Norwich to Hong Kong by Train

27/05/2016

Hong Kong Wednesday
Arrived at hotel and discovered our room was on 17th floor and the outlook was onto even taller buildings ... not the place to be if you are frightened by heights or claustrophobic!
We are not in the main tourist areas so lots of local shops and eateries. Found a small restaurant already half full with locals and had a fairly safe chicken in lemon sauce with rice and pak choi. It came with a clear vegetable broth and a mug of pale, mlk-less tea. One thing we quickly realised is that you don't look to see what others are eating ... on the next table someone had chicken feet in broth!

26/05/2016

Wednesday ... caught lunchtime train from Beijing to Hong Kong.
Glad to be on the move again as Beijing was shrouded in smog so after venturing out to replenish our emergency rations at a big Chinese supermaket we returned to our air conditioned hotel and even ate our evening meal there.
Although there are now Bullet trains from Beijing and taking only 8 hours at night to get to Hong Kong they are recliners rather than sleepers and so we would have missed the views through the window.
The slow train to Hong Kong was probably the most luxurious since the one that we took from Paris to Moscow.
Security was intense, 2 luggage xrays, customs declaration and passport control. Then during the two stops enroute our carriages were locked so we couldn't escape and no one could join us !
Another customs control as we passed from China in to Hong Kong ... then, just to reinforce the British-ness of Hong Kong, the train arrived a respectable 20 minutes late!

MADE IT
NORWICH TO HONG KONG BY TRAIN
and just to prove it ... here's our picture!

26/05/2016

Train Ulaan Baatar to Beijing 2
What now seems like a lifetime ago we were in the train from Paris and at the Belarus border we had our train wheels changed to the wider Russian version. As we were leaving Mongolia (which, because of the Russian control during most of 20th century), our train required the narrower guage wheels to be refitted at the border with China. ... again this took several hours, but as Gill and I had seen it before we went to bed and slept through all the baging, starting, stopping, heaving and lifting .. which finally ended about 2.30am!
Eventually we went through customs control and arrived in Beijing after lunch. Haggled hard at the station with the taxi drivers and eventually got taken to our hotel for about £15 after a starting price of $100 US. ... The key is to haggle hard and walk away if you don't get a good deal ... they obviously thought we were going to be an easy target .. .. obviously they didn't know that we had come, by train, from Norwich!

26/05/2016

Train from Ulaan Baatar to Beijing ..1
Unlike the sleeper train that brought us from Irkutsk, this train had a restaurant car which was elaborately furnished with highly varnished carved wood. It was worth the trip across the gaps between ajoining carriages just to see the decor .. and the mushroom soup was very good as well.

26/05/2016

Ulaan Baatar .. Sunday
Arrived at the station early to catch sleeper train to Beijing ... if we had missed the train the next one goes on Thursday!
Train was quite full with only a few empty berths ... one of which was in our 4 bed cabin, the other bed was taken by a young man from Austria who spoke excellent English and was travelling around Asia , going on to Japan after China .. then Cambodia, Veitnam before going on to North Korea.

26/05/2016

Gobi Cuisine
Before going to Mongolia I had read quite a lot of stories about the food offered to Gobi visitors. Having given up eating mammals about 25 years ago I had visions of starving (that would help the diet!) or living on the emergency rations of porridge and pasta that I packed. I have to tell you that I ate very well and not a camel or goat steak was offered. I chatted with our guide and told her that I would prefer not to eat meat and the food I was given was delicious ... lots of soups, salads, cheese, eggs and vegetables. Each mealtime we took a snap of our food but I'm adding just a typical breakfast and a lunch. Other days we had deep fried patties .. mine was filled with potatoes and onions, whereas Gill's had a meat filling.
On the way back to Ulaan Baatar we sampled camel cheese .. This was what most reporters call 'fermented and dried camel milk' sounds awful but if you like very strong Parmesan then, like us, you might like it, otherwise you will hate it!

25/05/2016

Came prepared for most eventualities and this is some of the electronic stuff that I brought. No wonder my back pack is so heavy!
Sorry about quality of pic, taken with my tablet so not as good as cameras in photo. All of the other pictures on this page have been taken with the white camera in photo.

