ironmanjt

I'm not right in the head. We've established that a long, long time ago. The one sensible thing I've done travel-wise lately is cancel my New Years crazy trip for the first time in 10+ years because I was simply too tired to go after several trips.

Of course "tired" lasted about two weeks, and I was all rebooked for about 5 weeks after I'd originally planned to go. Same general routing, same countries planned, everything should work out. Well, maybe.

First, the Eritreans. They don't like giving out visas. As a matter of fact, I'm about to get on a plane and still don't have one. Hopefully it'll show up in time...if not, maybe I can convince them to deliver it to me on arrival. Or I'll spend a night in an Eritrean holding cell.

Then, there's those Houthis. You know, the ones who overran Sana'a this week and have basically overthrown the Yemeni government. Of course, after conferring with people on the ground I'm still going. The airport's open after all, so why not?

Finally, United. I love United. More precisely, I love the stuff you can sometimes get away with on united.com. Flying back to DC from Eritrea the easy route would be one stop via Istanbul. Who would want to do that when you can also stop in Saudi Arabia, Lithuania, AND Kiev for no extra miles?! Plus, the Lithuania and Ukraine stops are nearly 24 hours so a chance to re-visit. Plus, my having "been to Ukraine" is mildly tainted. See, I was in Kiev once before...in 1989...when it was technically the Ukrainian SSR. So, this is a chance to legitimize what was country #5 for me...or it could be #179...depending how you want to count it.

If you'd like to check out my other trip reports first:

I. London to Iran and Afghanistan in a mix of C, F, and LCCs
II. Above the Arctic Circle with UA/CO/LH and SK in whY, C, and F
III. Around the World in 40 Days for 40 Years
IV. 8 Places People Who Are Right in the Head Do Not Spend New Years
V. 12 Countries, 10 Airlines, 4 Islands, 27,080 miles, 11 Days
VI. 6 Countries in 6 Days - Caribbean Island Hopping and first AA Experience
VII. Guyana, Suriname, and French Guyana with an unexpected sidetrip to Caracas!
VIII. To Haïti - for vacation and a milage run!
IX. Around Senegal and West Africa
X. 4th Annual New Years in Dangerous Places - Libya Edition
XI. Kosovo and FYR Macedonia - Milage Run in United Business + TK/LH
XII. Washington to Peru and Machu Picchu on COPA and TACA
XIII. To Johannesburg...for 36 hours!
XIV. Here a Stan, there a Stan, everwhere a Stan Stan....
XV. Air Burkina, Air Cote d'Ivoire and 7 countries in West Africa
XVI. Turkey for Thanksgiving....with a side of Tajikistan, Serbia, Montenegro, and Moscow
XVII. Into the Heart of Darkness... Congo, Angola, Gabon, OH MY!
XVIII. HI! Four Islands, Lots of Planes, Beaches, and Convertibles
XIX. Plenty of Salt, Not Enough Oxygen...a Trip to Boliva, Colombia, and Ecuador
XX. Learning to Relax - Long Weekend in St Christopher and Nevis
XXI. You're spending New Years WHERE? IRAQ? (2009-2010)
XXII. Pineapples, croissants, and neon OH MY! A trip to Hawaii, Paris, Andorra, and Vegas
XXIII. South Pacific, Israel, Lebanon - 6 weeks - 71,500 miles - 24 countries
XXIV. Sundae bloody Sundaes...a 2014 United Year in Review

The routing should be more or less fixed now:



Rough Expected Outline:

I. DC to Malawi in United First and South African Business
II. Malawi (country #172)
III. Lilongwe to Johannesburg, two nights in South Africa
IV. Johannesburg to Antananarivo, overnight in 'Tana (country #173)
V. Natural Parks and Lemurs..and another night in 'Tana
VI. To Comoros via Mayotte on Air Madagascar, exploring Comoros (country #174)
VII. Comoros to Mombasa on East Africa Safari Air, Kenya, overnight Mombasa
VIII. Mombasa to Zanzibar on Fly540, overnight Zanzibar (country #175)
IX. Zanzibar to Dar es Salaam on ZanAir, overnight Dar
X. Dar to Uganda on Kenyan Airways in Business, overnight Entebbe (country #176)

CANCELED:
XI. Entebbe to Istanbul on Turkish in Business, day in Istanbul
XII. Istanbul to Sana'a, Yemen on Turkish in Business (country #177)
XIII. Sana'a, Yemen - Horton Hears a Houthi!
XIV. Sana'a to Asmara, Eritrea on Yemenia in Business
XV. Asmara, Eritrea (country #178)
XVI. Asmara to Vilnius, Lithuania via Taif, Saudi Arabia on Turkish in Business
XVII. Vilnius, Lithuania
XVIII. Vilnius to Kiev, Ukraine, on SAS and LOT
XIX. Kiev, Ukraine
XX. Kiev to DC with Lufthansa EuroBusiness and United First

ADDED:
XI. Visiting Entebbe, Uganda
XII. Entebbe to Washington, DC in Ethiopian Business and Lufthansa First
XIII. Drama - It's Not Over Yet!
XIV. Eritrea...attempt #2
XV. Washington, DC to Asmara, Eritrea on Qatar Airways
XVI. Eritrea - Arrival and Day 1
XVII. Day 2 in Eritrea
XVIII. Asmara to Doha on Qatar Airways, 20 hours in Doha
XIX. Doha to Helsinki, Finland on Qatar Aiways and Finnair including the A350
XX. Two days in Finland, Helsinki to Washington, DC on FinnAir and US Airways Shuttle, including a JFK/LGA transfer


Sit back and fasten your seatbelts, this promises more drama than Fiji Airways and my escape from Lebanon combined!

gmitchs

Wow!! Subscribed. Hope you can still get into Yemen when the time comes.

Pangro

When do you pass through VNO? Going there about two weeks from now... ^ Needless to say, I'll be reading this adventure too!

isaifan

You are sick....and I like it. Best of luck and safe travels.

AhogZ

Goodness, there is something wrong with you but I like it! subscribe!

delta spartan

This is going to be great, can't wait for it!

Gripevo

Another ironmanjt report already! Well there goes my work productivity

Lmk if you need any advice about Yemen...i have a good friend who is from there and has some buddies high up in government(who are still there after this weeks coup).

MNL

I thought that Zanzibar is part of Tanzania.

ironmanjt

It is. You'll notice I didn't count Tanzania as another country.

brendog

.....

hauteboy

You should have taken the Yemenia flight from Comoros to Sana'a
You'll be up two countries on me this trip... until March at least

DanielW

Wow, another epic ironmanjt adventure!

Looks like the Houthi's will make your visit to Sana'a a little more exciting.

Maybe you can fit in a visit to Donetsk while you're in Kiev too.

TOMFORD

This is ridiculous, looking forward to the TR!

ironmanjt

Don't think I haven't considered it

FlyIgglesFly

You consider way too much for your own good.