Half a World Away...

We've arrived safely in Beijing following our epic and adventurous journey over a third of the globe by rail.

The Trans Siberian/Trans Mongolian rail trip is all it's cracked up to be and much more! Leave all your negative ideas about Russia, trains, hygiene and food behind and you'll have a ball!

Our journey started in Moscow on the 11th of May. Arrival into the country was uneventful and because we had nothing to declare whatsoever we sailed through customs once our visas were checked and registered. After a journey of about an hour and half by car we arrived at our hotel which was in the middle of about 5 of the major flea markets in Moscow! The hotel was comfortable and the area was colourful! We couldn't have asked for better.

On our second day our guide - Xena the Warrior Guidess took us on a three hour tour of Moscow in the driving rain! We started with a whistle stop tour of the metro stations, which to me sounded bizarre at first, but is something I have to recommend. I have never seen such opulence in a public place. There are brass chandeliers, mosaics set with semi precious stones and whole stations decorated wall to floor with priceless and rare marbles. It would put the Vatican in the shade at times! We also did the obligatory tours of Red Square, GUM and the Kremlin, which sparkled even in the rain.


The Kremlin

On our third day we spent our time exploring the local flea markets where you could buy anything and everything from German World War II helmets to beautifully hand crafted birch burrel boxes. It was a great place to blow a few hours and we came away with fantastic gifts and souvenirs. We were due to leave Moscow that evening on the #10 train to Irkutsk and the nerves were definitely beginning to set in!

We had left ourselves plenty of time to reach the station had stocked up on instant noodles, soups, had bought our tea supplies and mugs and figured we were as prepared as we were ever going to be for the four night and three day journey that awaited us.

Far from being boring or uncomfortable or in any way miserable our trip across Siberia has left us with enduring and fabulous memories. We were lucky to be sharing our cabin with two lovely Russians, Tanya from Tayshet who was returning home after a visit to her daughter, had limited German but no English and who was up for a bit of a laugh and some charades in order to communicate! There was also Andrey who was an ex power lifting former anti air craft gunner with some English, many "anecdotes" about crashing things and who I don't think drew breath for the entire journey! He was fantastic company!

The train itself was very comfortable, was vacuumed twice a day, had a trolley service for snacks and mad little woman who offered doughnut type breads stuffed with meat, cabbage and potato for all who wanted it! For some reason she found me particularly amusing maybe it was my wonder and surprise at the goodies she offered, who knows!

The views from the train windows were enough of themselves to keep you amused. As you leave Moscow further and further behind the countryside opens up before you. Huge skies, grasslands that give way to forrests that give way to Taiga, it's something you have to see to truly appreciate. Other diversions included stops at local train stations. At one all you could purchase there were stuffed toys, at another fish! And of course there were many where you could stock up on the necessities of life!

On reaching Irkutsk we were taken to Lake Baikal. To put it into some perspective the lake is half the size of Ireland! It's the largest fresh water fish in the world and the waters are incredibly pure. If we had been there a month earlier it would have been completely frozen over. In fact one of the popular ways to travel from Listvyanka to Port Baikal in winter is drive over the lake. It's very beautiful there and we were taken by our host for a long walk on the banks of the lake and for a picnic complete with camp fire and blackberry tea! We also were lucky enough to have two trips to the Banya, which after four days on a train was an absoloute necessity! Birch twigs, sauna and tea! It's a great combination...

Our trip to Ulaan Bataar was quieter than the one to Irkutsk but was just as amusing. The stories you may hear about Mongol traders on this train are all true! Why the trains are built with so many hiding places is beyond me! People were running up and down the train from the moment we set off, dragging bags, boxes and packages with them. We were in a compartment with two empty bunks and for some reason nobody tried to store goods with us! I think we provided entertainment value enough for everyone. It was a bit like living in a fish bowl as the whole train seemed to stop by to have a look at us! The border crossing was typically awful. Eight hours without a toilet! Enough said... My advice is stop drinking about 3 hours before you're due to arrive I had no problems once I had become completely dehydrated! But we got through after cursory searches and some tutting and frowning over our customs forms (we can't read Cyrillic you see!!!!). But all's well that ends well!

