Coming to China

The final section of our TransSiberian Experience was the 27 hour trip to Beijing, south across the Gobi desert and into much lush terrain.




The trip highlights? A more salubrious train for one, although the sheer midnight fun of watching the lifting up of the carriages to change the bogies beneath -- so that the wheels can fit the narrower gauge lines in China -- takes some beating.




Vodka and orange juice helped, although not the next morning when attempts to spend our remaining Mongolian tugriks were thwarted by the new Chinese dining car's preference for dollars. This is why you go in a group ...




With the new day, desert gave way to green and mountainous terrain showing every sign of agriculture. And mist, or fog, or smog: hot, humid and heavy. And so the Harmony Hotel became our home for the next few days.


- Posted when possible; if it isn't the wifi, it's the server ...

Beijing: it's big!

The end of our first group tour and the start of our second.

Exploring the hectare or two around our hotel, we discovered a laundry service, the friendly if grotty but very cheap dumpling shop -- breakfast for $2 -- and the GPO, from which we sent back a pile of clothes, books and acquisitions. I'm sure it won't really take three months ....




We also confirmed that Beijing is not just big, but monumental. The Forbidden City is yet to be restored fully, but the imperial scale is stunning; so too the official monuments, halls built post 1949; but equally the stunning new hotels and office blocks along the main roads.







Although as Ningyi said, just go back a block behind most of the main streets and there are often the little alleys, shops and dwellings over which the monoliths soar, although you sense that these will gradually be taken over, or confined to colorful tourist quarters as time goes on.

Via the very accessible, and affordable, subway, we visited Tienamen square, along with a famous basketball player from the 1970s who was unusually popular with local photographers.




And the obligatory visit to a section of the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, and a farewell dinner with our TransSiberian Expressionistas, followed by a final chance to embarrass Andrew as he gathered his new group for the return journey.

Thanks to all those we have left; you were a great group to travel with.




We feel deeply divided loyalties as we watch you depart to all points of the globe, while we take up with new, fresh and enthusiastic partners, completely untainted by knowledge of who 'Cheater Girl' is




... and not a bridge player amongst them.




A selection of photos from our two -- contrasting -- visits to the no longer Forbidden City, and visits to the Great Wall, next. But first, a community service announcement.




- Posted using the mostly reliable wifi at the Golden Sun hotel

Mongolian countryside

One of our nights in Mongolia was spent outside UB, at a small holiday camp run by a local family. Sleeping quarters were the gers used by many Mongolian families still, although there were only two beds in each, and no central fire or cooking or work spaces -- but how authentic do you want to be?





We were accompanied by our local guide, popularly known as Nemo, a doctor currently finding it more rewarding to travel round with Intrepid tourists than to work in the hospital system -- and very useful when it came to David's burns.

Walk up hills surrounding the camp, checking out the wild rhubarb (it had to come from somewhere, so why not Mongolia?) and edelweiss etc.




Woken by horses grazing around the gers. Some adventurous folks went off for a horse ride, after having examined the wound carried by one of the noble steeds -- made by wild wolves a few weeks previously. The ride was, of course, an extremely tame walk along the road, rather than a tough forest trail, although Brad Pitt's presence was some compensation.




Near-complete inadequacy in the archery competition, delayed till the next day due to a very limited supply of arrows. Championship points awarded for grazing the tail of the yak skin target.







Hot weather continues, with only modest falls in temperatures at night. Much better than -40C and two metres of snow but ...

Back in the city, Amsterdam cafe was a backpacker haven and wifi heaven, allowing some blog updates before we leave for Beijing.


- Posted with prospect of a hung Parliament

Suburban development

Although UB -- as in I heart Ulaan Baatar -- has some interesting big buildingHowever the more interesting urban planning insights came from a visit to one of the newer outer suburbs, to see the way fringe settlement and urban drift is managed.





Basically any adult is entitled to a 400 square metre block of unused land on the fringes that has not been previously claimed, and can plonk their ger (yurt) and then build a more permanent home on the block while finding employment in the area.




The government provides water -- although not reticulated -- electricity and schooling and medical care. So when the winter is really bad, as happened last year, some nomadic families can settle, either permanently or just for the winter months, around the cities. Since these families are really very capable, used to the doing everything for themselves, this land grant means that they can manage things in the city fairly well.




In the family we visited, the grandmother was active in a cooperative involved in market gardening, as well as production of hats and clothing as well as stitching felted rugs.







- Posted from Yang Shuo, China

Roll on, roll on

From Lake Baikal, back to Irkutsk and the next train leg south east. Abandon hopes of somehow reaching Vladivostock and exile in Alaska.




Farewell Russia. Hello Mongolia, the NZ of central Asia, where adventure holidays abound ... If you are prepared to travel this far ...

At last a change of scene: neither birch nor taiga but sweeping windswept plains, rather like Canterbury Plains NZ but with less sheep (because less rain and less grass).




Around 30 per cent of the population are still nomadic herding families, but more and more are settling around the cities, particularly Ulaan Baatar. The country suffered a major economic shock a few years back when Russian aid dried up, leaving a wide range of public works stranded, although some are now being completed.

