The Slow Way Round

Touring around NSW with Manda

2008-03-12T04:53:00.003Z

So in addition to what Pat said, here's my version of the last couple of weeks.

We had a great time touring around New South Wales with Manda, we only wish it lasted longer! After meeting Mand at the airport, we went to pick the van up and then headed for the Blue Mountains, where we celebrated Mand's 21st. Once we'd soaked up the scenery, off we went to the Hunter Valley so that me and Mand could sample the local wine on offer and spend a small fortune in the process. Well it would be rude not to, we thought. Of course Pat declined a day of watching us get more and more tipsy and decided to chill out at the campsite, even though it meant mingling with hoards of Rod Stewart fans playing their music at full blast. Thankfully, we left the next day and headed north for the beaches and wildlife of Port Macquarie, South West Rocks and north of Coffs Harbour. Pat and Mand gave body boarding a go and Mand managed to get sunburnt in the process. It was amazing to see wild koalas in the trees and kangaroos roaming around the campsites.

Running short on time we headed back to Sydney via Bellingen (so Mand could buy a didgerydoo) and Forster, where Pat decided we should stay in a pirate themed place full of parrots, eye patches and jolly rogers. We had a few days in Sydney to show Mand the sites, including the obligatory Harbour Bridge and Opera House. We decided to take a jet boat ride around the harbour which was great fun, even though the wave jumps must have compacted our spines by 5 inches!

Like I said, we had a fab time. You can see some of the pics here.

What next, you say?

2008-02-28T06:32:00.003Z

Just to prove that I do read the comments that people post on the blog (well, that Fatih and Matt post, anyway), I thought I'd better write this.

We're back in Australia again. To be more precise, we're just north of Coffs Harbour, in another campervan. This time, we have an extra passenger, in the shape of Amanda, Triny's sister, who has come out to join us for a couple of weeks. So far it's been waterfalls, beaches, sunburn and far too much wine and chocolate in the Hunter Valley. Well, I had too much chocolate, while Triny and Amanda did their best to reduce the amount of wine in the vineyards of the Valley.

From here, we're slowly making our way back down to Sydney, where Triny is talking to the Oz version of her old company about some work and sponsorship for her Visa. It looks like we'll be in Sydney for a bit.

It does mean the end of the travelling for a bit (boo!) but I doubt that it'll be for good.

Before all that, though, I'm off to get a bit more sunburnt.

Ending with a bang

2008-02-18T07:48:00.002Z

Tomorrow we leave New Zealand, though we'll definitely be back. I still haven't managed to do any diving, for a start.

What have we been up to? After we left Kaikoura and the whales, we drove round the top of the South Island to the Abel Tasman National Park to do some kayaking. After staying in a very bad campsite for the night, we turned up at the centre and the instructor told us that the weather wasn't looking good for the day. What with my not having canoed for nearly twenty years and Triny not having canoed at all, we decided to skip it and try again the next day. Then we drove down the road to a campsite which didn't have hot and cold running cockroaches., which was a much better place to spend the night.

The next day, the weather was much better and we got away in the kayak. The Abel Tasman Park is a fantastic place: crystal clear waters, lagoons, golden beaches, the lot. Unfortunately for us, it also had wind that was blowing straight into our faces for the entire day, and a mile-long stretch of rocks and very high waves that nearly capsized us several times. We finally got to Anchorage Bay where we stayed the night in a floating hostel. Then we paddled further up the coast for the next day, though we did stop paddling at the bay before a second stretch of rough waves and exposed coast, and sat down on the beach to wait for pickup. A much more civilised way of spending the afternoon.

After getting back, we headed further down the west coast to the glaciers, and a guided walk on to the Franz Josef glacier. I wanted to try the helicopter flight that landed at the top of the glacier, but the cost was a bit silly. Next time. Then it was down to Milford Sound, which was spectacular. The sand-flies were pretty impressive, too, if only because the pain they could cause as they took what felt like an entire limb each time they bit you was incredible. We booked onto a boat trip into the Sound, and visited the Observatory halfway round. The floating platform has a viewing section that is eight metres under the water, and you can see all kinds of fish and marine life that would normally be too far down to see.

From the Sound, we carried on driving round the South Island and on to Mount Cook. Through the cloud and almost constant rain, we think we even managed to see the mountain. Though we're not sure. It didn't exactly have a big signpost on it.

We were planning to spend the last couple of days in the van on the Banks Peninsula, near Christchurch. On the drive there from Mount Cook, we were driving through a place called Geraldine when a car pulled out in front of us and we stopped by driving into the side of it. No-one was hurt, thankfully, but Ginger lost his radiator grille and headlights and the chassis was bent a bit out of shape. (The other car came of worse, mind, with a front tyre that was definitely not vertical afterwards.) Thank God we paid the money to get the insurance excess payment right down.

So, with a front door that didn't close as well as it used to, we decided that we'd just head straight to Christchurch and hand the van back a day early. Swapping to a replacement van for the last night just didn't seem worth the effort when all we'd have time to do would be drive to the edge of the city and find a campsite.

We've had a great time in New Zealand (with the exception of the last couple of days, obviously), and it's a shame to be leaving when there's so much we haven't seen, but like I say: It's just a good excuse to come back.

Here's a couple of photos from the last few weeks. The rest of them (including a very fetching one of Ginger and his wounds) are here.

The North Island (and a bit of the South)

2008-01-31T03:12:00.000Z

We're back on the South Island now, which must mean that we're halfway through our stay in New Zealand. Which is definitely a shame, as it feels like we've missed huge chunks of the North Island despite being there for 3 weeks.

After we crossed the Straits, we headed up to Wanganui (or is it Whanganui?) to spend some time round the river. We drove up the Wanganui River Road, 90 kms of gravel road, stopping along the way to take a jetboat ride up the river a short way. It was so peaceful that we decided to come back on the way back down the Island so that we could take the jetboat again but jump out at the top and paddle a canoe back down. We didn't, though. Just ran out of time.

From there it was further north to see huge Kauri trees, even more Kauri trees, really enormous Kauri trees, and finally a few more Kauri trees. Had enough of them for now. We also stopped at Waitomo to go caving and see the glow worms. Dead good, that was, except for the bit where the guides madfe us turn our torches off and feel our way along the wall of the cave for a bit. I think everyone must have fallen over at least twice, but we were all wearing very thick, padded wetsuits for just that eventuality.

Then north again, to the Bay of Islands and the Poor Knights Coast. I was hoping to do some diving there, as the Poor Knights Islands have been described as one of the top 10 dive-sites in the world by no less than Jacques Cousteau. The slight problem was the weather, with a 6-metre swell coming in on the day I was hoping to dive, and all the operators cancelling their trips until it calmed down again. We had to move on before the weather cleared up. The same thing happened at Papamoa, so I've done precisely no diving yet. There's still time, though.

After wandering round the Coromandel Peninsula for a couple of days, we headed for Rotoroa to have a look at bubbling mud, geysers and waterfalls. And to throw ourselves down half of the waterfalls while clinging onto a floating plastic sledge.Wasn't as much fun as I'd hoped, as I just couldn't control my direction as much as I wanted to, and spent most of the trip fighting to turn my sledge towards the right bit of the current. Triny didn't enjoy it either, after capsizing during the first rapids. We would probably have enjoyed rafting more than sledging, but I didn't think I would be able to persuade my knee to be as flexible as it would have needed to be when crouching down in the raft would have been necessary.

After Rotoroa we had to start driving south again on our way back to Wellington and the ferry. We spent a couple of days in Wellington so that we could go to the Te Papa museum, which was worth the visit. It also gave us the chance to book a hotel for a couple of days of luxury after three weeks in a van.

We made the ferry crossing and came back to Kaikoura to have another shot at a whale-watching trip. The weather this morning was bright and sunny, and we saw a sperm whale, a load of dolphins and a seal colony. Brilliant, though we were both fighting the sea-sickness that came from the rather choppy sea. The "traditional remedy" that we had bought from the tour company was about as effective as a chocolate teapot.

