Darren and Jo on the Road

2005: Europe, Iran and the “Stans”, to Russia
October: Whistlestop tour of Eastern Europe

• Czech Republic: Prague
• Poland: Warsaw
• Belarus: Brest, Minsk
• Ukraine: Kyiv, Crimea, Odessa
• Turkey: Istanbul, Lake Van

November: Into the “Stans”

• Iran: Tabriz, Esfahan, Persopolis (Shiraz), Yazd, Mashad
• Turkmenistan: Mary (Merv/Gonar), Ashgabat, desert

December: Into Russia

• Uzbekistan: Nukus, Aral Sea, Khiva, Bukhara, Samarkand, Tashkent
• Kazakhstan: transit
• Russia: Samara, Volgagrad, Moscow (Christmas/New Year)

2006: Siberia Plus
January-June: Work: Teaching English

• Russia: St Petersburg – TEFL course and teaching
• Estonia: Tallinn

July: White nights and the Caucausus

• North West Russia: Archangel, Vologda, Murmansk, Petrozavodsk
• Russia: Smolensk, Moscow, Segeiv Posad, Tula, Oryol, Kursk
• Ukraine: Kerch
• South West Russia: Caucauses – Novorossiysk, Rostov-on-Don

August-September: From the Volga to Lake Baikal and Further East

• South West Russia: Volga Region – Saratov, Ulyanovsk, Kazan
• Cemtral Russia: Urals – Perm, Ekaterinburg
• Siberian Russia: Omsk, Tomsk, Krasnoyarsk, Severobaikalsk

October: Across China to South-East Asia

• China: Harbin, Dandong, Beijing, Xian
• China: Chengdu, Lijiang, Dali, Kunming, Hekou
• Vietnam: Lao Cai, Hanoi

November – December: Northern Vietnam

• Vietnam: Hanoi – teaching

2007: South East Asia and Silk Roads
January – August: Back in Nam

• Vietnam: Hanoi – teaching, Ninh Binh, Halong Bay
• Vietnam: Northwest loop – Sapa, Lai Chau, Dien Bien Phu
• Vietnam: Danang – China Beach, DMZ – Khe Sanh, Hamburger Hill
• Central Highlands – Pleiku, Kon Tum, Ho Chi Minh Trail (by motorbike, easy riders)
• Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) – working 3 months, Mekong Delta, Nha Trang

September: Holiday in South East Asia

• Cambodia: Angkor Wat, Phnom Penh
• Thailand

October-December: Darren and Jo in Russia

• Russia: Teaching, see “Grandfather Frost” at New Year

2008: Back in the (former) USSR
January-June: Teaching again

• Russia

July-August: Quest: Former Republics of the Soviet Union

• Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia
• Kazakhstan
• Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan
• Latvia, Lithuania
• Moldova

September-December: Deep Freeze

• Almaty, Kazakhstan – working

2009: Fire and Ice
January: A Balkan New Year

• Turkey – Istanbul
• Bulgaria – Sofia, Plovdiv
• Bits of Yugoslavia: FYRo Macedonia – Skopje, Pristina – Kosovo, Serbia – Belgrade
• Hungary – Budapest
• Romania – Bucharest

January-March: Leaving early

• Almaty, Kazakhstan – working too much for too little

April-May: Truely Asia:

• India: Jaipur, Udaipur, New Dehli, Channai (Madras), Madurai, Ooty, Trichy, Pondicherry, Mamallapuram, Mumbai
• Singapore
• Malaysia (Tower!)
• Cambodia – those temples, again!

June-December: Back to work

• Vietnam – back to Hanoi

2010: Orient Express
January-November: Darren’s contract as Centre Manager for Apollo in Hanoi

• Vietnam

Possible Holidays:

• North Korea: visas permitting
• The Philippines
• Laos and Burma
• Macau and Hong Kong
• China: Tianjin and Shanghai (Towers!)
• Russia: Kamchatka (Summer Solstice), Magadan, Sakhalin
• Mongolia

2011: Circumambulation of The Pacific Rim
January-July: Who knows

• Maybe: Vietnam, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Russia

July-August: Wild West

• USA: In time for Beckham’s testamonial (+ Fed Tower!)
• Canada (Fed Tower!)
• Alaska
• San Salvadore
• Panama
• Guatamala
• Nicuragua
• Mexico (Fed Tower!)
• Cuba – probably just after Fidel dies (see “Outposts of Tyranny” list)
• Chile

August-December: Working

• Who knows where?

2012…: To Be Decided…
So much more left to see! For a start:

• Antarctica
• Blackpool (Fed Tower!)
• London (Summer Olympics 2012)
• Sochi (Winter Olympics 2014)
• Turkey
• Lebanon, Syria, Jordan
• Egypt, Lybia, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco
• South Africa
• Angola?, Namibia?
• Zimbabwe (see “Outposts of Tyranny” list)
• Albania (hosts of the Eurovision in 2012, you read it here first!!!)