Here is the rough
outline of what we did on our epic 40 days around the world trip from June 1 to
July 10, 2017 and July 15 to July 24, 2017
Day 1 - June 1, 2017
Departed Phoenix to Rome with 2 hours layover in D.C
- 8:50 AM to 4:05PM Phoenix to
IAD United Flight 316
- 5:35 PM to 8:10AM IAD to FCO
United Flight 42
Day 2 - Rome Arrival
- 8:10 AM Arrived Rome Airport.
Immigration checked took about 1 hour due to very long line.
- 9:00 AM Took taxi outside the
airport to Foyer Phat Diem. http://www.foyerphatdiem.com/ Uber should
have cost less but because we have never took Uber ride before. Therefore
I didn’t know how to request Uber ride.
- 10:00 AM Arrived Foyer Phat
Diem. Dominican sisters let us checked in early no problem. We were
assigned in the 4 single beds “suite”. There’re only 4 suites at this
hostel.
- 11:00 AM Ate lunch at nearby
local restaurant near the Foyer. We were able to sleep during overnight
inflight. We decided to take metro train into Vatican. There is a bus stop
in front of the Foyer but it needs many transfers so we decided to walk
about 10 minutes to the train station. The train took us directly to the
station near St. Peter Square. Spent 2 hours taking pictures at the St.
Peter Square
- 1:00 PM is like 2 AM Arizona
time. We were so tired so we took train and walked back to the Foyer and
took a long nap.
- 5:00 PM Kids and wife were so
tired and still napping. I went alone check out the metro system around
Rome. I bought 48 hours metro pass and went on different trains to get to
know some of the attractions sites we will be visiting the following days.
- 9:00 PM I took the train back
and bought take-out food at local store to eat at the hotel.
Day 3 - Full day ROME
- 8:00 AM Breakfast at Light Cafe
- Collosseum. 48 hours ROME pass
included fast track at this museum
- Lunch at Light Cafe
- 4:00 PM Circo Massimo.
- 7:00 PM Spanish Step to meet cousin’s
family
- Dinner at Light Cafe. The kids
really liked this place so we keep coming back at this place. Food was
good and we celebrated Austin birthday here
Day 4 - ROME
- 8:00 AM The line to go inside
St Peter Square was long due to Pentecost Sunday mass. Security line was
long. Very long mass until 2:00 PM. We took pictures of Pope Francis and
Popemobile.
- After mass, we went back to
hotel for short nap and went on to visit Trevi Fountain and other museums
and basillica
Day 5 - ROME to PISA and
VENICE
- 5:00 AM Took taxi to train
station. Breakfast at the fast food place at the train station.
- 6:57 AM - 9:53 ROMA TERMINI
station to PISA central station. Ticket bought at www.italiarail.com
- 10:30 AM arrived Pisa station.
We stored our bags at the station for 5euro per bag. We purchased bus
tickets to PISA tower near the train station. We can walk if we have time
but taking bus is much quicker. Spent about 2 hours here. Lunch at nearby
train station in Pisa. People warned us about pickpocketing near Pisa
Tower but we spent few hours there with no problem.
- 1:54 PM - 7:35 PM Depart Pisa
station to Venice with stop in Florence. Tickets purchased through www.italiarail.com
. The train stopped at Florence for only short time.
- 8:00 PM arrived Venizia S Lucia
train station. I booked hotel through www.hotels.com 10 minutes before getting
off train. It turned out the hotel is very nice and close to the train
station. Hotel ai Tolentini cost 105 Euro plus 10 euro for extra 2 kids.
Walking from train station with 4 carry on luggages was no problem.
- Dinner at local restaurant near
the train station
Day 6 - VENICE
- 8:00 AM breakfast at local
restaurant below the hotel. Walked through the streets of Venice. Visit
St. Mark Square and Basillica and Grand Canal
- 7:20 PM - 9:55 AM Depart Venice
train station to Paris Gare de Lyon station. This is overnight train with
4 bunk beds. It was very comfortable train ride. They checked passports at
the Switzerland border. Tickets bought at www.italiarail.com
. We ate at Venice train station before boarding.
Day 7 - June 7 Paris
Arrival
- We got a good night sleep on
overnight train. We met a gentleman at the train station. He found us a
pool van to the hotel along with other passengers.