So, from here, we'll head back over the top of the South Island to the Abel Tasman park to hopefully do some kayakking. After that, it's south towards Milford Sound. And then lots of other stuff, but we haven't got that far yet, so God knows what it'll be.

Incidentally, there are some more pictures to look at. You can see them here, but here's a couple of teasers:

Right. I'm off. Though Triny will probably be along in a minute to write about everything I forgot to mention.

Kiwi photos

2008-01-24T22:41:00.000Z

Just a quick post to prove that we're actually in New Zealand and not lounging around in, say, Skegness or somewhere. The rest of the photos are here.

North Island Pt. 1

2008-01-17T11:45:00.000Z

Well, we’ve spent a week and a half travelling around the North Island, and I have to say that I’ve loved every minute of it. Sure, everyone stares at the van, but we’re used to it now. Besides, good old Ginge is doing a grand job of get us from A to B, C, D and E.

After a very sedate start in quiet Christchurch we were relieved to find more people and goings-on on our way. We’re looking forward to seeing the north and east sides of the North Island over the next week and South Island thereafter, given what we’ve seen already and what we’ve heard and read, it will blow us away. We enjoyed a private jet boat ride on the Wanganui River Road (only because no-one else was there) which was so beautiful and quiet, apart from the 360 degree spins. Pat suggested we do the Tongariro Crossing and I was so glad he did. It was a hard 18k slog and we were exhausted at the end, but it was out of this world to see the volcano-scape and sources of inspiration for the Lord of the Rings films. I couldn’t help coming up with ‘My precious’ and ‘Oh Frodo’ lines walking through parts of it! Looking for something relaxing the following day we took a cruise on the Barbary on Lake Tuapo. That was great and Pat had a chance to steer, despite the whitterings of an annoying drunk Aussie couple. And the other day we went to see the famous Waitomo cave glow worms, doing a spot of abseiling, caving, climbing and blackwater rafting in the process. That was great fun and absolutely freezing some 65m below the surface. You’ll see the pics soon – we look absolute fools in what we’re wearing…..and doing.

A link

2008-01-07T20:38:00.000Z

Sorry, forgot to add this link to my last post.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/7166411.stm

It's only one photo, and it wasn't exactly news, but I was still very smug about it.

Who says we can't do subtle?

2008-01-06T23:58:00.000Z

I know we haven't posted much on here for a week or two, but we've been doing quite a lot: relaxing at Caireen and Darryl's house, getting photos published on the BBC News website (quite proud of that one), going to beaches, even more relaxing, talking to people about work, and lots of more stuff that I can't remember right now.

But now we've left Australia. We flew into Christchurch in New Zealand a couple of days ago, and yesterday we picked up a campervan that will be our home for the next 6 weeks. Well, I say "campervan", I think "mobile attention magnet" would be a better description:

I feel I should point out that we didn't choose the van we got ("Ginger" as it's known at the rental firm's depot). All the vans that Escape Rentals do are painted up in weird designs, and while you can give them your preferred three choices when you book, they can only give you what they have in the garage at the time. We wouldn't normally have gone for something so loud, but the layout inside was better than any of the other small "white van" companies that we've seen, and this one was also a good 20 quid a day cheaper than most other firms.

Just arriving at our first campsite in Kaikoura led to at least 4 people coming to talk to us, and people are still walking past it with very raised eyebrows. Wonder whether we'll be sick of it in a couple of weeks time?

Another load of photos

2008-01-06T23:55:00.000Z

Time for another batch of photos, so here you go. This time from Sydney. As usual, you can see the rest of them here.

Happy New Year

2007-12-31T14:23:00.000Z

Just a quick post to wish you all Happy New Year from me and Triny in Sydney. Here's what it looks like:

Christmas Wishes from Sydney

2007-12-24T06:07:00.001Z

Well, we’ve made it to Sydney and it’s Christmas! Although we’re not too sure – shouldn’t it be cold and raining? We’ve made ourselves comfortable at Caireen and Darryl’s house (big thanks to them) and are looking forward to preparing and devouring a ginormous smorgasbord on the 25^th.

Over Christmas and New Year we’ll be chilling out and preparing for the next phase of travel: campervanning it around New Zealand. Now that we’re in one place for longer than a nano-second, hopefully we’ll be catching up with you too!

By the way, here’s wishing you a very Merry Christmas and prosperous 2008!

We’ve had a fantastic couple of months, seeing and doing amazing things. We even came up with this list of tips to help others:

- Always check what the exchange rate is before you arrive in a new country and buy a packet of cigarettes for far too much money.
- Don’t take it personally if you’re a UK size 10 but a XXXL wherever you’re trying to buy clothes.
- Be wary of Russian policemen. Especially ones hanging around in plain-clothes near the Kremlin.
- Always trust Fatih on restaurant recommendations. But be prepared to dress smart.
- If you want to buy a watch or a Mont Blanc pen for 50 pence, go to Shanghai. If you’re after a cheap suit, go to Thailand. If you want any of the above but with a decent level of quality, though, go elsewhere.
- Take more pants and socks than you think you should need. Or be prepared to spend large amounts of time getting laundry done.
- Give up on any ideas of drinking wine in Russia, China, Mongolia, Thailand and Malaysia. Learn to like beer instead.
- Free upgrades are great. Take them whenever you can.
- Haggling is fun, but try to keep a sense of proportion. When you’re arguing for half an hour over 20 pence, you’ve gone too far.
- The Lonely Planet is your friend. Except when it’s wrong.

There’s plenty more tips that we came up with on our way round, but we forgot them all. Needless to say, they were really funny.

It's been a while...

2007-12-22T10:16:00.001Z

Sorry we haven't posted much on here in the last couple of weeks, but, you know... holiday and all that. Anyway, here are some photos to make up for it. Too many of them to have many thumbnails on here, so you'll just have to click on these links to see them all:

Ko Samui
Penang
Kuala Lumpur
Singapore

Georgetown and KL

2007-12-10T13:38:00.000Z

Malaysia’s quite a nice place, innit?

We’re in Kuala Lumpur now, and a few days ago we were in Georgetown on Penang. Talk about different. Georgetown is very much a provincial capital. Kuala Lumpur most definitely isn’t.

There’s not a huge amount to do in Georgetown. We had a look round the ruins of the old fort and the museum, but we’re both well past the point of wanting to see any more museums for at least a few months. We also took the train to the top of Penang Hill and walked back down, meeting lots of wild monkeys on the way. We even got snarled at by one of them when we got a bit too close to his family. We decided to leave them to it after that. At the bottom of the hill we walked past the entrance to the botanical gardens where there were even more monkeys hassling the tourists for food. All that and eating at a very nice street restaurant pretty much wrapped up Georgetown.

Oh, I forgot. While we were walking back from that street restaurant, we walked past a temple just as someone inside it started pounding away at a drum. As we were standing on the road wondering what it was, we were invited inside by someone who was walking in, and ended up watching a couple of people practicing their lion dancing. I don’t think they had been doing it for long, as they kept falling off the stools and benches they were balancing on and then falling around laughing at each other. Dead impressive, though, even if it wasn’t perfect.

We ended up flying from Penang to KL. The trains were fully booked, and the only other option was 8 or 9 hours on a bus, so we went for the 50 minute, budget carrier flight. Yes, I know it’s another flight in our train journey. If it counts for anything, I had less legroom on the flight than I would have had on the bus.

I think the short flight is why I had so many problems getting my head around the difference in the two cities. I spent most of the first evening in KL wandering round doing my best “wide-eyed tourist” impression. We’re staying in the Golden Triangle part of KL, which seems to be the big shopping part of town. Brand new malls that don’t close till midnight, monorail running overhead, people everywhere, bright lights and camera crews filming stuff, and street performers all over the place. Georgetown’s got a long way to go before it even starts to come close.

In between the rainstorms, we’ve been to the Petronas Towers (but failed to get there early enough to get one of the 1400 available tickets), been to the top of the KL tower, wandered round the edges of Little India and Chinatown and been to the cinema. We’re still planning to go to the Batu Caves before we leave for Singapore in a couple of days. Hopefully it’ll stop raining for long enough to let us get there.

