Penultimate Country? Cri-Me-A River! Putin on the Ritz in Turkmenistan, Siberia, and Malaysia

…and then there were two.

After my recent trip to Mali and Mauritania that left me with just two countries to visit on the list of 193 UN Members + 3 countries most of the world agrees are countries. This was to be a simple trip to go to Turkmenistan, since the last time I tried to visit I had some challenges getting the visa.

But, as with most trips I plan, things are never that simple. First monkeywrench was Ian’s fault. “Hey, let’s go to Crimea after Turkmenistan?” I mean, really, you expect me to be able to resist an offer like that?

Then, I had to get back from Crimea. Lots of really cheap fares ex-Russia at the time, and I was thinking…maybe I’ll go to St Petersberg and fly back via Helsinki. Wait, if I’m going to get a Russian visa anyways…I should see more of Russia.

I know…I’ll go to Novosibirsk. See, Novosibirsk is a special place for me. Back in high school, when my world was limited to the US and Canada I wanted to travel abroad…somewhere big and interesting. School study trip to the USSR was offered…in a small town near Novosibirsk called Akademgorodok. That was in 1988. Where better to go right before Iceland than the town where it all began? It was settled…I was going to Novosibirsk after Crimea.

Then…I was thinking. If I’m that far east, I should keep going. I explored going to Vladivostok, to Magadan, to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk…and while I wanted to do it, I felt that it would take more time to do it justice than I had. So, I scrapped that.

It was Ian to the rescue with a great fare…but that meant I had to get to Malaysia. I started looking how to do that…pieced together some stuff, and suddenly I was going from Novosibirsk to Malaysia via Kazakhstan, Abu Dhabi, and Bangkok…naturally.

If that wasn’t enough, some last minute changes ensured this trip will have outrageous first class flights on Lufthansa, Etihad, and Hong Kong. I’m going to pack gym clothes, because there’s going to be lots of champagne and caviar…because…penultimate country and I’m doing it right!

The route should be set now, insh’allah:

With that, in just a couple days, I’m off. I’m hoping to do this report in more or less real time…I’m gonna force myself to do it. Fasten your seatbelts, comrades, we’re in for a wild ride!