April 2012 - China

ARRIVING IN BEIJING

It was pretty clear we had left Mongolia and entered China. The wild empty plains had been replaced by evidence of people everywhere you looked, whether it was fields ready for planting, buildings, factories, retaining walls and people. Even in the middle of the countryside there were still people every few minutes. The train entered into a more mountainous area and, as we were on the tourist carriage, space at the windows came at a premium. A few choice words were exchanged between people on the other tour group. It didn't impact on us though as we were happily chilling out in our compartment. We arrived in the afternoon and met our next honcho Snow. She directed us through the people and the traffic to our van which drove us to the hotel. Our van driver was good at using his horn, but as he had learned in Mongolia and continued to learn in China that is just how you drive around here. As per our usual activities when we arrived somewhere new, we rested and showered before meeting the group again.

We agreed to check out the Donghuamen night market which is just for tourists (both Chinese and foreign). The booths are full of crazy food. Jess thought we should be adventurous so she choose something for the group to share. She didn't go for the scorpions or dog that were also on offer but choose a caterpillar kebab. It was perfect as it had 5 pieces and there were five of us. Jess went first, it wasn't to bad if you can get over the texture of the skin which gets stuck in your teeth.  The taste wasn't too bad. It was kind of like roast chestnuts. The boys all managed to eat theirs too but Ellie freaked out

and spat hers on the ground.

Dinner was a bit more appetising for everyone. We wanted to try the local specialty Peking Duck. We also had some other dishes with pork chicken and beans. The restaurant was pretty cool, with ingredients under glass panels under the floor and big fake trees. The duck was good but not that dissimilar to what we could get in London with the same pancakes, cucumber and sauce. Yummy though. You also get a soup made with the left over bones, a nice idea but it pretty much tasted like duck fat. Being in China we drank tea with our meal. After dinner we tried to check out another night market up the road but due to the heavy rain it looked pretty closed so we called it a night.

BEIJING - DAY 2

The last day on the tour we all wanted to see Mao's mausoleum so we caught the bus bright and early to Tianemen Square, the biggest city square in the world. Although we didn't get there quite early enough!  There was a big crowd so we joined the queue and hoped to be in in half an hour or so.  Turns out the crowd was actually the queue which wound its way back and forth across the whole square. We spent a good 2 hours waiting in line getting pushed, shoved and used as shields by the Chinese. Not good queuing practice like the English and its the old ladies that are the worst. Without the wardens blowing whistles and shouting through megaphones at people it probably would have turned into a free for all to the front. Everyone else seemed to be part of some tour group or another - all with matching hats. Once we got to the front of the queue we showed our IDs. The Chinese just hold them above their heads - "Here's my ID!" We passed through the security checks and declined to buy him flowers. We queued a little more and spent around 5 minutes seeing him. Like Lenin it was all a bit creepy. Mao sure is a lot more popular than Lenin though. To be honest we're not sure it was worth the wait but at least we can say we went.

It was Sami and Ellie's last day in Beijing so they headed to see the Forbidden City while the rest of us would have a more leisurely day checking out some the temples. First up we jumped on the metro to see the Lama Temple, a Buddhist temple and former Royal residence. The street leading up the temple was packed with foodsellers selling from shops, stalls, trolleys and bikes. We dodged past them all to get to the temple which was busy with people burning incense and worshipping throughout. Considering China is supposed to have no religion there were a lot more people worshipping than you would see in NZ or the UK. Snow showed us through and explained all the important bits such as the amount of animals on the edge of the roof signified who lived there. The most is 10 at the Forbidden City. We also saw the competing world's tallest standing Buddha (18 metres I think) so the Mongolian one may be taller as it was built later despite the Chinese one having the Guinness World Record (In 1990 according to the sign.) Both impressive nonetheless. It was good having Snow to show as around as you could easily get fooled into paying a lot of money on things that look like they should bring you good luck and the Chinese were throwing lots of money at. Snow showed us the genuine article which should bring good luck so we gave some small money into a box that had a strange looking animal in it.

For lunch we went to a cafe in a nearby Hutong, a narrow alley which Beijing is apparently full of. We enjoyed our selection of Chinese dishes and cold teas overlooking the Hutong from the roof terrace. Snow explained that most of the Hutong's had public toilets as many of the houses didn't previously (and some still don't ) have their own bathroom. Chinese people don't seem to need as much privacy as we are used to as many of the Chinese ladies wouldn't bother closing the toilet door and one set of toilets only had dividers. No doors at all. The Hutongs are disappearing from Beijing, being replaced by apartment blocks. China seems pretty determined to plow forward with progress at any cost.

Next we headed to the Temple of Heaven which is actually a series of different temples within a large park. It is where the Emperor used to go once a year to pray and make sacrifices for a good coming harvest. As in most parks in China it was full of penisoners enjoying their free time, playing cards or mahjong, singing, dancing and playing badminton. The Chinese seem to work pretty hard so it must be some well deserved leisure time once they retire. The size of the buildings was very impressive, but the size of the crowds of tourists was a bit oppressive, so after checking it all out we made our way back to the metro.

We stopped on our way back for an early dinner of noodles (really cheap and way too much, but yum) and turtle jelly (apparently it doesn't directly translate but its chinese medicine and they eat it instead of icecream). You mix it with fruit and it was really yum. That evening we frantically took the metro and some buses to a Kung Fu Show. We have to say we were disappointed. They were no shaolin warrior monks that's for sure. It would have been much better without the cheesy story line and some of the Kung Fu seemed to be dance moves rather than fighting moves. The hordes of middle aged Australian tourists seem to love it though.

We farwelled Sami and Ellie over a final Chinese beer that night while watching Chinese "Take Me Out" and rested up well for our next day's adventure - the Great Wall of China!

BEIJING DAY 3

It was a big one today. We met Pete that morning to head on to a tour of the Great Wall of China. It's one of those things that's difficult to do without a tour but we managed to get one without the compulsory tourist trap shopping.

Before heading out we decided to try some local breakfast. We weren't really sure what the place served but after some gesturing and pointing and before long we each had a plate full of breads. Probably should have had some stew or something with it but at least it kept us going.

The bus stopped around to pick up groups from their hotels which didn't take too long for us to get our way. We were heading to Mutianyu which is not the closset to Beijing so apparently it is better as it is not so rammed with people.  It was apparently a decent stretch with more guard towers. Our tour guide was a good sport, telling us about the history of the wall, the cultural revolution, the one child policy and the current situation for people living in China. We found it interesting although the rest of the group seemed relatively indifferent.

After about an hour and a half in the bus we pulled into a carpark, looked up and saw that we were in fact below the Great Wall. When we arrived we had a choice of gondola or luge and Jess convinced the boys that we were here to see the wall not do something we could do anywhere else so after much dilly dallying from the group and making our way past the mandatory hawkers stalls we finally got our tickets and were on the peaceful gondola ride up to the Wall. We arrived at one of the watchtowers but couldn't see very far along the wall in either direction. It wasn't until we actually got on top of the wall that the sheer scale and awesomeness of it struck us. Stretching off as far as the eye could see in either direction as far as the eye could see is the amazing feat of engineering that is the Great Wall of China. We had a choice of walking uphill or downhill on the wall and for some reason decided to go with the uphill section. It was the weekend so there were plenty of people around still, so we were happy we hadn't gone to the more touristy part of the wall. As we climbed the wall the haze began to clear and the temperature began to rise. We continued on our quest from tower to tower, stopping for water and shade along the way and a view back of where we had come from and beyond. The wall sharply became steeper and although it didn't look too bad from the bottom, our lungs and legs were screaming by the time we were only a quarter of the way up. Our heads and wills prevailed and we arrived at the top short of breath and covered in sweat. This was the end of the part which was safe for tourists and as keen as we were to continue along the wall, time was against us so we had to turn back so as not to miss the bus. (It had nothing to do with the next section of the wall being even steeper than the last and, at times, cliff like...) Conscious that we had to get back to bus, we started along the wall the way we had come. This was pretty hard going so as not to fall down the hill, but we made it and caught the gondola down the hill. The Great Wall lived up to expectations and we enjoyed climbing up the steep stairs and wonky path along the wall. After a ridiculously overpriced soft drink we met at the bus where we waited for the Italians, who couldn't be bothered getting back on time.