25/05/2016

More views of the South Gobi Desert

25/05/2016

25/05/2016

Day 3 Camel treking in the Gobi Desert
Apart from sleeping in a Ger this was the highlight of our trip.
The sun came out, the camels were calm (well fairly calm) and with quite a bit of assistance we were both comfortably straddled across the camel and then the fun started ... lean back because it rises onto its front leg 'elbows', hold on tight whilst it lifts up its back legs, then just when you think its OK to relax, up goes the front legs the rest of the way!!
After all that it was just magical as we set off across the desert with the owner of the camels. They are such wonderful creatures that we were really sad when it came to an end.

25/05/2016

Day 2 Gobi Desert .2 ...
Eagle Valley
Yes, we saw a few eagles soaring way up above the mountain, but no, we didn't get any useable photos ... we asked everso politely but they wouldn't stay in one place long enough for us to zoom in and focus!
We did see quite a number of other birds, a small mammal .. unnamed ... short coated and about the size of a guinea pig. We saw a herd of horses roaming freely and Gill almost stood on a fully grown venemous snake (about 60cms long), but best of all, we walked on a melting glacier!

25/05/2016

Day 2 Gobi Desert ...1
Visited a very tiny museum and after a few rooms of stuffed birds and mammals we were taken into a small back room where there was a selection of dinosaur bones and eggs, the real, genuine thing, not plaster copies ... the skull is less than 20cm (8") long, as were the eggs (smaller than we imagined) and the vertebrate were upto double that size.
To celebrate we each bought a new hat locally made from felted sheep wool - fortunately they don't smell, and we have been assured that they are hot in winter and cool in the summer ... we will test them out in Hong Kong!

25/05/2016

This is video that would not attach to last posting !

25/05/2016

Sorry I haven't posted for a few days. China has blocked all social media, google and gmail .. now in Hong Kong where facebook can be accessed so I will post updates this evening. In the meantime I will leave you with this short video ... young camels are tethered during the day whilst their mothers are free to roam but return late afternoon to feed their babies.

21/05/2016

Woke up to an overcast day in Ulaan Baatar and almost ready to leave for the station for the next part of our adventure, into China. I will not be able to post again until we book into our hotel in Beijing. I will then post more about our time in the Gobi (its going to take far longer than the time I have now ... and I'm still not packed!) In the meantime I want to leave you with a picture and a question ... what is this used for? We found it out in the open, well away from a small settlement ..

21/05/2016

Wednesday ... Ger Camp 1 ... Dalanzodgad
Not sure what to expect but this exceded all expectations. We were in a real Ger (pronounce the G as in Gertrude). Constructed with 4 pieces of trellis bound together into a circle that supported the roof spines that in turn were supported by the central dome that in turn is supported by two tall poles making a very stable structure once everything had been lashed together and covered by layers of wool felt and topped with a waterproof outer layer. Our Ger in this camp also had a fuel fire and decorated internal drapes. The door on all Gers is very short so watch your head. Yes, I could read the sign but I didn't always conform!
Thursday ... Ger Camp 2 ... Khongor Els
Friday .... Ger Camp 3 ... Bayan Zag

21/05/2016

Arrived Ulaan Baatar, capital on Mongolia on Wednesday, exactly two weeks after leaving Norwich. Meet on the platform by our guide called Key-She and our driver Hung-Man (obviously they are not spelt like that).
Once we had loaded the luggage and climbed aboard the large 4 wheel drive Toyota we were on our way to the Gobi ... nearly 700km south. We travelled most of the way on a single, direct tarmac road. We very soon came to realise that this was the only proper road south of UB. All other routes were taken along unmarked and off road tracks. .. not sure how our driver found his way as the whole , massive area was crazily criss crossed with wheel tracks and not a signpost (or stars) in sight. We often travelled to infinity and beyond (or at least as far as the eye can see) without seeing another person, dwelling or vehicle. The 4x4 dropped down into gullies, up over sand dunes and climbed inclines that seemed impossible to master. On our return trip today from South Gobi we spent the first 5 hours bouncing and grinding off road and covering about 160 miles before we got to the start of the tarmac road going north! The views were amazing, from sand dunes to flat scrubland as far as the eye can see, to mountains of different hues , formations and shapes.... photos are all views taken whilst on the move so excuse those that are crocked!

