Total Solar Eclipse 2009

Gentlemen,

I am slowly gearing up for the next total solar eclipse which will take place in July/2009. Pricing is quite attractive with the complete trip easily coming under 1000 euro.

More specifically:

(1) roundtrip air fare (Athens-Shanghai) @ 769 euro including taxes
(2) three nights accomodation at a high-end hotel @ 105 euro total
(3) visa (type "L" ) from the Chinese Embassy @ 20 euro

For my situation, the best deal is via Gulf Air with a short stopover in Dubhai and with the total trip lasting about 18.5 hours. I will be leaving very early Monday morning (04:30 AM) and arriving into Shanghai Monday midnight (local time). Departure will be very early Thursday morning (03:30 AM) with arrival into Athens midday (also Thursday).

Unless I am mistaken, Shanghai is consistently at UT+8 (ie. no change due to daylight savings time).

Anthony.

Nice to see you back here Anto! That trip sounds reasonable if only for the accommodation. The flight sounds expensive but is it a direct flight from Athens?

Seanie.

with a short stopover in Dubhai

:whistle:

michaeloconnell wrote:

with a short stopover in Dubhai

:whistle:

:blush:

D'Oh! or D'Uh!, take your pick for me...

Seanie_Morris wrote:

Nice to see you back here Anto! That trip sounds reasonable if only for the accommodation. The flight sounds expensive but is it a direct flight from Athens?

Seanie.

Seanie,

The price for the flight is quite good and I am not disappointed at all. The trip to Novo cost me 672 euro for the flight and we are looking at something similar with Shanghai.

The big difference is the accomodation and which is much more reasonable. The tourist office(s) in Novo grabbed all of the available rooms and then turned around and rerented them at sky-high prices.

As for a direct flight, I could not find something for Athens but folks, for example, in Frankfurt and Istanbul seem to have this luxury.

Anthony.

Myself and Denise are booked with Explore for a 9 day trip.
Couple of days in Shanghai where we will see the eclipse.
then head over to Xian for a couple of days to see the Terracotta Warriors.
Then up to Bejing for a few days before heading home.

Michael.