| Page Views: 1,908 Last Visit to Asia: January, 2005 | Overland Trips by SurfaceTravel - last update: Sep 26, 2006 |
| Butterworth to Hanoi route map |
Butterworth, Malaysia to Hanoi, Vietnam, 1998. This was an overland trip from Butterworth, Malaysia (the mainland side of Penang) to Hanoi, via Bangkok, Vientiane and Savannakhet in Laos, and the Lao Bao Vietnam border crossing. My friend, Kevin, and I decided on this trip at the last minute, so there wasn't much planning involved. I was in Malaysia at the time. The place I was staying had no Internet, so the only information I had was the Lonely Planet Southeast Asia. It was more or less accurate, but we definitely winged it as we went along. We took an overnight train up from Butterworth to Bangkok, stayed there for a few days getting visas for Laos and Vietnam, and then an overnight train to Nong Kai, Thailand. We made our way over the bridge to Vientiane, Laos, . From there we took a looong bus to Savannakhet, then another one to Lao Bao. We crossed into Vietnam and took a jeep-bus down into Dong Ha. Then we took a taxi up to Hanoi. From Bangkok, the whole trip took about 50 hours, more or less non-stop. (We were kind of rushed for time.) A travelogue with details is attached to this page. There was no room to add hyperlinks to it; all links are on this page. More details are at Surface Travel, Phase I
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| London to Hanoi route map |
London, UK to Hanoi, 2005. As part of a long-term goal, my friend, Will, and I travelled from London to Hanoi, over Christmas and New Year, 2004/5. We went via Brussels; Moscow, Lake Baikal, and Vladivostok in Russia; and Harbin and Beijing in China. A travelogue with details is attached to this page. There was no room to add hyperlinks to it; all links are on this page. More details are at Surface Travel, Phase IISegments- Eurostar (later than planned) to Brussels, where we had to run to catch the next train - 2 days and 2 nights on a direct train from Brussels to Moscow- 17 hours in Moscow where we did sight-seeing and shopping - 4 days and 4 nights Moscow to Irkutsk, near Lake Baikal - car to Listvyanka, a village on the edge of Lake Baikal; 2 nights there - car back to Irkutsk and there for 2 nights - Christmas Day spent on the train to Vladivostok on the Pacific Ocean; 3 nights and 4 days - 3 nights in Vladivostok spent sightseeing and wandering around - 1 night and 2 days on the train to Harbin, China, with a brutal border crossing - Harbin for 2 nights; saw the Tiger Park and the amazing Ice Festival - Day-trip train down to Beijing- 3 days in Beijing for me, 4 for Will; sightseeing, shopping, and Internet Cafés - Will caught a flight home, via a night in Amsterdam and a change in London- I continued on by train to Hanoi, 2 nights and 1 day - 2 days and 1 night in Hanoi- Direct flight to Paris, then Eurostar to London |
| "The Rossia", "Moscow - Vladivostok" |
Statistics - Total distance travelled, London to Hanoi: 17,701 km - Total distance travelled, West to East, London to Vladivostok: 12,516 km - Number of train stops from London to Hanoi: 152 - Total time spent on trip, including Hanoi and return flight: 25 days, 15 hrs, 50 mins - Total trip time, London departure to Hanoi arrival: 23 days, 8 hrs, 13 mins - Trip time, London to Hanoi, not including stopovers: 11 days, 3 hrs, 6 mins - Trip time, not including stopovers or train stops: 9 days, 12 hrs, 24 mins - Average speed, not including stopovers: 64 km/h - Average speed, not including stopovers or train stops: 75 km/h - Number of late trains: 1, arrival in Hanoi - All-inclusive cost, Eric: $5,805 US - All-inclusive cost, Will: $6,322 US - Times zones crossed, London to Vladivostok: 10 - Times zones crossed, Vladivostok back to Hanoi: 4 - Coldest temperature: -25° C, in Harbin
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