- 11:00 AM we were able to check
in early at the hotel and left luggage there to start exploring Paris. Le
Dokhan hotel is SPG brand. It is very fancy hotel. The problem was that
they didn’t let us 4 to stay in a standard room we booked using SPG
points. We had to pay extra to upgrade to the suite.
- Noon - Lunch at the local Paris
restaurant near Eiffel Tower. Walked through streets of Paris and along
River Seine.
- Went back and took nap at the
hotel. Visited Arc de Triomphe and shopping and went finished dinner at
the local Thai restaurant.
Day 8 - Paris
Disneyland. Took metro train to Disneyland Paris. Whole day here. Bought
tickets at www.attractiontix.co.uk 156 pounds for 4 people to 2 parks 1 day.
Day 9 - Paris
·
Checked out hotel and
left luggage at the hotel to pickup later.
·
Notre Dame Cathedral
·
Walked along river Seine
·
The Lourve museum.
·
Walked back to hotel and
pick up luggage. Took Uber to train station. First time ever taking Uber ride.
It went smoothly.
·
9:52 PM to 6:08 AM
Overnight train from Paris to Lourde. Booked tickets in the morning before
checking out the hotel through trainline.eu. Train was old and not very
comfortable ride. I waited until last minute because i was debating of taking
train or flight to Lourdes. The train ride was not that good compare to
Venice-Paris and we had to share with 2 other passengers in the 6-beds
compartment.
Day 10 - Lourdes Arrival
- 6:00 AM Arrived Lourdes train
station. It was cold morning in the southern France. I requested the Uber
ride to hotel. It took almost 30 minutes for Uber to show up. It was early
morning at the train station so there were not many people around.
- 8:00 AM we were lucky to check
in very early at Quality Inn Lourdes. I guess they know most people came
to Lourdes for the visit the Shrine of Lourdes. Receptionist was nice. We
were able to took a good nap and woke up for lunch at nearby local food
truck and started exploring Lourdes.
- 5:00 PM Started of the candle
light processing at the shrine of Lourdes. Lot of people here.
- 9:00 PM Dinner at local place
along the street. Walked back to hotel
Day 11 - Lourdes and
Flight back to Rome
- 7:00 AM Attended Vietnamese
mass in front of Lourdes Shrine.
- 8:00 AM Breakfast near Lourdes
village.
- 9:00 AM Took bus and tram to
top of Pic Du Jer. We can see the whole Lourdes from up here.
- 12:00 PM Lunch near hotel.
Check out hotel. Uber is very limited here. We took taxi to Lourdes
airport.
- 3:25 PM - 5:20 PM - Lourdes to
Rome Ciampino Airport RyanAir flight FR8219. No immigration check here.
- 5:30 PM Arrived Ciampino
airport. This is different airport from Leornado Da Vinci airport. CIA is
farther from central ROME than FCO. We took Uber from airport to Sheraton
Roma. Dinner at the hotel restaurant. The food was good but expensive.
There is not much things to see around the hotel. There’s a bus stop in front
of the hotel but it has limited schedule during night time. We went to
sleep early. The standard room has only 1 king bed. This hotel is big so
we checked in no problem with 4 people. I guess they don’t mind as long as
we fit into the room.
Day 12 - ROME TO TOKYO
- I woke up early and went into
central Rome by bus alone. The bus ticket is valid for 90 minutes. I rode
on many different buses to many different places. I saw almost every major
attractions in Rome with 2 buses tickets.
- Noon - We took hotel shuttle to
airport. Check in at kiosk. Lunch at airport.
- 2:55 PM - 4:55 PM Rome Da Vinci
(FCO) to Frankfrut (FRA)Lufthansa Flight LH235
- 6:55 PM - 12:15 PM FRA to Tokyo
Haneda (HND) Lufthansa Flight LH 716. Good food and comfortable Boeing
747-8 aircraft.
Day 13 - TOKYO
- 12:30 PM Arrived Tokyo. Check
in immigration. Bought luxury bus ticket from airport to Hyatt Regency
Tokyo. The ride took 45 minutes.
- 1:30 PM Checked in Hyatt
Regency with 1 king bed plus a pull out. I requested and paid for extra
person room in advance. We also missed the free tour guide we requested
before the trip due to wrong date request. I thought we arrived Tokyo June
12 instead of 13th. I requested free tour guide www.tokyofreeguide.com
for 2 hours for June 13th.
- Took metro train to Shinjuku
station. So many people here. Eat and shop at the train station. Walked
around Shinjuku area and went back to hotel to sleep
Day 14 - TOKYO
- 10:00 AM We woke up so late and
missed the reservation to see Imperial Palace in Tokyo
- 11:00 AM We took train to Fish
market. Ate at Fish market.
