Enga mellom fjella

My trip itinerary.

Itinerary:

HAWAI'I
Honolulu, Hawai’i:
Arrive February 26th (via Denver on United), leave March 3rd.
Stay in HI hostel near U. Hawai’i-Manoa. $22/night!
Try to see: Manoa Falls, bus to North Shore and Windward towns, Hawai’ian cultural sites, Chinatown, gardens.

JAPAN
Arrive March 4th (on China Airlines), leave March 30th.
Narita:
March 4th and 5th. Stay at Japanese style hostel near the airport to unwind and make plans. No particular schedule.
Ueno, Tokyo:
March 6th, 7th, 8th. Stay at hostel for $29/night.
Hopefully link up with Hiroki (who I met in Poland last year), see gardens, shrines, Asakusa.
Mito:
Tentative at this point. Stay a couple nights and visit the plum blossom gardens.
Possible itinerary:
North to Sendai, Tohoku, then south to Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka, Nara) in hope I see cherry blossoms (hanami); but, there are many shrines, monkeys, bamboo gardens, old sections of towns and good walks.
Then either Shikoku (island) or direct to Kyushu (island). Hot springs in Oita, sister city of Kumamoto, beautiful city of Nagasaki, pottery towns, volcanoes.
Fukuoka:
Stay a couple days and leave March 30th. Depending on year this could be the height of cherry blossom time (mankai).

AUSTRALIA
Arrive March 31st (via Canton on China Southern Airlines); leave April 14th.
Brisbane:
Arrive March 31st. Stay in Brizzie for three days… depends. Gardens, river, semi-tropical. It’ll be the early early autumn.
Wangi Wangi:
No exact date. Take train (11 hours) to visit friend, Linda.
Sydney:
No exact dates. Hope to visit friend Flavio who I met in Norway. Sydney is known as a party city.
Melbourne:
Spend a couple three days before leaving on the 14th of April. A very cultural city.

SOUTH AFRICA:
Arrive April 15th (via Singapore on Singapore Airlines); leave April 20th.
Cape Town:
Parks, Mosque, Multi-cultural city, baboons and penguins, fynbos (plant kingdom).

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:
Arrive April 21st (Emirates Airlines); leave April 23rd.
Dubai:
Two nights in hostel. No plans.

PORTUGAL:
Arrive April 23rd (Emirates Airlines); leave May 15th.
Lisbon:
April 23rd, 24th, 25th. Stay in hostel I’ve stayed in before in Bairro Alto (about $11/night). The 25th is the anniversary of the Carnation Revolution of 1974, a national holiday.
Possible itinerary: Lagos for about 4-5 days (to rest at one of the most wonderful hostels I’ve ever stayed in); Tavira for a couple nights. Will check into visiting Sevilla and/or Mérida in Spain; then Évora in Portugal.
Coimbra:
May 8th- 11th (tentative). May 10th is A Queima das Fitas, a huge university graduation celebration.
Lisbon:
May 12th, 13th, 14th (tentative). May visit Óbidos, or just gather thoughts and relax before flight.

NORWAY:
Arrive May 15th (TAP Airlines); leave May 25th.
Kristiansand:
May 15th (arrive by train from Oslo), 16th, 17th, 18th. May 17th is THE national holiday.
The 19th through 25th isn’t planned yet. Hope to watch Eurovision on the 24th.

IRELAND:
Arrive May 25th (on SAS); leave June 9th.
Possible stop in Cashel for the first night. Bus runs from Dublin airport.
Trá Lí:
May 27th, 28th, 29th, 30th, 31st.
Attend Listowel Writers Week. Take 3 day workshop on Travel Writing from Mary Russell. Possible trip to Dingle. Possibly visit friends from Montana.
Possible itinerary: Definitely will visit Cork (and “rest”) but dates and duration not decided yet. May get to visit Belfast. Should probably spend a couple nights in Dublin.

NORWAY:
Arrive June 9th on SAS.
Nothing planned after this date.
Possible itinerary: Want to stay in Solvorn and Molde, visit Ålesund, Kristiansund, Frederikstad in Norway. May visit Dalarna in Sweden for Midsummer Fest; Göteborg and Uppsala also possible. Visit to Gotland or Åland less likely. Have considered Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania.

Coming back? Only two good one-way tickets found: WestJet from Dublin or Glasgow though Canada or Icelandair from many places through Iceland (could I afford to stay 4 days?)
Dates: Between June 29th and mid-July.
Total trip will be 4 to 5 months. I’ll stay mostly in hostels. I love trying new foods, especially regional ones. I visit gardens, churches, parades, et cetera. I don’t do beaches but I’ll be near and at a few so expect pictures. I specifically arranged dates around national festivals.

Goals:
To write in my journal every day and take down the senses: sight, sound and especially taste, touch, smell.
To write a travel piece at least every other day.
To post on facebook regularly if not every day, including a couple pictures per day (I’ll edit the thousands later).
To keep in touch as best I can, though Skype, postcards, but mostly through facebook.

Peace, Kåre.

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