I am currently planning a RTW trip, starting in mid/late January and finishing in July. I am planning to visit South America (Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia), New Zealand, Australia, Bali and South East Asia. I'm sorry if this is a question with a pretty obvious answer, but would it be best to start or finish in South America? In terms of weather, experience etc.
Thanks.
Wow 6 months around the world. You are going to fly fast! Since you did not ask I will (almost) keep to my self that that is a lot to cover in 6 months... :-)
But to answer your question you have to give a few details about where you are leaving from, what you would like to do and how long you would like to spend in each country. Eg. do you want to go skiing? Or hiking i NZ? That makes a big difference:-)
So some more details please:-)
Sorry, forgot to say. Leaving from the UK. Planning to really just sample the places we visit and move relatively quickly. It'll probably be closer to 7 or 8 months, but 6 at a minimum. Looking to spend 2 months in South America, 2 months in South East Asia, 2..5 months in Austrailia/NZ and a couple of weeks in Bali.
South America is huge, and you'll probably need to fly within it to see that much in two months, particularly since you'd also need to go through Ecuador to go from Colombia to Peru, adding a few days of travel if you don't stop. I spent three weeks just in the north of Peru, not even getting to Cusco yet. There are lots of overnight busses in Peru, but you may spend more time getting place to place then seeing it. I'd recommend narrowing down what you want to see there. I'm not sure if it's best to start or end here, as the temperature depends on how close you are to the equator, and what altitude you're at. Peru and Bolivia are high altitude, so tend to be colder. And then there's the Amazon, where hot and humid is pretty normal...