Moscow was way warmer than Irkutsk which made exploring the city a lot easier. We went to Red Sqaure and saw the famous St. Basils cathedral which is amazing. This is something I always see in photos so to see it for real really made me relaise where I was and how amazing it is. We wondered around the streets and could not believe that every building looked amazing. They all look like they should be important but, more often than not, they turn out to be a shopping mall or something! We also ate more russian food - I have decided I love Borscht!
A visit to Lenins mausoleum was very strange. We had to hand our bags in, go through security and be ushered down a lot of steps into a dark basement before eventually walking around the dead body in a glass caninet and back out again. I have never seen anything like this before and it was a strange atmosphere. We also went into the Kremlin and ventured around the buildings and museums in there. Many people say Russia is dangerous and warned me to be careful but I found it a beautiful city and had no problems at all.
We then took the night train to St. Petersburg. It only took 8 hours which was a breeze after the 4day train! We arrived, checked into a nice hostel by the train station and walked down the main street. I could definatly tell that we are getting closer to Europe as this city did not feel as Russian. There were many familiar chains and shops and instead of spending my time looking at the buildings, I would point out clothes shops and fast food chains! We are trying not to spend money in these fast food chains though so we started cooking in the nice kitchen in the hostel with a bottle of vodka to save money!
We went to see the famous sights such as The Hermatige, Peter and Paul fortress, St. Issacs cathedral an the cathedral of spilled blood. They were all impressive but I do not want to see another cathedral for a while!
Next we are getting a bus to Helsinki in Finland. It will be strange getting on something other thn a train and I am looking forward to getting into Europe.
xxx
Monday, November 30, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
One Long Train Ride
On the 14th November Ben, Jen and I boarded the Trans-Siberean train from Irkutsk to Moscow. We alighted on the 18th November, 82 hous later!
We decided to travel in Plaskart (third class) as it was cheaper and we thought we would meet more people. It turned out to be the best idea! We boarded at 11pm, were setting up our beds when three boys from the next cabin began talking to us with very little English. They were mechanic students on thier way back to university. We soon got told off by the scary prodvista (attendent) for being to loud and had to got to bed. The boys came back in the morning to try and teach us a russian card game and drink vodka made in thier home town. They had to get off the train later that afternoon so after saying goodbye we all had a little nap.
As I woke up from my nap, a Russian army boy was sat on the end of my bed! He was very eager to intoduce himself and ask questions. He also had little English so it was difficult but we got by with the help of a Russian phrease book! He then went off for a bit and came back with a spcial forces army issue vest which he gave me as a present!! We were soon surrounded by more army boys and drinking vodka and beer! Another one of the soldiers gave Jen a belt as a present too which she then had to wear for the rest of the night! Again we were told to be quiet by the prodvista! The next day when Ben asked me how my book was going I said I had only read a page as I'd been too busy!
Another night on the train brought another group of people to drink vodka with. This time it was an 18year old Minor Belarussian celebrity and an old man with 14 children and five wives! The Belarussian taught us the card game that we had been trying to play with the students. He had less English than they did but was still, somehow better at teaching us. The game was called Russian joke and Jen and I became pretty good by the end! The belarus guy also gave me 2 rocks from Lake Baikal, where he had been to visit his grnadma, as another present!
Day Three and the cabin was full again! We played the card game and had vodka shots with two older men who transported fuel, a random man with gold teeth, who Jen met at the hot water tap, and a crazy old lady who decided she was going to hepl me play the game. I became pretty good at introducing myself in Russian and the crazy lady could speak a few words of English so we became friends!!
It was finally time to get off the train in Moscow and after saying goodbye to everyone we waited for the metro to open. Having a shower in the hostel after four days on the train was amazing! The train was lots of fun and an experence none of us will forget! We also learnt a card game in Russian, how to drink vodka Russian style and that a phrase book really comes in handy!!
We decided to travel in Plaskart (third class) as it was cheaper and we thought we would meet more people. It turned out to be the best idea! We boarded at 11pm, were setting up our beds when three boys from the next cabin began talking to us with very little English. They were mechanic students on thier way back to university. We soon got told off by the scary prodvista (attendent) for being to loud and had to got to bed. The boys came back in the morning to try and teach us a russian card game and drink vodka made in thier home town. They had to get off the train later that afternoon so after saying goodbye we all had a little nap.