- Sensoji Temple
- Sky Tree
- Tokyo Tower
Day 15 - TOKYO
- Electronic Town
- Imperial Palace
- I decided to cancel Tokyo
Hilton Bay at Disneyland and booked another 2 nights at Hyatt Regency.
They had room available. Moving around with luggages are not advised here.
I also cancel Hong Kong Hyatt to have points for Tokyo Hyatt Regency.
Day 16 - TOKYO
- 8:00 AM took train to Tokyo
Disneyland and Disneysea. Tickets bought at entrance. No other discount
found here. Train ticket to Disney park is expensive because it’s not part
of Tokyo metro system.
Day 17 - TOKYO
- Tokyo Metropolitan Government
Building
- Shibuya Crossing
- Shopping at Ginza district
- Relax at Hyatt and nearby park
Day 18 - Sunday June 18
TOKYO to HONG KONG
- 7:00 AM Took city bus to mass
at St. Mary Cathedral. The mass was in Korean. Bus station stop in front
of the church. We asked the bus driver to let us know when to stop. Taking
bus back to the hotel will need to go to the other side of the road.
- Spent few hours near Shinjuku
area and picked up luggages at hotel to go to airport. Shuttle bus tickets
to airport bought at Hyatt Regency front desk. Narita airport is farther.
So we had to leave early. It took more than 1 hours on bus ride to
airport.
- 7:00 PM checked in flight to
Hong Kong
- 9:15 PM - 12:55 AM Narita (NRT)
to Hong Kong (HKG) Ethiopian Airline Flight 673. This flight go to
Ethiopia if you don’t remember to get off in Hong Kong.
Day 19 - HONG KONG
- 2:00 AM Arrive late to Hong
Kong due to weather. Took Uber to Holiday Inn Express Mongkok. Check in
before 3AM. Woke up around 8AM and had breakfast at the hotel.
- 10:00 AM Walked around Mongkok
area. Took bus around Tsim Sha Tsui. Pictures of Hong Kong harbour.
Octopus card for public transportation.
- Lunch and Dinner near Star
Ferry.
- It was typhoon season here.
Rain on and off. I went out alone at night to check out Victoria Peak but
it was raining. So cloudy, can’t take good picture of Hong Kong skyline. I
had to take Uber back to hotel. Rain was heavy. Hotel is only about 1km
but unable to walk due to heavy rain.I cancelled Hyatt Regency Tsim Sha
Tsui and stayed another 2 nights at Holiday Inn Express. Again, moving
around town with luggages is not advised.
Day 20 - HONG KONG
- 8:00 AM - Light rain continue.
We decided to go to Hong Kong Disneyland. Crowd was light. Not many people
inside the park. We spent whole day here and went on so many rides. Lunch
and dinner inside Disney park.
Day 21 - HONG KONG to SINGAPORE
- Eating and shopping and took
city bus around Tsim Sha Tsui. Check out hotel and left luggage at hotel.
- 6:00 PM Picked up luggages at
hotel and took Uber to HKG airport. I noticed requesting uber ride from
hotel was more expensive than requesting it from few hundreds feet from
the hotel. We walked few blocks from the hotel.
- 8:25 PM - 12:20 AM HKG to
Singapore Changi airport United Flight 895
Day 22 - SINGAPORE to
BANGKOK
- 12:30 AM Arrived Singapore
airport. We need to pick up luggage here even though our destination was
to Perth, Australia. There was no vacant rooms inside the airport and we
were so tired to take taxi into town. We slept at the airport benches and
chair. It was not bad. The airport is very clean and has some very good
chairs for sleeping.
- 7:00 AM Thai Airway let us
check in early and stored the luggage at their counter. They informed us
that we won’t pick up our luggage until destination in Perth. We thought
we need to pick up our luggage in Bangkok because we were staying
overnight in Bangkok. So we had to hold on to some of the clothing and
accessories we need for stay in Bangkok and check in all 4 carry-on to
Perth. We also had to wait for almost 2 hours due to Visa to Australia. I
put in wrong birth year for Austin so it wasn’t validated at Singapore
airport. I applied for Australia Visa through third party vendor so
weren’t sure they were all valid or not.
