Journey To The West (Weather Forecast)

For me it's compulsory to forecast the weather before you set on your plan-to-visit city or your itinerary. It's the best way to figure out the safety of your journey if you tend to take public transport and wonder around off beaten track. Then, it's a good way to pack your clothing and type of gear you might use during your journey. Otherwise you'll be ended up spending to much on clothes and it will increase your luggage/backpack weight. NOT GOOD. :P

So, before I usually step into a country or starts my journey I'll check my itinerary weather. This data I retrieved from World Weather Online. I'm NOT sure the accuracy of the data... however, it gives me a slight idea of the overall journey weather.

So here goes.
Phase One {Chengdu, Sichuan (China) to Kodari, Bagmati (Nepal)}...

Chengdu, Sichuan (China)

Lhasa, Xizang (China)

Shigatse, Xizang (China)

Gyantse, Shigatse, Xizang (China)

Zhangmu, Shigatse, Xizang (China)

Kodari, Bagmati (Nepal)

Phase Two {Kodari, Bagmati (Nepal) to Bhairawa, Bhairahawa (Nepal)}

Kathmandu, Bagmati (Nepal)

Pokhara, Gandaki (Nepal)

Tansen, Lumbini (Nepal)

Bhairawa, Bhairahawa (Nepal)

Phase Three {Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh (India) to Leh, Jammu Kashmir (India)}

Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh (India)

Agra, Uttar Pradesh (India)

New Delhi, Delhi (India)

Shimla, Himachal Pradesh (India)

Manali, HImachal Pradesh (India)

Below is Johor Bahru (My home town) average yearly weather forecast... to give an idea what am I going to experience throughout my journey. NICE... :)

Johor Bahru, Johor (Malaysia)

The highest average temperature throughout the journey is still below my hometown lowest average temperature... between November and December... 

That's all for now... :)

Next I'm hoping to write about equipment, clothing and other things that I;m going to bring along this journey.

Happy travel. 

Dewali

Deepavali or Dewali is special every year. We would spend most of our Dewali with sureas. Back in the old days, we would spend eating his mother TOSEI early in the morning while watching RAJINIKANTH movie until afternoon. After that we would go out to spent the afternoon at the water reserve dam or skate the whole afternoon until the day gets dark. It was the time when everybody only have each other.

Time goes by, when everybody have their own commitment, wife and kids... time became more crucial. We couldn't spent the time like we use to. But, we try to spend most of our time together more meaningful.

Even sureas make a simple RONGOLI in front of his house this Dewali.

Thanks mother... thanks sureas for the Dewali.

New shoes.. new habit.

I've been embracing Flip Flops for quite sometimes now. I wear them anywhere I go... traveling (in warm weather of course), sometimes trail walking... driving.. it's my freedom feet platform of choice. :P hassle free, I felt mostly on the ground, east to wear, comfortable, dry very fast and cost effective. But, your feet easily cracked, dry and dirty... even in the cleanest city of Singapore. :P

I've tried Vibram Five Fingers before... it's light.. very light. Barefoot feeling at its most performance. But, it looks funny and increase attention. I don't want attention while traveling in the unknown city... it creates a lot of possibilities.

So, my traveling mood drives me to Singapore last weekend with Ipin (bandmates) for nice, light, dry fast, barefoot feeling shoes shopping. So, the shoes of choice might look like this... :) hehehe..

Looks neat right?...

But...

I ended up buying shoes like this... :P hahaha

Yeah I know... I looks way different than the actual plan. But this is much... much much more better. It really suits me and suit my intended use. This is my first introduction to MARRELL... I've been embracing The North Face and Columbia for quite sometimes. This shoe really blew me away... the only thing that's bothers me is the color. Green is NOT my color... it's RED just in case you guys should know.

