Holiday... where to go...

Right this is what I have suggested to my friends... and they have declared me absolutely derranged.

I am calling it "The Agatha Christie Oriental Adventure"

Step 1:
Dublin - London
(By Boat and Train or Eurolines Coach - no plane allowed)
(Free Accommodation in London)

Step 2:
London - Paris
(Eurostar)

Step 3:
Paris - Strasbourg
(TGV)
(Free Accommodation in Strasbourg)

Step 4:
Strasbourg - Vienna
(On the traditional Orient Express Route)

Step 5:
Vienna - Belgrade
(By train)

Step 6:
Belgrade - Istanbul
(Overnight train)

Step 7:
Fly home from Istanbul
(Or get the train to Tehran, Iran for 50 euro - whichever takes your fancy!!)

---

Opinions?

A weekend in Bundoran sounds like much less hassle.

905 wrote:

A weekend in Bundoran sounds like much less hassle.

I'd much rather be murdered on the Orient Express

I'd miss out the first bit and fly to Strasbourg.

johnfás wrote:

Right this is what I have suggested to my friends... and they have declared me absolutely derranged.

I am calling it "The Agatha Christie Oriental Adventure"

Step 1:
Dublin - London
(By Boat and Train or Eurolines Coach - no plane allowed)
(Free Accommodation in London)

Step 2:
London - Paris
(Eurostar)

Step 3:
Paris - Strasbourg
(TGV)
(Free Accommodation in Strasbourg)

Step 4:
Strasbourg - Vienna
(On the traditional Orient Express Route)

Step 5:
Vienna - Belgrade
(By train)

Step 6:
Belgrade - Istanbul
(Overnight train)

Step 7:
Fly home from Istanbul
(Or get the train to Tehran, Iran for 50 euro - whichever takes your fancy!!)

---

Opinions?

That's a lot of travelling - how much time are you giving yourselves? It looks like an interrail jobby so I assume 21 days minimum? That would be my idea of a holiday - keep on moving, don't stop. You'll need to give yourself plenty of time in order to update the Machine Nation travel blog we're just about to set up....

johnfás wrote:

905 wrote:

A weekend in Bundoran sounds like much less hassle.

I'd much rather be murdered on the Orient Express

But you'd have a better chance of being murdered in Bundoran.

Auditor #9 wrote:

That's a lot of travelling - how much time are you giving yourselves? It looks like an interrail jobby so I assume 21 days minimum? That would be my idea of a holiday - keep on moving, don't stop. You'll need to give yourself plenty of time in order to update the Machine Nation travel blog we're just about to set up....

It is roughly 4 days travel accoring to the Man in Seat 61 (great train website) though we would do a slightly altered route. We would probably take around 3 weeks doing it... if they agree, which isn't THAT likely.

Why not? Are your friends not into roughing it so much 'cos you would be fairly roughing it like that? It's giving me itchy feet feelings now, that itinerary...

Auditor #9 wrote:

Why not? Are your friends not into roughing it so much 'cos you would be fairly roughing it like that? It's giving me itchy feet feelings now, that itinerary...

Most of them would prefer a single city or a week in the sun... I'm going to try persuading the people I towed along an adventure to Africa with me! I got them to do a month in a tent so there may be a possibility

EvotingMachine0197 wrote:

johnfás wrote:

905 wrote:

A weekend in Bundoran sounds like much less hassle.

I'd much rather be murdered on the Orient Express

But you'd have a better chance of being murdered in Bundoran.

And after a week there, you'd welcome it too.

EvotingMachine0197 wrote:

I'm going to NY next week as it happens.

I was there in 1988 on a J-1, this time I'm bringing the family I didn't have back then.

I wish I was... I really want to buy a new camera, so expensive here!

johnfás wrote:

EvotingMachine0197 wrote:

I'm going to NY next week as it happens.

I was there in 1988 on a J-1, this time I'm bringing the family I didn't have back then.

I wish I was... I really want to buy a new camera, so expensive here!

Hope its not seditious to say so, but they are about 2/3rds the price in Belfast.

Yea I know - I'm over in England quite a bit (family) and up North as well (friends) and they are alot cheaper. They're cheaper again in America though. You save about 100 in Britain and about 100 again in the USA.

If I buy here I'll probably trade in my current 35mm SLR, if I buy abroad I'll probably keep it.

Excuse my total ignorance with cameras but are the celluloid (?) SLRs still in operation? and are they still betterquality than any digital?

Cameras now tend to be 10MegaPixel which is enough you'd imagine to challenge the quality of any SLR (which I'm assuming is still 'better' than digital)

Plus, it's good to know they're cheaper up North. Don't know if I'll get one soon or just wait til there are 10Mp cameras on phones

Auditor #9 wrote:

Excuse my total ignorance with cameras but are the celluloid (?) SLRs still in operation? and are they still betterquality than any digital?