Leaving Thailand

2007-12-05T06:38:00.000Z

At the moment, we're sitting in the bar of the hotel we've been staying in on Koh Samui, killing time till we go to the airport to fly to Penang in Malaysia. Yes, I know I said we were going to Phuket, but we suddenly changed our minds on the train down from Hua Hin, since getting to both places involved getting off the train at Surat Thani.

Which is not a place we're likely to rush back to, really. It's very rough-and-ready, with almost nothing to do other than get on a bus or a ferry to somewhere else. Because the train from Hua Hin was an hour-and-a-half late, we ended up having to stay there for the night. We were awake nice and early the next morning to find a hotel on Samui and to get on the first ferry out of there.

Samui, on the other hand, is very nice. Sun, sea, beaches, smiling people and a very nice hotel mean that we'll probably be back at some point soon. The beach we're staying near isn't the best on the island, but most of the other beaches are a 20 minute, 80 pence pick-up truck ride away, so it's no big loss.

In half an hour or so we go to the airport here to fly to Penang. Flying does feel slightly like cheating seeing as we're supposed to be doing this by train, but having checked the UK Foreign Office site which advises against all but the most essential travel to or through the southernmost four or five provinces of Thailand and to make personal security arrangements if you do decide to go there, we've decided that a quick flight is better then the (admittedly remote) chance of getting killed to death by stupid people with bombs.

Anyway, I've still got 15 minutes of relaxing on a beach to do, so tata for now.

Thailand so far

2007-12-03T12:53:00.000Z

We spent the few days we had in Bangkok in the China town district, visiting the reclining Buddah in Wat Pho and looking around Siam Square, taking a visit to the aquarium. Then we were ready to leave and see what the royal beach resort of Hua Hin was all about. The train journey was great, the best yet I think. We were in a cabin with locals that had windows which opened fully, allowing a great view for photos and a refreshing breeze.

The hotel complex was very plush – well, who said we had to stay in flea ridden bunk beds?! We were very lucky to be given a free upgrade to our own villa with its own pool and enjoyed a few days of luxury, soaking up the sun. The town itself thrived on the tourist trade, with tailor shops ten a penny and a liberal sprinkling of girlie bars. It amused us to see loads of 50 something western men with their Thai ‘girlfriends’ who appeared to be much, much younger. I could feel people’s eyes on me trying to figure out if I was Thai or not.

More photos

2007-12-03T12:49:00.000Z

Here are a few more. Not many, I'll admit, but a few. Pictures from Bangkok here, and from Hua Hin here.

About Hong Kong

2007-11-30T15:59:00.000Z

We both really enjoyed the time we spent in Hong Kong. Every part of the city we saw was bustling with locals, working away, and loads of tourists. We stayed at the YMCA Salisbury Hotel, which was more like a 4-star hotel than youth hostel and spent time seeing the sights in Kowloon and on Hong Kong Island. We couldn’t get enough of the different modes of transport around the place, preferring the Star ferry to the underground to cross the harbour. The mid-level escalator was something else - running downhill in the morning and uphill at night must make travel for locals much easier. The tram ride up to the Peak was an experience – the steep angle of the slope made me feel sorry for the poor souls carrying the sedan chairs in the past. The view from the top was amazing. No wonder everyone raves about it!

On my birthday we had lunch at Maxim’s Palace, the place in HK for dim sum. When we found the place, it was packed with an hours wait - a good sign we thought. The food was really good and we enjoyed the experience, picking baskets of food from trolleys as they passed. In the afternoon we popped to a jade market on the Kowloon side and hopped back over to Hong Kong Island in the evening. I just had to have a drink in the Mandarin Oriental, where my parents had their wedding reception some 30 years ago. What a plush and expensive place. After, we headed off to meet Weike and friends at a tapas bar in Soho. It was great to see a familiar face from back home. The following day I was not feeling well and happily agreed to a late hotel check out! I’ll never drink again. Again.

Can't think of a title for this

2007-11-26T14:33:00.000Z

We're in Bangkok, but not for much longer; we're leaving tomorrow to head south. Except we're not going to Phuket, we're going to a place called Hua Hin about 3 hours out of Bangkok. We'll be there for 4 days (in a luxury resort! Well, why not?) and then we're getting the train down to Butterworth in Malaysia.

What do I think of Bangkok? Well, I think it's growing on me. After getting here from Hong Kong it just seemed too dirty. Overcrowded, hot, smelly and noisy is fine; I mean Hong Kong is the same and I loved it there. But here is just dirty without much in the way of trying to keep it clean going on.

Like I said, though, I think I'm growing to like it, or at least not dis-like it. People here are friendly, the weather is warm, and it's cheap. And just in time for me to reach that state of mind, we leave. Ah well, onwards and southwards.

Pictures from the Big Lychee

2007-11-26T14:23:00.000Z

Here are a couple of photos. There are more to look at when you click here.

The first flight

2007-11-22T14:43:00.000Z

After a day of planning, we've decided... to go to Bangkok. By plane.

So we will. On Saturday. We'll be there for a day or three, and then we'll be off south again (by train), probably to Phuket, depending on what's available.

Just so you know.

The end?

2007-11-21T06:48:00.000Z

So, we've made it to Hong Kong. By train. From Reading. Which is, by my calculations, about a squillion miles.

For now we're making the most of sunshine and a warm climate, especially after going through Russia on the way here. We've spent a lot of time wandering around Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon, and we're heading over to Hong Kong Island later to get the Tramway up to the peak in the evening.

But after all that... what?

We'll be spending a couple of days planning our next month or so of travel. Not sure where it's going to take us, but we're fairly sure that it'll involve Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and probably a few other places too.

Photos from Shanghai

2007-11-21T06:44:00.000Z

And another photo post. The rest of them are here.

More pictures

2007-11-20T15:52:00.000Z

So, here are a couple of photos from Beijing. The rest are here.

Nihao...

2007-11-20T15:25:00.000Z

We’ve been really lazy with blogging lately and have to play catch up with Beijing and Shanghai. So here goes a potted version of what we’ve been up to.

For reasons we are now regretting, we were only in Beijing for 2 days. This was not enough time and we barely scratched the surface of what the city is all about and definitely plan to go back at some point. The hostel we stayed at was great and we met loads of really lovely people when hanging around in the lounge. One day was spent wandering around the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, where Pat was disappointed to find that the audio commentary was not given by Roger Moore, as he had read somewhere.

For the other full day we decided to go on a hike along the Great Wall of China which was a great experience, although knackering. We set off early in the morning and the weather was atrocious, drizzling all the way. The wall was surrounded by fog and there was nothing to be seen. There were near vertical climbs and descents throughout which we both really enjoyed, especially when the rain turned to snow. After a few slips and slides, we made it along and down in one piece, but my thigh muscles were hurting so much I could barely walk down steps for 3 days afterwards (I was absolutely fine. Isn’t role reversal a wonderful thing? – Pat). I was amazed by the locals, even if they came just to sell us stuff. They did the same walk every day and didn’t think anything of it. One guy was 72 and took great delight in telling us his age after skipping past us struggling up to the highest tower. The little lady helping me was as strong as an ox. I still don’t know how she didn’t slip wearing leather heeled boots.

Sad to be leaving, we had a farewell coffee with Laurens and Eline before heading to the station and boarding the express train to Shanghai. We arrived 10 hours later, with enough time to check in and have a drink in the expensive hostel bar, the only plus being it was a stone’s throw from our room.

The next morning we went out exploring along Nanjing Road (shoppers’ paradise) to People’s Square. This was when Pat’s hawker counter got into full swing – he was the most popular person with everyone wanting to sell him a watch, a bag, sunglasses… Independently, two groups of young people stopped us and started chatting, asking us where we were from, where we were going etc, which I thought was friendly. 5 minutes into the conversation they were hassling us to go to a tea festival. I would have caved, but Pat had read about this scam where we’d just get sold lots of expensive tourist crap, so we made our excuses. We then decided that, in future, we just wouldn't like tea.

