Overland/Surface trek recommendations?
 

Please share your favorite Overland/Surface treks you have tried in conjunction with your OWE RTW fare.
Also please comment on some of my ideas. I'm especially interested in Trains and Ferry connections that are especially scenic or stop along nice places. I'd much rather fly into one airport and out of another, than just round trip back to a major hub.

Some I'm considering --
Arrive Cuzco, train to Machu Piccu and then to Titicaca and La Paz Bolivia by Train/Ferry. Either fly straight to Santiago Chile from there, or continue overland to Arica and fly from there. (Anyone try Arica)

Train from Puerto Montt to Santiago. Perhaps overland trek/tour from Punta Arenas to Balmaceda if possible, going to Torres del pines first? Maybe overland to Argentina from the pass near Balmaceda? Osorno/Puerto Montt into Argentina? Bad idea?

Arrive in Vancouver and take a cruise to anchorage, fly back to Dallas or St. Louis after land trip in the area.

Arrive in Puerto Rico and take a cruise back to Miami, or vice versa.

Arrive in northern Norway (lakselv) and ferry/train down to Bergen/Oslo.

Other train surface sectors in Europe, I love trains. East Europe would be nice.
Moscow to St. Petersberg overland.

Fly to Capetown, train back to Joberg.

I see some rules that seem to forbid most Asia surface sectors, is that correct? Wanted to try landing in Seoul, train to Pusan, boat (beetle II) to Fukuoka Japan, train to Narita and fly out.

Train from Perth to Adelaide or Sydney.

Not being a dyed-in-the-wool train fan I can't share the enthusiasm, so take these comments accordingly:

If you don't leave from the same airport, you'll spend one of your allowed segments, just as if you had flown between the places. Unfortunately, afaik you don't get any FF miles, either.

Don't forget that ANC service is seasonal.

Bryson's latest book on Australia describes his train trip across the country in interesting detail. Of course, that's what he's paid for.

The TranzAlpine in New Zealand was almost painfully boring, especially after having driven around and examined the scenery that passed in the distance, close up.

Having just bought a one world explorer ticket April 14th, I know for a fact that is incorrect!

Now that I've put down train travel, I re-read benoit's question as one that I've been thinking about asking the jaded travelers here: having been around a couple of times, where are those land-based special adventures?

The road north from Banff, Canada follows the spine of some really nice mountains, with not too strenuous hikes to look at glacial flows here and there, and a tourist ride onto the glacier at Athabascar (?). Unfortunately, it's pretty far off an OW route. And read and heed the "bears have eaten tourists here recently" warnings they nicely post at the trailheads.

During fall and spring, Chateau Lake Louise and its attendant glacial lake and the environs are some of the prettiest places on the planet, and there are plenty of places to walk. In normal times, though, you'd avoid it during the summer season because of crowds.

My Tranzalpine snot notwithstanding, ZQN is a worthy place to land. The light-plane trip to Medford sound is worthy, and the couple of glaciers on the West cost (Franz Josef, Fox) provide an interesting juxtaposition of tropical rainforest and glacier.

Australia's Heron Island, especially reached by Marine Helicopter's service, is a worthy stop, especially if you're a diver.

The train from Bangkok south was a worthy trainsman's adventure, passing through the backyards of "real" Thai.

Indian trains are surely an adventure. It's been a long time since I used them to any great extent, but I suspect there's still a lot of colonial-era equipment running a bit farther from population centers.

It's not an OW port as present afaik, but flying from KTH to Lukla (an STOL strip at 10kft or so, beginning of the trek toward Everest) is likely to provide a bit of adventure. Too bad the country isn't more stable and CX or BA isn't serving.

I'd suggest investigating the politics of the Blue Train before booking it. I'd guess the clientele (and service) have changed since its heyday, and although I revere South Africa for its game parks, geographically it's only so-so. And it's a long ride.

In first class, Eurostar is a decent ride.

We took a milk run from Venice to the city south of Cinque Terre. The cars actually had those accordian-doors that city trams and busses had, in another age. People-watching was interesting, and the scenery was lazy-day sleep-through-it stuff, best enjoyed after too much lunch and wine.

In central/eastern Canada you can (could?) take a train from civilization to the southern tip of Hudson (James) Bay. I've never done it, but I suspect it meets the test of "interesting". Also more-or-less impossible to get to.

Speaking of quaint, a train lover *must* take the train from BKK to the city. The Hong Kong Express it ain't, but except for getting your bags down the metal stairs to the station, it's just as convenient, and costs about a dime if I recall. Fully-airconditioned cars, too, if the windows are open. I think the exit is on the way to the Amari airport hotel, but someone will be glad to point it out to you. You won't find it by following the crowds.

Anyone else? In any case, happy trails to all. (The mileage-runners who never leave the airport, will have no idea what this thread is about, but it's about time we talked about this side of travel.)

I don't know that I've tested that personally, but it's certainly been bandied about here as if it were the gospel. You mean to say you booked at least four air segments in a continent, plus included an open-jaw on that continent, and didn't have to pay an extra-segment fee? If so, I'm certainly glad to hear of it.

It has been said that surface segments at least didn't count against the 20-segment total limit, but you wouldn't have had that limit in any case.

About the OWE segments, you get 4 flights in a continent, does not matter if they connect or not. Matters in the continent of origin as you can have only 2 stopovers and if there is an open jaw, that counts as a stopover. Now, the global explorer it does matter since the mileage of the surface sector counts against the mileage limit.