The ride back was slow going, as we must have hit rush hour. The rest of the bus were getting foot massages so we got the bus part way before the guide arranged a taxi back for us. We were rather tired so just as well. We said our  good byes to Pete, who was off on his next tour of China. We were now back on our own left to our own devices. Out came our faithful Lonely Planet again to help us decide on dinner - this time dumplings. We ordered too much but managed to eat the lot, fortunately a helpful lady stopped us before pouring vinegar on them - which we had mistaken for soy sauce. We weren't sure what was in them, but knew they were fresh because we saw them being made.

That night we headed back to the night market which was in full swing with lots more wriggling insects on kebabs and plenty of demanding sellers. "Lady you look!" One the way back we stopped to pick up a spare camera battery. The lady also tried to sell us the fakest I-Phone ever for £35. We declined.


BEIJING DAY 4
Now that we had reached the warm weather we were tired of carrying our winter coats and boots around,
so we packed them up in a box we had bought the day before to send them back to NZ. The post office was much more efficient than in England and they could speak English too - that helps especially with all the paperwork in Chinese! Not long before we were sorted and out of there (let's hope that our things arrive safely back). Today we planned to see the other big attraction in Beijing - The Forbidden City. We walked back to Tienanmen Square (still packed) and as it is no longer forbidden for visitors we entered the grounds of the Forbidden City with many other tourists and resisted the many offers of tours and trips to the Great Wall. The Forbidden City is so huge we stuck to the central path. The gates and buildings were pretty impressive and the place was just immense. We decided that with the heat and crowds we would just focus on the main parts. There are basically a series of huge courtyards with gates or temples in between  We found it strange that there was so much pushing and shoving to look inside each of the temples when there was only some fancy chairs in there. Worth a look though. The nicest part was definitely the garden at the end. It would have been relaxing in its planned efficiency and gnarled trees, if it wasn't so chock full of people.

After the visit we went on a search for a nearby tea house, but Lonely Planet let us down so instead we jumped on the metro to the silk market, a seven storey building full of vendors selling their wares (both real and fake). First stop lunch which was some tasty noodles in the basement. We worked our way up the floors, past people trying to sell us clothes, jewellery, bedding, toys and souvenirs. We managed to buy a few things but its tough to look sometimes without getting coerced into buying things. We had plenty of time before our overnight train so took a leisurely walk back stopping at Ritan Park for a rest. It was full of sculptured rocks, trees and lakes and is where the Emperors used to make sacrifices to the sun. There were also lots of blossoms blowing through the air like snowflakes, which was very sweet. After making our way through another part of the city geared towards Russian tourists (fake fur etc)  we arrived back at the hotel.

After a mission trying to find a cash machine which would accept our card (which was a failure) we had asked the hotel to arrange a taxi to take use to the train station but apparently that was too difficult and we had no choice but to catch two buses. Fine for us normally but they had let us believe it was much better to get a taxi. It was more difficult with our big packs and the first bus was way too full as it was rush hour so we walked to the next bus stop. Grumpy and tired we made it in pleny of time for our overnight train to Xian. The train station was huge. The waiting room we were in was bigger than Wellington railway station and was packed with people. We decided when planning the trip we might be sick of travelling on trains by now so we treated ourselves to first class. It was worth it! Our private berth came complete with comfy lounge chair and even our own bathroom. A beer from the trolley topped things off. After problems with lights were sorted we were on our way....

XIAN DAY 1
The train arrived in Xian on time. We had a free pick up from the hotel so after going past the sleeper buses (we knew they were sleeper buses because instead of seats they were full of bunks) we took a ride in the hostel van - although there was some confusion over whether we were at Hang Tang House or hostel. When we arrived our room was ready so we had a quick nap before venturing to explore the town. Although an ancient imperial seat of power there is little sign of that in Xian anymore with most of the city given over to modernisation. However, it still felt more Chinese than Beijing.

We stopped for some street side pork buns on our to the Bell Tower (which was situated in the middle of a busy roundabout) - we just missed the performance but had a good look around and got a view of the city which helped us with our bearings. This was much bigger than any bell tower we had seen so far and was in fact several stories high and covered in bells both inside and out. Wherever you find a bell there is usually a drum not far away so our next visit was up the road to the Drum Tower. It was equally as big and equally as full of drums. This time we made it to the perfomance and watched
some very talented drummers banging out some rhythms.

After exploring the tower we went to the Muslim quarter and enjoyed looking at all the different foods being sold. We tried a deep fried orange thing which had nuts and dates inside. Not bad but we weren't going out of our way to have them again. We then visited an old village house, which was actually a series of buildings and courtyards where a merchant had once lived. It was nice, but a bit run down. The highlight was a Chinese tea ceremony. A lady explained all about it and served us two types of tea; a green one and a lychee concubine tea. She had a special table which looked like a tree stump and which she poured water all over to clean. She talked us into buying some tea but we resisted the urge to buy the magic tea pot. We grabbed a snack of random meat on stick and as we were still in the Muslim area we decided to visit the Great Mosque. It was different than other mosques we had visited, looking more like a Buddhist temple and its architecture is both Chinese and Islamic. It was very peaceful considering it was bang in the middle of the city.

We decided to head south and out of the city walls to visit the Little Goose Pagoda. Our maps were not the best but we had a vague idea of where to go. We set off through the streets and quite some time later found the entrance to the park where the pagoda was. Unfortunately it was closed. At least we could see it off in the distance. A little disappointed we set off down the road to see the Big Goose Pagoda. Alas it was a very long way down many streets and in the hot sun we were feeling very frazzled by the time we finally arrived. This was a shame as the Pagoda was actually very impressive, many stories high with big fountains in front of it. Exhausted and no longer interested in sightseeing we started walking back in the direction of the city walls, hoping to find a bus to take us back to the hostel. We never saw the bus which we knew went past the hostel, so ended up walking the whole way back (via KFC for toilet and food). We rested for a few hours but something from the day had not agreed with Jess' stomach so she didn't feel like going out for dinner. Marcus made his way back to Muslim street again for some more random meat on sticks (not as tasty as earlier in the day) and picked up some supplies before heading back to the hostel for a well earned sleep.