On arriving in Mongolia we were taken to the Terelj National Park where we stayed in a Ger tent. It was so beautiful there. There was a perfect silence and it was an ideal place to recharge the batteries. We also attempted to horse ride and made friends with a Mongol Nomad called Sanja. Nothing can really explain how amazing an experience we had there and I'll always treasure the memories.


The Ger camp

On the train to Beijing we met a lovely Swiss girl called Valerie who had spent three weeks in Northern Mongolia, riding and living with Nomads. Her pictures were amazing and I'd love to learn how to ride properly so I could do something like that. It's one for the future maybe.

By the time we were on the train to Beijing we were familiar with the routine! Valerie and her Swiss compatriot Patrick were once again great company and the time passed very quickly. The border crossing wasn't too bad but the toilets were once again out of action for 8 long hours! The gauge on the trains also have to be changed before entry into China and we were allowed to stay in the carriages as they were raised, gauges changed and put back on the tracks! It was cool but took a while!

The landscape on this leg of the journey was like nothing I've ever seen before. Travelling through the norhtern more hospitable part of the Gobi was an eye opener. Dust came in the windows as soon as the wind rose. We and all our belongings were covered in a not so thin layer of it almost immediatley. The sand storms enveloped everything and it amazed me to see people living in this inhospitable and miserable place. When we woke up the next morning in China the landscape couldn't have been more different. Blue skies, newly verdant hills, paddy fields giving way to mountains. It was amazing. We didn't pass the Great Wall unfortunately but will be seeing it up close later on in our trip.

Arrival into Beijing was a bit chaotic and a little scary as we had no-one to meet us here. But we're becoming more seasoned at this travelling lark and we found our way to our hotel with little trouble! We're staying very centrally here which gives us a chance to find our feet and get to know the city at our own pace.

I have to pinch myself every time I remember where I am! It's an amazing place and I really like it here, which is a relief!!!!

So that's it that's the bare bones of our Trans Siberian experience. Just two things to note if you are thinking of doing it. Firstly if you are stopping to trek at Yeketeringburg or Irkutsk try and get the Tick borne Encephilitis vaccine, it's a big problem in those areas and there isn't that much info available about it in the guidebooks. Secondly, the guidebooks are often wrong! Don't believe all the negative publicity and be prepared for the good things not just the advertised negatives, a daily shower isn't all it's cracked up to be ya know!!!

Behind the Iron Curtain...

We're currently in Riga, Latvia and are preparing ourselves to delve further behind the former Iron Curtain and arrive in Moscow at the end of this week!

Riga is a bit of a party town and seems to be a real hot spot for British Stag Parties that according to the locals cause havoc here at weekends. They don't mention problems from Irish Stag or Hen parties so I'm hoping we don't cause the same kind of problems here. We've even seen warnings from the British Embassy warning people not to forget where their hotels are and not to urinate in public! Nice!

In all fairness whilst it is very pretty here it does feel a bit like a bigger shiner Temple Bar! Dublin people will understand! But saying that we've had a lovely time here and have prepared ourselves for the next step of our journey.

It's unlikely that I'll have an opportunity to blog for the next couple of weeks as we'll be in transit to Beijing on the Trans Siberian railway.

We're due to stop twice, once at Lake Baikal and the second time in Mongolia. I'm looking forward to the trip but am nervous about entering and exiting Russia and just hope that everything will go ok for us. Apparantly random visa problems can occur for no known reason. Hopefully that won't be us!

The train journey itself sounds like it will be good fun and I'm not really concerned about it at all. In fact I'm looking forward to having to sit down for a while!

So that's the update for the moment. I'll be back as the Terminator once said, but it may be about two weeks, but keep checking in just in case I make a surprise appearance with strange tales about Mongol traders!

Sausages and Beer

Warsaw has been fun and relaxing it has to be said.

I was a little confused by the "Old Town' at first as it is this strange other wordly historical town with something not quite right with it... But then I put the fact that the whole city was completely destroyed during World War II together with these newish buildings and realised that the Old Town had been rebuilt to look like it used to before the war. It's an impressive feat by the population here and well worth seeing.

I also have to commend the place as being great shopping value! And have to mention how yummy the beer and the sausages are!