Cameras now tend to be 10MegaPixel which is enough you'd imagine to challenge the quality of any SLR (which I'm assuming is still 'better' than digital)

Plus, it's good to know they're cheaper up North. Don't know if I'll get one soon or just wait til there are 10Mp cameras on phones

The one in the picture is a Digital SLR - it is 10.1 MP which is fairly good (you can get them up to 25 MP but verrrrrry expensive). A Digital SLR is alot more useful in certain circumstances than an ordinary camera. You will notice a delay on a point and shoot digital camera which you do not get with an SLR. Also you can make use of the lenses. I need to buy a Canon one if I get a digital one as my lenses fit a canon camera.

25MP - holy moloney (batman) ! That should be enough for anything.

So are there no celluloid ones anymore? And when will the 25MP cameras appear on my €139 Sony Ericsson phone? (€90 free call credit)

I have a film SLR camera. It is getting more difficult to get the film for it but you can always get it in camera shops. They were giving it out free in a nearby chemist a while ago so I took loads and froze it. There are still a few models of film SLRs available but they're increasingly difficult to come by. I would imagine they'll be discontinued soon except for a model or two for enthusiasts.

I'd like a digital one because you can do more with the photographs on your computer. I tend to scan in images which have been developed from my SLR camera which means you lose alot of quality (not bothered paying to have them on cd from the developer). I do have a point and shoot digital camera, 6MP or something, but it isn't that good if you want to do some shots.

From all reports of people I know who have been to Thailand you'd probably pick up that mobile phone you want for about a tenner over there

johnfás wrote:

Right this is what I have suggested to my friends... and they have declared me absolutely derranged.

I am calling it "The Agatha Christie Oriental Adventure"

Step 1:
Dublin - London
(By Boat and Train or Eurolines Coach - no plane allowed)
(Free Accommodation in London)

Step 2:
London - Paris
(Eurostar)

Step 3:
Paris - Strasbourg
(TGV)
(Free Accommodation in Strasbourg)

Step 4:
Strasbourg - Vienna
(On the traditional Orient Express Route)

Step 5:
Vienna - Belgrade
(By train)

Step 6:
Belgrade - Istanbul
(Overnight train)

Step 7:
Fly home from Istanbul
(Or get the train to Tehran, Iran for 50 euro - whichever takes your fancy!!)

---

Opinions?

Go do it - even more reason if your mates think you're mad - badge of honour!

Now that I will be temporarily ejected from the cartwheel of life called the Rat Race in a couple of months time, I myself am contemplating another big trip . The Man in seat 61 is absolutely brilliant -its a pity it wasn't around when I was doing most of interrailing over a decade ago.

I adore train-travel - if you have the time it is the only way to travel and its great to see it making a comeback. I've done the Orient express already (was in the travel business at the time and got to ride the luxury version for feck all between London and Venice as a freebie - the perks are all I miss about the travel business - the rest you can keep),and have travelled extensively in North America, Africa and Australia aswell as Europe.

My top train rides so far - in no particular order

The Eurostar - purely because its the swankiest train going at the mo!

The Red Arrow - St Petersburg to Moscow - overnight express - purely because when the Tzar decided to build it - he drew a straightline between the two cities and that is exactly how they built it - a straight line -great people the Russians - they know to put uppidy greedy farmers in their place!

The Grand Sud - Valencia to Monaco along the Mediterrean coastline thru Barcelona,Perpigan,Arles,Marseille,Nice and Monaco - brilliant.

Damascus to Amman - its the only part of the old Hejaz railway from Istanbul to Mecca still going - its still got the original carriages and locos - runs about twice a week - 30 miles an hour and no air conditioning - still the scenery is fanatastic and people wonderfully friendly and you stick your head out the window and dream you are in Lawerence of Arabia!

The Indian Pacific - Sydney to Perth - breathtaking scenery especially across the Nullabor desert to Kalgoorie, great friendly people - a lot of Fun. Have to go back and do "The Ghan" - Adelaide to Darwin " - was still underconstruction when I was there 7 years ago.

The Blue Train - Capetown to Johannesburg - across the Veldt to the heart of SA - I did it back in 94 - believe its a bit pricey now - but if you have a few shekels - its so worth it for the magnificent view alone.

The City of New Orleans - Chicago to New Orleans - right down the Mississippi Valley - this is heartland USA.

The Sunset Limited - Tampa to Los Angeles - Big trip - split it into 2 - stop in New Orleans - lovely people and genuine southern hospitality - scenery changes from Floridian swamp to Texan farmland to the Western Desert and the mad urban sprawl that is LA.