21/05/2016

Irkutsk to Ulaan Baatar train
DAY 14
Joined the Trans Mongolian train in Irkutsk. Gone is the sleek grey and red livery of the Trans Siberian train. We are now travelling in a dark green train that was probably built around 1950. Very clean with cheerful staff who don't speak English (and we don't speak Mongolian or Chinese!). Wooden framed windows (now do you believe how old it is) and VERY hard bench seats that doubled as our mattress. The lower portion of the cushioned back rest was missing in all the compartments!
Our bed linen was delivered freshly laundered a carefully sealed in a plastic wrapper so there was no need to break open the sheet liners we had brought.
Fortunately we still had emergency rations left in our bags as this train does not have a restaurant car, but there was a vintage samavar at the end of the corridor that supplied ample amounts of hot water ... but only when the fire beneath it was alight!
Distrubed night due to many frequent station stops ... over 60 stops in total during a trip lasting 31 hours.
Next morning ...
Woke up with the train stopped at yet another station, no idea of where it was as platform name signage is noticeably mssing (no wonder we has so much trouble with the Metro in Moscow that was similarly absent of signs)!
Big event of the day was the train passing from Russia into Mongolia ... but not before we went through border controls. On the Russian side we were checked 4 times, firstly, our passports were scrutinised from cover to cover and then back again. Then our luggage was checked, followed by a compartment check (when we had to stand in the corridor), then finally another passport check ... whole thing lasted several hours.
At last we set off for the border, past the razor wire and lookout posts into Mongolia.
About 5 miles further on there was another similar check, this time carried out by Mongolian customs ... but they did it with a smile.. 4 hours later it was time for us to continue our journey. The stops however gave us plenty of time to chat with the other residence of our carriage, including practicing our English with a young lady from America and a couple from Australia.
One important and basic thing you need to know is that on this and the Trans Siberian trains, the toilets are locked 30 minutes before entering a station and are not reopened until the train is 30 minutes out of the station. Just thought you would want to know this fact!!!
Next morning we woke early as the train arrived at our destination at 7am.

16/05/2016

Just to let you all know, I will probably not be able to post again for about a week ... now waiting for taxi to take us to station for next stage of our adventure. Two nights on Trans Mongolian train then a 7 hour jeep trip to the Gobi and then 3 nights sleeping in a yurt before a night back in the capital of Ulaan Bataar where hopefully we will have wifi again.

16/05/2016

Lake Baikal Boat Trip
Imagine a lake so blue and flat you can see the reflection of aircraft vapour trails. Add to that a small blue and white boat with 8 other passengers, 4 crew and 2 guides steaming its way across the lake to the far shore ... got the picture? Everything was idylic until the boulder strewn far shore was reached and the captain drove the boat into the shingle. I had visions of being stranded or having to push the boat out!!
Then it really got interesting .. they dropped the gang plank so it was almost vertical ...gave walking the plank a whole new meaning! After that there was a 10 metre climb up boulders and loose screed to the original Trans Siberian train line. This line is now only used for sightseers and fortunately these trains don't start running until Wednesday!
We walked the track, looked at a tunnel, sleepers, nails that held the rails and took lots of photos.
The less said about how I scrambled and slid my way back to the boat the better .. just to say that the welcoming cup of tea was very welcome!

16/05/2016

Day 12 .. Lake Baikal is ...
The world's largest fresh water lake holding 1/5th of the world's fresh water.
Over 700km long, over 70km wide and 37m deep. It has over 30 feeder rivers and only the Angara river leaves. It is home to the only fresh water seals in the world, measuring only 150cm in length.
During the winter this lake freezes so thick that lorries take a short cut across it from one side to the other.
Standing on the shore of Lake Baikal at Listvyanka we could see across the flat blue lake to the snow topped mountains of Khama Daban ... the sun was shining, it was warm and the sky was blue ... this was amazing!
All that was missing was a boat ride.