Onwards and Upwards

Well our time in Greece has come to an end and we left the Mediteranean with a heavy heart.

We had a lovely time there and I think we'd both return gladly and spend some quality time in areas outside of Athens exploring more of what the country has to offer.

As it is we spent a day at Delphi, Epidaurus and Mycenae so we weren't doing too badly! From an archaeologists and historians point of view Greece is mind blowingly exciting! To stand on the Acropolis in Athens and look on the Parthenon was simply amazing. To then go and stand in the Temple of Apollo at Delphi and to know that the next day we would be visiting the prehistoric Palace at Mycenae made me feel incredibly lucky to be able to not only visit these sites but to appreciate their meaning as well. It was a fantasitc experience and one I'll always treasure.

At the moment we have successfully arrived and are ensconced in Warsaw. It's obviously very different to Athens but is a lovely place to kick back and relax, which is what we need right now! The Old Town is preserved and very pretty. It's a holiday weekend here this weekend so the place is quiet and everyone is relaxed. It suits us down to the ground!

Ancient Athens

We're onto our second week now and have moved from Bella Italia to Ancient Athens!

Emailing and blogging haven't been a major priority as you may have guessed in the last week but now that we've found our feet here we can spare a few moments to fill in the gaps!



Florence was a truly beautiful city and one that I would definately recommend to anyone, though be prepared to open your wallet as it can be expensive! It's also a good base for making excursions into the rest of Tuscany should you be so inclined. We went to Siena for the day and San Gimignano both places were really interesting and steeped in history. We enjoyed the trip. We also went to Pisa which was a bit of a swizz to be honest but the bus journey through the Tuscan countryside was well worth it. And we saw the famous Leaning Tower!

We're now currently in Athens. Compared to Italy, Greece seems less sophistacated, and also less expensive. But that doesn't mean it doesn't have it's charms! The food here is just gorgeous and good for you! I'm loving it!

Also the archaeology is astounding and it's awe inspiring to be able to stand before these iconic buildings that for me have only ever before existed in between the cover of books. I feel so lucky.

From Milan to Florence and back again

We're currently in the beautiful Medieval city of Florence and it's all I've ever dreamed it would be!

We spent our first night in Milan and had a blast wandering the streets of the city and enjoying the many outdoor art installations on show through out the Sforza castle grounds and on the streets of Milan itself.



We're currently in Florence and it's truly a beautiful place, with so much to see and do here it would make your head spin. We travelled to Fiseole today and wandered around the Roman ruins there, ate icecream and generally chilled out.

We plan to head to Pisa and Siena as well over the next few days so you could say that things are going well1

On the road... again

Right we're off again!

Here is a map of the first part of our Journey!



The rest will be updated as we go along. I'm not prepared to tempt fate any further...

Further preparation

Things are hotting up nicely on the preparation front!

We now have all three visas for Russia, China and Mongolia. Despite my nervousness about applying for them it was a pain free experience all round.

My three top tips for applying for visas in Russia and China if you are living in Ireland are as follows:

1) Turn up early, especially if you want to collect them on the same day. The sooner you're in there the sooner you get out.

2)Read the instructions carefully!
If you're going for Russian visas you need a voucher in Russian and an invitation. You also should duplicate the applications and bring the duplicate with you when you travel as having a visa doesn't guarantee entry into the country. Don't do what these arrogant middle aged women did when I was there. It's not clever or funny to turn up with nothing but a cheque book.

3)Smile! It cheers everyone if you're pleasant and respectful, you are on their territory after all!

I'm getting very excited now!

Visa Numero Uno

Our trip to London last week concluded with us successfully securing our first visa! We can safely enter and exit Mongolia during the months of May, June and July should we so choose!

It was all very straightforward with only the small hurdle of a taciturn and disdainful Monoglian civil servant to be cleared. We were in and out with visas in place within two hours. It was an extra £20 well spent if you ask me! We could have left our passports there and saved the £20 but we were on a tight deadline as we had to fly home again and didn't want to risk being stranded without passports in London. We could also have elected to apply by post but we were heading to London anyway so it seemed as easy to just go and do it in person.

