promo and booked the flight direct to Shenzhen. The departure date from Singapore was on 4 March and the return date from Shenzhen was 17 March.
Prior to the departure on 4 March, I finalised only the following through the internet apart from the 2-way SIN-SZX flights:
(1) Book the 4-day Jiuzhaigou bus trip through an agency (Dreams Travel) in Chengdu. (Period: 6 March to 9 March).
(2) Arrange for the Tibet entry permit through the same agency in Chengdu. This had to include the flight ticket into Lhasa. Fixed the period to be in Lasa: 10 March (IN) to 12 March (OUT).
(3) Inland air ticket from Shenzhen to Chengdu on 5 March.
(4) Hotel bookings for Chengdu.
There were still alot missing in the iterinary:
(a) The air ticket Lhasa back to Chengdu on 12 March.
(b) The hotel in Lhasa.
(c) The Lhasa iterinary.
(d) What to do after arriving back to Chengdu on 12 March, there was still 5 days to the flight back to Singapore from Shenzhen.
(e) How to get back to Shenzhen on 17 March to catch the flight back to Singapore and from WHERE?
As I could not book any air tickets online, I decided to do it in Shenzhen having tied down all the possible flights to book.
As it was not peak season in Lhasa, hotels should not be a problem I guess. Anyway there were plenty of options there so I was not too worried. Also nailed down a couple of possible budget places to stay through the internet so there were no worries on this issue.
For the 13 to 17 March gap, I shortlisted 2 options:
(i) do the Three Gorges cruise (4-days) ending in Yichang
or
(ii) do Leshan and Emeishan (both of which could be easily reached via Chengdu, daytrip or 2~3 day trips)
Both the above could be arranged by the agency in Chengdu, so I was well covered. My preference was the Three Gorges cruise but it was expensive for a single pax as I would be paying for a 2-person cabin for those locally operated ships. The other option was to go for the luxury class ships (operated by foreign companies) which allow sharing of cabin for single pax. As I had time on hand to decide, there was no hurry. Depending on the cabin availability, I should still be able to decide during the period in Lhasa.
So everything was more or less set for the journey to begin......................
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