Hanjin Pretoria

For those wishing to track the progress of a container ship that I will board on 2/4/11, you can find information here.

Appearing again in the SF Bay Area on or about February 4, 2011.

Sea Fever

I MUST go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,

And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,

And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,

And a gray mist on the sea's face, and a gray dawn breaking.

I must down go to the seas again, for the call of the running tide

Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;

And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,

And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,

To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like a whetted knife;

And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,

And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

John Masefield

Hitch in the Plan

This morning I received the following email from the company who booked my voyage:

Dear Mr Allin,

I'm sorry to inform you that we've just been advised by the shipping company that the Hanjin Pretoria will not now be calling at Hong Kong.

There are two alternatives we can suggest:

you could disembark at the following port, Port Kelang, arriving about 19 February;

you could transfer to the sister ship, Hanjin Phoenix and do the original itinerary, departing from Oakland on about 14 February, arriving Hong Kong about 1st March.

I'm sorry for the inconvenience - which would you prefer?

Kind regards,

Andy

Strand Voyages
The Oasis Centre
75 Westminster Bridge Road
London SE1 7HS
Tel: +44 (0)20 7921 4340
Fax: +44 (0)20 7921 4476

I expected to have to change my plans fairly regularly, but not so early. My choice is to either arrive two weeks later than expected (and therefore I would have to meet Lauren in Cambodia within a few days of arriving in HK), or disembark in Kelang, a city near the capital of Malaysia (which means I would miss out on all or at least much of Vietnam).

I'll open the forum for comments. What do you all think?

Port Kelang

Westward Ho!

Welcome dear friends and family to my travel log/t-blog, Around the World in 150 Days or so. I'm not sure that my trip will take me around the world, let alone in 150 days or so, but I'm sticking with the title.

I will try to post regularly here with pictures and words from my journey. Please check in once in a while and feel free to comment.

I am scheduled to leave on February 2, 2011 from the Port of Oakland on a freighter ship, the "Hanjin Pretoria". Here are some details on the boat:

I will spend fourteen days crossing the ocean, losing a day in the process and therefore arriving in Hong Kong on or about February 17, 2011. I will not be able to contact anyone during that time. I expect to do a lot of reading, writing and staring at the ocean in my time at sea, so please feel free to offer any literary advice.

From there I hope to travel overland to the Vietnam-China border and then head south down the Vietnamese coast. I will be meeting Lauren (my sister) in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia in early March and we expect to travel together in Cambodia and up to Laos, largely following the Mekong River.

I am sketchy on details right now, as I have intentionally been trying to keep myself open to go wherever the spirit takes me, but I would like to spend some time in the Yunnan province of China. If I feel up to the task, I will shoot up to Beijing and take the Trans-Mongolian/Trans-Siberian Railway to Moscow and on to Europe, where I can hopefully find a boat to cross the Atlantic. Either way, I will be in Flagstaff, AZ by June 18, 2011 (see you there FFFers!).

Please keep in touch. You can comment on this blog or email me at brett.allin@gmail.com. Hold down the fort while I'm out.