Asia 2009 Tour In
early 2009 it was about the time to make one dream come
true. I had been thinking about a trip of a several months
for a long time already... Having worked for the same
company for 10 years I realized that it is about the time to
take a break. So I applied for a leave of absence from my
boss and started planning. My application was accepted and I
had the opportunity to spend about three months traveling in
February - May 2009.
It was clear from the beginning that I
did not want to plan too much - I had just a number of
destinations that I wanted to visit but the schedule and
route was more or less open. The whole idea of drifting away
in some remote destinations was so fascinating! So I just
booked flights to Hong Kong and applied for two visas (China
and Russia visas should be easier to get in Finland). One of
my 'mandatory' destinations was North Korea - getting there
required booking a tour so that was also something to be
done in advance. Apart from that I did not really have a
fixed itinerary.
Here's a summary of the countries I
visited, see diaries and photo gallery pages for more details!
The original travel blog can be found from
http://303tours.blogspot.com/. The diary pages here are
just copy-paste from the original blog. The entries are a
combination of English and Finnish - let's see if I find the
time to translate everything to English. Anyway it was
easier to express my feelings with my native language so
therefore many of the entries are in Finnish.

- China: Hong Kong
- Philippines:
Manila and Puerto Galera
- Singapore
- Indonesia: Batam
- Indonesia: Bali,
Gili Islands and Lombok
- Thailand: Bangkok
- Myanmar: Yangon,
Bagan and Inle Lake
China - part
1 (Hong Kong)
My first destination... Did not really know what
to expect but anyway Hong Kong is one of the 'easier'
destinations in Asia - things are rather organized there. I
spent just a couple of days in this interesting city - had
actually really good time there but wanted to move to warmer
climate soon. The city is an interesting mixture of Chinese
and British culture and even though the area is not that big
there are lots of interesting sights. And surprisingly there
are really laidback places very near the busy downtown area
- just take a ferry to some of the outlying islands!
Photo gallery
Diary
Philippines
After Hong Kong I decided to continue to Manila. Booking the
Cebu Pacific Air ticket there was more than challenging but
eventually I arrived in this crazy city. This huge place is
pure South East Asian madness at its worst - unfortunately
not the number one tourist destination in the area. I spent
actually quite a lot of time exploring the city and the
surrounding areas but I still have mixed feelings... Manila
is big, noisy and chaotic with few attractions compared to
other capitals in the area. But there are interesting
destinations just a couple of hours away - for example Taal
volcano and the beaches of Puerto Galera. I thought about
doing a longer tour to the more remote islands but somehow
ended up spending about two weeks in Manila and the nearby
beaches...
Photo gallery
Diary
Singapore
My favourite Asian city! This was the third visit to this
beautiful place - I knew most of the sights in the downtown
area already but just strolling around there is so cool! And
actually there were a number of interesting sights yet to be
discovered - for example Singapore Zoo and Sentosa area were
really pleasant experiences. I just spent a couple of nights
here but had really good time - after the chaos in Manila it
was nice to be in a place with traffic rules and no noise!
Photo gallery
Diary
Indonesia
I had not visited Indonesia before but was expecting some
beautiful beaches and nature from there. Did not realize
that Indonesia was just an hour's ferry ride away from
Singapore. I spent an interesting weekend on an island
called Batam before booking a flight to Bali. Bali and the
nearby Gili islands and Lombok turned out to be exactly the
kind of paradise islands I had been looking for. I just
ended up spending almost three weeks there - doing nothing
special apart from the diving school that was an
unforgettable experience! After Bali I visited all of the
three Gili islands and spend some time on Lombok as well.
Definitely one of the places where I would like to return
some day!
Photo gallery
Diary
Thailand
Another one of my favorite Asian destinations... I had to
visit Bangkok to get the Myanmar visa and it was good fun to
enjoy some city life after some more remote destinations.
Interestingly I ended up visiting a number of sights I had
already seen before - for example the Royal Palace and some
temples. But those places are just so fascinating and even
though Bangkok is a bit chaotic it is still one of my
favorite mega cities in Asia! After Myanmar I had to return
here for a couple of days, that was actually the period when
I felt like taking a break from traveling for the first
time. So I just spent some time parks, relaxing at the hotel
and watching funny Thai movies at a nearby cinema...
