This is a map of Xuanzang’s travels across China into India according to the original Journey to the West.

We will not follow completely Xuanzang’s footsteps, as he was too lucky back then not having to deal with visa regulations and shady South/Central Asian political turmoil!!

Plus, we’ll proceed further into the Middle East, and make our way into Europe from there, mixing the Chinese epic’s itinerary with Marco Polo’s and the 1970s Hippy Trail…

Because of visa limitations and the troublesome situation between India and Pakistan, the journey will be conducted in two parts.

First Part: Journey to the South of the Himalayas
We will land in Kolkata, India on January 5th 2012. From there, the trip will cut the Northern half of the Indian subcontinent all the way to New Delhi, where Kit Yeng will join on February 15th, 2012.  After a southwestern diversion into Rajhastan and Gujarat, we’ll be northbound as far as the winter will stop us. Nepal  will be next, before re-entering India around Darjeeling, swerve up into Sikkim and some of the Northeastern states, before looping back into Bangladesh. The first part of the trip will conclude here, with a flight back to home Southeast Asia, possibly Malaysia or Thailand.

Second Part: the Real Journey to the West
It will start around mid-late April 2012 from Penang, Malaysia. Snaking trough Thailand and Laos, we will enter into China and proceed all the way up to Xinjiang. From here, if a crossing into Pakistan will be impossible, we will venture into Silk Road proper (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan), looping southwards to Iran. From here, Iraqi Kurdistan will be next, along with Turkey and some route into Europe which is still open to interpretation. Tentatively, we plan to conclude the trip in Italy around September 2012.