As I woke up from my nap, a Russian army boy was sat on the end of my bed! He was very eager to intoduce himself and ask questions. He also had little English so it was difficult but we got by with the help of a Russian phrease book! He then went off for a bit and came back with a spcial forces army issue vest which he gave me as a present!! We were soon surrounded by more army boys and drinking vodka and beer! Another one of the soldiers gave Jen a belt as a present too which she then had to wear for the rest of the night! Again we were told to be quiet by the prodvista! The next day when Ben asked me how my book was going I said I had only read a page as I'd been too busy!
Another night on the train brought another group of people to drink vodka with. This time it was an 18year old Minor Belarussian celebrity and an old man with 14 children and five wives! The Belarussian taught us the card game that we had been trying to play with the students. He had less English than they did but was still, somehow better at teaching us. The game was called Russian joke and Jen and I became pretty good by the end! The belarus guy also gave me 2 rocks from Lake Baikal, where he had been to visit his grnadma, as another present!
Day Three and the cabin was full again! We played the card game and had vodka shots with two older men who transported fuel, a random man with gold teeth, who Jen met at the hot water tap, and a crazy old lady who decided she was going to hepl me play the game. I became pretty good at introducing myself in Russian and the crazy lady could speak a few words of English so we became friends!!
It was finally time to get off the train in Moscow and after saying goodbye to everyone we waited for the metro to open. Having a shower in the hostel after four days on the train was amazing! The train was lots of fun and an experence none of us will forget! We also learnt a card game in Russian, how to drink vodka Russian style and that a phrase book really comes in handy!!
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Irkutsk and Lake Baikal
After a train journey with a 9 hour border crossing, we arrived in Irkutsk in Russia. The first thing I noticed was definatly the cold! -21degrees with lots of snow! The second thing was the amount of fur that people were wearing! We checked into a lovely hostel and explored the city wearing as many layers as possible! Irkutsk has some lovely cathedrals and churches which look even nicer with a snowy background.
The next day was even colder at -24 and we then took a bus to Olkhon Island which is in the middle of Lake Baikal. Lake Baikal is the deepest lake in the world and could supply the whole world with water for 40years should it run out. The bus journey there was pretty long but we were kept entertained with a Russian alcoholic who spoke to us in Russian and fed Ben many large vodka shots! He would say random stuff in Russian and Ben would say random stuff in English as a reply. He could have been agreeing to anything and at one point we thought he may have sold Jen for 70,000 roubles!!
On the Island we stayed in a lovely guest house called Nikita's where three meals a day were included. The meals were mainly omul fish from the lake. I am not a fan of fish and would never eat fish that actually looked like fish! However, I did eat it and ended up really enjoying it by the end of the three days. Apart from eating, sleeping and using the banya (Russian Sauna) we went on a jeep trip to the north of the island. It was cool to walk to the tip and appreciate how big the lake actually is. It was a clear day and the views were great. We also had lunch on a random table by the forrest (fish soup of course!) cooked on a random fire which was cool.
The next day we woke up to snow covered streets and decided to go for a walk. It was cold of course but it ws lovely to see the lake with different scenery. It looked totally different from the day before. We put our hands in the lake to, apparantly, add one year to our lives! We also walked up one of the hills to see a Christmas card view of the snow covered town.
We got the bus back to Irkutsk and spent one more day walking around and taking photos. After relaxing in the warm hostel and having one last shower, we went to the train station to board the 82hr Trans-Siberean train to Moscow. Previously we have travelled in second class but this time we decided to go third class as it was 100pounds cheaper and we thought it might be more of an expereince as we mix with locals in an open carriage! We'll see.....
The next day was even colder at -24 and we then took a bus to Olkhon Island which is in the middle of Lake Baikal. Lake Baikal is the deepest lake in the world and could supply the whole world with water for 40years should it run out. The bus journey there was pretty long but we were kept entertained with a Russian alcoholic who spoke to us in Russian and fed Ben many large vodka shots! He would say random stuff in Russian and Ben would say random stuff in English as a reply. He could have been agreeing to anything and at one point we thought he may have sold Jen for 70,000 roubles!!
