Last Stage… St. Petersburg

So after Moscow… there was one place left on the trip: St. Petersburg. We caught the train from Lenningreski Station, which was an adventure as we just arrived on time. The train was a night train and we decided to slum it by going 3rd class…which actually was very comfortable… taking into account the fact that there was no more room for anybody or anything else. The tables flip over, beds came from the ceiling so to walk in the train you literally had to avoid the feet sticking out of the beds.

We arrived at St. Petersburg at 6 in the morning… which was amazing:) We ended up speaking to some Russian girls on the train… truely a highlight of the trip:) It was actually very interesting to understand politically where and how people think, especially people from St. Petersburg.

I only had a few hours… about 6 before my flight so I made the most of it… dragging the gang for a walk around the city. It is clearly different from Moscow and I got the feeling I was back in Europe:) It actually is a beautiful city not just because of the women but the city itself inspires one. I must go back there:)

Finally my journey was at an end… so I caught the plane back to Amsterdam via Copenhague…However getting out of Russia was interesting…it took a little longer than I expected to get through customs but I was so tired after the trip I did not really care too much.

From Amsterdam I caught my last train: 1 hour and a half to Eindhoven… and I must admit it was really nice to be on a Dutch train again… I felt at home:)

2 Crazy days in Moscow……

I guess the whole adventure of Moscow actually started on the train…3 and half days to get from Irkutsk to Moscow by train… and yes we were on the fast one:)

It was actually lots of fun as we meet people from all over the world, including Big Miguel from Porto. He was in the Mongol Rally and his reputation was already spreading across the world (we had meet people who told us about him).

The train trip was great but I guess the 2 main highlights were: Rita got sick and from that moment every train stop we had Russian doctors on board checking up on her… that was really amazing…

The second highlight was not crossing the European Asian border… but the night with our Russian Friends… who did not speak any English but still wanted to share their Vodka and Smoked Fish with us… the more we drank the better we got on… I guess this is definition of the Tran Siberian… having some drinks with some fellow Russians and hoping for the best:) It actually was amazing and lots of fun, drinking, laughing, learning with them while their 5 year old child was asleep:) To tell you the truth… I don't drink much and do not particularly like to go over board with drinks but this night was no exception… however the next morning I figured out why people do this on a train, which initially was confusing me… surely with the drinking one would get sick sooner?! The answer is that after drinking you actually sleep much better and do not feel the bumps in the tracks… It was my best night on the train ever!!!!

 

Once we made it to Moscow… well what can I say…Moscow screams power and greatness in everything about it… the buildings, cars, women, people… EVERYTHING!!! I would argue that it is so clear that most of the power of “Mother Russia” is clearly in Moscow!!! That is why people say that Moscow is a different country! Never the less it is actually very beautiful and a wonderful place to go… I was truly amazed… not only by the Portuguese tourism adverts outside the Red Square but the greatness that the city represents! It is really worth while going and spending more time there to discover… The Metro is by far the best designed Metro system that I have ever been to… the stations are like museums, it is cheap and it can move more people than any other Subway system in the world… something like 8 Million tickets are sold per day….. 8 Million! The night life is also something worth mentioning… but some things are best to be discovered on your own without me spoiling the surprise:)

 

This entry is too long… so I am going to finish it with a single impression of Moscow: AMAZING:) Spending money on getting a visa is really worth it!!!!

 

Irkutsk and Lake Baikal 2009:)

Hi guys here are a few photos of the next stage of the trip. After leaving Mongolia we had a 5 and half wait at the Russian Border… it was kinda of scary, as I had a beard and did not really look like my passport photo… this caused some confusion in getting into Russia. We finally made it and 24hours later we arrived at Irkutsk.

 

We already had booked the hostel and managed to catch the tram to the hostel… only problem was that there was no one who knew where to get off… luckily there was a young guy who helped us out. Our hostel was great and we organized the trip to the Island on the lake. The Island was a 7hour trip away by car or mini van which was SO FULL that we could barely breath, never the less it was fun to talk to new people. At this stage we had lots of friends travelling with us which was pretty cool. Before we left for the island we did some basic shopping and site seing in Irkutsk… it was cool but a bit run down compared to what we were going to see in Moscow but it was paradise compared to Mongolia! The women in Russia are really beautiful, as we found out for every man there are 4 women!! As a result they really care about how and what the look like.