XIAN DAY 2
Today was the whole reason we wanted to visit Xian - the Terracotta Warriors! Jess was feeling better in the morning so we caught the local bus to the train station and then were encouraged into a bus that was apparently going to the Terracotta Warriors. For some reason the Chinese queued very nicely for the bus. Some things just can't be explained... We followed the crowds to the ticket office, which was nowhere near the entrance, so had to navigate the many hawker booths in between the two. We arrived at the complex, which was a square with big concrete buildings surrounding it. Again we resisted the offers of tours so before visiting the pits of warriors we walked around the museum to get a bit of history - in a  nutshell a farmer was digging and found some warriors so he kept digging and there were loads. 3 pit fulls in fact. The museum was mostly statues which had been excavated from some of the smaller tombs. It was things like servants and animals. We had heard it was best to the visit the three larger tombs in reverse order so started with tomb number three. It had three pits which seemed to be largely excavated with soldiers and horses lined up in formation. Some seemed to be largely intact but many were badly broken. There was also an opportunity to have your photo taken in amongst a set of fake soldiers.The Chinese tourists were loving it. We decided to pass.We moved on to pit number two. This one was substantially bigger, but there wasn't that much to see as only a small part of it had been excavated to below the roof of the tomb. What had been excavated was quite badly broken. There was an opportunity to see the different types of statues up close. Once there was a gap in the Chinese hordes we managed to catch a glimpse. Then it was time to move off to the big one, situated in a huge building the size of an aircraft hanger. There were plenty of soldiers in the pits as you entered but as you got around the outside you quickly saw that a large part of the pit was yet to be excavated. There were more soldiers in the back who were in varying degrees of being reassembled, but our expectations of being met by rows and rows of terracotta warriors were not met. The reality had not met the hype this time. We made our way back to the bus station, stopping on the way to haggle and purchase five little terracotta warriors (we had only intended to buy two) and got some random meat wrapped in dough for lunch. We were again whisked into a bus which we were promised went to Xian only this one was smaller and seemed to stop and pick up people at every chance. There was a lady shouting out the window for people to come on board. Once the bus couldn't fit another person on it it did manage to make the journey back to Xian. We were happy as we had some concerns for a while there.

We had read that you could climb the city walls and walk around them. We could see people up there so it seemed like a good idea. However, after following the wall for half an hour and seeing no sign of how to get up there we abandoned that plan and returned to the hostel for a rest instead of having another day of wandering for hours.

We made our way out again for dinner, but after Jess' tummy the day before didn't want to get too adventurous on the street food. We ended up wandering around in a big underground mall until we found a Sichuan hotpot restaurant. Basically you have an element on your table and they bring you the food in oil and it cooks as you eat it. It was a big meal with loads of chilli, but still very tasty. Full to the brim it wasn't long until we hit the hay. 

CHENGDU - DAY 1
After breakfast at the hostel we caught a taxi to the ariport and spent alot of time waiting for our delayed flight before finally arriving in Chengdu - Home of the Panda. A quick trick on the bus and the local metro and we were at our hostel.

No time to visit the Pandas on our first day we arrived so we arranged a trip to go early the next morning.

We went for a walk to the main square and saw a giant Chairman Mao statue looking out over everyone. After a bite to eat we decided to escape the heat in the shelter of the People's Park, where there were old people doing ballroom dancing and lots of little lakes with tea rooms around them. We decided to spend some time at one of those tea houses. You don't order tea by the cup or even by the pot. Instead you  make your choice, Bamboo Tea for us, and then they bring you a glass or cup along with a thermos of hot water and you can keep drinking for as long as you. Men come around as you sip on your tea  and offer their ear cleaning services. Gross eh? We though it might be worth a try but we saw one girl clenching her boyfriends hand almost in tears which put us off. We were amused, well not really, by a busker doing tricks such as balancing bottles. It was a nice way to relax in the sun. When we were done we walked back to hostel.

For dinner we decided to go to the local restaurant across the road. As soon as we came in the girls serving scooted to the back of the restaurant and avoided eye contact. Luckily one brave lady found us an English menu and we were away. The food was very tasty and full of Sichuan spice. After dinner we went to the Chinese Opera which is quite different to western opera. We watched drumming, puppets and a lady twirling chairs, tables and pots with her feet. We enjoyed the shadow puppets. Before we didn't really understand what the big deal was by someone making a bird with their hands but this was really clever; dogs, cats and owls and matching sound effects too. The highlight of the show however was definitely the face changing. The dancing come out with one mask on and then a flick of their face and they are wearing a different one. We don't know how they change their masks so quickly but that's what makes it magic.

CHENGDU - DAY 2

It was a very early start for us today as we had a trip to the panda sanctuary and the pandas sleep during the day. We jumped in a van with two Chinese girls on our tour. You could tell one of them really loved pandas as she was wearing a panda t-shirt. When we arrived the first pandas we saw were the red ones. As we had already seen them at Wellington  Zoo we weren't too excited although they seemed to be enjoying themselves playing around in the trees. Then we turned a corner and came upon the real thing - Giant Pandas. Well quite small ones actually. There were two youngsters playing and falling off the branches of a tree. They were very cute and soon there were plenty more to see.  A lot were scoffing their faces with Bamboo. They have to eat a huge amount each day as it doesn't have much nutritional value and they're not lazy they just have to save their energy for breeding.

One looked like he was very hungover as he was holding his head and moaning . Do you know what noise a panda makes? ek eeek ek - Yep just sounds like squeaks. We saw some more younger play fight and climb all over an older one who was not amused. They are so cute!

We also watched an informative video about the breeding centres work. We weren't there at the right time of year to see the new born babies but from the video it was probably just as well. They look kind of like hairless rats. We learnt that it's quite common for a mother to kill one of twin babies at birth because its too hard for her to look after two. No wonder they're an endangered species. There was a museum which looked pretty out dated including pickled baby pandas in jars. Yuck! The sanctuary was such a great place over all though. Highly recommended.

Since we started early we still had plenty of time in the afternoon. First we saw the Wenshu Buddhist Monastery, It was quite nice but not as good as some of the ones we had seen. It was always interesting to see how quiet they were as they were situated in the middle of busy cities. We had heard there was a good vegetarian restaurant there, however, it was no where to be found so we headed in search of some food. A combination of pointing and help from some French people got us fed. We ended up having some random steamed dumplings which were pretty good although we were getting a little tired of  dumplings. Bellies full we then went on a long walk across town to visit another temple - this one Green Ram Taoist Monastery. It took a while to find but we made it through a park. It was similar to a Buddhist monastery but with more animal symbolism and historic figures featuring heavily. There were a few buildings and intersting statues of dragons.

As it had been a busy day we decided to head back to the hostel for a rest before an event we had been waiting for all trip. That night it was time for Dumpling Party! At the hostel everyone learns to make dumplings. We sat with people from China, Korea, France, Italy, Israel and of course NZ. Ours weren't looking the best but Jess got the hang of it. Marcus' ones didn't really look proper; more like a Stegosaurus. They all tasted good though and it was nice talking to some people from around the world. A nice finish to our last day in China.

