Teaching Kate the squaddie 2 step - big fish, little fish, cardboard box......
Welcome to China - and Hels' World - a hope this piques your curiosity - if it does read my blog
I am obviously completely inept at using chopsticks but it's the conversation I'm having with you - well my gopro - that I find entertaining and hope you do too.
Beijing to Incheon
A 41 hour epic trip by train and ferry. It was only later I realised I should have flown, but where would the fun be in that.
Beijing and the end of the Trans-Siberian Railway
Beijing. The Summer Palace, the Forbidden City and Tianamen Square. But the highlight - Beijing roasted duck - yummy - definitely not one of my food nightmares!
Ulaanbaator and Terejl National Park
Ulaanbaator is one of the dirtiest, if not the dirtiest, or most polluted, cities in the world but Terejl National Park is beautiful. Another meal that equates to "My worst nightmare"; seeing the inside of a ger or yurt; and riding a horse (thankfully this time i stayed on).
I met Ulzii again. I first met her on the Mindfulness Project, Thailand. She plans to build herself an ecohouse in UB. Perhaps I'll go back and help.
Cycling to Incheon
Abolutely chuffed to bits. I made it to Incheon. It was a little challenging because I'm not cycle fit and it was tough avoiding all the expressways and anything that resembled a hill!! But it all went well and the icing on the cake, I've ended up in a love hotel with love gel and 2 condoms - well I certainly don't want to waste those!!!
Baikal Lake
Baikal Lake is absolutely stunning. What an experience and I went in a hovercraft across the ice. This is the oldest lake in the world and it's also very deep (1.7km) and holds 20% of world's fresh water. I also had some very delicious home made Russian food and also some very scary food - I have a bit of a fatty meat on the bone phobia.
I also thought it was time to get the hang of the selfie video - but I just found the whole thing ridiculously amusing - talking to myself. Perhaps I was a budgie in a previous life - rather be a mole.
Me and My trike
After 7 months, I was reunited with my trike and we had a very, very short trip together. Unfortunately I didn't see the hero of this story, Huw, who looked after my trike and provided an address for my new credit card. But huge thanks to Huw.
And there's a message for you all from Changdeokgung Palace.
The end of the Trans-Siberian Railway - Beijing
Beijing - I only stayed in Beijing 3 nights. I visited the Summer Palace, Tianamen Square and the Forbidden City. I wasn't really in a good 'head space' to sightsee. It was in Beijing that I reported fraud on my credit card and it was here I was still struggling with IT and my new website. So I decided to find somewhere cheaper and easier to deal with stuff. In China there's also the additional problem of needing a VPN if you want to use Google, FB and other social network sites that the Chinese block. So I took the train to Qingdao and then a ferry to Incheon, South Korea. It probably would have been cheaper to fly and considerably quicker but then I would have missed the 17 hour ferry ride - me and a boat load of Chinese and Koreans. Not one other whitey on board. There had obviously been some sort of secret voting ballot - "what shall we stare at today" and clearly I won! And the 2nd rule was - Stare but no not speak!
Stops off on the Trans-Siberian Railway - Ulaanbaator
Ulaanbaator - sadly there isn't much to say about this city, well not good anyway. It's the filtiest, coldest city in the world with temperature reaching about -35 and the pollution is so bad that child mortality rates are increasing and everyone wears a facemask during the winter months when pollution is at its worst. I had rain whilst i was there and it was leaving black splodges on my jacket. But travel out of UB a couple of hours and you'll be in the beautiful Terelj National Park (well assuming you went in the right direction). I had expected trees, grass and flowers but it's surprisingly desolate with miles and miles of open steppe.
St Petersburg's rivers and canals rival those in Venice and Amsterdam, that's why it's often called the Venice of the North. There's also an abundance of galleries and museums if that's your bag. I went on the free walking tour, visited the Street Art Museum and caught about 5 buses that didn't actually go where I wanted! I visited the Peter and Paul Fortress at sunset - Forts and sunsets were definitely a theme on my Russian experience. I went to the Ballet - yup the Roaming Mole is not all about red wine and beer, I've discovered a cultural bent. Apparently Russian Ballet is the best in the world, so I went to check it out. I went to see Cinderella at the Matinee with loads of precocious Russian children all dressed in the finery, whilst I looked like a tramp. I really enjoyed the show and the beauty of the theatre but I found myself strangely distracted by Prince Charming, his tights, which left nothing to the imagination, and his unfeasibly large..............package.
Stops along the Trans Siberian Railway - Nizhny Novgorod Part 2
A compilation of the best bits of NN.
Stops along the Trans Siberian Railway - Nizhny Novgorod
The most beautiful site in Nizhny Novgorod is the Kremlin and the view over the River Volga - the biggest river in Europe. And it's at its most beautiful at sunset.
But perhaps the most memorable part will be the apartment where i stayed with my host and his 2 dogs. Enough said methinks!
Stops along the Trans-Siberian Railway - Kazan
Kazan was my 2nd stop on the Trans Siberian Railway and the highlight was the Kremlin at sunset.