- 9:00 AM We had breakfast at
Singapore airport food court and took metro train into Downtown
- Saw Merlion park, Marina Bay
Sand, Downtown Singapore. It was humid. We walked around and need to take
lot of rest inside the building to cool off. We took Uber back to airport
and hang out at airport. Lot of things to do at the airport such as
butterflies garden, the tallest slide inside airport.
- 6:15 PM - 7:35 PM Singapore -
Bangkok.
- 8:00 PM We went through
immigration check along with 2 heavy backpacks and took Uber to hotel near
airport. We had some good conversation about the area of the hotel we
stayed through google translation app. We didn’t plan any sightseeing here
since I know we would be tired after sleeping at SIN airport the night before
and only had only short time in Bangkok. We went to sleep early. Bangkok
was also humid and hot.
Day 23 - June 23 BANGKOK
to PERTH
- 5:00 AM We took hotel shuttle
van to airport. Check in at the airport.
- 7:30 AM - 3:15 PM Bangkok -
Perth on Thai Aiways Flight 481. This is 7 hours flight and they served 2
full meals plus snack. Food was good.
- 4:00 PM Arrived Perth. Checked
in immigration smoothly. Cousins took us to Di Ha home.
- Day 24 to 34. We spent 10 days
here in Western Australia. The weather here is very similar to Phoenix in
December. We spent time visiting aunt, uncles, cousins and friends from
Vietanh’s mom side. We have so many relatives here. Visiting 1 family a
day and went on day trip to various attractions in the western Australia.
Day 24 - June 24
Saturday - PERTH
- Overnight at Mandurah, Anh
Triet’s vacation home.
- Sunset over Indian Ocean
Day 25 - PERTH
- Back to Di Duong 16 home.
Day 26 - Monday - PERTH
- King Park
- St. Mary Cathedral
- The Bell Tower
- Elizabeth Quay
Day 27 - PERTH
- Fremantle, beach
Day 28 - PERTH
- Swan Valley
Day 29 - PERTH
- Caversham Wildlife Park
Day 30 - PERTH
- Gloucester Tree. We climbed the
tallest tree in western Australia
- Valley of the Giant Tree Top
walk, Western Australia
Day 31 - July 1 PERTH
- Relaxing, visited relatives
Day 32 - PERTH
- Relaxed at Di Duong 16 home
Day 33 - PERTH
- Relaxed at Di Duong 16 home
Day 34 - PERTH
- Relaxed at Di Duong 16 home
Day 35 - July 5 PERTH to
SYDNEY
- 7:00 AM We had breakfast at Di
Duong 16 home. Anh Triet took us to airport
- 9:45 AM - 3:55 PM PERTH -
SYDNEY Qantas Airline Flight 642
- 4:00 PM Took Uber to Quality
Inn near airport. We cancelled our car rental here so this is last minute
booking at Quality Inn. Standard room has 2 queen beds.
- 6:00 PM Walked around nearby
shopping and ate at chinese/taiwanese restaurant. They had good food.
Day 36 - SYDNEY
- 8:00 AM We ate at nearby
chinese restaurant. Sydney has lot of good chinese food. We took train to
Sydney Central Station then on to Katoomba town and walked to Blue Mountain
National Park. We avoid those tour companies and do it ourselves. The park
wasn’t big like our US national parks.
- 6:00 PM We took the train back
to Sydney and connect through another station to our hotel. It took 2
hours one way.
Day 37 - SYDNEY
- 8:00 AM Checked out Quality Inn
and took Uber to Park Hyatt Sydney. Again, moving with luggage around town
is not advised but Park Hyatt Sydney is not cheap. The rate was 900 AUD a
night. We only had 2 free nights here. I decided to use 2 free nights here
because Park Hyatt Sydney is more expensive than Tokyo or Paris Hyatt. It
was a good use of free nights. It has very nice view of Opera House and
short walk to Circular Quay
- Opera House, Sydney Tower, The
Rock, Circular Quay
Day 38 - SYDNEY
- Took train to Cabramatta. This
place has more Vietnamese stores than Phuoc Loc Tho in California. This
Viet town is far from Sydney. It took about 1 hour train ride with 2
connections
- Shopping and eating at Sydney
Chinatown.
- St. Mary Cathedral
- Darling Harbour
- Sydney Tower
Day 39 - July 9 SYDNEY
to PHOENIX
- 9:00 AM - Walked to St. Andrew
Cathedral for Sunday mass. Received email from Qantas about 12 hours
flight delay. Schedule departure delayed to 9PM. So we had more time to
explore Sydney. We took bus to Bondi beach. Took some pictures and Uber
back to Park Hyatt to pick up luggage and another Uber ride to Sydney
airport and waited until our flight.