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April 2012 - Mongolia

Train to Ulan Bataar

The train was much the same as the previous one,  but a new cast of people made for a more interesting train ride. There were a lot more foreigners on this train. We were joined by Spaniards, Italians, Swedes, grumpy Germans and plenty of Mongolians. No Russians this time but the train was full. Pete was sharing with the Spaniards and an older Mongolian man. Pete had been told he was very important, but his card suggested he was some sort of mining consultant. Pete had also been told not to give him any vodka. Unfortunately nobody had told the man in the leather jacket and hat (who we think was responsible for all of the fruit hidden in every nook and cranny of the train.) He spent the day plying the "King of Mongolia" (can't get any more important than that) with vodka. When he left the King started getting into the Spaniards vodka supply too. As would be expected after too much vodka, the King was sick all over the floor of Pete's room. We were very pleased it was not our room. Not everyone we met on the train was a problem. There was a lovely Mongolian girl of about 7 or 8 who took an interest in Marcus' t-shirt (New Zealand of course) and stopped to talk every time she went past. (She didn't speak English and we spoke no Mongolian so talking is perhaps a bit of an exaggeration.) She seemed very happy with the little tiki which we gave her and immediately found some string so she could wear it around her neck. The other major event of the day was the crossing of the border from Russia to Mongolia. We aren't sure why. but this exercise took 5 1/2 hours on the Russian Side and 2 1/2 on the Mongolian side. The process involved a lot of sitting on the carriage (with the toilets shut the whole time.) Every now and then someone with an official looking uniform would come through and take your passport, check your passport and search the room. The man in the leather jacket and hat seemed to follow these officials around very closely. We assume he was working out how much bribe was necessary to get his fruit (and who knows what else) across the border. This whole exercise took much more out of us than our usual traveling. Luckily there was plenty of noodles and instant mash potato to keep us going. We hit the sack pretty early. We were due to arrive at 6am the next morning!

 Ulan Bataar - Day 1

After a terrible sleep we were awoken the usual hour before arriving in Ulan Bataar, Mongolia. The Mongol attendants were fortunately much better than the Russian Babushkas. The train traveled through the valley and we watched the sun rising in the distance. The first signs of civilisation were Ger tents which became more and more clustered, eventually with their own fenced sections and satellite dishes. These were increasingly replaced by buildings until we arrived at the train station. We loaded into the van which was waiting for us with our honcho, Gerlee, and quickly arrived at our hotel. It was a proper hotel with separate rooms, en-suite bathrooms and TVs. Luxury! Unfortunately the hot water was broken, so a shower was not currently an option. More sleep was necessary, so we went back to bed for a couple of hours before trying to find some breakfast. It being Sunday morning, Ulan Bataar was pretty closed and with a chill wind blowing it wasn't long until we retreated back to the hotel for some very tasty pancakes.



We met up with our honcho who took us to the post office and then to the main square of the city. The square has the Mongol Parliament on one side and in front of it a huge statue of Chingis Han (that's the Mongolian way to say it) in the middle, with smaller ones of his son and grandson (Kubla) on either side. Genghis Khan is an English version of his name but it is not correct. There is also a big statue of Sukh Bator, the founder of modern Mongolia, in the middle of the square. Gerlee also explained the meaning of the Mongolian flag, I've forgotten most except the blue is for the forever blue sky in Mongolia.  Which proved to be pretty true (apparently 260 days of clear sky a year) - blue sky doesn't mean its warm though. What seemed out of place was the ultra modern skyscraper (referred to as the pregnant building due to its curved front.) It reminded us a little of Warsaw as the city seemed to have very modern buildings next to dingey dives.

After that we caught the bus out to the monument on the hill overlooking the city. The bus stopped at the bottom of the hill so we still had to climb up it. Before we did we checked out a large Standing Buddha statue. Mongolia is 90% Buddhist. The climb up the hill was  hard work and we needed to stop half way to catch our breath and check out the giant falcon. Pretty cool but we weren't game for him to sit on our arms. The view was worth it once we reached the top. It was much more compact than we would have expected for 1.4 million people, 60% all live in one area which doesn't have plumbing. The monument had been erected by the Soviets and showed how much they had helped Mongolia over the years. Propaganda was still alive and well. After catching the bus back we stopped at a local bar for lunch. It was meat wrapped in pastry and a beef and noodle stir-fry. Very tasty. Maybe our blog should be called the dumpling trail or perhaps the pancake trail? After lunch we took another break and spent some time showering (hot water was on), reading and napping before heading out for dinner. Still pretty full from lunch, sandwiches did us just fine and then it was back to the hotel to sort our bags before going to bed.

Ulan Bataar to Ger Camp

After a very tasty breakfast of savoury and sweet pastries at the Korean Bakery we met up with Gerlee who was taking us to visit the Gandantegchenlin Monastery. The trip was on the public bus and the bus driver only had two speeds, stopped and full speed which sent Marcus flying down the length of the bus. Pride injured more than anything else we walked past run down buildings until we reached an ornate gate which marked the entrances to the temples. Gerlee gave us a crash course in Buddhism and we went into the temple. It was buzzing with monks chanting and people coming and going to perform their rituals. We didn't really understand what was happening but there were all sorts of things going on. Gerlee was lucky enough to take part in a ceremony where there is a scarf which is draped over lots of people's shoulders. By joining together this increases the strength of everybody's prayers.  After this we entered another temple, this one the site of a 26.5 metre tall gold standing Buddha (there is some dispute about whether this is the tallest standing Buddha in the world). The sheer size of the statue combined with the people worshipping really gave you a sense of how spiritual the place was.

After a less dangerous bus trip back to the hotel we met our driver and piled into the van for the trip to the Ger Camp where we would be staying in traditional Mongolian style. As we drove through the city we got a good sense of what a ramshackle place Ulan Bataar is. There are brand new glass skyscrapers, big concrete communist blocks, ornate Chinese style buildings and completely run down hovels, all situated within spitting distance of each other. The roads are an even sorryer state of affairs, full of potholes. Driving in a straight line is not an option and our driver did an admirable job of dodging holes, other cars and pedestrians to get us out of the city in one piece. As we left the city on the main road things got even more dire. Potholes were the size of tables and in some places the road had simply crumbled away altogether. We bounced away along in the van and were very pleased at the opportunity to step out at a shamanist prayer mound. It was a pile of rocks decorated with colourful material. It is a cross between an ancient shamanist (pagan) religion and buddhism, both of which are prevalent in Mongolia. We circled the mound three times while making our prayers and then piled into the van to bounce our way to the Ger camp.

We had imagined ourselves all staying in one big tent but instead we had a whole Ger to ourselves, and it wasn't what you would call basic, with ornate carved wooden furniture, a sink and a fireplace to keep us warm. The dining Ger was even more luxurious, with a TV, Karaoke and even a chandelier. We ate a hearty meat rice and vege lunch and then jumped in the van again for a rattly ride out to Turtle Rock, so named because it looks like a giant turtle. After that we visited a local lady who was living in a Ger in the traditional style. She told us, via Gerlee, about Ger life and Mongolian practices. She served us milky, salty tea, fried bread, curd and shared some snuff with us. She then took us out to see her 3 newborn calves, all of them less than a week old. Cute but a little disconcerting when their moos sounded like baas. It was a lovely experience and we were pleased to have had the chance to do it. Still needing to work off all that food and drink we went for a walk up the nearby hillside. London flatness meant we weren't at out best but we made it as high as we could without having to do proper rock climbing. We got a good view into the neighbouring valley, with more Ger camps and rock formations. However, the wind was blowing hard so we scrambled down and chilled out before dinner. Dinner was another hearty meal and then Gerlee opened a bag of magic. Ankle Bones! We were captivated for hours, flicking, throwing, balancing and racing sheep ankle bones. After all that excitement it was time to retire to a luxurious and warm, thanks to the fireplace, Ger.