That evening we had a nightcap in the hotel bar. Sitting out on the balcony, overlooking the Bund we tuned into the conversation of some Brits sat next to us. Funnily enough the three of them were from Reading, one of them working out in Shanghai. How small the world is. The next few hours were spent idly chatting – it was nice to be reminded about life back home.

The next few days were spent sightseeing along the Bund, the Pearl Tower, Nuangpu River and in and around Yu Gardens. This was a bit of a miserable experience as the weather wasn’t great. I wasn’t impressed, especially as reports I’d read promised a balmy 20 degrees. No such luck. It was grey, smoggy and cold. All in all, we were quite glad to be leaving Shanghai, and on to Hong Kong...

Too much text...

2007-11-19T06:27:00.000Z

There's been too much typing on this blog recently, so here's some photos from Mongolia. The rest are here.

Marvellous Mongolia

2007-11-16T13:34:00.000Z

I woke up at 02:00 when the train pulled up in a noisy Mongolian town on the way to UB, as the locals call it, then fell back to sleep. The next thing I knew Pat was waking me up after I ignored the alarm that went off at 06:30. We got washed and dressed ready for our arrival into UB. Zaya from the hostel we’d arranged met us on the platform. She was a lot more reliable than that Russian place! Laurens and Eline were looking for somewhere to stay and so came with us to check the hostel out. It turned out to be a 5 minute drive from the station, close to the city centre, on the 2^nd Floor of an apartment block. The Zaya Hostel was all 4 apartments on the level and we ended up sharing one of them with Laurens and Eline. It tuned out to be roomy and comfortable. Laurens said it was the most luxurious hostel he’d stayed in, so we thought that was a good sign! Zaya was really friendly and hospitable. She talked to us about all sorts of stuff. She lived in the hostel with her children and husband elsewhere, so I think was glad for the company.

We freshened up and ventured out to explore, stopping off at the State Department Store, the nearest place to get cash. It was just like being in John Lewis with make up and fragrance counters on the Ground Floor, women’s fashion on First Floor etc. Then we headed back outside ending up in Sukhbataar Square, just a few blocks down Peace Avenue. We passed people begging in the street, which sadly included lots of children. Pat stopped to give a cigarette to a guy in a wheelchair who had no fingers. Thankfully he remembered to light it for him before walking away. I was amused by street vendors selling lollipops, cigarettes, coffee beans and phone calls using house phones. One lady was charging for the use of weighing scales, just in case you wanted to know if you’d put on a few pounds. We also saw lots of older men and women wearing traditional tunics. This was unusual as everyone else under 50 was wearing jeans, jackets etc.

After finding a place for lunch overlooking the closed Choijin Monastery we paid a visit to the Mongolian Persecuted Victims Museum closeby. It seems that whilst Hitler was busy in the west, Stalin’s reign of terror was in full swing in the east stamping out Mongolian independence and killing hundreds of thousands of people. Even the practice of Bhuddism was illegal and monks throughout the country were executed.

That evening was spent chilling out back at the hostel, whilst we decided what to do and see over the next few days. After telling Zaya about our jobs, she asked for Pat’s help to fix her internet connection!

I typed up the Listvyanka and Irkutsk blogs the next morning and we headed back out for a day of being tourists. The afternoon was spent in the Natural History Museum looking at dinosaur bones, fossils and lots of stuffed animals. There were also exhibits about wild Tahki horses, which had been reintroduced with help from the UK and other European countries, to save extinction. It was really encouraging to see lots of info on environmental protection throughout the museum. I guess that traditionally the Mongolians have strong ties with their environment, developing from their nomadic roots.

That evening we decided to tag along to a theatre production that Laurens and Eline were going to. None of us had any idea what it was about, but it was the only thing showing, in lieu of traditional Mongolian music and dance troupes who had gone home for the quiet season. It turned out to be a very entertaining evening and was the Mongolian equivalent of X-Factor, only the contestants had to sing in Russian and interludes were filled by local famous artists singing their well known songs, or so we assumed! We could only tell that they were famous if they were brought a bouquet of flowers at the end or during the performance. There were about 12 contestants who performed modern, opera and classical songs sometimes with a backing orchestra. The locals in the audience were taking it all very seriously, supporting the favourites and singing along and were bemused with us, the only 4 Westeners in the building. Afterwards, we went to a Bavarian restaurant for dinner, recommended by Zaya. This place was really popular with the locals and packed to the rafters. Later we realised why. All the locals were waiting for The Lemons, a Mongolian rock band, to come on stage. When they did the place erupted with singing, clapping and swaying. They loved it!

The next morning we were up early to catch the morning ceremony at the Gand Khiid Monastery. The complex was huge with 15 buildings all devoted to Buddhist teachings and prayer. We spent some time watching what was going on in the temples, all of which were filled with monks chanting, occasionally playing instruments and locals praying, sometimes taking a pilgrimage around the perimeter of the temples and turning prayer wheels, if present. The Janraising Datsan was the largest temple and housed a huge 25m tall gold plated Buddha statue. There were many monks milling around the place and we saw many young boys in ceremonies or in school, who’d be looking at Pat with intrigue as soon as we’d enter. We were amused to see some monks making calls on their mobile phones and busily chewing gum mid chant! They were very friendly and outside a nearby smaller monastery a group of young boys said hello and waved as we walked past.

The morning was absolutely freezing even though the sun was out so we went off in search of a café and warm drinks to thaw out. Afterwards we had an hour long search for a working cash machine that liked our cards and managed to circumnavigate the city centre in the process. Finally, we had some cash to get into the State History Museum. Unlike the similar museums we’d been into in Prague and Moscow, I was delighted to find that the exhibits brought us up to current times. It described Chinggis Khaan’s great empire between Vienna and Beijing in the 1200s. How different the story was in the 20^th and 21^st centuries when the country was pillaged by China, Russia and Japan. After a short democratic history of some 15 years, it will be interesting to see how Mongolia develops.

The next day we escaped from UB! We were met by Ganna, our guide and driver outside the hostel at 09:00. After we fought our way out of the city centre traffic, first stop was a newly built gold Buddha monument to the south of the city, surrounded by newly built apartment blocks. We then headed to an adjacent war memorial located at the top of 50 flights of steps. There was a really good view of the city from the top, although it was a struggle to get up there. The sprawling city was beneath us, covered by a thick band of smog generated by a large power station. Lovely. We then got back in the car and travelled out north east of UB towards Terelj. We stopped to look at and climb on a rock formation used by monks, hiding from the Russians. Some 100 monks hid in a tiny hollow space in the middle of the formation, but sadly were all discovered and killed. Afterwards, we were taken to Turtle Rock, strangely enough rocks that looked like a turtle from one side. From the other side it looked like a rabbit. From here I took a 3km horse trek to a nearby monastery and Pat decided to walk, preferring two legs rather than four. The scenery was amazing, we were in a valley surrounded by hills and the sky was a brilliant blue. It was so quiet. When we stopped walking you could have heard a pin drop. The monastery was locked up, but the view back down the valley from the veranda was breath taking. When we got back to the camp at the bottom we had lunch in one of the gers, chatting to Ganna finding out about Mongolians. Earlier he had told us that he worked for the government as a journalist, but decided to be our guide for the day instead of going in to work, to get extra cash. After trying and failing to give sugar cubes to our horses, we headed back to UB. It was alien for the horses to have sugar and their owners said they wouldn’t like it!

That evening we decided to try a Mongolian curry house for dinner. Pat had been longing for his favourite food, including a chicken korma! After an hour of wandering around and trying to find one mentioned in the Lonely Planet guide, we tried for another and found it. The food was good, but you don’t get all the side dishes we’re so used to. However, they did do lassi and the Chinngis beer was good!

The following day was our last full day in UB, so after a lie in we spent it at the Bogd Khan Winter Palace and Choijin Monastery, having a good look around. By the end we were all statued out and went back to the hostel for a rest after a bite to eat.

