something about me > i'm from new zealand, currently living in switzerland, 28 years old, engineer. in december 2003, i took 6 months off from my job to backpack around the middle east, new zealand and asia.

what follows below is a brief description of my trip arranged in three parts:

duration > 6 weeks

route > on 14 dec 03 i flew from zurich via prague to istanbul. from istanbul i travelled overland through turkey, iraq, jordan (brief excursion to the west bank) and egypt. i flew from cairo via prague back to zurich arriving 22 jan 04. see map here.

goals > the classic route istanbul to cairo overland was the original goal. the detour through iraq was fairly spontaneous + satisfied my need for a bit of adventure in what is an otherwise fairly easy-to-travel part of the world. seeing the situation in iraq with my own eyes was a valuable experience + i resolved to go to the other current hotspot, afghanistan, later on in my journey.

highlights > entering iraq, baghdad on christmas day 2003, leaving iraq *alive*, petra, mt sinai, fellucca ride on the nile, the muslim quarter of cairo.

duration > 5 weeks

route > on 24 jan 04 i flew from zurich via seoul to auckland. in new zealand, i took a oneway flight from auckland to christchurch + hitched the return journey.

goals > to relax + to catch up with my family, who live in hamilton, + my friends who are scattered about the country from christchurch to auckland.

highlights > being home again!

duration > 14 weeks

route > on 01 march 04 i flew from auckland to seoul (incheon), then on to bombay in western india. i travelled by train through rajasthan to delhi. i made a brief detour to the low himalayas north of delhi before continuing on to pakistan. travelled up the khyber pass to afghanistan. kabul, bamiyan, band-i-amir, mazar-i-sharif, kunduz. crossed the river panj and entered tajikistan. spent some time in dushanbe then headed east through the pamirs to south-eastern kzrgzystan. crossed the irkeshtam pass into xinjiang autonomous region, western china. took a bus to western tibet + travelled right across the tibetan plateau via mt kailash to lhasa. flew from lhasa to xi'an in eastern china + took a train to qingdao + ferry from qingdao to incheon in south korea. the loop was closed + on 05 june 04 i flew from south korea back to switzerland. see map here.

goals > my original objective was simply to see a bit of central asia. further goals became more clear as i progressed. i decided i wanted to see with my own eyes the current situation in afghanistan, learn some russian, find out about the "mystery country" tajikistan + do a pilgrimage to mount kailash. another goal was to choose a route which cut across many different + contrasting asian cultures + religions. observing the sometimes gradual + sometimes sudden changes in the make-up of the population as i travelled was a highlight of the trip.

highlights > entering afghanistan via the khyber pass, bamiyan + band-i-amir lakes, tajikistan in genreal, doing a kora around mt kailash, observing the nuances of the different cultures along my route.

visual > i took a nikon coolpix 3100 digital camera + enough batteries + memory cards to survive 1 week in a remote area. i was surprised at how easy it was to gain access the internet + burn cds, even in places such as iraq, afghanistan + tajikistan.

textual > i wrote a fairly comprehensive diary which may or may not become a book one day...