Ger Camp

There was trepidation as today started. We were off on a pony trek, but with Ellie being the only one who had ridden a horse before there was a risk it could all go wrong. Luckily when the horses arrived they were pretty small, and many of them were sporting 80s glam rocker hairdos. Jess managed to get Bon Jovi. Marcus scored a ride with Double Brown. Sami just looked terrified. A talk between Gerlee and the herdsmen and we were off, dressed in our silly helmets and shin guards. Our fears proved ill founded as the horses plodded down the hill and across the nearby paddock before turning around and coming back. The Mongolians sing to their horses to let them know it's race time. We weren't game enough to try singing even when our attempts to speed up the pace with shouts of "Choo Choo!" were met with indifference by the horses who went at their own pace until we got back.

We left our horses to carry the second Vodkatrain, who had arrived that morning, and chilled out some more by taking a walk up and down an even steeper hill before lunch. After lunch it was time to dress up in Royal King and Queen costumes. The girls looked very cool. The boys looked ridiculous. Nonetheless, all dressed up we tried our hands at Mongolian archery. Unfortunately none of us had the knack to hit the target. Luckily we didn't have to try it from horseback. Back in our normal clothes we had some more time to chill out for the rest of the afternoon. Our attempts to find somewhere sheltered from the wind to read and write but nature foiled us. Jess retreated to the Ger and Marcus had a long chat with Gerlee about life in New Zealand, life in Mongolia and everywhere in between. We all met before dinner to get our appetites up with a few rounds of ankle bones before tucking into some tasty dumplings. After checking out the unobstructed night sky we made our way back to the toasty (or some might say stifling) ger for our last night at the camp.

Ger Camp to Ulan Bataar

The other group had already left by the time we got away in the morning.Their honcho seemed to be a bit

of a task master, barking orders left right and centre. We were pleased that ours was more relaxed. We took the van on the bumpy road past (and through) fields of cows, sheep, goats, horses, yaks and ground squirrels to arrive at a seven storey high statue of Chinngis Han mounted on his horse. It is intended to be the middle of a large tourist centre. Right now there is nothing else nearby. Gerlee had done some preparation over night and gave us a lot more information (what an effort!). We didn't feel the need to climb to the top, as there was nothing to see. Instead we rumbled our way back to the Ulan Bataar while Gerlee tried out the jokes she had Googled. She wasn't sure what was funny or not, must be hard to understand humour when English is your second language.

We did a quick trip around the Museum of Mongolia to get some history through the stone age until now. Not quite enough time but that is how it works sometimes. We met Gerlee for a trip to UB's largest market, the Black Market. It was certainly big, and filled with anything you could want from sneakers, jeans and traditional Mongolian attire to seafood batteries and fake watches. We didn't buy anything but it was good to look. We caught taxis to and from the market. In Mongolia anyone can be a taxi. You just wave down any car, agree a price, and they take you where you want to go. We had time for a quick trip to the State Department Store for train supplies and souvenirs and then we were off again, this time to a Mongolian cultural performance. It was cool to see traditional Mongolian dancing, music and singing including the somewhat freaky traditional throat singing. No idea how they do that. Also somewhat mind boggling was the contortionist who bent in ways you couldn't conceive. Are you able to sit on your own head? Sufficiently cultured it was time for dinner. Mongolian BBQ. Actually it was an American invention but the Mongolians love it. Pick your meat, veges and sauce and they cook it all up for you. Marcus ate too much but there was so much to try!

Train from Ulan Bataar

We left Mongolia in the early hours for our final leg of the Trans-Monoglian Railway.  This time the train would be 1 night and 2 days. An hour and a half on the Mongolian side of the border and around 4 hours on the Chinese side because of the bogie (wheel) change. There was some inital confusion over berth numbers but once I swapped with Pete we got the set up we expected. So much for vodka train's promise that you would always be with the person you booked with. Luckily there were no oranges to be seen.  The train was a little older with harder bunks  but not too different from the other trains.
 

The trip was relatively uneventful and as departed UB we tried to spot some more yaks.  We moved through the Gobi Desert and there was not much to see except for the dust storms which were blowing hard outside and somehow managing to get the sand through the windows into our  compartment.

That evening we went through 2 sides of the border, fairly quick and efficient on the Mongolia side. The customers weren't a problem on the chinese side either but we had to stay on board for 4 hours while they changed the bogie. For some reason the size of the tracks/wheels are different between Russia and China. We watched the men working and I think they were pretending to argue for our amusement by using animated hand gestures. For 4 hours weren't able to use the toilets, we were prepared for it but obviously some of the other passengers weren't.The change completed about 1am so after a quick rush to the station toilet we boarded on the train again for some sleep, waking the next morning in China.

The landscape was different in China with power plants and fields that Paul Thereoux described well when he said that you couldn't go for 5 minutes without seeing someone do something.  The scenery was nice as we got closer to Beijing through a series of tunnels which meant being in pitch black - not able to do anything and then stunning cliffs and valleys. We weren't able to see the Great Wall though. Didn't stop the other Vodka Train people from fighting for the best spots for taking photos. We were pleased we weren't in that group.

https://picasaweb.google.com/JessicaLMcMillan/April2012Mongolia


 

April 2012 - Russia

VILNIUS TO ST PETERSBURG

We rose early, pleased we hadn't stayed out all night the night before. Lina and the Japanese man were up. When she asked him why he needed to be up so early he replied "I am an old man. I get up early" like it should have been obvious. We left the hostel to catch a bus to the airport.  A full day of travel to St Petersberg via Tallin in Estonia. It was a shame we couldn't spend a couple of days there as well but there was only so much we could do. We did meet a jump Norwegian man at the airport who insisted on calling Marcus Kiwi, but seemed offended when Marcus declined his chewing tobacco. We were pleased not to be flying RyanAir. Their flight was delayed for six hours due to a mechanical fault and they weren't allowed to leave the tiny transit lounge.

The airport at St Petersburg was packed. It reminded us of Heathrow with the inefficient line through customs. Our tour documents recommended getting a taxi from the airport to the hostel but we read that these could be very expensive if it hadn't been pre-booked. We stuck to the public transport a bus and 2 metrolines. It wasn't very difficult but we guess our time in London made catching metros much easier. We arrived on the main road, Nevsky Prospekt and found our hostel nearby.

Our accommodation for our first 2 nights in St Petersburg had been changed at the last minute.  We arrived

to discover the hostel spoke very little English (and our Russian was none existent) and that we were sleeping in single sex dorms.  After the initial shock we settled in and headed off to explore the city.  We stuck to the main street and caught our first glimpses of some Russian Architecture that we were planing to visit later in our trip. The Kazan Cathedral, the Church on Spilled Blood, the old Singer building and the Winter Palace. At a distance St Petersburg was a grand European city but up close the paint was flaking and the grime was building up.

We were getting pretty tired and hungry so started heading back searching for some local cuisine that a) we knew what it was and b) did not cost a fortune. We settled on a place from the Lonely Plant Guide (usually quite questionable when it comes to food) - Teremok.  We enjoyed our first taste of Russian Potato Pancakes. On this occasion we choose pork and mushroom as we could point to a picture. It was very tasty. Full of energy again we managed to find a nearby supermarket where we stocked up on snacks and supplies. Back at the hostel we managed to chat to a couple of Russians who spoke some English. Sergei was in Marcus' room and Nadia in Jess' room. Nadia asked if it was true that no-one in New Zealand was depressed because of the beautiful landscape.  Jess said that was probably an exaggeration but it seems many Russians view NZ as being an idyllic paradise. We joined the students and families in the TV room for some confusing Russian TV before making our way to bed.