On the Island we stayed in a lovely guest house called Nikita's where three meals a day were included. The meals were mainly omul fish from the lake. I am not a fan of fish and would never eat fish that actually looked like fish! However, I did eat it and ended up really enjoying it by the end of the three days. Apart from eating, sleeping and using the banya (Russian Sauna) we went on a jeep trip to the north of the island. It was cool to walk to the tip and appreciate how big the lake actually is. It was a clear day and the views were great. We also had lunch on a random table by the forrest (fish soup of course!) cooked on a random fire which was cool.
The next day we woke up to snow covered streets and decided to go for a walk. It was cold of course but it ws lovely to see the lake with different scenery. It looked totally different from the day before. We put our hands in the lake to, apparantly, add one year to our lives! We also walked up one of the hills to see a Christmas card view of the snow covered town.
We got the bus back to Irkutsk and spent one more day walking around and taking photos. After relaxing in the warm hostel and having one last shower, we went to the train station to board the 82hr Trans-Siberean train to Moscow. Previously we have travelled in second class but this time we decided to go third class as it was 100pounds cheaper and we thought it might be more of an expereince as we mix with locals in an open carriage! We'll see.....
Sunday, November 8, 2009
The Gobi Desert
On a cold friday morning we packed into a very old Russian looking van, that looked like it was in the war, and begain driving accross the desert with two Finnish guys and our lovely driver Norra who didn't speak a word of English. The drive was very difficult and bumpy and at one point we got stuck in an icy river. Luckily there was a tractor nearby that was able to pull us out! We stopped for lunch and entered our first ger of the trip. It belonged to a local family who cooked us a very nice meal of mutton, veg and noodles. It was lovely food and at this point we didn't realise we would be eating this same dish everyday and would be sick of the sight of it by the end!!
We soon realised that breaking down and the van getting stuck was going to be a regular occurance but luckily Norra always knew how to fix it. We eventually arrived to the ger which we would sleep in for the night. It was snowing and very cold but it luckily had a fire to keep us warm. The lady looking after us didn't speak a word of English but as she came in to light the fire and we were all wondering what she was using she just pointed to the bag and said "shit"! She was burning camel and sheep dung! The ger was very basic with no running water or toilet and the fire would burn out in the middle of the night. We had to drink vodka to keep us warm!
The rest of the week was also spent driving off road accross the desert before arriving at a ger each evening. The landscape was amazing and changed drastically. One day we would be driving through snow and white sky and the next would be sand and blue sky. A couple of activities we did were walking in an ice valley and riding a camel by sand dunes. I didn't realise how big camels were and was pretty scared when it stood up!
I was ready to get back to the city and a shower by the end of the week but the trip was still amazing. Mongolia is definatly the most different place I have ever been. We spent one more night in the capital to have a cheeky hamburgur, pint and a good warm nights sleep before getting on another 36hr train to Irkutsk to Russia.
xxx
We soon realised that breaking down and the van getting stuck was going to be a regular occurance but luckily Norra always knew how to fix it. We eventually arrived to the ger which we would sleep in for the night. It was snowing and very cold but it luckily had a fire to keep us warm. The lady looking after us didn't speak a word of English but as she came in to light the fire and we were all wondering what she was using she just pointed to the bag and said "shit"! She was burning camel and sheep dung! The ger was very basic with no running water or toilet and the fire would burn out in the middle of the night. We had to drink vodka to keep us warm!
The rest of the week was also spent driving off road accross the desert before arriving at a ger each evening. The landscape was amazing and changed drastically. One day we would be driving through snow and white sky and the next would be sand and blue sky. A couple of activities we did were walking in an ice valley and riding a camel by sand dunes. I didn't realise how big camels were and was pretty scared when it stood up!
I was ready to get back to the city and a shower by the end of the week but the trip was still amazing. Mongolia is definatly the most different place I have ever been. We spent one more night in the capital to have a cheeky hamburgur, pint and a good warm nights sleep before getting on another 36hr train to Irkutsk to Russia.
xxx
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Back to HK and the beginning of the Trans-Siberean adventures!
I arrived in Hong Kong at 11.30pm on Wednesday night which just happened to be ladies night! I decided to go straight to typhoon from the airport and meet everyone! I got some very funny looks rocking up to a bar with a backpack but it was lovely to catch up with everyone and have some free vodkas!! I didn't realised how much I'd missed everyone and being in HK. I was only there for one full day but decided to spend it at Shek o beach and dinner at bubba gumps on the peak. This meant that the next day was a big rush to repack and sort bank stuff out. I made it ok and after saying a sad goodbye to everyone, Ben and I made it to the train station on time to meet Jen.
