Trekking the Planet RTW – Asia

Catch up with the Van Soyes as they visit the mysterious island of Bali, Indonesia. In this video you will see the countryside, Balinese dancers and an exciting, high-speed trip down the Ayung river.

Yesterday we spent a day in Indonesia visiting the island of Bali. During our short time there we were exposed to a combination of its culture and nature.

Catch up with the Van Soyes as review their time in Singapore. In this video you will learn a little about the history and culture of Singapore as well as see some of the interesting sights.

On our last stop on our ocean voyage between Sydney, Australia and Singapore we visited the island of Ko Samui in Thailand.

Catch up with the Van Soyes as they review their around-the-world trip to date. It is unedited, unrehearsed and unscripted. You might find some of their answers surprising!

Catch up with the Van Soyes as review their time on the island of Penang in Malaysia.

We didn’t expect our first Asian train trip, from Singapore to Butterworth, Malaysia, to be an all night affair. The train was scheduled to arrive at 9:20pm, just in time for a good night’s sleep at our hotel. But things didn’t quite work out that way.

Catch up with the Van Soyes as review their time in the World Heritage City of Ayutthaya (Pronounced: I Ru Tie a).

Catch up with the Van Soyes as they review their time in Chiang Mai, the second city of Thailand.

Our visit to Thailand happened to coincide with the Songkran Thai New Year’s festival. However, the real attraction is the city of Ayutthaya itself.

While in Southeast Asia we have been traveling primarily by train. In fact, we have covered over 1,700 miles by rail since leaving Singapore. Thai trains are great for covering large distances in a relatively painless way.

Catch up with the Van Soyes as they review their time in the Phongsali Province of Laos.

We are spending more time in Laos than any other country during our five weeks in Southeast Asia. This is a remote area and by taking it slow we are hoping for “off the beaten path” cultural experiences. What we found was amazing!

Laos is a land of rivers. As we continue our travels in Laos we took a three-day river journey down two major rivers in the country: the Nam Ou and Mekong.

Catch up with the Van Soyes as they review their time on the Mekong River, as well as the city of Luang Prabang, Laos.

Catch up with the Van Soyes as they review their time in Southeast Asia.

One of the great pleasures of traveling is the food. During our time in Asia we have eaten a variety of food in the countries we have visited.

Nepal is the 10th country on our expedition and one that is significant to us. Over ten years after we first planned to visit here, we finally made it to Nepal and our next trek.

Catch up with the Van Soyes as they review the first half of their time in the Mustang region of Nepal.

We have just returned from our longest, hardest and most rewarding trek of our journey in the Mustang region of Nepal. While we anticipated the difficult physical effort associated with the trek we were not prepared for the other challenges that came our way during this time.

Catch up with the Van Soyes as they review the second half of their time in the Mustang region of Nepal.

Our ten-day visit Tibet was fascinating from both a cultural and natural perspective. However, it is what happened leading up to our arrival and what took place during our time there, that makes us, four months into our expedition, feel truly blessed.

When we initially built our Trekking the Planet itinerary, we had a little problem connecting the dots. The journey between Lhasa, Tibet and Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan ended up being the most complex of the trip to date.

Catch up with the Trekking the Planet team as they visit Tibet. You will witness the Saga Dawa festival, watch the “Monk Debates” and see a late afternoon procession of a Tongka.

Located in Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan is one of the most remote countries on the planet. The Kyrgyz people have historically been nomadic herders. Our 12-day journey provided a glimpse into this nomadic way of life as we traveled by road and foot through this mountainous country.

Catch up with the Trekking the Planet team as they visit the country of Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia.

Catch up with the Trekking the Planet team as they summarize their time in Asia. In approximately three months, they visited nine countries and covered thousands of miles overland.

We have been in Uzbekistan for about a week now and are amazed at what we have seen and at the warm welcome we have received from the local people.

Now that we have completed our three months of travel in Asia, here is a country by country summary of our food experiences, covering Nepal to Uzbekistan, during the second part of our time on this continent.

Catch up with the Trekking the Planet team as they cover the extreme contrasts of mysterious Uzbekistan.

Uzbekistan has been long synonymous with the Silk Road. After leaving Samarkand we split our time between visiting two Silk Road cities and experiencing the rural village countryside.

The Third Lane refers to an imaginary path in the center of a road between the two directions of opposing traffic. It is used by impatient drivers to pass cars even though they are overtaking vehicles on narrow mountain roads. Darren writes about some of our most memorable road experiences while at Everest Base Camp…

In the second “The Third Lane” series post, Darren writes about some of our most memorable road experiences while at Karakol Natural Park in Kyrgyzstan.

In the final “The Third Lane” series post, Darren writes about some of our most memorable road experiences while driving from Bukhara to Khiva in Uzbekistan.

We came to Jordan to visit two of the country’s UNESCO World Heritage sites: the archeological treasure of Petra and the desert landscape of Wadi Rum. The way we explored each one took us off the beaten path and provided us with a more remote and memorable experience.

Catch up with the Trekking the Planet team as they cover their time in Jordan.

As we traveled in Africa and the Middle East over the past two months, we had the opportunity to try many different types of food. Our three weeks in Ethiopia and 10 days in Jordan provided ample time to sample many dishes.

Catch up with the Trekking the Planet team as Darren and Sandy review their entire journey. In this video, you will hear about the team’s adventures as they sought to bring geography to life. The interview takes place just days after they arrive home, with questions from their daughter Kristen.

Here are all eight of the Trekking the Planet recap videos, filmed throughout our journey, in one place!

One of the great pleasures of traveling is the culinary journey taken in trying food from the places you visit. While on our expedition, we wrote several articles about our food experiences. Read all six stories here!

During our 14 month around-the-world journey, we completed 12 treks in some of the most remote places in the world. While trekking we filmed our experiences and created short videos to summarize our time.

During our global travels we interviewed a wide variety of people. Take a look at our interviews!