ST PETERSBURG DAY 2

With the early start the day before it was a more leisurely start to the day. After breakfast we headed back down Nevsky Prospect towards the Hermitage.  On the way we stopped to look in the window of a fancy looking department store/cafe which had giant Macaroons in the window.  No eating any for us here though as we had already had our fair share when visiting France.

In Palace Square we looked at the Alexander Column before heading into the Hermitage Museum which is in part of the old Winter Palace, former home of the Tzars. Some of the exhibits were very similar to what we had seen in the British Museum and the Leuvre (except this time it was the Russians doing the pillaging) but interesting nonetheless. We have definitely become more cultured by the amount of museums and gallaries we have visited in the last 3 years. It was nice to see some Russian stuff though. There was also an extensive collection of art from famous painters such as Picasso and Matisse. After a few hours of this the hunger started to get to us so we decided to stop for some Teremok for lunch.

After that we walked down to the river. There was still plenty of ice on it and a chill in the air as we wandered along and looked at the famous Bronze Horseman Statue of Peter the Great. When she was reading the book of the same name Jess never realised she would see it one day. We walked back along the river and crossed the bridge to Birzhevaya Point, the site of a small park and the Rostral Columns, symbol of St Petersburg's port status.

We saw lots of people walking around on the ice so we decided to have a go too. The ice seemed to be melting fairly quickly though so we didn't stay on too long. We saw one man walk almost all the way across the river but we felt as we didn't know what we were doing it wouldn't be a good idea to try. It was almost disastrous for one of Marcus' hands as he dropped a glove onto a ledge which we couldn't reach.  We finally got it back by finding a stick to pull it up with. Phew!

In the evening we visited a supermarket and tried out some local noodles in preparation for the train trips. Not too bad.We watched some Russian Gangster films and what appeared to be Youtube videos on TV before going to bed confused.

ST PETERSBURG DAY 3

Another leisurely start as we shifted hostels (just around the corner) and arranged for our visas to be registered (which we probably should have done already too). Then we moved onto look around Gostiny Dvor an old shopping centre filled with standard mall shops before having a day of churches.

First church was Kazan Cathedral which looks similar to St Peters Basilica in Rome on the oustside however it looks quite different inside. It is a Russian Orthodox church. It was very dark but pretty and full of many worshippers opposed to many of the churches which we have visited that were full of tourists.

Next on our church visit was St Issac's Cathedral. We didn't go inside but instead we climbed outside of the

golden domes to get a 360 degree view of St Petersberg. We also visited the Church of the Spilled Blood which has the colourful onion shaped domes you expect to see in Russia. Inside it was filled with lots of colour and gold having been beautifully restored. We took the back streets to our new hostel, the Missis Hudson. It was loosely based on Sherlock Holmes....not what we were expecting in Russia.

Back at the hostel we met up with Pete the first other member of our tour group.  An Australian but we tried not to hold that against him. Tim, our Honcho for the city also met us and took us for a walk around the river and to the eternal flame of the Tomb of the Unknown Solider.  The highlight was throwing a coin up to a little cat statue on a building which is meant to bring good luck.  We stopped at a bar on the way back for a drink and a snack of pelmeni (a dumpling thing) before heading back and meeting a young English couple Ellie and Sami who were the final members of our group. We had a couple of Vodkas with Pete. Ellie and Sami had been traveling all day so we figured we would get to know them tomorrow.

ST PETERSBURG DAY 4

The first proper day of the tour we rose early to start a full day around the city.  We decided to check out the Peter and Paul Fortress which is across the river.  Our Honcho Tim didn't seem to enjoy walking as much as we do so insisted we get the metro part way and we arrived at a station which was only a couple of years old and looked like a flying saucer (Gorkovskaya).

Although grey on the city side, the fortress was actually a rich red brick colour. We arrived just in time to hear the midday cannon as we crossed the bridge into the fortress, looking at the cute ducks walking on the icy river.  The fortress wasn't really what we expected. There were many different things inside including a wax museum and dragon exhibition, both which we chose not to attend.

We did however see the first ever Russain ship and looked at the cathedral where many Tsar's were burried but only from the outside.  We walked along the Fortress walls for another good view of St Petersberg and the river.  The river seemed more frozen on this side so we all ventured out a little further and were surprised to see men stripped down to their undies and sunbathing by the river.  Well it was a tropical 0 degrees. We also checked out the creepy statue of Peter the Great. Someone hadn't gotten the proportions quite right.

After another Teremok lunch the others of our group went to check out the churches so we headed back to the shop to pick up some Russian nesting dolls (Matryoshka). There were hundreds to choose from but we settled for a traditional red and yellow. We then went for another walk by the river and looked at the less than impressive summer palace.  Maybe it needed to be seen in summer? It was tiny compared to its winter counterpart.

We meet up with the others and also Ashley an Australian girl doing a Sundowners trip through the stans (Central Asia and the Caucuses) for a pre dinner drink. Jess had a 'Shaky Pig' (we think this may have been a mistranslation of a fluffy duck...)  We had seen a Bear advertising a restaurant near the hostel so we headed there. Jess had Beef Stroganoff and Marcus had some sort of pie. We all tried some kvass. It is a bread drink which was thick and brown but pretty tasty. We were also lucky enough to be treated to some traditional traditional Russian dancing by the waitresses. With full bellies we made our way back to the hostel for a few rounds of Rummy, before heading off to bed.

ST PETERSBURG DAY 5

It was our final day in the city before moving on to the capital.  Sami and Ellie were keen for a full day at the Hermitage so we left them to it and headed off with Tim and Pete to visit the Alexander Nevsky Monastry. We had seen so much in one direction that it was time to check out what there was in the other direction. Tim didn't want to look around the graveyards so the 3 of us did.  We didn't have much of a clue at what we were seeing as our cyrillic wasn't very good.  Apparently Dostoyevsky was buried there though. They also had an interesting exhibit of mini sculputures many of which were statues we had already seen around the city.  We walked around the monastry and into the cathedral. It was again dark and full of people worshiping. Alas, the queue for monk bread was too long so we gave up on that idea and visited the crypt (full of famous Russians we hadn't heard of) before moving on.  Tim took us to a 60s American diner for lunch which had pictures of Marilyn Munroe and Elvis - not really what we were expecting to see in Russia.  Tim was quite interested in America and it was quite funny when he asked Marcus if he called his friends 'homeboys'. Jess decided to have one of the only Russian items on the menu - a Russian Salad, which is a type of potato salad. The others stuck with toasted sandwiches and burgers.

Pete had already visited St Petersberg and seen the Hermitage but wanted to see it again so while he and

Tim headed there we went for a walk to another part of the town and saw the Smolny institute and cathedral.  The institute was where Lenin and his group planned and executed the Socialist Revolution.  The cathedral was pretty in blue and white which was meant to give the illusion of the sky. We think the illusion would have been successful if the sky had been blue instead of grey.

We wandered back into town, stopping for a drink  and some yummy cake along the way. We met up with the others for dinner at cafe before heading to catch the train on a transfer which took around 3 times as long as it would have to walk.  We had a better idea of where we were meant to be going than our honcho so we only managed to get on with enough time to say goodby before we were on the rails in our cabin with Sami and Ellie. Pete, being the only single had to share with random people. After having a bit of a chat, we settled in for a good sleep. Our trip on the Trans-Mongolian Railway had begun.