We boarded the train but I was in a different cabin to Ben and Jen as we had booked seperatly. Luckily we were next to each other and the journey was pleasemt. I even liked the food in the dining cart! 25hrs later we arrived in Beijing and took the bus to the Red Lantern hostel and ate lovely chinese food. The next day we did a reccy to the visa office before having lunch and going to see an acrobatic show which was brill.
As we knew where the visa place was, we got there very early on monday morning only to find it was closed! Luckily the window opened and we could fill in the form but our visa would not be ready until tuesday - the day we were supposed to catch the train! arrgghh! We decided to go to the station anyway to see if there was another train we could buy tickets for and after a 4hrs we found the place that sells international tickets. Luckily there was a train the day after our visas would be ready - I told the ticket man that I loved him!!
It was a rare clear day so we went up to the gate of Tianamen Square where you can look down onto the square. I felt just like Mao! We then decided to walk to a park at the back of the forbidden city where we walked up many steps to see the suset and stunning views of the forbidden city. We finished off the day with some well deserved beer and pizza.
After shopping for hats and gloves and eating some peking duck we boarded the 36hr train to Ulaan Baatar. The journey was actually good despite the border crossing taking over 5hrs. I even liked the food in the dining cart! The views through the window changed loads . When we woke up, there was masses of snow covered land and montains. I was worrying about the cold a lot! We finally arrvied in Ulaan Baatar and checked into a dodgy hostel which actually turned out to be nice inside - it was warm too! After eating some Mongolian food, which mainly consists of lamb, we went to a traditional mongolian show with contortionists and throat singers. It was very bizarre but actually quite funny and an expereince at the least!
Tomorrow we are going on a week long trip to the Gobi desert where we will stay in gers with local families. Im looking forward to it but we are all worried about the cold and the fact that we cannot have a shower for four days! Hopefully I wont have frozen to death and will write about it soon!
xxx
We boarded the train but I was in a different cabin to Ben and Jen as we had booked seperatly. Luckily we were next to each other and the journey was pleasemt. I even liked the food in the dining cart! 25hrs later we arrived in Beijing and took the bus to the Red Lantern hostel and ate lovely chinese food. The next day we did a reccy to the visa office before having lunch and going to see an acrobatic show which was brill.
As we knew where the visa place was, we got there very early on monday morning only to find it was closed! Luckily the window opened and we could fill in the form but our visa would not be ready until tuesday - the day we were supposed to catch the train! arrgghh! We decided to go to the station anyway to see if there was another train we could buy tickets for and after a 4hrs we found the place that sells international tickets. Luckily there was a train the day after our visas would be ready - I told the ticket man that I loved him!!
It was a rare clear day so we went up to the gate of Tianamen Square where you can look down onto the square. I felt just like Mao! We then decided to walk to a park at the back of the forbidden city where we walked up many steps to see the suset and stunning views of the forbidden city. We finished off the day with some well deserved beer and pizza.
After shopping for hats and gloves and eating some peking duck we boarded the 36hr train to Ulaan Baatar. The journey was actually good despite the border crossing taking over 5hrs. I even liked the food in the dining cart! The views through the window changed loads . When we woke up, there was masses of snow covered land and montains. I was worrying about the cold a lot! We finally arrvied in Ulaan Baatar and checked into a dodgy hostel which actually turned out to be nice inside - it was warm too! After eating some Mongolian food, which mainly consists of lamb, we went to a traditional mongolian show with contortionists and throat singers. It was very bizarre but actually quite funny and an expereince at the least!
Tomorrow we are going on a week long trip to the Gobi desert where we will stay in gers with local families. Im looking forward to it but we are all worried about the cold and the fact that we cannot have a shower for four days! Hopefully I wont have frozen to death and will write about it soon!
xxx
Monday, October 19, 2009
Melbourne and the end of Oz!
Many people have told me that Melbourne is one of the best places in Australia and I should definatly go. I like to go to places according to people's advice so I did the trip up the east coast a little quicker than planned so I could hvae a few days in Melbourne. However, when I got there (after getting on the correct flight!) I was greeted with rain and freezing cold weather and a pretty rough hostel. First impressions were not good.
On Friday I went on a day trip to Great Ocean road whihc is a beautiful long road that runs on the coastline of south Australia. On this trip I also saw koalas in the wild, the lighthouse from 'Round the twist' and the twelve apostles. It was a long day but very beautiful.