We were up early on the Sunday ready for our train to Beijing. Laurens and Eline were getting the same train and we managed to flag down a taxi (also known as a private car with a driver looking to make some extra cash) on Peace Avenue and then crammed ourselves and all our luggage into the car. Pat had a huge bag on his lap at the front that the driver had difficulty looking around. We boarded the train and settled in for another overnighter…

Enemy of the State

2007-11-13T10:47:00.000Z

Allo,

For some reason, this blog falls foul of China's government firewall which blocks questionable content to China's inhabitants, so we can't actually see it ourselves. There's probably some way round it, but I haven't worked it out yet. I'm not even sure whether this is going to post properly or not, but I'll give it a shot anyway.

Wonder what we've said that they don't like? Hope they don't catch us before we get to Hong Kong.

Anyway, hello from Beijing. Unfortunately, because I wasn't really paying attention when I had to tweak our itinerary to fit in with the train times, we're only here for 2 full days, so it's all a bit rushed. Today we had a look round the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. Tomorrow, we're off on a walking tour of part of the Great Wall. Then we head off to Shanghai the next day.

What we have seen of Beijing so far, though, is very nice. Between us and whoever we're talking to, there's normally enough knowledge of English and/or sign language to get our message across. And if the people trying to sell tourist crap are a bit too persistent, stringing together random German words seems to confuse them enough for us to make our escape.

The hostel here is great. It's in an old courtyard-style building in one of the Hutong districts about 400 yards away from the Forbidden City. The room's tiny, but there's a common-room which is warm, comfortable and the staff are friendly. I'd recommend it.

Now, it's about time for dinner, so we're off to find a restaurant. Or the maybe the night market; Triny's fascinated by the idea of starfish-on-a-stick. Can't say I'm too keen on it myself. I might have to stick to the beef or something equally boring.

Lovely Listvyanka and Seedy Irkutsk

2007-11-08T10:05:00.000Z

We woke up at 05:30 local time and arrived in Irkutsk at 06:45 with many other local Russians. It was pitch black outside and I was relieved that I didn’t freeze as soon as I stepped off the train – must have been around 0 degrees. We tried to figure out how to pay for tram tickets, to get us to the bus station on the other side of town, some 5km away. After being ignored by locals and misunderstanding Russian instructions from tram and rail station workers, we ran out of ideas and gave in to one of the taxi touts we’d previously declined. Got to the bus station at about 07.30 and bought two tickets to Listvyanka, the closest village on the shore of Lake Baikal some 70km away. I was delighted that the tickets were £1 each. I was not so delighted to be standing outside in the freezing weather for one and a half hours waiting for a bus that didn’t show. Again, we gave in and got a taxi for the journey, bargaining what seemed a good price of 20 roubles per km. We bumped into 2 other Brit guys in the process who were trying to persuade us to go to the Okhlon Island. It was good to hear familiar voices in grey, freezing cold Irkutsk. We told them we had already made a reservation in Listvyanka, got in the taxi and off we went. It was great to be out of the cold.

It was snowing for our journey between Irkutsk and Listvyanka and the drive was slow. We had trouble finding the village we were staying in let alone the hotel, but got there in the end. The taxi deal that seemed so good suddenly didn’t when Pat handed over the money and the driver then pointed at me wanting my share, that he’d forgotten to mention. We should have seen that one coming and ended up giving him more money to resolve things.

The hotel turned out to be a real find. When we arrived one of the odd job guys came out to give us a hand with our luggage, which was handy as I’d sprained something in my right shoulder/neck removing my rucksack and getting into the taxi. I could barely turn my head right on the taxi journey. This guy said nothing to us for the duration of our stay and was nicknamed Igor by me and Monkey Boy by Pat. He spent his time repairing the snow mobiles ready for the winter and doing random jobs about the place, all with no speaking and the same dreary facial expression.

We were taken up a slippery snow covered track and lead into the grounds of numerous little log cabins which overlooked the lake. Our cabin was lovely. There was a little porch, entrance lobby leading into our room and an ensuite WC. It was just the right size for all our stuff and had a wood burner and numerous electric heaters to keep us toasty. One of the windows overlooked Lake Baikal and snow capped mountains in the distance – lovely.

We dropped our bags off and went for a wander around Krestovka, the village. This was stretched along the coastline of the lake for a mile or so and comprised small wooden houses, many bars and a monstrosity of a hotel in the hub, opposite the bus station and small port. The sky was grey although the sun was trying to break out and the place looked miserable. It was quiet and we were the only tourists around, or so it seemed. We weren’t thinking too highly about this ramshackle looking place which rich Russians supposedly flock to during the summer.

Looking for a cash machine and a drink we decided the best place to try was the big, ugly hotel. On our way inside, a wedding car had pulled up and the bride was on her way inside. We had seen loads of wedding parties zooming around Moscow having pictures taken at all the tourist attractions, so it didn’t seen strange to see the same here. We were in luck; there were 2 cash machines in the lobby. We walked into the bar to find it was empty with 3 staff behind the counter. One of them was doing his best Little Britain impression and looked like Matt Lucas: bit of a belly, blue and white stripy t-shirt and appropriate hat. We had a drink and decided to leave when we realised they had no wifi and bad Russian house music started to play.

Taking it easy because of my shoulder, we walked back to the cabin to settle in and have a snooze. The early start and change to Irkutsk time were taking their toll. Later on Pat found the shower in use which, fortunately, was not an external kind we had previously thought. There were no locks on the doors, so not wanting to be caught in the buff we decided to go together and stand guard for each other. I was nice and let Pat go first, only to discover that it broke as soon as Pat had finished. We thought that he’d used up the water in their reserve, but found out the following day that it was just that the shower head had blocked. Anyhow, the crux of it was that after the 4 days of the train journey from Moscow I still hadn’t had a shower. My hair was so greasy, you could have fried an egg on it. I spent the rest of the evening asking Pat how it felt to be clean.

The next morning we both woke up at 10:00. I was still sleepy and feeling lazy so eventually got out of bed at 13.30. My shoulder was feeling better. We went for a walk in the other direction, to see what delights Listvyanka had to offer. The day was much better than its predecessor. The sun was shining and there was a clear blue sky over the lake. We walked along the shoreline heading east, past wooden huts and a few cafes and hotels. We saw a few more people out for a stroll, mostly Russians with their families. On our way back to Krestovka, to check out bus times back to Irkutsk the following day, we saw Andrei, the hotel owner, on his boat on the lake with 2 other guys. He was looking very pleased and we exchanged waves. It later turned out that it had taken him 30 days to build the wooden boat and this was the maiden voyage. No wonder he looked so pleased. There were also some 6 divers in the lake outside the Diving Club. Pat was intrigued watching them, but wasn’t envious as it was so cold. One of them was having problems flailing around trying to get his fins off.

That evening we had our banya experience. It was basically a sauna with the added benefit (?!) of being thrashed with birch branches. Hardcore banya enthusiasts sit in the sauna for a while and when they get too hot run to the lake and plunge themselves into the icy waters to cool off. You can understand that we were not up for that part, but it did get exceedingly hot. I was surprised how long Pat endured the sauna for. I thought he’d last just minutes! Thank goodness the shower head got replaced so I could finally be clean.

The next day we were up and packed and Andrei gave us a lift to the bus station at 10:00. My shoulder was much better by now. This time the bus did arrive and we took it back to Irkutsk with lots of locals who turned out to all be going to market. We found the hotel we were looking for and checked in. We then headed out to see what Irkutsk had to offer, not hoping for much, going from what we’d seen already and the limited information Lonely Planet had to offer. It was an industrial town with many old and dilapidated-looking buildings. The centre was on one street, running north to south and housed all the shops and restaurants. We had lunch in a plush looking café, surrounded by rich looking Russians and then went back to the hotel to get on the internet. It had been a week since we’d last checked emails and we were getting withdrawal symptoms.

We were up early the next morning at 04:00, ready to get the train at 06:30. The taxi we had booked was early and waiting for us outside and when we checked out they gave us breakfast-to-go in a plastic bag each, which I’d previously asked about. What service – we were impressed! I hadn’t slept very well and was thinking about Mand and Sam after chatting on Facebook. Then Mand sent us a text at 01:00 telling us she was in Gourmet Burger Kitchen. Both of us were woken up and started salivating – not good. To top it off the hotel walls were made of paper and I could hear the people upstairs having sex.

