Yay... I have internet

Hi everyone
Who would have thought that I would be into day 20 before I was able to add some info on the trip. I'm now in St Petersburg and the trip so far has been amazing.
I'll add the notes I've made along the way so far and also some photos. Hope everyone is well.

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Thursday 13th May
1pm: Finally the moment of departure has arrived. Denis is there to record me locking the door and stepping off on my big adventure.

Travelled to Melbourne with Evie and Denis who dropped me off at the Motel in Attwood for dinner and an early night. Rang Mepsteads for the latest on Marg and it is great to hear she is home again. I’m looking forward to a long catch up when I get home.

Friday 14th May
Well the early morning got earlier by an hour as I discovered I had not reset the time on my mobile since daylight saving finished. So instead of the alarm going off at 4.30..…!! Couldn’t understand why the airport shuttle wasn’t there when I went to catch it. Oh dear, this wasn’t the start I had envisaged!

Finally worked it out and when I went to the office at the right time, I had an uneventful trip to the airport with no delays at check-in, security or customs.

Cathay Pacific flight CX134 was only lightly booked, so had plenty of space to spread out. We took off on time and a little over 9 hours, some sleep and 2 movies later, I arrived in Hong Kong. Once again, no hassles getting through immigration, baggage retrieval and organizing the hotel shuttle

The Marriot Skycity was my home for the night. It’s a bit above my normal accommodation style and price, but very comfortable and has friendly staff.
However, I decided to eat elsewhere and took the bus to Tung ch a village on Lantau Island at the foot of the mountain where the big Budda is.
I avoided the outlet shopping centre and headed for the local market. There is nothing like setting the scene for the local culture than its market place… the sights and smells are so different for home. Having decided that I am incompetent with the touch pad, I purchased a mini mouse with a retractable cord for the laptop. It’s really cute.
In the lane beside the market I found a café with lots of locals dining, so decided to try it. I was the only westerner there so they sat me with a couple who had some English and I was really well looked after. They even found me a special menu with English translation. Everyone was interested as they hadn’t seen one before! Obviously they don’t get a lot of non locals as most would go to the outlet centre cafes. Highlight of the evening was the singing waiter… who wandered around singing and laughing. My meal, which would have fed 3 people cost $35HK and no tip expected. (coffee and a muffin at the Marriot was $48+ tip)
It was a great start to my visit.

Saturday 15th May
Spent the morning wandering around the village again, then made my way to the airport.
Flight to Beijing went well and I was collected from the airport in a limousine. The driver had spent some time in America and had perfect English. There was an accident on the ring road into town, so it we had quite a delay getting through. Arrived at the Xiao Xiang Hotel quite late but met our tour guide ok then settled into my room.
My room mate isn’t arriving until tomorrow, so have the room to myself for now.

Sunday 16th
Got up early and met the rest of the group at breakfast. We have an, English couple and the rest are Australian. After brekky, we boarded the bus and went to the great wall. There is a cable car which took us to the top and then we walked and climbed the steps along the top walkway and through the forts.

It is an amazing construction and one can only imagine the suffering of those who worked to build it. We had lunch in the village market, tried the local beer and I bought a t shirt for Mitchell.

In the evening we went to a cultural performance. The agility of the acrobats and contortionists is spectacular. The show closed with a death defying performance of motor cycle riders in a metal globe. Started with one and eventually there were 5 riders and machines hurtling round inside the cage. Very scary…
Monday17th

Today we went to the Temple of heaven, (imposing) the Pearl Market (chaotic) and Tianamen square. (impressive, though most of us could only really relate it to the sad and graphic pictures of the student demonstrations we had seen on TV).

We had some free time in the afternoon to wander around and to buy food and snacks for the train journey to Mongolia the next day.
In the evening we visited the Hutong district (Old Peking) and had Peking Duck at one of the local restaurants. It was my birthday and the whole group celebrated with a banquet dinner, beer and even a birthday cake and card.. A very special birthday dinner which I will remember for a long time. After dinner we wandered slowly through the streets and shops of the Hutong, back to the hotel.

Weather in Hong Kong was warm and smoggy, with some showers in the afternoon.


Tuesday 18th
We were dropped at the Beijing station to catch the Trans Mongolian train to UlanBataar. Was raining and the bus couldn’t get too close to the entrance, so we joined the mass of people pushing in that direction. Eventually worked out way up and down many steps to the platform and boarded the train. I am sharing my compartment with a couple of Gippslanders, Denise from Warragul and her traveling companion Mel, from Rosedale. We also have an elderly German lady, Maryanne from Adelaide. Some of the group are traveling 1st class and we are in economy. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of difference in the accommodation, but only two people in the 1st class cabins. There is a dining car on the train and we all gather there for meals and happy hour.