16/05/2016

Day 12 Sunday ... Irkutsk
Up early to catch the 8am mini bus to Listvyanka on the banks of Lake Baikal. Trip took about 90 minutes and cost 120 rubles (about £1.25) each way. Fellow traveller's photo attached

16/05/2016

Day 11 Arrival in Irkutsk
Arrived here when it was almost dark ... 9.30 real local time but only 4.30 according to the clock on the station. We have passed through 5 time zones and yet the train times remain constant as Moscow time.... me thinks I need 3 watches ... one Moscow time, one local time and one BST. Something we have learned ... agree priice of taxi before getting in. First driver wanted $50 for the short trip to our hotel!

16/05/2016

Day 10 Friday ...
Still rattling across the Asia end of Russia. Crossed the foothills of the Urals and now in Siberia. Still lots of silver birch trees and conifers. Logging seems to be a major part on the economy. We are passing, infrequently, small hamlets of wooden houses ... some brightly painted and obviously new, others were ready to fall. Two young Russian ladies have joined us and one speaks very good English so lots of interesting conversations.

15/05/2016

Day 9 Thursday ... on Trans Siberian railway.
I can't believe I'm actually here. At present Gill and I are the only occupants so plenty of room to spread out! We both slept well and enjoyed a breakfast in a bag (muslie bar, yogurt, a very dark brown bread roll, bottle of water and a cake ... all courtesy of Russian Rail ( we will be back to eating our instant porridge tomorrow).
Passing lots (and lots, and lots) of trees .. mainly silver birch and conifers.
This evening we saw a small white obelick that marked our passing from Europe into Asia. If we had blinked we would have missed it!

15/05/2016

Day 8 Wednesday ...Moscow Station
Slight panic when the taxi dropped us at the same station entrance as we had used when we went to St Petersburg ... panic over when we found that the same building houses not one but 3 stations all with different names! (So it was not just the Metro that confused us!)
Station, platform and carriage found and we settled in for the long trip across Russia, past the foothills of the Ural mountains, in to Siberia and on to Irkutsk. We arrive Saturday evening ... that's 3 nights sleeping on the train.

15/05/2016

Day 8 Moscow
Just a couple of hours before we need to leave to catch THE train. Had time to wander and explore. Found a wonderful children's corner with rabbits, chickens and some amazing play equipment. Loved the Eggs (see photo) but for those of you with youngsters or grand children who love to explore I thought you might like to see how they have turned two wooden pallets into a climbing frame all they have added are struts between the pallets to keep them rigid. Probably delicate knees would appreciated a cushion on top!

11/05/2016

Day 8 ... Leaving Moscow
Can't believe that we have done so much since leaving Norwich a week ago. Now getting ready to leave for station to catch the Trans Siberian train to Irkutsk in Siberia.
Three nights on the train and probably no wifi. I will post whenever I can but probably not for 3 or 4 days...
In the meantime, think of us working our way through the Saffire Chocolates we brought whilst we enjoy our adventure.
View from St Basil's Cathedral over Red Square

11/05/2016

Day 8 Moscow -Guide to using the Metro...sorry, really can't help you with this!
Lots of the station names start with the same shaped letters but end differently. But even if you find your station on your map it might not be the same as the station name in the Metro as one station my have several entrances and therefore several names. If you get on a train and go the wrong way, get off at next station and go back .. trains seem to run every minute or so. Beware, the train departs exactly on time so don't hesitate and get caught when the doors close, they don't stop
This mystery tour costs less that 50p a ticket to and from any where in Moscow, so allow plenty of time to retrace your steps and enjoy the experience!

10/05/2016

Day 7 Moscow
The younger Moscovites seem to be very fashion conscious and I think they see themselves as trend setters. We have seen everything from a glittery full length evening dress to replicas of the 60s and everything in between... so here's a photo for you