I was due to apply for Russian and Chinese visas this week but have been struck down by something yucky in my tummy. However if I improve I might get one of them sorted towards the end of the week, and the other one can wait til next week.

We have also booked and paid for our round the world tickets with Trailfinders in Cork and they were full of helpful advice and joie de vivre! It was an easy way to spend a lot of money!

Details of the intinerary will follow but I'm loathe to say too much at the moment in case I jinx myself again...

Plans are afoot

Well the bad news (if you want to look at it that way) is that we will be Ireland bound for another few weeks. But the good news is that things are beginning to move for us and there is an end in sight!

We should be leaving these fair shores (once again) towards the end of the month and in the meantime it is my job to "organise us".

By the time we leave this time we will have a fully planned itinerary, visas and plane tickets!

We had previously planned to organise on the road as we were travelling in Europe for so long and the visas that we needed would have expired before we got to use them! So now the plan is to spend less time in Europe and we should be in Russia in early to mid May! I'm very excited....

We can organise visas for Russia and China here in Dublin and even get them processed in 24 hours by paying extra and the Mongolian visa can be expressed through the London consulate.

I'm feeling much calmer and more in control of the whole process now. So wish me luck as we try to get this show back on the road!

A change of direction!

Where do I start?

Well we've had a change of plans and direction in the last week which was necessitated by some good news for a change!

My Lovely Boy is soon to become a Lovely Published Boy! Much to our delight his manuscript which was submitted just before we left, was accepted by a publisher! We really didn't expect such a quick response and were fully prepared to wait 3 or 4 months before hearing anything at all about it's prospects! So we're delighted to be able to return home for a short while to deal with the "business" side of things! It's not a bad thing! The book by the way is a history book and is based on an aspect of Irish history during the War of Independence which you don't see much written about. I don't want to say too much just yet cause it's his business.

So the deal is that we're here for a while, don't know how long yet, it'll be a couple of weeks anyway. Which will give the Continent a bit of time to prepare itself for us with more sunshine and less biting winds sil vous plait! We're probably not going to do the Scandinavian trip this time but have talked about taking a holiday to see the Northern Lights sometime else. The break at home will give me chance to learn some basic language skills in Italian and Spanish as well as getting visas sorted for Russia, Mongolia and China so all is not lost! I don't think I'll try to learn Chinese or Russian it might just be a bit beyond me!

Vive La France!

We are now onto week three and our second country and nobody's dead yet so I can report all is basicly going fine!

Our last few days in Barcelona were lovely, we ate lots of tapas and chilled a lot! We also made it to Sagrada Familia, and to Park Guell to gaze in wonder at Gaudi's work. Here's my tip though if you are going to visit Sagrada Familia. It is under construction and while the facade looks amazing, internally it is covered, literally, in scaffolding. So if you want to pay 8 euro a heqd to look at scaffolding, go for it! Also (and this really annoyed me, in fact the story of Jesus throwing out the money lenders from the temple came to mind) if you plan to asscend to the top of the church it's an additional 2 euro per person! Personally I saw all I needed to see from the ouside and will happily return to visit the internal church at a later date when there is more to see!


Sagrada Familia


Internal Church without scaffolding!


Park Guell

We moved on to Carcassonne on Saturday as I have been curious about the place for a long time! We took a train from Barcelona to Cerberre and from there another connection to Narbonne and a final connection to Carcassonne! I have find the story of the Cathar heresy fascinating and wanted to see the medieval citè. Mmmm I have to say it didn't float my boat! I am an archaeologist, I know what Medieval buildings look like! La Citè is not medieval! Talk about the Disneyfication of history! I was not impressed with the turrets nor the colour co-ordinated roof tops at all! And there wasn't a Cathar to be found! Or at any rate any information apart from what I read on the back of a beer bottle! It was a strqnge place indeed, but the people were very friendly and helpful and it was a good place to experience living like a French person!

Right now we're in Paris and are going to bunk down here for a little while as we've always fancied learning more about this city and this is a good opportunity! We endured a seven and a half hour train journey very easily, in fact it was quite pleasant and the scenery was fab! In fact I'd recommend it!

Well that's it for now there are more photos on flickr so keep checking in!