- 9:00 PM - 9:30 PM SYDNEY -
DALLAS on Qantas Flight #7. I chose this almost 16 hours flight and longer
distance because I wanted to experience the biggest airplane in the world,
the Airbus A380. This is the longest flight but it was actually the most
comfortable flight even in the Economy seat. The flight was only ¾ full. I
chose the seats near the back when check in and got the whole row for
ourselves. If we picked the seat months in advance, we had to pay 30 AUD
per seat. I checked seat availability regularly and decided to wait until
the last minutes to pick seat for free.
- 9:30 PM Arrived Dallas and
missed the connecting flight to Phoenix about 15 minutes. They sent us to
Dallas Hyatt Regency hotel for a night. I asked to go on the next earliest
flight in the morning to Phoenix. I booked the connecting flight in Dallas
12 hours after Sydney-Dallas flight and planned on renting a car for a day
in Dallas to visit a friend but cancelled the plan since we were so tired
and wanted to go home.
Day 40 - Monday July 10
Arrived PHOENIX
- 7:05 AM - 7:47 AM Dallas -
Phoenix on American Airline Flight 761
- 8:00 AM Arrived Phoenix. Went
home took shower and went to Tucson for work.
- The next few days I slept like
a baby.
Day 41 to Day 44 -
Stayed home, cleaned up, worked and rested
Day 45 - July 15 PHOENIX
TO SEATTLE
- 5:20 PM - 8:00 PM PHX - SEA on
Southwest Airline Flight 2319
Day 46 - SEATTLE
- We spent July 15-24 with family
and friends in Seattle. We drove to Vancouver and took ferry to Victoria
Island. And relaxed at parent home.
Day 47 - SEATTLE
Day 48 - SEATTLE
Day 49 - SEATTLE
Day 50 - July 20 Holiday
Inn Express Vancouver 1 night
Day 51 - VICTORIA ISLAND
Day 52 - SEATTLE
Day 53 - SEATTLE
Day 54 - July 24 SEATTLE
to PHOENIX
- 3:21 PM - 6:27 PM SEA -
PHX Delta Flight DL 5770
Day 55 - July 25 Wife’s
2 months Sabbatical end.
It was the most
memorable trip. Everything went smoothly and as scheduled. We went on total of
15 airplanes flights ranging from 2 hours to 16 hours flights, covering total
of around 50,000 km. The airlines we flew on was United, American Airline,
Delta, Southwest, Lufthansa, Qantas, Ryanair, Thai Airways, Ethiopia. We also
went on many short and long distance train rides in Rome, Paris, Tokyo,
Hong Kong, Singapore and Sydney. We took buses and rode on many cities
including Rome, Pisa, Venice, Paris, Lourdes, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore,
Bangkok, Perth, Sydney, Seattle, Vancouver and many smaller suburbs. We visited
so many attractions in all the cities that we stopped by. Some of the
highlights were Disneyland Paris, Disneyland Hong Kong and Disneysea Tokyo,
Collosseum in Rome, St Peter Square, Trevi Fountain, Roman Forum, Pisa Tower,
St. Mark Square and Basillica in Venice, River Seine, Eiffel Tower, The Lourve
Museum, Notre Dame Cathedral, Shrine of Lourdes, Tokyo Skytree, Tokyo Tower,
Tsukiji Fish Market, Sensoji Temple, Shinjuku, Shibuya and Ginza shopping
districts, Hong Kong Harbour and Skyline, Merlion Park in Singapore, Marina Bay
Sand, Perth Skyline, Perth Zoo and Wildlife Park, Western Australia Parks,
Sydney Harbour, Blue Mountain National Park, Sydney Opera House, Sydney harbor
bridge, and many other smaller places.
Links to our photos for
the trips cover 2 months June 1 to July 25, 2017.
HKG, SIN and BKK https://photos.app.goo.gl/srJr4chW0fMrNQUF3
Perth, Western Australia
https://photos.app.goo.gl/BLc89MZtoFh0d8aE3
Sydney, Australia https://photos.app.goo.gl/sf0IGAELM2B3IUvm1
Seattle and Vancouver https://photos.app.goo.gl/BefUX7ovGct8dmoU2
Check out my Round the
World trip cost in other writing
