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Days
The Route, Day by Day
Tue · 13 OctLondon → Antalya
Sunrise London 07:20 · Sunset from the air
11:15 – 12:40
Coach
Baker Street to Luton Airport — National Express, live-tracked.
15:00 – 21:35
Flight
Wizz Air · LTN → AYT · 4h35. Online check-in mandatory.
The journey starts where the family line began. Sixteen years since the last arrival — Antalya, and the sea, again.
Wed · 14 OctAntalya
A slow day on home ground — the first one here since 2010.
Sunrise 07:03 · Sunset 18:23
Thu · 15 OctAntalya
Last quiet day on home ground before the long haul east.
Sunrise 07:04 · Sunset 18:21
Fri · 16 OctAntalya → Ankara → Astana
Sunrise 07:05 · Sunset Antalya 18:20
21:20 – 22:30
Flight
AJet · AYT → ESB (Ankara) · 1h10.
23:45 – 06:30
Flight
AJet · ESB → NQZ (Astana) · 4h45, overnight.
A night spent crossing into the steppe.
Sat · 17 OctAstana → Ürümqi
Sunrise 06:40 · Sunset 17:18
22:30 – 03:55
Flight
Air Astana · NQZ → URC · 3h25, overnight into China.
Two nights in the air, and the map turns east for good.
Sun · 18 OctHigh-Altitude Arrival — Urumqi → Chengdu → Zhangjiajie
Sunrise Ürümqi 08:28 · Sunset Zhangjiajie 18:06
06:45 – 10:45
Flight
Sichuan Airlines · URC → TFU (Chengdu Tianfu) · 4h.
11:45 – 13:00
Flight
Sichuan Airlines · TFU → DYG (Zhangjiajie Dayong) · 1h15. Desk check-in, passport verification.
13:15
Taxi
Five minutes, £5, straight to the downtown hotel zone — Tianmen Mountain cable car station.
15:15 – 15:45
Ascent
The 30-minute cable car ride straight up the vertical cliffs.
15:45 – 17:00
Walk
West loop cliff paths and the Glass Skywalk.
17:00 – 17:30
Descent
Indoor mountain tunnel escalators.
18:15
Shuttle
Shuttle bus down the 99 hairpin bends to downtown.
19:00
Evening
72 Wonder Tower — illuminated view and food stalls.
20:30
Stay
No. 1 Inn @ the Corner, Wulingyuan.
Land at the bottom of the pillar forest and climb it before dark.
Mon · 19 OctThe Four Core Avatar Peaks
Sunrise 06:41 · Sunset 18:05
07:30
Taxi
45 minutes from downtown to Wulingyuan East Gate.
08:30
Entry
Park entry, passport scan, free valley shuttle.
09:00
Landmark 1
Bailong Elevator — 326 metres up in 88 seconds.
09:30 – 12:30
Landmark 2
Yuanjiajie / Avatar Peaks — flat cliff trails to the Hallelujah Mountain.
13:30 – 14:30
Landmark 3
Tianzi Mountain — the narrow brush-like stone spires.
14:30
Descent
Tianzi Cable Car down.
14:45 – 15:45
Landmark 4
Ten-Mile Natural Gallery — open-air monorail through the canyon floor.
19:00
Evening
Family-style dinner back at the hostel.
The day the totems were made for.
Tue · 20 OctFast-Slow-Fast — Zhangjiajie → Guilin
Sunrise 06:42 · Sunset 18:04
08:00 – 13:00
Walk
Golden Whip Stream — flat river trail on the canyon floor, wild monkeys above.
17:30 – 19:40
Fast Train
High-speed train from Zhangjiajie West towards Huaihua / Changsha.
21:38 – 04:08
Night Train
The long slow K1473 sleeper south — Guilin.
Morning under the pillars, midnight rolling towards the karst.
Wed · 21 OctThe Li River — Xingping → Guangzhou → Bangkok
Sunrise Xingping 06:39 · Sunset Bangkok 17:56
04:08 – 05:30
Taxi
Guilin station to Xingping Town, Li River.
09:45 – 12:30
The River
Motorised bamboo raft on the Li River, the 20-Yuan-Note waterfront, between green karst peaks.
12:30
Lunch
West Street, Yangshuo — the local beer fish.
14:51 – 17:19
Bullet Train
D1835, Yangshuo to Guangzhou South.
17:30 – 18:45
Transfer
Metro Line 3 to Baiyun Airport Terminal 2.
21:40 – 23:45
Flight
9 Air AQ1007 · CAN → BKK · 3h05, into Thailand.
The horizon shot from the watermark, then south into the heat.
Thu · 22 – Mon · 26 OctBangkok — Five Nights
Sunrise ~06:10 · Sunset ~17:55
25 Oct · Moonrise 17:05 · Moonset 07:00 — the almost-full Hunter's Moon over Bangkok
22 – 25 Oct
Stay
Mad Monkey hostel, five nights booked. The city to wander at last — no schedule but the heat.
After twelve days of connections, a city to stand still in.
Mon · 26 OctReturning
Sunrise Bangkok 06:11 · Sunset London 16:46
Full Moon 04:11, mid-flight · Moonrise London 16:20 — into the dusk he lands in
09:20 – 15:30
Flight
Norse Atlantic Airways · BKK → LGW (London Gatwick) · 12h10, west into home.
Fourteen days, two continents, one name kept standing.