I was in S.America in 1995 so my experiences with the trains that I used may have changed alot since then. Better to drive to the trail head of the inca trail, hike into Machu Pichu. Its not difficult at all. The train was long and swayed a lot. Ok if only riding to the road connection. The train to Puno from Cuzco was a real milk run and adventursome even in 1st class car. Sorry, no ferry/boat between Peru and Bolivia. The bus takes a pontoon ride across the river, but that's it.
The coolest train trip was from La Paz to Arica. It is just a single car train, but you can look out the window the same as the conductor. Scenery is fantastic. It was amazing how the on-board steward make a steak and potato lunch in the back'gallery' There are some works by Gustav Eifel in arica and Tacna(in Peru). Never thought I see French work in S.America.
Lastly, the bus ride to Santiago is different. You have your choice of there buses. One is the usual greyhound. One is like biz class on a plane, and the last has flat sleeper seats (i think 25 passengers). Hope this helps.

Open jaws are fine and dont eat a segment. Benoit, I have been told that the Cusco to LaPaz route is very good. I didn't get to do it, but that is from travelers I have met in Cusco who were coming from that direction. I have also been told that an overland between north and south NZ is fantastic. Friend spent two months there going from Christchurch to Auckland. Finally, one that I would like to do, is take a cruise from Egypt to Greece, hitting some of the Turkish coast.

You might also look into Paul Theroux's books on train travel in Europe/Asia (from London across the south of Asia and up to Japan, then back across Siberia) and South America (from Boston as far south into Patagonia as he could go). While I tend to prefer Bryson's writing to Theroux - the latter often comes across as a bit of a curmudgeon and can sound patronizing to the "locals" - there's lots of good stuff there.

If you're in Chile - while train travel there isn't what it used to be, check out the open-air railroad museum in Santiago if you're into that sort of thing. About 20 well-preserved steam engines of all types are on display. Admission, if memory serves, is about $1 US.

I really like the trains in Thailand... fairly efficient, very cheap, and as JohnAx mentioned, there's a station right in front of the airport. From there, you can take trains to Chiang Mai, Nong Khai (near Vientiane, Laos), and Ubon Ratchathani. Or, go into the city to catch a train headed south.

I'm doing VTE-BKK-SIN by train soon, via the "jungle route" in Malaysia; BKK-SIN is probably the more interesting part of that route, so you might want to look into it. I hear the Malaysian interior is quite beautiful; will post a report in a few weeks.

Jan, 2003

Train from Bangkok Central Station to Don Muang.
Cost: 5 baht ($12.5 U.S. -approx). 3rd class.
10 baht second class-not the train I took. Also 1st class available, limited departures.
Duration of journey: 45 minutes
Comfort: padded seats, open windows, ceiling fans.
Segments: Too many to count, stops at every station.
Food Service: Numerous vendors on the platform and walking continually through the train.
Punctuality: Departed and arrived on time.
Security check: No TSA noted.
Ticket scrutiny: Yes and one can buy it on board if one wishes.

There is a bridge over the road to the airport from the train station.

Taxi can be flagged down just outside the station. Normal fares, no extra 50 baht airport fee for those who care.

I think the Baht:USD conversion is off. Last I checked, 1 Baht equaled 2 US cents. So 5 Baht would equal 10 US cents (.10 USD)

These are the following significant surface sectors I have done (not in conjunction with a OWE but oh well).

* Cuzco to KM88 via bus; to Machu Piccu via the Inca Trail and return to Cuzco by train
* Cuzco to Puno via train
* Puno to LaPaz via bus
* LaPaz to Arica via bus (the train no longer runs this segment as of a few years ago)
* Arica to Calama via bus (10 hrs)
* Calama to Santiago via bus (24 hrs, ouch)
* Santiago to Mendoza via bus

* Capetown to Johannesburg via bus (18 hours)
* Johannesburg to Nairobi via overland truck (Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya - Drifters Adventours), 30 days
* Christchurch to Queenstown, Kiwi Experience, 6 days
* Cairns to Melbourne, campervan (6 days)
* Jo'burg to Jo'burg via Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique (Drifters), 24 days

Note, trains no longer run the La Paz to Arica and Puerto Montt to Santiago route..

A few general questions about overland segments:

1. Is there any way to do the Trans-Siberian railway on OWE? I'd like to do it on my next trip. I vaguely recall you can't do an overland transcontinental journey. I guess you could do a return trip :-)

1a. What is the closest OW hub to the eastern end of the Trans-Siberian?

2. Is it possible to do an overland *instead* of an already booked segment? For instance, my upcoming OWE I fly from Santiago to Buenos Aires. If I decided on a whim to do this overland (which I might) and forego the flight, can I just pick up my itinerary in EZE without penalty?

The trans-Siberian railway actually splits in the East. One terminus is Vladivostok and there isn't a way out of there on OW. However, it is also possible to take the train to Beijing, and from there you can pick up BA back to London, or get a further train down through China to Hong Kong where you can pick up CX.

Hopefully in a few months CX will be flying to PEK again so you wil be able simply to pick them up there.

Is such an open jaw legal on OWE though? You couldn't go back to London from Peking either, could you? You'd be backtracking on continents...doesn't the Trans Siberian start in Europe?