I then flew to Sydney for two days to catch my flight to Hong Kong. It was lovely and sunny in Sydney so I spent the day at Bondi and became a little lobster like! In the evening I met Larry who is a frind of a frind in Hong Kong. He took me to lots of Aussie bars around harbour where we drank lots of Aussie beer. My favouite was the opera bar which is just underneath the opera house. Stunning views! We also went to the Australia bar where I ate kangaroo and crocodile pizza! It was very strange - I quite liked them both but the kangaroo was definatly my favourite! Thanks Larry!
I am now in the airport ready to board my flight to Hong Kong. I am sad to leave Australia but very excited to see everyone in HK!
xxx
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Reef and Rainforest
After another long hungover bus drive, I arrived in Cairns. The city itself does not have much to see apart from good nightlife! It doesn't have a beach so I spent the first day chilling by the lagoon which all places with a rubbish beach seem to have!
I then went on an overnight boat trip to the Great Barrier Reef. We had to get on a smaller boat to drive out to a much bigger boat which is where I would stay. The boat was lovely and I had a room with a double bed and en-suite all to myself! After lunch I did some great snorkelling in a couple of different spots. 
There was then the chance to try an introductory scuba dive. This means that you go under the water for 30mins with an instructor who controls everything for you. All I had to do was breathe and kick my legs! However, I have decided that water activites are the kind of things that I'm most scared of and whilst I was sitting with the tank on ready to get into the water, I was more nervous than when I jumped out of a plane!
There was then the chance to try an introductory scuba dive. This means that you go under the water for 30mins with an instructor who controls everything for you. All I had to do was breathe and kick my legs! However, I have decided that water activites are the kind of things that I'm most scared of and whilst I was sitting with the tank on ready to get into the water, I was more nervous than when I jumped out of a plane! When we began to go under the water The realisation hit me that I could not pop my head out of the water every few minutes like I do when snorkelling and I freaked out! I felt very clostrophobic and scared that I would not be able to breathe nder the water! What a loser! The lovely instuctor calmed me down and we eventually went down to about 12m. I saw lots of lovely fish swimming above me, picked up a pineapple sea cucumber and saw a shark. It was amazing and Im glad I tried it (for the first and probably last time!)!
The day after the boat trip I went on a day trip to an area called Atherton Tablelands with Uncle Brian's tours. This is an area of rainforest and flat lands that were used for mining. We walked throught he rainforest and went to three differetn swimming holes. The first one was milla milla falls whihc had a rock slide that you could slide down into the river. fun!
The next one was Josephine falls which is the waterfall where Peter Andre did the 'Mysterious girl' video! It was also where the herbel essences advert was filmed so the guide insisted we all have a photo taken flicking our hair out of the water! The last swimming whole was a lake in a huge volcano but I was too cold to swim by this point!
The next one was Josephine falls which is the waterfall where Peter Andre did the 'Mysterious girl' video! It was also where the herbel essences advert was filmed so the guide insisted we all have a photo taken flicking our hair out of the water! The last swimming whole was a lake in a huge volcano but I was too cold to swim by this point! The scenery on this trip was lovely but it was the bus ride and the people that really made the trip. The bus driver was hilarious and made us play games and sing and dance. One of the games involved passing a polo around the bus using matchsticks in our mouths! There was also a point where the bus driver had us all ducking down and spying for animlas only for us to find a granny in the trees with soft toy animlas and a feather duster! I cannot describe how random and fun it was but would just say you have to go on Uncle Brian's if you are in Cairns!
I have also been to an area called Cape Tribulation which is where the rainforest meets the beach and the reef. It was nice walking through the Daintree rainforest but we didn't manage to see any crazy animlas. So, next we went on a cruise down the river to look for crocodiles. I saw a baby one on the bank and an adult female lazing in the water. The trip also involved another swimming hole and a stop off in Port Douglas which was very relaxing. A good day that everyone talks about but it didn't quite compare to the trip the day before.
Today I went to the airport to get a flight to Melbourne but when I got to check in, they told me it was the wrong day! My flight is actually tomorrow! I did know this but seem to be a bit of a dumb ass who doesn'yt know which day of the week it is! This meant I had abother day to chill by the lagoon and will hopefully get on the right flight tomorrow!!!
xxx
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