Solar Eclipse Travel, 1 August 2008
May 14, 2008 – 3:49 pm
The next solar eclipse on 1 August 2008, draws a long Path of Totality from northern Canada, across the polar region and down across eastern Russia, western Mongolia and central China. The Path of Totality terminates near X’ian, Chiina.
I plan to join a group observing the eclipse near Hami in west central China. Another JOURNEYS group will view the eclipse near Hovd in western Mongolia. These two sites were chosen for their position within the region of total eclipse and in locations likely to have clear skies. Both are quite difficult to reach. With the Beijing Olympics beginning a few days after the eclipse, it has been a real challenge to obtain reservations and transportation in China. The Chinese authorities dogged by pro-Tibetan protesters, emergency response to the Chengdu earthquake and general concerns about environmental and cultural appearances have made it quite difficult to make confident travel plans. We have had to submit a list of all hotels our group will utilize during the eclipse trip with validated hotel reservation stamps for each traveler before we can even obtain visas. Having witnessed a total eclipse before, the tedious preparations are still worth the potential experience. We still have a few spaces remaining for the Mongolia Solar Eclipse trip. Some air reservations are still available. The Next eclipse is in July 2009 and southern China is again a prime viewing area.