The second week

Well we´re still here in Barcelona soaking up the rays and enjoying the tapas!

It´s proven harder than expected to leave this beautiful city so we have stayed on a few days longer to laze around and take in the atmosphere.

We went to see Barcelona play Gymnastic last sunday at Camp Nou, which is probably been the highlight of the trip. I got to see Ronaldhino play in the flesh! I´m still buzzing over it! They won 3-0 and Iniesta came over to close to where we were sitting to do his goal celebration thing! It´s the little things that make me happy!

I think the thing I like best about Barcelona is the way you can just wander and explore and discover the most beautiful architecture around corners that you might have missed on another day. The weather is so clement at this time of the year and the tourists are fairly thin on the ground all of which combine to make it a great time to come here. So if you are considering visiting then think about a winter visit! Besides the heat here in summer is crazy, too hot for my blood at least!

We´re due to leave on saturday and need to sort out our train tickets to Carcassonne today. From what I can see it´ll be a long enough trip with changes in Narbonne and possibly Port Bou, but we´ll handle it we´re well rested and getting itchy to move again!

So far I have been dedicated to keeping a daily account of what´s been going on in the fabulous journal the lovely Elke gave me for the trip. It amuses me to act like a Victorian lady on a european tour! It will also serve to remind me of what I got up to on this trip which considering my capacity for forgetting stuff is a gift in itself! Thanks again Moose!

Photos!

Come see my photos on Flickr!

(They´re in the sidebar just click and view!)

All comments welcome....

One week down

I can´t believe we left home just over a week ago it really and truly feels a lot longer than that. I expected to be tired while travelling but the reality of the tiredness has taken my by surprise.

We´re in Barcelona until next saturday and we have decided to take it easy today. We had a very active day yesterday taking in a tour of Camp Nou, organising tickets for the game tomorrow night and then finding the CosmoCaixa museum and getting completely blown away by how cool it is. So cool in fact I think we´re going to have to go back before we leave here!

Barcelona is an amazing city, I have to say that I do prefer it to Madrid and we both feel very relaxed here. Also the fact that the temperature is in the early 20´s centigrade is helping the feel good factor! We´re swanning around in t-shirts and sweaty faces and the natives are still wrapped up in heavy winter coats and scarves! It´s made me realise just how miserable the poor Spanish must feel when they visit places like Ireland where the weather can be pretty miserable and the weather here today would constitute a decent summer´s day back home! But I guess that´s the beauty of travel!

We still have lots to see and do here in Barcelona but we have another week left and should be reenergised for more sight seeing soon! Then it´s off to Carcassonne for a few days and then to Paris, I think, though I don´t like the look of those storms in northern Europe so we´ll see about that one!

P.S. I should have photos to share soon...

And so it begins...

Here we are in Madrid! It´s sunny, there are blue skies and you don´t need a raincoat! Not a bad beginning to our trip considering we started off on a cold and windy morning in Dublin faced with the news that all planes were delayed due to a combination of bad weather and the little matter of a runaway refugee. It could only happen in Ireland!

We´ve had a lovely few days taking in what Madrid has to offer. The Prado, Thyssen and Sofia Reina museums are a must if you plan to come here! Í´m still in shock and awe at the fantasic offerings on show in all three... I am now a major fan of El Greco,



How cool is that?

We also managed to take in a match at the Bernebeu last night, Real Madrid v Real Zaragoza. It was fantastic! The atmosphere was electric with excitement and it was such a treat to watch proper football played by real players! I loved every minute of it. We were seated behind the north goal, the one Van Nistlerooy scored in, and that was an extra kick!



Well it´s off to Barcelona tomorrow for about a week I think and we´ll try and load some photos up if there´s any worth sharing!

And We're Off

After months of delays, illnesses, the heebie jeebies and lots more besides we are finally off on our worldwide trip!

We are due tomorrow to fly from Dublin to Madrid and so the adventure begins!

Wish us luck....

Travel Blog

This is my travel blog and is due to kick off very shortly.

The plan is that family, friends and interested parties can follow my progress here, leave comments, send emails, and generally keep in touch with me while I progress on what I hope will be a trip of a lifetime.