Photo gallery
Diary
Myanmar
One of the highlights during this trip! I did not quite know
what to expect but after the initial shock Myanmar turned
out to be one of the most pleasant surprises so far. Yangon
was really chaotic and the heat was really bad for the first
three days but the friendly people and the strange going
back in time feeling made me have a really good time there!
Inle Lake was my favorite destination in Myanmar. Would have
been interesting to explore some of the more remote areas as
well but I did not feel like taking those 24-hour bus
rides...
Photo gallery
Diary

- China: Xian
- China: Beijing
- North Korea
- China: Macau and
Hong Kong
- China: Guangzhou
- Mongolia: Ulan
Bator
- Russia: Irkutsk
- Russia: Moscow:
- Finland: Helsinki
China - part
2 (Xian - Beijing)
After some recharging in Bangkok it was the time to enter
mainland China for the first time ever. I started from Xian
that turned out to be a good choice as it is not the biggest
city in China - well still huge by Finnish standards of
course. After checking out the mandatory sights like
Terracotta warriors I continued by night train to Beijing. I
did not have much time to spend there before joining the
tour group - the next destination being the most awaited on
this trip!
Photo
gallery
Diary
North Korea
The most bizarre country ever. Period. And one of the most
memorable places I have been to - in general this visit was
a very pleasant experience! This is a place to be
experienced - it is hard to describe the unique atmosphere
by words. It is like going through a time warp - so many
times you wonder whether things you see are real or not and
is this really 2009? The country is definitely not as bad as
some news might say - poverty is a problem for sure but you
still see smiling faces everywhere. People are very
hospitable and even though the infrastructure is in bad
shape things still work somehow. Did not see any famine or
forced labour there...
Photo gallery
Diary
China - part 3
(Beijing - Macau - Guangzhou - Hong Kong - Beijing)
After five unforgettable days it was time to return to
China. Now I had more time to explore Beijing properly - you
can easily spend a couple of days there just because of the
size of the area. As it was still a bit chilly there I
decided to head back to the south for a while. I checked out
the crazy casinos of Macau before going to Guangzhou. It was
one of the crazier Chinese megacities - actually one of the
most unpleasant destinations during this trip. I headed back
to Hong Kong to enjoy some beach life before returning to
Beijing for the final leg of the journey.
Photo
gallery
Diary
Mongolia
Trans-Siberian (or Trans-Mongolian) train journey had been
on my to-do list for a long time. Even though I had a flight
booked from Hong Kong to Helsinki I decided to take the more
adventurous route by train. So after a big struggle I
managed to book a ticket from Beijing to Ulan Bator,
Mongolia. The train journey was quite interesting - very
beautiful scenery and time-consuming border crossings.
Mongolia was unlike any destination so far - UB was a crazy
city in the middle of nowhere. But just a 10 minutes drive
away you were suddenly in untouched nature. This was the
only destination where I managed to see snow by the way!
Photo gallery
Diary
Russia
I continued by train to Irkutsk - it is basically in the
heart of Siberia! It is actually quite charming town with
beautiful old wooden houses. I got soon bored with the
lengthy train rides and decided to skip the 5-day journey to
Moscow - instead I booked an Aeroflot flight there. I spent
two nights in Moscow before taking the night train back
home. So the adventure of 3 months was finally over -
actually time passed very quickly! And the lovely Finnish
summer was almost there already!