Wednesday 19th
Arrived at Ulanbaatar (Mongolia) in the afternoon, after spending overnight and morning on the train..The border crossing from China took 6 hours. Booked into the Khaara Hotel (sharing with Maryanne).
Had the afternoon free to wander the area around the hotel and found a nice bakery for snacks. The Chezk president was in town, so a heavy presence of police and security on Peace Avenue when the official cavalcade was passing.through.
We went to a Mongolian cultural event in the evening, a contortionist, musicians and singers. It was really lovely and I purchased a cd of the music. We than went to a Mongolian BBQ restaurant for tea. Could have eaten there for the rest of the trip… it was so good.


Thursday 20th (a week since I left home)

This morning we visited an old Budhist temple and listened to the chanting of the monks, then climbed the 200+ steps to a world war 2 memorial lookout, for a view of the city, before boarding the bus for our trip to the Steppes and our Ger camp about 70 km from UB
On the way we stopped for photos and I got to ride on a two humped camel and to hold a hunting falcon aloft..

There are many ger camps, and horses along the route.. it is so different to home.
Arrived at the ‘Guru’ Ger camp late afternoon and settled in. Sharing a ger with Betty and Reg from Doncaster and Maryanne.
This is a spectacularly beautiful valley with large mountains and rock outcrops surrounding the camp. Some of us climbed the outcrops around the camp which provided magnificent views for miles. Wildflowers starting to appear and trees are in bud. They have had a long cold winter, so spring is slow in arriving this year.
We also experienced the camp’s long drop toilet. A hole in the ground with two planks across to balance on. Very difficult for some of our party to master!! There’s no showers and we have a billy of water for washing in.
The owners are working on a shower and toilet block so the next group may have a few more comforts. For us it is part of the adventure.
Dinner at the camp – a feast of Mongolian cooking and a few local beers, and the moveie ‘Weeping Camel’ completed the day.

Friday 21st
Woke early to a very cold morning. The staff came in and stoked our fire about 5.30, so the ger was really comfortable. .Went for a short walk before breakfast, there are lots of little chipmunks in burrows like rabbits, all around the camp; There are horses wandering about and lots of birds. Spring is a little late, so the trees are still in bud and only a few wildflowers breaking through. However, it is an indication of what is to come.

Saturday 22nd
After a splendid breakfast (did I think I might lose weight on this trip?)
We climbed another of the outcrops and watched a horseman riding flat out across the valley below us, I noticed a temple away in the distance. So we arranged for the group to visit it. It is a remote Buddhist retreat.(privately owned!) there was a steep hill and around 250 steps to climb, but the view at the top was worth it. This valley also had some late drifts of snow and a greater display of wildflowers, which was really pretty.
Returned to the Camp for lunch and then went horseriding. Yes, I have now been horseriding on a little Mongolian horse which I named ‘Radish’ in the Mongolian Steppes. A unique experience. When we returned to camp, some of the others where trying their hand at archery and of course, we had to try this too. We were shooting at a target 300 m away. My first shots fell about half way there, however, much to my surprise the next 4 landed within half a metre of the target making me the most consistent archer in the group. None of us actually hit the target though!
That evening we watched a dvd about Ghengis Khan and got dressed in traditional costumes. There was a lot of hilarity and laughter in the camp.
We all wanted to stay more than our 2 nights.

Sunday 23rd
Spent a lazy morning in the camp before heading back to UB. On the way we stopped at the winter camp of a nomadic family and were invited for milk tea and a look at their camp. They certainly live a very basic lifestyle. Once in UB we had some free time to prepare for our next train trip to Irkutsk in Russia.
There is no dining car so we hit the local ‘supermarkets’ for our supplies and the shops and markets for souveneirs. 4 of us took as taxi to the old Winter palace of the last lama. The palace is now a museum and houses a wonderfull collection. Well worth the effort to get there… and back!!

Monday 24th
Spent most of the day on the train heading to Irkutzk. Lots of water ways, snow and ice along the way. Bought local food on the stations to supplement our supplies. The border crossing took 11 hours.
Arrived in the afternoon and met our Russian tour guide ‘Olga”. There was a music concert on at the Polish Catholic church near the hotel, so some of us decided to go there. 2 very good singers (1 man and 1 woman) and 2 pianists. Couldn’t understand the introductions or the words, but the music was really good. We then found a small café and had Russian pancakes for tea.
Our hotel is very modern looking from the street, but quite basic inside.
The city is a mix of modern concrete towers and old wooden structures. It sits on the banks of the Angor River which flows from Lake Baikel. In the city the river is 2 km wide and very fast current.


Tuesday 25th
Boarded the bus to Lake Baikel. The largest fresh water lake in the world. 600 km long and 35 km wide. It is also the deepest lake in the world and is still growing as it sits on a fault line. There is constant movement and we watched the computer monitor at the museum recording the movement whilst we were there. Fortunately not strong enough for us to feel. Visited the local lookout and the natural history museum before booking into our chateau. This is a very pretty area. The lake is surrounded by mountains, still covered in snow, and the lake hasn’t yet completely thawed and there was still a lot of ice and ice flows around. Temp of the water was 1.1 deg.