The Coastal Starlight - LA to Seattle - its 36 hrs end to end - well worth upgrading to first class if you can - spectacular scenery along the the Big Sur from LA up to Gosimeon before turning inland thru the Central Valley - I split it in two - stopped off in San Fran to visit family - San Fran to Seattle can be spectacular but slow - rail line isnt great - prone to breakdowns - go stuck in Chico - Northern CA for 8 hours - thats 8 hours too long in Chico IMO! - and going thru Oregon and Washington the scenery is great - but the weather is totally Irish - if it can rain - it will rain and the mist descends very fast - still I got lucky for half the trip and along Puget sound its beautiful and Seattle is a really cool city.

The Empire Builder - Seattle to Chicago - my longest continuous trip yet - 4 days - I upgraded to first class for nothing -Amtrak offer great deals and their railpasses are a fecking steal compared to here. I had great fun - like everywhere in the states once they know you are a Paddy - doors open everywhere - got on really well with the Pursur (head of the dining carriage) half canadian - half Irish and by the time we got to Spokane I got to fulfill a childhood dream - got to ride for 200 miles across the Rockies into Montana up with the Engineers driving the Train - Wow - at the head of 4 massive engines pulling 20 carraiges ,going thru spectacular mountain passes -over rivers and thru tunnels ,getting to pull on that unmistakeable American train whistle - I could have died and gone to heaven there and then! - again very friendly staff and you get to meet all types of Americans from all walks of life at the dining table and the bar in the viewing carraiges(Dont mention the war tho) - "Big Sky" country across Montana and North Dakota is just fantastic and you pull into Union Station in Chicago is like coming home - you are in one of the most "Irish" Cities in the US.

Also highy recommended would be the California Zephr from Chicago to San Francisco - primarily becuase of the Rockies and the fact that you will try to be saved at least once by the preachers who get on the train as it goes across the Kansas prairies , The Cardinal from Chicago to Washington DC - wonderful scenery as it goes thru the Appalatians down to DC.

So Now Im thinking of going for the Biggie this fall - The Trans Siberian - Yep a plan is slowly crystallizing in my mind - London to Tokyo on the train and back again!

I'll be back with the details!

@ Edo - Very Jealous!

I'd love to do the Blue Train in South Africa... don't think the few hundred in my account would stretch very far towards it! My next Africa trip will be to the Delta in Botswana - will be saving a while!

We had a girl in our year in school who was a boarder and used to get the Trans-Siberian home all the way to Vladivostock!

The Central european trains pre-EU were great - Berlin via Prague to Vienna my favourite - proper sleeper train with restaurant car, for next to nothing - only problem was being woken up by jack booted border persons with torches at every border crossing.

Mmmm... we got in a bit of trouble on an overnight train from Paris to Nice a few years ago. We found a few Russians down the end of the train and we were making a bit too much noise for the liking of the French Train Guard Man!

johnfás wrote:

@ Edo - Very Jealous!

I'd love to do the Blue Train in South Africa... don't think the few hundred in my account would stretch very far towards it! My next Africa trip will be to the Delta in Botswana - will be saving a while!

We had a girl in our year in school who was a boarder and used to get the Trans-Siberian home all the way to Vladivostock!

That trip to Botswana sounds brilliant - thats the delta for the river that starts in Angola? and flows into the Kalahari desert is it not? - Class - Got the "Planet Earth" boxset a couple of weeks back - I thinks its featured on it - the underwater photography of the elephants swimming underwater is just mindblowing.

Are you going for the hell of it or do you have a slightly professional interest in doing so?

Edo that's some list of train journeys there ! I went to Oz for a year with my girlfriend at the time and we fought about returning via the trans-siberian (my wish) or through America where her family lived. On our way to Oz we travelled from Bangkok to Singapore by train/bus but we didn't travel at all in Oz by train but the Nullarbour trip is another world one which we drove. Australia was amazing. I gave up a good job in Dublin to do it but it was worth it.

She won the choice of return journey via the States. I saw LA, San Francisco, Sacramento, Boston, Providence all thanks to her family then we got to JFK and we had 14 hours before our flight so I took off into Manhattan and did the quickest camera tour ever of the Empire State, Chrysler, then Wall Street and Lower Manhattan walking and subwaying and I got some photos of the Twin Towers. And then I went for my plane in JFK on 7th September 2001 ...

I wasn't really able to find a job for a few months after that when we got back to Ireland.

I enjoy going on wildlife and scenery holidays. I was over in East Africa a couple of years ago, went around Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda for a little over a month. Did some voluntary work in Uganda but for the most part just travelling around with a responsible tourism company. That is, holidaying, but ensuring the money goes into the local economy rather than to Hilton - it is as important a model as aid really.

That's the very delta - the Okavango. Would be absolutely amazing! My uncle used to work as a civil servant in the UK as a statistician helping with crop development for African countries, he has assured me it is an absolutely amazing place to go!

I might be going to South Africa in December... I'll see what I can do!

The Santiago walk - my husband did it last year - plenty of free accommodation - and free transport (apart from boot leather). 500 miles in a month.