Photo gallery
Diary
My locations by date
7.2.2009: Helsinki / London / Hong Kong
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8.2.2009: Hong Kong
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9.2.2009: Hong Kong
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10.2.2009: Hong Kong
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11.2.2009: Hong Kong / Manila, Philippines
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12.2.2009: Manila, Philippines
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13.2.2009: Manila, Philippines
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14.2.2009: Manila, Philippines
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15.2.2009: Manila, Philippines
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16.2.2009: Puerto Galera, Philippines
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17.2.2009: Puerto Galera, Philippines
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18.2.2009: Puerto Galera, Philippines
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19.2.2009: Puerto Galera, Philippines
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20.2.2009: Puerto Galera / Manila, Philippines
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21.2.2009: Manila, Philippines
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22.2.2009: Manila / Tagatay, Philippines
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23.2.2009: Manila, Philippines
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24.2.2009: Manila, Philippines
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25.2.2009: Manila, Philippines / Singapore
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26.2.2009: Singapore
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27.2.2009: Singapore
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28.2.2009: Singapore / Batam, Indonesia
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1.3.2009: Batam, Indonesia
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2.3.2009: Batam / Kuta, Indonesia
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3.3.2009: Kuta, Indonesia
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4.3.2009: Kuta, Indonesia
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5.3.2009: Kuta, Indonesia
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6.3.2009: Kuta / Ubud, Indonesia
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7.3.2009: Ubud, Indonesia
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8.3.2009: Ubud / Gili Trawangan, Indonesia
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9.3.2009: Gili Trawangan, Indonesia
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10.3.2009: Gili Meno, Indonesia
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11.3.2009: Gili Meno, Indonesia
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12.3.2009: Senggigi, Indonesia
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13.3.2009: Senggigi, Indonesia
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14.3.2009: Gili Air, Indonesia
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15.3.2009: Gili Air, Indonesia
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16.3.2009: Gili Air, Indonesia
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17.3.2009: Gili Air / Kuta, Indonesia
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18.3.2009: Kuta, Indonesia / Bangkok, Thailand
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19.3.2009: Bangkok, Thailand
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20.3.2009: Bangkok, Thailand
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21.3.2009: Bangkok, Thailand
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22.3.2009: Bangkok, Thailand
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23.3.2009: Bangkok, Thailand
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24.3.2009: Bangkok, Thailand
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25.3.2009: Bangkok, Thailand
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26.3.2009: Bangkok, Thailand
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27.3.2009: Bangkok, Thailand / Yangon, Myanmar
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28.3.2009: Yangon, Myanmar
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29.3.2009: Bagan, Myanmar
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30.3.2009: Inle Lake, Myanmar
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31.3.2009: Inle Lake, Myanmar
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1.4.2009: Yangon, Myanmar / Bangkok, Thailand
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2.4.2009: Bangkok, Thailand
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3.4.2009: Bangkok, Thailand
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4.4.2009: Bangkok, Thailand
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5.4.2009: Bangkok, Thailand
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6.4.2009: Bangkok, Thailand
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7.4.2009: Xian, China
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8.4.2009: Xian, China
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9.4.2009: Xian, China
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10.4.2009: Beijing, China
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11.4.2009: North Korea
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12.4.2009: North Korea
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13.4.2009: North Korea
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14.4.2009: North Korea
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15.4.2009: North Korea
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16.4.2009: North Korea
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17.4.2009: Beijing, China
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18.4.2009: Beijing, China
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19.4.2009: Beijing, China
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20.4.2009: Beijing, China
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21.4.2009: Beijing, China
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22.4.2009: Macau, China
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23.4.2009: Macau, China
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24.4.2009: Guangzhou, China
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25.4.2009: Guangzhou, China
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26.4.2009: Guangzhou, China
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27.4.2009: Hong Kong
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28.4.2009: Hong Kong
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29.4.2009: Hong Kong
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30.4.2009: Hong Kong
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1.5.2009: Hong Kong
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2.5.2009: Hong Kong
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3.5.2009: Hong Kong
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4.5.2009: Beijing, China
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5.5.2009: Beijing, China
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6.5.2009: Beijing, China
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7.5.2009: Ulan Bator, Mongolia
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8.5.2009: Ulan Bator, Mongolia
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9.5.2009: Ulan Bator, Mongolia
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10.5.2009: Ulan Bator, Mongolia
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11.5.2009: On the train to Irkutsk
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12.5.2009: Irkutsk, Russia
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13.5.2009: Moscow, Russia
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14.5.2009: Moscow, Russia
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15.5.2009: Helsinki, Finland
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