Wednesday 26th
Breakfast at the chalet was a grand event. As I said before, losing weight doesn’t seem to be an option here. We then boarded one of the local boats for a cruise on the Lake. The weather was fine but the wind was icy so we all rugged up like Eskimos There is a solar observatory and observatory on the lake edge, but this isn’t open to the public. Later, we went to the market for lunch of shaslik and dumplings then collected our bags for the trip back to Irkutsk. Lake Baikel is another of those places where one could easily spend a week and it would be fascinating to see when it is frozen.. ,Half way back to Irkutsk we visited the Museum of wooden architecture. This is a similar concept to Old Gippstown. When a dam was built on the Angor river for a new power station, some houses from the towns to be flooded were relocated. Included some very old forts and a church and various artifacts. Very interesting place. Arriving back at the hotel we once again had free time to explore the area around the hotel. This was set opposite a lovely central square, so it was great for watching the locals go about there business. The women here are very fashion conscious and their shoes have the highest heels I’ve reckon I’ve ever seen.
Went for tea at a local café and had Russian Bortsch with black bread. Delicious.


Thursday 27th
This morning we went on a walking tour of Irkutsk and the History Museum. Then free time for the rest of the day to prepare for the next leg of our journey.

Friday 28th
Board train for 3 day/night trip to Moscow. Sharing with Mel, Denise and Maryanne again. We have developed a good system of food sharing and have a community pantry. There is also a dining car on this train, but not to much to choose from and expensive. We also have a tv in our cabin, but only in Russian and no sub titles and a music channel which has pleasant music, but too much static.
Every carriage has a samovar, so there is endless hot water. The conductor is very pleasant, and will heat food in her microwave for a price!! Once again there is no shower but we do have a chemical toilet on this carriage and it is kept pretty clean, though paper has to be put in the bin, not flushed.

Saturday 29th
The train has had a no. of stops where we can hop on and off to stretch our legs and replenish supplies. Favourite local food is Korvotchki? (potato pancakes)
Scenery is same same different. Don’t know how to describe it really. Lots of birch and larch (pine) forests. Very broad open plateaus and lots of swampy country criss crossed with rivers . There are little villages dotted across the landscape. Mostly log cabins or slab huts. Not many people or animals to be seen, but most cabins show signs of life either by washing on the line or the vegetable garden being freshly dug ready for the spring/summer growing period. The change in vegetation is the greatest thing, from still being in bud to having full leaf, depending on the altitude.
Party night for the group tonight. Someone bought out the vodka and a merry time was had by all.

Sunday 30th
Had to put our watches back another 3 hours today and another two tomorrow for Moscow time.. I think we are now about 7 or 8 hours behind home? The days are now very long, only seems to be about 3-4 hours of night so it is hard to keep track of time. We are eating and sleeping our way across the continent. Last night we went through the Ural mountains, the division between Asia and Europe.
I am writing this on the train. We are about 12 hours from Moscow now.
Arrived in Moscow about 6pm and had a smooth trip from the station to the hotel. We are staying at the Vega hotel. Part of a large tourist complex built for the 1980 Olympic Games. It is a little way out of the city centre, but right by a metro station. It is really a village in itself and very comfortable. Sharing a room with Maryanne, again.

Monday 1st
After a banquet of a breakfast, we caught the Metro rail to the Kremlin.
After getting off the train, we walked through the Alexander Gardens. These are magnificent and the spring flowers and lilacs were beautiful. We passed the eternal flame and memorial for fallen soldiers, and many statues, eventually arriving at the Palace gates.
The Kremlin is a walled fortress with 5 gates. It houses the seat of the Russian government, Bell towers, Cathedrals of the Czars he Armory, Arsenal and palaces.
Once inside, we toured the Armoury Museum. This houses an amazing collection of Russian treasures, Carriages and costumes of the Czars, gold silver and precious jewelry, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and sapphires (to name a few), which have to be seen to be believed. Religious icons, Faberge eggs, Jewel encrusted bibles, crowns, clothing, swords etc.
We then visited the cathedrals of the Czars, the coronation cathedral, the cathedral of the annunciation, cathedral of the archangel michael , all with beautifully decorated golden cupolas, the Czars Bell and Cannon.
Decorations and iconry in the cathedrals dates back to the 11 th century. Unbelievable!! I feel like I am dreaming.

I thought Moscow would have lots of grey concrete. However, I have found a beautiful, modern, vibrant city. I love it.

Tonight we are going on a tour of the Metro stations and tomorrow red square and city tour.

Tuesday 2nd
Well the Metro stations of Moscow are art and architecture galleries filled with statues, paintings and mosaics. We visited 1/2 dozen stations and each on was different. A must do activity for a Moscow visit.

St Basils Cathedral, Red Square and Gum dept. store were also on the agenda today. Still can't quite believe I am here. We are off to St. Petersburgh tonight, actually early tomorrow morning. The train leaves Moscow at 12.45 am.