In the train station we bumped into Mark and Siobhain who were sitting in the main concourse. They had spent one day in Irkutsk and took a drive out to Listvyanka. They both looked ready to leave, just like us.

We got on the train and got settled in our compartment, which had space for 2 other passengers this time. I recognised some tourists who’d been in the same café as us in Krestovka who were in the next compartment and we had a chat and introduced ourselves. Laurens and Eline were from the Netherlands and were taking the Tran-Siberian to Beijing, planning to travel for 6 months. We slept for a few hours and then spent the rest of the journey to Ulaan Bataar chatting to our new neighbours and reading stuff about Mongolia. Pat was very pleased to be leaving Russia……..

Pics from Russia

2007-11-04T14:22:00.000Z

Here are some pictures. The rest are here for Moscow, and here for Irkutsk.

We live!

2007-11-04T08:27:00.001Z

Allo,

Don't worry, we are still alive. It's just that Russian trains haven't reached the technological level of having wireless yet, and Lake Baikal was connected but only at dial-up speeds. Because of all this internet deprivation, there is now a whole chunk of stuff below this post. Enjoy.

Anyway, tomorrow we get on the train (again), leave Russia (hooray!) and head off to Mongolia (at last). Hopefully we'll have some more photos up soon.

P & T

Who are you calling a snob?

2007-11-04T08:25:00.000Z

Four nights is a long time to be stuck on one train, especially when you come from a country that thinks that London to Edinburgh in 8 hours is a long ride. It also doesn’t help that by the time we get to Irkutsk, we’ll be five hours ahead of where we set off from. Not having a map that shows most of the stations that you stop at along the way just adds another measure of weirdness.

Like anything, there are good and bad points. Smiley Chef Lady, as we’ve come to call her, made it obvious that our assumption that Russians rarely smile was wrong. The Provodnitsa (carriage attendant) also had a shot at proving us wrong, but her seeming insistence to stick to the other stereotypes of her job (drag queen haircut, built like an ox) don’t exactly make it easy for her to manage a smile with any real sincerity.

The beds are… comfortably functional, you might say. They’re quite narrow, but comfortable enough when you’re lieing down. Sitting on them, however, quickly gets uncomfortable as the padding is quite thin, and the train bounces you around like a rubber ball on some parts of the track. The bedding is nice and clean, though, with two sheets, a blanket, a towel, a tea-towel for some reason, and a couple of big pillows.

The cabin is quite small, and thankfully we weren’t in second class where we’d be sharing it with two other people. Fitting two beds into a small room takes up most of the space. Fitting four beds in must be very tight. We’ll find out when we get the train from Irkutsk to Ulaanbataar, luckily only for one night..

The restaurant car is quite pleasant. It’s the one place on the train where you can have a cigarette in the warmth; on the rest of the train you need to get to the end of the carriage by the door to the next coach, where there’s no heating. It’s snowing outside, which makes the temperature even less welcoming. The fact that you can smoke in the restaurant car means that you tend to end up with people sitting in there all day having a chat and a few beers. And a few more. And more still. By the evening, you walk into a carriage that has several very drunk Russians in it, who either glare at you or, worse still, try to have a conversation without the benefit of a mutual language.

The food is also surprisingly good, though the fried chicken had enough garlic in it that it’ll be repeating on me for another week, and the soup was a bit of a lucky dip what with having at least two types of meat, some peppers, olives and even a slice of lemon. It was all served by a man who seemed to know four words of English: soup, beef, chicken and fish. He was assisted by Smiley Chef Lady in the kitchen, and a woman who had a good shout at the other occupants of the carriage when they seemed to be trying to be too friendly with us. Alcohol obviously lends you courage; I wouldn’t have wanted to piss her off, but the lads didn’t back down as quickly as I’d have expected.

I’ll not mention the toilet facilities too much, other than to say that they started smelling bad after the first day, and they flush straight onto the tracks. Pity the railworkers in this country. As if the snow and ice wasn’t bad enough.

The scenery has been much the same since we left Warsaw. Maybe it’s the time of the year, but we haven’t seen sunlight in over a week. Foggy mornings, grey skies, forests and industrial monstrosities do not a pleasant landscape make. Though in the last day or so it’s started snowing, which at least looks a bit nicer. I realise that you’re not going to get the best buildings next to the railway line, but some of the factories that have been thrown up along the route are just concrete monsters with no effort made at hiding or camouflaging them. Most of them seem to be derelict, too.

All in all, I’m glad I’ve done it, though I wouldn’t rush to do it again.

The Trans-Siberian to Irkutsk

2007-11-04T08:22:00.001Z

We left the hotel with our luggage at 20.30 and headed for the metro to get to Yarovsky train station for the 21.30 train to Irkutsk. On the metro a tipsy matronly ex-army middle aged lady decided that she would lead us to the correct platform. It obviously appeared to her that we were incapable of getting ourselves there……or maybe she was just being kind. Communication between us was a real problem and she was getting very frustrated that we couldn’t understand her. We got to where we needed to be and she stood with us on the platform talking at us in Russian. We offered some money and cigarettes for her help, but she declined and eventually we said our goodbyes thanking her over and over again, as that was the only Russian word we knew would have any affect.

We found our carriage and walked down the corridor to find our cabin to see that Mark and Siobhain were in the cabin next door to us. We said that we’d bump into them again, but we didn’t know it would be so soon! Small world. We got settled in and bedded down for the night.

The first full day on the train was spent reading and solving puzzles. I also slept for a bit. The weather outside was grey, misty and uninviting. In the evening we wandered down to the restaurant car to see what was on offer. Pat was offered soup and chicken and the very friendly barman and lady offered me salad and a fried potato dish when I explained I was a veggie. Siobhain joined us for dinner and the 3 of us attracted the attention of 3 drunk Russians, one of whom was busily helping himself to our beer and spilling it all over the table. They were harmless enough, asking where we were from and assuming we were American. One of them, however, was getting fighty making provoking gestures at Pat, so we decided to leave. The rest of the evening was spent playing cards with Mark and Siobhain. It was good to have a chat and get to know them. I had also discovered a liking for Russian beer and managed to drink the equivalent of 4 pints by the end of the night, unusual for me.

The next morning we were woken up by crappy Russian music playing on the train radio system. The dials in our cabin were broken and off was not an option, unluckily for us. I was feeling ropy. We arrived at Omsk where Mark and Siobhain were getting off to break up their journey. We said our goodbyes after a few pics were taken. The rest of the day was spent in our cabin reading, playing cards, yahtzee and backgammon. All of which Pat won. We watched the film Children of Men to make an even more gloomy atmosphere!

We woke up to see a blanket of snow everywhere and I instantly felt cold and started panicking that I didn’t have enough clothes and would freeze. We got up early to adjust from Moscow time to local Irkutsk time to ensure that we get off the train at the right time and not too jet (??) lagged. Strange how you can get it on a train. We spent the day lounging and reading, looking forward to getting off the train and stretching our legs.

From Russia with Love

2007-11-04T08:18:00.000Z

We arrived at Moscow Belarussky station at 13.00 local time only to find that the guide who we’d arranged to meet us wasn’t there. Good start. Neither of us had any roubles so we went off in search of money, however, the banks we found were shut for lunch and the exchange counter staff we spoke to didn’t understand us and certainly weren’t willing to help. So we decided to walk to the hotel with the added problem that our map was in the roman characters and the street names were in cyrillics! However, we found our way by counting the number of streets we passed. On the way we tried to use bank ATMs only to find that our cards had been deactivated for security. They obviously hadn’t been listening to our earlier instructions. Better safe than sorry I suppose. Great start we both thought – in a country we didn’t understand with no money!