 

At the island we had no hot water or real toilets but it still was great fun, even meet some guys from Eindhoven believe it or not. This hostel was setup up by an ex ping pong champion… Nikita so we ended up playing ping pong at nigh while during the day we got close to nature, really close:) Had meals over a fire and got real fish and cooked them on the spot:) What an adventure.

 

We only stayed for 2 days and had to head back to the station to catch our next train to Moscow… eheheh

 

To be continued:) Gareth

Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him. Aldous Huxley

Stories of Mongolia 2009:)

One week after arriving home, it is time to share some stories of my trip in Mongolia….

 

Well Mongolia is an amazing place…The first adventure is getting there. If you have to cross the border via train, be warned… you will have to wait a few hours… on the Chinese border and then a few more on the Mongolia Border. So the Chinese and the Mongolian railways do not have the same track length so everyone has to get off while the undercarriage is changed.

 

Once you are in Mongolia there is one thing you can be sure of: untouched nature and beautiful scenery for everyone's tastes. We saw the Gers to wild horses, camels, eagles, sheep, yaks, you name it we saw it. That it itself makes the 24h train trip from Beijing to Ulaan Bataar (Mongolia's capital) worth while.

 

When we arrived in Mongolia we had Bobby, from the UB Guest House waiting for us. Bobby is famous in Mongolia as she and her husband have set up this WONDERFUL Guest House. If you want anything done in Mongolia you need to know the right people: Bobby is the person you need to know:) Her Guest House organizes wonderful trips around Mongolia for the best prices ever:)

 

So that is what we went for… a 4 day trip around Mongolia, with a driver, translator, and all the Gers with food all included for the wonderful price of 120 Euros:) It was really worth it.

 

Staying in traditional Gers, with families cooking and sharing their meals with us was truly an unforgettable experience. The photos above don't really do the place justice.

 

After travelling around Mongolia, visiting old cities, villages, plains, ridding horses, camels visiting part of the Gobi desert, 4 days later without a shower and normal toilets… we made it back to UB and got ready for our next trip: 24hours to Irkutsk:)

 

Gareth the City Jumper:)

What Happened in Beijing?

This is a nice plugin that I came across… and this way you can read and see what I did in Beijing:)

So it all started… when we arrived full of energy at 7am. Finding the hotel was an adventure, as our taxi driver did not speak English (normal situation) however he could not even read!!!! We printed out our hotels name and address in Chinese thinking this would be good enough…plus we had a chinese map………but this only caused confusion… The only downside… we were already in the car heading towards who knows where… Initially he was confident about our destination then all hell let loose when he started mumbling Chinese to us!!! I ended up phoning the hotel and handed him the phone… he thought this was very funny. Eventually we made it to the hotel.

 

- English not that common in Beijing:) Lesson learnt:)

 

There were many other adventures… but I guess I should keep it short so here are the highlights:

- Great Wall WAS AMAZING:)

- I had scorpion…just a baby one… tasted like Pringles…(if you put enough paprika on)

- Olympic city very cool, they have done a great job. It is like the Portuguese Parque das Nacoes… just bigger:)

- Night life in Beijing is amazing, lots of fun. We made a “few” friends:)

- Went on a tea tasting course or session. Learnt all about their ways of drinking tea, and the different kinds, procedures… Not that simple.

-Went to the Summer Palace and Forbidden City… That itself is worth the 12h flight there:)

- Tried all kinds of food, buy stopping in random restaurants and pointing to what the locals were eating.

Managed to catch the train from the main station to Ulaan Bataar…which wasn't that hard… we just showed our tickets to people and got gestural indications… how hard could it be:)

Quote of the day:
Money can't buy friends, but it can get you a better class of enemy. - Spike Milligan

Where have I been in the last 3 weeks...

Hi everyone,

Yes I finally made it on the Trans Siberian from Beijing to St. Petersburg.
The next few entries will be highlights of where I stopped and what I did, however I am still waiting for the best photos for the blog so I thought I would scribble on a piece of paper where I have been...

Eindhoven
Amsterdam
Paris
Beijing
Ulaan Bataar
Irkutsk
Lake Baikal
Moscow
St. Petersburg
Copenhagen
Amsterdam
Eindhoven

ALL in 20 days.

Here is the bullet summary
6 Days in a train
4 Flights
6 Trains
3 Mini Vans
1 Bicycle
1 Camel
1 Horse
and
1 HUGE SMILE:)


Gareth back in Eindhoven:)