ARRIVAL IN MOSCOW

We were kindly woken by our attendant in the train which gave us around 40 minutes to prepare to disembark. We weren't certain it was the right stop when we arrived but after checking it was we alighted the train and met our next honcho, Anna. Within 10  minutes we realised she had much more knowledge than our previous guide.

We headed down to catch the metro through a luxurious station with fancy chandeliers and pictures. Beats London any day. The crowds could rival London too, as we got pushed and shoved through a sea of people. Wouldn't have been so bad usually but much more difficult with a huge backpack. People didn't seem too bothered by us though. They let us through without complaint. Anna yelled at us to hurry up getting on the change of the metro and we all made it safely on to both of the metros we needed. Around ten minutes walk through the snow and we arrived at the hostel. too early to check in once again, so we dropped our bags and went to a cafe for some coffee and pancakes with jam.

We then went on a well planned walking tour around Moscow past statues of Pushkin and Yuri Dolgoruky

the founder of Moscow. Anna was a mine of information but not enough to bother us.We passed the Russian Parliament, an ugly towering building and the famous Bolshoi Theatre, but alas this was outside of our budget to visit. We made our way under the arch between the State History Museum and Kazan Cathedral before heading into the famous Red Square. Red has  two meanings in Russian both the colour and also meaning beautiful.  We took in the Kremlin and St  Basil's Cathedral with its multi-coloured onion domes from the outside before visiting Lenin's Mausleom. A bit creepy as you had to make your way past sombre armed soldiers to the middle chamber where a waxy, but real, Lenin is bathed in low light for all to see. Outside there were grave of various people too, but once again we weren't sure who was who.

Next we went inside St  Basil's cathedral, the typical bright onion style catherdral you associate with Russia. You imagine it being a huge open church with a huge domed ceiling inside. It isn't. Rather it is a series of small chapels around the outside with another small chapel in the middle, a bit like a maze trying to get around. It was interesting inside too with all the different rooms painted and decorated differently.  Upstairs a choir sung which gave it a nice feel as we wandered through the church.

Also by the red square is the GUM shopping centre which was previously the premier peddler of soviet wares but now is full of designer stores.  It was quite nice inside with many blossom trees and sculptures. We weren't tempted to buy anything though.  We then walked around the outside wall of the Kremlin and up the hill to the Church of the Christ of the Saviour, Russia's main church.  It was quite a modern church being only build in the 90's. It was built in the style of the church which had been there previously but had been demolished by Stalin to build a swimming pool. The interior was resplendent with gold and colour and of course worshipers. We were keen to climb up it for the view however the only option to do this was through a tour and it was going to cost us around 6000 roubles (about NZD$230).  So we settled by just having a look around inside.

We then headed down what used to be Moscow's main shopping street but now seemed to be full of souvenir shops and cafes. We stopped for a lunch at an Uzbek place where we had a yummy Ughar soup and a meat pastry thing which tasted a little like wontons. We wandered back towards the hostel and in the afternoon we visited the Moscow Museum of Modern Art which had some interesting sculptures of Soviet Workers on the outside, but nothing more than standard stuff on the inside. One room was not lit and you needed to use the light of a mobile phone to see the work and to ensure you didn't fall over.

After an early start and a  full day we were exhausted so we headed back to the hostel for an easy dinner and spent around 3 or so hours doing washing (not a very good system Godzillas) before hitting the hay. Unfortunately the drunk who showed up halfway through the night meant the sleep wasn't uninterrupted. Fortunately it took him a long time to find his way in so he spent most of his time in the hallway.

MOSCOW DAY 2

Our Honcho Anna had suggested the day before that we should head out of town today so we decided to visit Kolomenskoe which is an Unseco World Heritage site as it is the site of a former Romanov Palace. The sun was out and it was a lovely day as we walked through the snow. We saw pretty archways and  a pretty little church full of people praying. Anna took us for a walk up the stream and we visited some spiritual rocks one for the boys and one for the girls If. you sit on them your wishes were more likely to come true.  The rocks were interesting looking as they had a slight red tinge. Next we visited Peters Cabin, built and lived in by Peter the Great thousands of miles away and then reassembled here. For some reason the doors were tiny, even though he was supposed to be really tall.... More Russian pancakes for lunch. This time there was a smaller variety. Marcus had salmon and Jess tried the condensed milk (a russian favourite), yummy but a bit sickly.

Back in the centre of Moscow we visited a monastery/nunnery.  It had some pretty churches and a couple of exhibits full of Russian Icons, mainly Madonna and child.  The first one was interesting but the second was a bit samey.

The group split again after that as the others were keen to visit one of the galleries which we didn't have much desire to see. Instead we headed over a bridge full of trees with padlocks where some wedding photos were being taken.  We wandered along the river towards the humongous ugly statue of Peter the Great and his ship. Apparently it was originally a gift to the USA of Christopher Colombus but they didn't want it so the artist just changed the face. He must have run out of the same material though because the face is a slightly different colour. In its shadow there is a sculpture park which had a combination of modern statues as well as many unwanted Soviet leaders such as Stalin and Lenin and all the boys. There was even one exhibit which was a box full of only Stalin heads.

After a very long walk back to the hostel in search of a bigger supermarket (which was a failure) we made another easy dinner at the hostel and went for a drink at the local bar, Elephant. Seems like we were the only people there from out of town as we drunk our cloudy, banana tasting Elephant Beer. The other patrons were downing shots of vodka, and various other liquids so we assumed they were local (also, they were all speaking Russian) but we weren't gain to challenge them to shots.

MOSCOW DAY 3

As we couldn't visit the Kremlin on our first day so we headed to it in the icy cold rain today. We found the ticket booth but they wouldn't sell us tickets for another 15 minutes by which time a massive huddle (not

queue) wanting tickets had formed. We were pushed to the side but fortunately a lady who saw we were foreign let us in. We passed through the metal detectors and passed under the wall to the centre of Russian government for many hundreds of years. We saw a giant cannon (which had never been shot because the cannon balls were too big) and a giant bell (which had never rung because it had cracked shortly after being made It was a welcome relief from the rain to look at one of the small churches surrounding a small square. Again they were ornately decorated painted across the walls and ceilings. it was then time for us to enter the the Armoury. After dropping our coats at the coatcheck and picking up our Audioguides we made our way into the museum which housed Russia's jewels, armour, clothes, carriages, silverware and Faberge Eggs. Audoguides normally fill us with bored dread, but this one was actually pretty good. Jess' favourite was the jewelery, and we both liked the Faberge eggs and the gospel covers.We checked out another couple of the churches before the cold started to really get to us and it was time to move on.

We stopped for lunch at a cafe in a nearby mall and found the big supermarket we had been looking for yesterday where we stocked up on instant meals for the train before heading back to the hostel and then went down the road to visit the State Museum of Gulag.  It was different to the others we had seen in Russia. The Gulags were prison camps set up by Stalin to house 'enemies of the state'. To be an enemy all it took was one disagreement with Stalin. It focused on not only sending people to the camps but also how history had been changed with the doctoring of photos to remove people from them where they had previously been there supporting Stalin. There was also a mock up of what a typical Gulag cell might look like. It was interesting but a bit hard to understand as there wasn't really any background for non-russian speakers. One last dinner in Europe (pizza?) before heading to the metro with our packs again. Fortunately it wasn't quite as busy as last time. Before long we were on the train that we would be spending the next 4 days on.

ON THE TRAIN FROM MOSCOW TO IRKUTSK

Day 1 - 1 million Birch trees with  snow.
Day 2 - 1 million Birch trees with snow.
Day 3 - 1 million Birch trees with no snow.