The Parliament recollects the history of Chinggis Khaan, and his offspring -- quite a long time ago for such a national icon.







Mind you, the said Khaan did rule rather a lot of territory back in the 13th century or so, including China, which has never quite got over it.

Also in the central square, the statue of the general who overthrew the White Russian takeover in the early 20th century appears to be point to new flamboyant architectural achievements.




More interesting urban planning insights next time.


- Posted when wifi permits, after Yi Chang I'd expect.

A double six

We took a risk and it paid off. Irkutsk -- almost the end of Siberia -- and the city on the banks of the major river that flows south from Lake Baikal, where we plan to water the horses, before the long sleigh ride across the frozen wastes ...

Only stayed in Irkutsk long enough for David to visit the special burns unit and get patched up more adequately than we had been able to manage on the train.



Then off on a little ferry across the river to the east side whereon lies Port Baikal, right at the base of the largest freshwater lake in the world, containing something like 20 per cent of all the world's fresh water.




Geology: Lake Baikal is a rift valley formed by continental plates pulling apart, growing a little each year. Four major and many minor rivers feed it, and only one leaves it, at the southern tip, whereupon it takes one look at the mountains further south and decides to meander thousands of miles north towards the Arctic.





Biology: Lake Baikal is very cold, very deep and very clean, reportedly because of the shrimpy crustaceans who gobble everything up. Sturgeon are found but no longer fished, but there are lots of other fish species, the most being small and very oily. We visited local museum and aquarium with self-cleaning tanks courtesy of the lake water, which included chubby little Baikal seals, top predators of the lake. Few visible when we travelled up and down the lake a little ...




Trainology: In the early 20th century, the TSE used to go across the frozen lake during winter (it would go by ferry in summer). Creakkk splash a couple of times and ... so maybe we will build a bridge? Lots of train bits and pieces round Port Baikal from it's glory days.



Architecture: DIY expansion of our B&B means that it is growing around us. Rough cut but serviceable to accommodate more visitors to Port Baikal now that Lystavyanka, across the lake, has become so touristy that the posh hotel even has wifi.




Finally, the long-promised sauna: strictly speaking, a banyah, and no running down to jump in the lake, although there was fairly gentle birching involved. 60C was quite hot enough for most of us. And so life goes on ...




- Posted when wifi permits

Training

A four night trip from Moscow to Irkutsk, sharing the coupe with Ruth and Wendy, both experienced travellers ... although everyone else in the group is as well, now that I think of it.




Several stops each day, although only two or three when it is long enough to get out and purchase food from kind women selling on the platform, sometimes clearly local produce ... cucumbers, tomatoes, roast chicken ... other times the usual water, beer etc.




Sometimes the competition for boiled potatoes with dill or for hardboiled eggs can get a wee bit fierce, leading to minor gloating by the successful hunter/gatherer.




People fall easily into their natural roles: drug provider, delinquent, upstairs maid, industrial accident, talent spotting supervisor etc.




Outside of the activities associated with these roles, a variety of recreational options are available, including competitive appliance charging, chess (Russia 11.5, England 5, New Zealand 2.5), bridge (when cheat sheet provided) and the increasingly international games of 500, Revolution etc.




More extreme sports include being scared by trains going past and playing spot the birch. Harry Potter made a welcome appearance, at least for those who could share earphones; how could we forget to take a splitter.


- Posted at another Starbucks, probably.

Moving on, Moscow

Two days in Moscow were more memorable for the metro, accommodation and for Maria, our unofficial guide, sent to improve Russo-Canadian relations after that nasty Starbucks incident. Also complete lack of wifi, despite expensive coffees. More exposure to canteen-style restaurants.




Off for the hard core train travel, via three metro stations. Yes, individual artistic decoration evident ....








Such a trip requires both careful planning ...




... and cautious imbibing of drinks. Little did anyone suspect that the trial by hot tea was only hours away.





The scenery from the train was fabulous, every changing. Apparently there were birches.








- Posted from Xi An Starbucks, probably

Red square, multicolored hair

So: Red Square has nothing to do with bolshevism, but just refers to the positive colour; the kremlin is a generic term, not to do with Moscow -- although admittedly echoes 'The Palace' rather than 'Downing St' -- and the Romanovs sent people into labour camps and exile in Siberia (which incidentally isn't the east of the country but the middle and which never had serfs, unlike European Russia) ...

These are all things Andrew would had told us if we weren't constantly quizzing hIm on when we could get laundry done, where the nearest ATM was, could we put the toilet paper into these toilets, and in fact where was the toilet paper ...




Fortunately Russia was a series of weddings. Members of our group appear in only a minority of photos of these events.




Vladimir Illyich appeared unwell upon our visit. The current President was not at work when we respectfully paid a whistle-stop visit to his offices. But there were a fine harvest of tourist groups visiting the Kremlin, discovering far more about the country's imperial past than about the past century ...



















And now for Liz's next trip ...


- Posted when wifi permits, rather rarely at the moment ...