Around the World in 80 women

Note that my itinerary is subject to many changes, I’m now starting from the Philippines.

Obstacles to the route

Avoid extreme temperatures

Initially, the aim of the trip was to reach Bangladesh, the cradle of microfinance (popularized by Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner), by one means or another. Unfortunately, after talking to several people in Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and Vietnam, I concluded that it would be impossible to travel by land and on foot in the target regions during the months corresponding to the Paris-Bangladesh flightless journey from March to August 2024. So the itinerary was reversed to avoid the “great cold” of Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan, which lasts most of the year, and to avoid the rainy season in South-East Asia, which generally lasts from June to October. Doing the itinerary in this way allows me to carry out my documentation, get to rural places on foot and move around by land transport more easily.

Bypass closed land borders

Once the problem of the seasons was resolved, I had to call the globetrotters and land adventurers currently on the road or who have crossed the borders through which I intend to pass. This is an essential point in the construction of my itinerary because without authorization to pass via the French passport or thanks to a visa, I will be obliged to take the plane to continue my associative project. A low-carbon travel group confirmed to me that China has opened its borders without the need for a visa to French passport holders for stays of 15 days. You can make as many 15-day stays as you want, provided you leave and then re-enter the territory. This solves my number 1 problem, which was obtaining a Chinese visa to go from South Asia to Mongolia and then cross Central Asia peacefully. The second problem was the transition from Nepal to China. This problem has not been resolved because Tibet requires a group border crossing (4 people minimum) to obtain the visa, declaring the route. Unfortunately, I also don’t want to pay for a group tour (excessively expensive and absolutely not in my objectives for the solo crossing) which will be useless to me. The India-Pakistan-China passage was an option, but the scarlet red of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs website did not motivate me to put myself in danger either. The recent armed clashes on the border have confirmed my choice to avoid northern Pakistan, although I would love to be able to discover the cultural richness of this country. Another obstacle in terms of borders was Azerbaijan’s land border which remains closed to this day. It was supposed to allow me to reach Armenia from Kazakhstan, to continue my journey towards Turkey and Europe. Unfortunately, I have to opt for another solution which is to cross Eastern Russia in transit for 3 days between Kazakhstan and Georgia to reach Turkey and continue my journey. Apart from these land border issues, my itinerary was not more problematic than that and remains subject to change depending on the day-to-day closures of the borders I cross.

Description of the final itinerary

In the end, not being able to cross Tibet, I will have to forget the idea of ​​leaving Bangladesh to reach France and cross 25 countries. To choose my country of departure, I called microfinance experts to advise me on the needs of the different countries in South East Asia, excluding India, Nepal, Bhutan and Pakistan (boundary problem). The Philippines was recommended to me, and the route was physically feasible to France. Philippines it will be, then. From there, the idea is to return to France without a plane (train, bus, hitchhiking, boat) and to cross as many countries as possible practicing microfinance. Thailand offered sea routes with the Philippines, and from there I can easily cross all of South East Asia by bus and train. I will therefore continue via Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. I will stop in the South of China to meet microfinance institutes and I will go back up China by train. Then I will have to hitchhike in the north of China to reach Mongolia, towards the Gobi desert (in total 1,300,000 km2, huge one). Once in Mongolia, I will go back down via China to reach Kyrgyzstan. Then, once there, I will cross all of Central Asia (Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan) to discover many microfinance players. I will then cross the desert of Kazakhstan to cross eastern Russia and arrive in Georgia. From there, everything is easier because once I reach Turkey, the European rail network is quite easy to use. But for now, in Europe I plan to go through Albania and Montenegro. To see, depending on the people I meet as well. I will cross all of Europe more quickly so that I can be in Paris at the end of August 2024, to go back to my master’s degree as planned.

Final countries

• Philippines
• Thailand
• Cambodia
• Vietnam
• Laos
• China
• Mongolia
• Kyrgyzstan
• Tajikistan
• Uzbekistan
• Kazakhstan
• Russia
• Georgia
• Türkiye
• Bulgaria
• North Macedonia
• Albania
• Montenegro
• Bosnia
• Croatia
• Slovenia
• Austria
• Germany
• France

If you are on my way, do not hesitate to contact me:) For those who wish, my live position will be transmitted via a GPS tracker. I don’t share my position publicly for obvious reasons, but I can share it with an interested relative! To follow the adventures, don’t hesitate to subscribe to the newsletter and the association’s social networks.