That was about it for the scenery although we also saw some shanty towns and frozen rivers The time on the train goes surprisingly quickly as we enjoy our writing, reading, playing games and the excitement of whether we are to have smash or noodles for dinner. We made use of the stops during our waking hours although we were a bit confused on which times we should follow as the train runs on Moscow time which can be up to 5 hours different from the local times. We stretched our legs at Kirov but there wasn't much to see besides a smattering of traders trying to sell mostly giant stuffed animals. I guess its for the kids when the parents get home. The train is quieter than we expected and doesn't seem as full as it could be.  We suspect this may be due to no hard class on this train (luxury oooh yeah). Before we set of we though we would try the restaurant car at least once during each service (Russian, Mongolian and China).   After walking through the car in Russia we weren't even tempted to stop for a drink as it was very greasy and dirty and appeared to be falling apart.The chef didn't seem to have any food but he was happy to drop the ash from his cigarette anywhere you please.

We also got off the train at Perm 2 where traders greeted us at the door trying to sell a variety of things including salads, fish, beers, bread, trees and cowboy hats. We weren't tempted to try any of the local stuff though as we had overstocked on food in Moscow. It was hard to stay awake on our first day as the temperature in the carriage was a stifling 24 degrees (pretty hot considering the outside temperature was less than 0).

In the evenings we taught Pete, Sami and Ellie to play backpackers over a few vodkas before a  decent
sleep.

The second full day on the train we woke just in time to get out at Esheem. Again not a very exciting station but the sun was shining and there wasn't any need for our coats. We had predicted much colder weather throughout the whole journey so probably didn't need half our winter clothes.

The temperature in the train was a more tolerable 21 degrees.  We also departed the train at Omsk - a bigger city where the Russian writer Dostoyevsky was exiled. Other trains prevented any views.

At night we saw a beautiful sunset and the sky glowed pink and purple. We also saw some fires along the way but we think they were deliberate as they were in lines.  Smash again for dinner and some vodka for a digestive.

On the third day a little bit of snow around again today but not as much as on the first.  We out ventured at Krasnoyyarsk station to see a mosaic featuring Lenin, a statue of a lion and an old steam engine. We ran most of the way as we didn't want to miss getting  back on the train (we were surprised how punctual the trains were running but we guess they've had around 140 years practice). Back on the platform we still had plenty of time so we picked up some fresh water as the cooled boiled water although safe tasted a bit potatoey.

Day 3 was also the point which we passed the halfway point between Moscow and Beijing (3932km).

LAKE BAIKAL DAY 1

We arrived at 6am in Irkutsk with no honcho in sight. Fortunately it wasn't long before hr arrived. Bleary eyed we all piled into a van and left for the natural beauty of Lake Baikal, the deepest freshwater lake in the world. We drove through the forest until we arrived at the lakeside town of Lystyvanka. Our accommodation was very spacious. We even had a room to ourselves! Showered and shaved we felt alive again. We went for a walk along the shore of the vast frozen lake. Although frozen the ice was starting to melt so wasn't safe to cross. After our walk we were pretty hungry and it was about lunch time so today's meat wrapped in pastry was particularly welcome. Jess' fish pie was particularly tasty. Refueled we visited the Baikal Museum for a bit of history and science. Kosta was a very knowledgeable tour guide. The lake is home to about 20% of the world's freshwater and could supply the world with freshwater by itself for 40 years. There was an aquarium at the end of the museum that showed some of the unique fish who live in the lake including some weird prawn like creatures who filter the water, keeping it pure. At the every end there was a surprise in the form of two freshwater seals, swimming their chubby bodies around a tank. Very cute.

We couldn't watch the seals all day though so we went for a walk up the hill behind the museum. There was a chairlift but it wasn't in use and we needed to walk off the lunch pies anyway so we hiked up the hill trying not to get stuck in the snow.There was a good view of the lake from the top although the low cloud obscured the distant mountains. The hilltop was also covered in ribbons which people had tied there as gifts to the local spirits. We took a different, more direct route down the hill and walked back to the hostel. Back at the hostel we had a treat, an authentic Russian Banya (Sauna). We drunk some tea and then sat there sitting in 80ºc heat (he kept it cool for us...)Then we each took our turn at being lightly beaten with hot wet tree branches before being doused by a bucket of cold water. A refreshing and different experience for us. After the Banya it was a home cooked Russian meal of salad, beef stew and cake. We had certainly eaten well today. To see out the night we attempted to build a bonfire and failed miserably due to our inability to collect decent sized kindling in the dark.. Instead we retired to the common area for some vodka and a round of Uno before calling it a night.

LAKE BAIKAL DAY 2

After a breakfast omelet we went for a walk the other way around the lake, up onto some cliffs and and then

down onto the lake front where we got up and close with the compacted ice which had built up on the shore. After some time sitting by the lake we came back and Kosta took us to meet some guys who were taking us quad bike riding. There was plenty of snow around and we had plenty of fun zooming through the ice, slush and mud. Marcus managed to get properly stuck so that the guide had to rescue us, but that is all part of the fun. We were running short of time so Jess didn't get much of a drive, which was a shame but might have been lucky as the bike conked out completely only a few metres from the end. All revved up we stopped for tea and a banana wrapped in some sort of doughnut batter before making our way back to the hostel to get the mud cleaned up ourselves. All clean we wandered down to the local market to try some shashlyk. Turns out it is basically a shish kebab but the Russians have adopted it as a dish of their own. Full of meat we had another crack at the bonfire. This time we had the help of Kosta in chopping up the wood and setting up the fire (basically he did everything) and before we knew it the fire was roaring. All we had to do was keep it alive, which we managed to do for a couple of hours before the wind started getting too cold and we extinguished the fire and went to bed.

LAKE BAIKAL DAY 3

For our final day at Lake Baikal we caught the bus/van out to an open air museum where they had taken traditional wooden buildings from other parts of Siberia and rebuilt them. It was interesting to see how tight

living must have been. After Blini (pancakes) with condensed milk we caught the bus back to the lake. The weather had warmed up quite a bit and you could see that the ice was starting to thaw. No chance of us walking out over the lake but a little hovercraft seemed to be doing good business. We checked out the local market where we bought some bread and smoked Omul, a fish native to Lake Baikal. This fish was tasty but the bread was a bit stale. We made our way back to the hostel to pick up our gear and get into the van for the trip back into Irkutsk. It was a dozy bumpy ride into town. Kosta took us for a walking tour, but other than the Cathedral there wasn't really that much to see. Papa Johns was an easy choice for dinner, although our communication with the waitress didn't all go smoothly. Our food arrived in the end and we ate plenty. We played a couple of games of pool to pass the time, picked up some supplies and before we knew it we were on the train again. This time the train was older and more along the lines of what we had expected the Trans-Mongolian trains to be like. It was dated but functional. It took us a while to work all this out as when we arrived there were people in our cabin. They were gracious about moving as it was a mistake, but when we did manage to get in there and tried to store our bags we discovered that the storage space was full of bananas, oranges and wine....none of it ours. Tired and weighed down by luggage, Marcus had a few short words with the carriage attendant and after some rearranging we managed to get our stuff in, but it was a lot tighter than last time. A vodka from Pete was a well received way to unwind and after some chatting and looking what was to come over the next few days it was time to try and get some sleep. The old train proved less comfortable then the new train. We decided to put that down to authenticity....

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