It really2 felt like wearing The Five Fingers... but minus the awkward fingers.. :P hahaha... MARRELL did a good job collaborating with VIBRAM for the outsole. I'm a great VIBRAM fan... instantly it caught my intentions when they put MARRELL on display... plus Ipin encouragement... BAM! I'm taking this baby home... put my Chuck Taylor in MARRELL shoe box... and test MARRELL right away... :) and all of a sudden I felt connected... :)

I'm taking you to the trip... Mr Marrell Barefoot.. I promise. ;)

Travel in NEPAL and INDIA...

The question is?

NEPAL

or

INDIA

If you have less than two weeks, and you're going to be in NEPAL and INDIA... which country you would spend most of your time? location... location... location.

Both have great mountains and lakes... both have colorful culture and ethnic diversity. Both country have great ancient history... what else?

In the past few weeks, I've been reading quite a few discussions, forums, blogs on the internet and study my trusty guidebooks about traveling in NEPAL and INDIA. There's a lot of cool places to hang out, to see and to experience. It really drives me crazy. I need to scale down the number of places that I want to visit, and I need to stay the selected places a little bit longer. I don't want to spend too much time in public transport.

So, this is the new direction... hopefully going to be the last. hahaha.

I feel that, travel towards Mahendranagar via Butwal will cost me a lot of time. Mahendranagar is very far, it located at the far west NEPAL before INDIA. Since I have very limited time... I need to avoid spending much time in uncertain public transport. But, the problem is... my INDIA VISA application stated that I'll enter INDIA via BANBASSA. The ideal way is to travel south from Pokhara to Bhairahwa and headed to VARANASI in INDIA. The question is do I need to re-apply or just show up at the border...

well the question goes to~
High Commission of INDIA
No. 2, Jalan Taman Duta,
Off Jalan Duta,
50480 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-2093 3510 / 03-2692 2692 (VISA)

The line is engage from this morning... :P

Well this is the new plan in NEPAL.

(A) - Kodari
Arriving from CHINA, cross border from Zhangmu. Need to be in Kodari before afternoon... since majority transport going towards Kathmandu leaving before afternoon. Nothing much to see in Kodari, if the we miss busses to Kathmandu there's no choice but to spend a night in here.

(B) - Kathmandu
4.5 hours bus ride from Kodari. (Rs300). Spend 2 days in Kathmandu.

(C) - Pokhara
8 hours bus ride from Kathmandu (Rs300) or by minivan (Rs450~Rs500). Spend 1 day in Pokhara.

(D) - Tansen (PALPA)
5 hours bus ride from Pokhara (Rs300). Spend 1 day.

(E) - Bhairahwa
Tansen - Butwal - Bhairahwa - Sunauli (cross border to INDIA). The plan is to travel down south and cross INDIA border on the same day. NOT sure whether we can travel all the way to Varanasi on the same day too. However, we might spend a night at Sunauli and continue the journey early in the morning.

A little bit rush don't you think? :)

And a new plan for INDIA

(A) - Varanasi
10 hours bus ride towards Varanasi. Spend a day.

(B) - Agra
13 hours sleeper train from Varanasi (4.45pm) towards Agra (Taj Mahal). Try headed to New Delhi on the same day.

(C) - Leh (not sure since it's in winter... maybe stop at Manali or Rohtang La)
Towards Delhi. Train (3 hours). Bus (5 Hours). Spend a night at Delhi before headed to 15 hours bus ride to Manali (1050).

Conclusion.
Hopefully this is my final plan. There's bus going towards Manali (17 hours) from Haridwar if we stick to the original plan. However, en route from Banbassa towards Haridwar traveling time duration is unknown as there's a lot of small city in between. If there's a lot of time, I definitely wan tot experience Banbassa towards Haridwar route... well like I said, trying to experience more in a little amount of time.

Well that's about it... if any of you readers have experience Himachal Pradesh or Uttarakhand region please do share. Hopefully it is worth going down south than experience Uttarakhand.

That's all for now... thanks for reading.

This is awesome...

