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:)

Crazy Weekend in Vegas:)

Hi guys,

This is just a quick entry to let you know about my crazy weekend in Las Vegas. I had already been, but this time I went to meet with some american friends. It was truely a crazy weekend:)

You know what they say: What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas... so I wont go into too many details on what exactly happened... but I can say that we did it all:
Casinos, shows, strippers, gambling, rides, dancing, meeting people, drinking, not sleeping...

This is a photo taken from the Stratosphere... amazing place:)

Of course the Bellagios fountains are a must for anyone who goes to Vegas...

Gareth:)

Eindhoven -> Amsterdam -> Detroit -> Vegas -> Memphis -> Amsterdam -> Eindhoven in oneeee crazy weekend:)