The hotel turned out to be a 2^nd floor apartment in a tenement block with 3 guest bedrooms, kitchen, shower room and WC. We were not impressed to find that we got to our room by going through another bedroom and that neither room had a lock. At least we had the whole apartment to ourselves, for the time being at least. On the plus side there was a free wireless connection and the location was good (albeit neighbourhood dubious). We were just off the main drag Tverskya, leading down to the Kremlin.

After settling in the best we could and updating the blog, checking emails etc we wandered down to Red Square and had quick look around to get our bearings. We were both shell-shocked to be in a place where we could read and understand very little. On the way back to the ‘hotel’ we stopped for dinner in a Japanese restaurant, mainly because we could see they had menus in English as well as Russian! Not a bad meal – I had sushi and Pat had noodles. We then ambled back up the street for a quiet night in.

After a restless nights sleep, wondering who would walk in and when, we woke up at 9.00 the next day. In preparation for some sight seeing we went to an Italian restaurant for breakfast, but due to language problems ended up having pasta. It was nearly lunchtime anyway!

We had a proper look around Red Square and GUM, the department store, and took photos there, as requested by my dad! We were amused to hear that a Muir was a founder of the store. Afterwards we popped over to St Basil’s cathedral to see what all the fuss was about. What a beautifully odd little place. I’ve never seen so many little rooms and chambers in a place of worship. Then we made our way over Red Square to the State History Museum. I found this a bit of a disappointment. Like the previous museums we’d been to they had relics of pre-historic man, stone age man upto medieval man and it stopped there. I wanted to know about more recent times. This was a history museum after all.

Tourist hell was in full swing outside. You could have your photo taken with 2 Cossacks with axes, the token Russian leader lookalike of the day, performing monkeys in pink tracksuits and even a tethered eagle with talons the length of my fingers. No thanks. Tourists were throwing coins over their shoulders for good luck outside Resurrection Gate whilst elderly Moscovites gathered around to compete for the discarded coins.

We decided to check opening times for the Kremlin when disaster struck. Looking like obvious tourists and easy prey we were sprung on by policemen wanting to see stamped visa documents. We didn’t have these and understood that the hotel was sorting them out for us, completely legit. ‘There is problem’ the English speaking one said and threatened that we’d be taken to the police station to pay the fine. Knowing no better we ended up paying him 5000 roubles on the spot just to get our passports back. What a scam. Such an easy way for them to make money.

Dinner that night, surprisingly, was in close proximity to where we were staying. We’d found a recommended American diner-style restaurant which turned out to be very popular with the locals and busy. We sat outside on a table warmed by outdoor heaters wearing the blankets provided and were served by staff dressed up for Halloween. There were witches, a skeleton, a babushka and oddly enough a sailor and miner (we weren’t sure about them either!). We got back to the ‘hotel’ and had the suspicion that someone else had moved in so were keeping quiet in case they were asleep.

We woke up the next day and Pat bumped into our new flat mates on the way out to have a cigarette. They turned out to be Brits, Mark and Siobhain, who seemed very friendly. They’d flown into Moscow the previous night and were, funnily enough, arranging tickets for the Trans-Siberian! Why else would you be in Moscow!? They went out and we finished getting ready and made our way to Gorky Park on the metro. Mayakovskya station, like many others, was really elaborately decorated with arched ceilings and marble walls. I couldn’t believe how fast the escalators were running – god help little old ladies. I was also disappointed that there were no babushkas manning the escalators, instead there was a person in a box. I guess this is the new Russia after all.

Gorky Park was a bit of a let down. Maybe we’d come in the wrong season, but it was a Saturday, the place was deserted and there were few plants and flowers for an ornamental garden. We wandered around the amusement park which was like a bad alternative to Butlins, if you can imagine it. Needless to say we didn’t go on any rides. We took a walk over and along the other side of the river and got the metro back to near the Kremlin where we had coffee in the Russian equivalent to Starbucks. Tired of walking we tried to contact a cinema showing American films in the Radisson, however, discovered that this had since been closed and that all other cinemas showing films in English were not today. Instead we watched Smokin’ Aces on Pat’s laptop.

When the film had finished Ruslin, a hotel helper, was showing a Russian guy around the flat. We were horrified to hear that he’d be in the room we had to go through to get to ours from the following day onwards. Over dinner in a local creperie we discussed our options and decided to book a room in the nearby Marriott. Even though it was expensive, we figured enough was enough and we wanted some privacy and security.

So the next day we gleefully packed our bags and made our way down Tverskaya to the Marriott and were able to check-in straight away. We had to wait for half an hour before Pat could get his passport back so spent the time doing laundry and hanging it all out to dry. We spent the afternoon wandering around Kitay Gorod, to the east of the Kremlin and trying to avoid policemen! The area has some of the oldest buildings in the city and it was pleasant enough. We were amused to see a real live camel with keeper standing outside what we assumed was a middle-eastern restaurant. Both were looking grumpy, but then that was normal for these parts, we thought. That evening we decided to make the most of our comfy hotel room and got room service for dinner. I was delighted to watch 2 episodes of Eastenders back to back on BBC Prime, whilst Pat read one of his books!

The next day we went for a walk in the early afternoon, before checking out as late as possible. Leaving the luggage at the hotel, we hopped between internet cafes trying to get a connection which either wasn’t there or was sketchy and cut out without any warning. To kill time we went for dinner at a Czech Pilsner restaurant. Great if you like meat and beer and lots of it – not so great for me.

Fleecing

2007-10-26T15:10:00.000+01:00

We just got ripped off by a guy in uniform, and no, I'm not talking about certain specialised clubs here in Moscow.

When you arrive in Russia, you have 3 days to register your visa with the authorities. We knew it had to be done, and the hostel here in Moscow took copies of our passports and visas to register them.

What we didn't know was that we would be given a "stub", a piece of paper proving that we'd registered. Nor did we actually know about the 3-day limit. So when we were asked by a policeman and his interpreter outside the Kremlin why we didn't have the stub when it was later than 1pm on the day after we arrived, we told him that the hostel was registering it and the stub just hadn't reached us yet.

You might be wondering why the policeman said it needed to have been done by 1pm on the day after arrival, when we have 3 days to get it done. It's because he was setting the interpreter up for the phrase "Well, now there is problem..." The interpreter even had a piece of paper printed out which had the dubious deadline on it. Then he took me aside from Triny and told me that we would have to be arrested, go to the station, get the embassy involved, and the eventual fine would be 3000 roubles each. On the other hand, he said, there is a non-protocol way to deal with it.

End result was a 5000 rouble (£100 ish) cash "fine", and a promise on my part not to talk to anyone about this "unofficial" solution.

It's a bit annoying, because he was playing on my ignorance of the laws about the deadline for registration. Mind you, he also had our passports in his hands and a van load of mates behind him, which seemed to qualify as an instant position of power. I'm trying to look on it as just one of those things.

We are know back in our room trying to decide whether we go out and get some dinner now, or wait until later when our stubs should hopefully have arrived.

Warsaw pictures

2007-10-25T18:59:00.000+01:00

Here's a couple of photos from Warsaw. The rest are here.

Warszawa Calling...

2007-10-25T12:24:00.000+01:00

It’s that time again. Let me tell you what we’ve been upto in Warsaw…

After countless games of eye spy we arrived in Warsaw at 19.00 on Monday. After a while of wandering around the station trying to find an information point or place to buy bus tickets, I gave in to Pat’s taxi habit so we could get to the office before it closed to pick up keys to our apartment. A grumpy driver took us to the Old Town which was strangely very quiet for a tourist district. Our apartment turned out to be just off the Old Town Square – a top location. We dropped our bags off and went to the local deli to get groceries. Dinner that evening turned out to be a take away from Pizza Hut, which is very unlike me. However, that did include vegetables which was more than the local shops were offering!

The next day we turned the apartment into Widow Twankey’s laundry and popped out for sight-seeing in the afternoon. We wandered around the oldest parts of the city and were really surprised to find out that due to the destruction during WWII this was only 50 years old and was salvaged from other cities. We also saw lots of monuments dedicated to Poles oppressed by the Russians and Germans. So it turns out that the Poles are a religious lot. I couldn’t believe how many churches there were over such a short distance. We saw many nuns and monks walking around and Pat reminded me that the late Pope Jean Paul II was Polish.