Something to share... post by The North Face facebook this morning. It boggles my mind to see these guys doing it... envy. I don't have the skill, time and money... ahhh 

The view is outstanding...

What you need to do before travel...

Some of you may experience self planned travel or may NOT have experience it at all. Some of you might interested in Off beaten track, work out for stunning natural view and maybe some of you just to wind down and experience culture from your hotel/hostel balcony. So the way to experience and digest new things during travel is vary... and as always interesting.

So, in conclusion every traveller have their own way to experience their gateway or expedition. There's NO WAY I can experience all, explain and answer all question about travel... unless I'm doing it full time. And that's should be interesting right? will make my best effort to be everywhere.

Ask for me, plan before travel always going to save you a lot of cash IF YOU HAVE LIMITED TIME. So, before headed to a great journey of yours... these are few essential things you need to posses. Consider you traveling alone and you don't have any friends or relatives staying at places you want to visit.

1. VISA





• You need to realized that some country are NOT happy you wondering around their country without permission. So, you need to apply for them. Some countries requires certain amount of fees for VISA and some don't. You need to know, the country that you going to visit need VISA before arrival or apply during arrival (VISA ON ARRIVAL). Browse for more info regarding terms and types of VISA.
• For Malaysian going abroad browse here: http://www.kln.gov.my/web/guest/requirement-for-malaysians for complete information about visiting other country.
• Being Malaysian it is easy to travel around ASEAN countries. Automatically you'll received 14 to 30 day stays. That's why when visiting neighboring countries like Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia they just stamp your passport and off you go. If you check your stamp properly, you'll notice the date you arrived and statement like 'PERMITTED TO ENTER AND REMAIN IN  'COUNTRY' FOR THIRTY DAYS FOR SOCIAL VISIT ONLY FROM DATE SHOWN'. And the stamp logo, style and statement is varies from one country to another.
• The advantage of having this information before hand will reduce the unwanted days abroad applying for VISA. Remember, extra days will require extra cash. If you have limited time, this is the way.
2. Knowing places to stay.
• One of the important thing that you need to prepare is places to stay or visit address/information. It happens when you filling up the VISA application and the 'Embarkation Card'.
• Even though they (immigration officer) never ask you to call the 'place you stay' stated in the VISA application form or especially 'Embarkation Card' to rectify your information is genuine. However, it is advisable to fill in the information to avoid any difficulties. Just randomly put any hostel information taken from the internet or travel guide books and make sure it is the place you headed to, after immigration office.
• Other than preparing your entry VISA, to have this information on hand before arrival is to plan your traveling budget and NOT wondering around unknown place too much, searching for places to stay. Especially at night (been there and it's NOT amusing)... :P
3. Knowing where you go.
• Again everything is cost related. By knowing where you go or places you plan to visit, very much going to save your transportation cost and time. By planning the whole trip itinerary will save you a lot more.
• Some sights and tourist related place have entrance fee. So, you need to aware of that. 

That's is my bicycle on top of the SONGTHEAW... LAOS.

Knowing VISA fees, places to stay, places to go... very much will helps you to conclude how much money you need to bring along on you travel. If you're on a tight budget, you can directly change you plan before the actual travel happens. Again it will save time and you'll experience more.

Here are few travel guide books publishers.

• Lonely Planet (My favorite).
• Frommer's

Here are few travel related stuff

• Hostel World
• Couch Surfing
• TravBuddy (social networking design for traveller).

Need additional information? you can always comment and send me emails. If you have other way to save traveling cost do share... :) that's all for now.

Huh...

I accidently delete my recent post. It was 5 of them... and I'm clueless how to retrieve them back. There's a lot of written instruction as well as video instruction in youtube on how to retrieve your deleted postings. But I can't understand them at all. I think there're few functions missing while I'm trying to retrieved the post. arghh...

But it's ok... life goes on. Have a bunch of travel related topics to share. Just keep in touch yeah... will write a few more in a couple of days or maybe hours... :)

Take care.