It’s Real Now. Real Big.

There are only a handful of things that feel better to me than a booked holiday and airline tickets in hand.  I’ll let you use your imagination to try and ascertain what those things might be and, instead, give you the dish on a trip that I was dreaming about and, now, have finally booked!  Half of it was nailed down a few weeks ago but now all the airfare is booked and paid for so it’s not in my head anymore…it’s real.  Real big.

May 21st I will drive to Munich before flying to Cairo then Bangkok finally landing in Beijing.  This ridiculous itinerary is thanks to my AMEX points…it was the only flight that I could pay for solely with points so I took it.  The endgame, as you can see is Beijing.  I will have 4 days flying solo and then three more with a guide.  Tianamen Square, Summer Palace, Forbidden City, The Great Wall and hopefully some secret other finds will start my journey.

May 30th I will board the TransMongolian railyway for a 30 hour journey through the Gobi to Ulaabaantar, Mongolia.  I will spend only a little time in the capital before flying a couple hours south to trek out into the Gobi with some camel hearders.  After some days I fly back to Ulaabaantar before heading north, by jeep, towards the Russian border for 4 days on Horesback on the eastern trails.

Home stays, felt gers, camels, horses, nomads and sand dunes…

My flight out of Ulaabaantar leaves me in Moscow for a full 14 hours before shuttling me back to Munich so theres a chance I can top it off with a  little Kremlin and Red Square if my ass isnt broken from horseback riding and I still have room left on my compact flash cards.

This trip is the carrot that will lead me through the first half of 2009 filled with anticipation and propel me through the second half editing photos….I am freaking out, jumping up and down, over the moon excited.  Seriously.