Later on we walked down to the university area to an internet café we’d read about. Like many buildings, it looked shabby and dubious from the outside, but was really contemporary and cosy on the inside. We spent a few hours in there checking our emails, facebook and updating the travel blog. The hot chocolate in there was amazing – just like liquid chocolate. I couldn’t help feel sorry for anyone from there who asked for the sorry substitute that the UK calls Hot Chocolate. Afterwards, we wandered ‘home’ passing lots of students and academics on the way. We enjoyed a quiet night in, making the most of the apartment.

The next day we were up early and spent the morning lounging and packing. We made a visit to the Jewish Museum which was very thought provoking. We heard and saw chilling accounts of life in the Warsaw ghetto. Before the war Poland had the greatest Jewish population in Europe, which was wiped out. I spent the rest of the day thinking about what I’d read and seen.

On a happier note, we sent postcards from Warsaw after a quick spot of afternoon tea – not very Polish but never mind. Pat was trying to buy stamps and bus tickets from the post office and the counter staff were giving him the run around, telling him to go to the next counter and closing it before he got there! He got there in the end after a little old lady stepped in to assist.

We got to the station and boarded the train for Moscow at 16:20. We were delighted to find another cosy cabin, not too dissimilar to that of the Frankfurt to Prague train. There were 2 passport checks last night at the Polish/Belarusian border. The Polish check was straight forward, the Belasrusian one was a bit more complex. About 4 Belarusian officers got on the train, took our passports and goods declaration forms, checked Pat wasn’t smuggling anyone beneath his bed and returned our paperwork ten minutes later. All that for just sitting on the train to go through. Soon after that, at Brest, the hour long procedure of moving the train to Russian tracks took place. The whole train as taken into a work shed where engineers conducted the works. Pat was watching what was going on and said it was like taking your car in for an MOT. While all that was going on I was reading about Belarus in the Lonely Planet guide and was, amongst other things, very amused to hear about the fruit loop President Lukashenka who has ultimate say over everything, including international law…..Glad we’re just passing through…

That brings me to today. We’re still on the train and were expecting a Belarusian/Russian border guard visit which hasn’t happened. Not to be caught off guard again, we set the alarm for 5.30am but for nothing. We’ll see what transpires when we get to Moscow in an hour or so……

Observational scatterings

2007-10-23T16:23:00.000+01:00

A few thoughts:

- I hate no-smoking trains. I'm in Eastern Europe, for God's sake. I should be able to stand in a hospital surgery with a cigarette on the go.
- Jesus. The hot chocolate I'm trying to drink at the moment is like eating lunch. It's almost solid chocolate.
- Begging in Prague seems to involve a lot more discomfort than it does elsewhere. The two beggars I saw were on their knees and elbows on the cobbles, heads down so they couldn't see anything other than the pavement, hands outstretched as if begging for alms, not moving for hours.
- Warsaw's Old Town was actually built in the 1950s, from bricks that came from surrounding historic towns that hadn't been demolished during WWII. Those towns now have almost no historic buildings left. Almost feels like cheating on Warsaw's part.

More to follow. It's like an occasional series. Maybe.

A message from Czech Republiky

2007-10-23T15:47:00.000+01:00

This is the first of these blog things, which I’m writing on the train from Prague to Warsaw. It’s just past 11am and we’re sat in a 6 seat comfortable cabin with 2 Czech guys who are busily chatting to one another. You wouldn’t get that on the Reading to Paddington line!

We arrived in Prague on Saturday morning at 9am after getting a sleeper train from Frankfurt, which was an experience. A cosy little cabin where Pat had the lower bunk and I was on the top one – all mod cons, including secure doors and sinks we couldn’t figure out how to work easily! We were impressed! We pulled out of Frankfurt station, watching the night scenery before going to bed. At 5.50am an announcement was made letting us know that passport control was about to take place after the stop at Dresden, so we wearily got dressed. Ten minutes later there was a knock on the door and a German guard checked our passports. We went back to bed thinking that that was it, but were woken up by another German guard knocking followed ten minutes later by a Czech guard. I didn’t bother getting out of bed for those! Breakfast was served at 8am and we got off the train an hour or so later and I managed to persuade Pat to get the Metro rather than a taxi to the hotel!

The hotel was in the Pankrac district to the south of the train station and central area, just 10 minutes on the tube and short walk. We dropped our bags off there and headed on into the centre to do a spot of sight seeing in the Old Town area to the east of the River Vltava. What a lovely place - beautiful buildings everywhere you looked, but very touristy. We had lunch in a little café where I tried ‘stinky’ cheese, a local delicacy. Not bad – thought it had to be better than the ‘head’ cheese on offer. Pat had a cheese and ham toastie (unsurprisingly) and was disgusted to find ketchup in it! Got back to the hotel at 2pm to check-in, shower and have a snooze. That evening we went back into the centre for dinner and watched England lose against South Africa in the rugby world cup final. Boo.

On Sunday we had a lie-in and carried on our sight seeing to the west of the Vltava around the castle and cathedral. Again – lots of beautiful buildings and tourists! By fluke we got ourselves to the castle gates for 12am in time to see the changing of the guard ceremony which was amusing. The serious guards marched to a trumpet fanfair and tune not too dissimilar to the Thunderbirds theme tune! Guess you had to be there! Afterwards we hopped on a tram, just because, and went to try and get into the Jewish Cemetry but decided not to as we didn’t have enough cash and they weren’t accepting cards. Oh well. It started to hail so we decided to go to the City of Prague Museum, which we had the money for. We wandered around exhibitions of prehistoric man in Prague (not very unique) and city history upto the 19^th century. There was one good exhibition with paintings of the city by 19^th century artists. Before leaving we sat in the lobby and were earwigging a group of English girls who had just been looking at a model of the city. I was horrified to hear them trying to work out “Are we in Prague or the Czech Republic?” We left shortly after that, pretending not to be English.

Following a recommendation by Fatih, we had dinner in the Imperial Café. The previous night, we had walked to Garden in the Opera, another of Fatih’s favourites, but decided not to go in as it appeared v. posh and we turned up in combats and fleeces. Still, one out of two’s not bad! The café was lovely – great food and very pleasant décor and atmosphere. And I managed to get a traditional veggie Czech meal. We sat in the smoking section, so Pat was happy! He had a local speciality called Hulasky made from cabbage, bacon and sausages and I had dill soup with a poached egg and an Imperial hot chocolate with orange, which came with chopped up bananas. Yummy. I also asked for a serving of dumplings which the waiter was bemused by! How embarrassed was I! I had read about them being a traditional food and seen them on menus with meat, so was determined to get some. They went very well in the soup, by the way!

Afterwards, we went back to the hotel via a supermarket where we stocked up on snacks for today’s journey. I had trouble finding a small bottle of wine with a screw cap so made do with a bottle of fizz! Not bad eh. Spent the rest of the evening using the free internet access in the hotel and uploading photos from the past few days. Hope you’re enjoying those.

So this morning we were up early and left the hotel after breakfast. We sat in the central station waiting for the train and trying to use up as many Czech krona as possible, not wanting to add to the numerous GBP and euros still in our wallets. We’ve been on the train for just over two hours now with pleasant scenery of Czech countryside going by. That’s enough typing for now. Pat has returned from his cigarette quest and I need to find the loo after all that coffee in the station………

Piccies

2007-10-21T22:16:00.000+01:00

Here are some of the photos so far (there's more here, by the way):

We're off!

2007-10-20T14:41:00.000+01:00

Yesterday morning we said goodbye to a few people at Reading station, and 24 hours later we pulled into Prague station. The threatened cancellation to the train from Paris to Frankfurt didn't materialise, so we made it into Frankfurt with enough time to change platforms before jumping on the sleeper service to Prague. I'm glad that's the only time we have to catch connecting trains for a while.

Now for a couple of days of being tourists...

Testing

2007-10-06T11:14:00.000+01:00

This one's for Jem and Nick (and Jess, Margot and everyone else on the show):