I'm getting excited now that my trip nears. Since my previous post on this upcoming trip, I have managed to include two more countries that I will be visiting for the first time, Czech Republic and Luxembourg, making the total a whopping ten new countries for me!
In terms of airlines, in addition to those listed in the previous post, I have also since booked myself a seat on Indigo Airline on an India domestic flight from Kochi to Mumbai, and Aeroflot from Madrid via Moscow to Hong Kong on both its A321 and B777 aircrafts.
I have still one more flight to book, that is, from a choice of Hong Kong or Guangzhou or Macau or Shenzhen back to Singapore. These cities are all well-connected and easily reached. So my choice will solely depend on the air ticket cost haha!
Now that almost all my flights are ticketed, I'm currently looking at my train journeys. Not all the sectors shown on my travel map are flown. Some are taken on trains. For example, from Prague, Czech Republic to Munich, Germany and then onward to Geneva, Switzerland. Another train sector is between Tbilisi, Georgia and Yerevan, Armenia then returning by coach.
During my research, I chanced upon the Trans-Asia Express. A little too late, I guess. This particular train only restarted just months earlier. It connects Turkey and Iran and boasts great scenery enroute.
One more train route that I'll be taking is between Frankfurt, Germany and Luxembourg, both ways.
Meanwhile, in Iran, initially I thought of travelling on trains between cities. However, after research, I realized that most, if not all, of the train stations, other than Tehran, are located far away from the city centre, and taxi is the only way to get there. For me, I try not to depend on taxi overseas as that usually involves haggling over the taxi cost. Something which I actively avoid.
Domestic flights within Iran isn't that cheap. So that leaves only coach travel within Iran. Within the same city, there are quite a few bus terminals with buses departing to various cities. So I will need to do more research so I don't get lost. 😀
In addition, in some cities, local transport may not be convenient for me so I will be depending on local tour guides to bring me around in cities such as Mumbai, India and Beirut, Lebanon and Cairo, Egypt. More research is necessary to ensure that I get a reliable and trusted tour guide.
Yup, so these will keep me occupied in the days leading to my trip!
