Prologue
Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of visiting the
Lost Continent of Mu on some hard-earned award mileage, so now it's time to earn those miles back. No less then the single largest purchase I have ever made in my life, I hereby present:
SIN-BKK-SIN-JNB-LLW
-MFU-CIP-LLW-JNB-FRA-OSL-TOS-LYR-OSL-LHR-YOW
-YYZ-YOW-YVR-ICN- PUS-SEL-BKK-SIN (
GC2 map)
Which works out to one CRWSTAR1 (28984 of 29000 mi used), plus separately purchased SIN-BKK-SIN & JNB-LLW-JNB tickets (in Y) and some driving around for the bits in
italics -- I originally planned to fly LLW-MFU as well but alas, the schedules didn't pan out. Airlines on the agenda are SQ, SA, LH, SK, CA, OZ and TG.
With only a month to spare it's clear, if unfortunate, that I can't really spend time in every place I'm going through, so the highlights are:
LLW Lilongwe [Kumuzu Intl], Malawi 13°47'22"S 33°46'52"E
LYR Svalbard [Longyearbyen], Norway 78°14'46"N 15°27'56"E
YOW Ottawa [Macdonald-Cartier Intl], Ontario, Canada 45°19'21"N 75°40'09"W
PUS Busan (Pusan) [Gimhae (Kimhae)], South Korea 35°10'46"N 128°56'18"E
As you can imagine packing for this trip -- carry-on only, of course, and most of that full of camera gear -- was a bit of a challenge, what with a weather range of 35C to -10C with windchill factored in. I wonder how many people have brought along thermal underwear and mittens when visiting Zambia, or malaria medication and a yellow fever certificate for Spitsbergen, the northernmost inhabited point on the planet? Hang onto your pith helmets, it's going to be a wild ride
