A Year In Motion

We arrived in Lhasa at 5pm and were welcomed by our Tibetan guide Tondop, who greeted us with white scarves as a traditional Tibetan welcome, before taking us to our hotel. Lhasa is developing fast, and we were travelling along a modern road in the new Chinese part of the city. We saw the full scale of the urban spread of Lhasa, as the street on which our hotel was situated was still being built! As was our hotel, which we were to find out later. Anyway, after carrying my bag 200m along the rubble street, I had a headache and was feeling lightheaded and short of breath – classic symptoms of mild altitude sickness. We were brought upstairs to the agency office, and were given plenty of hot water, which is apparently the best way to adjust. The air is drier at altitude, so you need to drink more to offset this, and the hot water gets around your body quicker. Throughout the stay, hot water (no tea, no sugar, nothing) tasted delicious!

We were advised to rest for the evening to help our bodies acclimatise, so we went to bed and watched a movie and had some room service. The food was horrible and made us a little bit apprehensive about what we would be eating for the next week. We also tried the local butter tea (which is salty and made from yak butter). Ninfa managed a sip, I managed a cup, but really I was exercising my powers of endurance rather than enjoyment. The rest of the night passed uneventfully apart from the incessant building works which continued all night, the beds which were harder than the train, the artfully designed doors which left a two-inch open gap along the sides, and the nosebleeds from the throbbing pressure around our sinuses.

The next morning, Tondop brought us to the centre of Lhasa and the Jokhang Temple. The Jokhang is the oldest temple in Lhasa, and along with the Potala Palace is the most expensive sight we’ve visited so far on our trip. Prices for entry to monasteries in Tibet is very high, ranging from €6-10. But there’s no point in coming to Tibet if you don’t visit the temples and monasteries, and this proved well worth the admission price. Taking pictures inside the temples is another thing – in the open areas and courtyards, photography is free. But inside, the price can be as high as €100 for photos or videos, so don’t expect any photos of the inside of temples (except the Potala Palace where photography is forbidden, but where I sneaked a few shots).

It was the middle of Saga Dawa, a 15-day festival which culminates at the full moon, which marks the date of the Enlightenment of Buddha. We were on Day 8, which along with Day 10 and of course, Day 15, is considered particularly important. The square in front of the temple has two huge brick urns, which were pouring out the smoke of the flaming palm and juniper incense. All around us where we stood, pilgrims were prostrating themselves in front of the temple in prayer to Buddha. We walked into the temple and were greeted by a notable odour and a slippery surface underfoot; both the result of the copious amounts of yak butter. Most of the pilgrims hold a thermos flask or plastic bag of yak butter to add to the candles around the monastery as an offering to the countless Buddha embodiments. Monks around the temple convert 1Y notes (around €0.12) into 0.10Y notes, adding longevity to the pilgrims’ donations to each of the Buddha statues in the temple. There are hundreds of statues in each temple. The temple was absolutely mobbed, and there was a constant murmur of prayer as the people circumambulated the temple and numerous internal chapels in the traditional Buddhist clockwise direction. It was an impressive sight. As we stood in the courtyard inside the temple, we could hear singing, and our guide lead us up to the roof. We now had a view over Lhasa, situated on a flat plateau surrounded by mountains, as well as of the source of the music. Our guide told us that the Tibetans traditional work style is to sing while they build. They split into two groups and take it in turns to work and sing for 15 or so seconds, thereby conserving both energy and morale. They were all engaged in manual labour, but all smiling. We could have sat there all day – check out the video for yourself by clicking on the big picture below.

After the Jokhang temple, we broke for lunch and our guide took our passports in order to reserve our space for us at the Potala Palace the following afternoon. When he came back, we took a taxi to the Sera Monastery on the outskirts of the city, well, town. All taxis within the city cost 10Y, and the drivers definitely earn their reputation as suffering from what the locals term “10 Yuan Crazy”, as they drive like maniacs, braking, beeping and ignoring any lights or signs. The monastery itself is like a little enclosed village on a mountainside, with several rock paintings on the mountain above, but which we were too fatigued to climb for a closer look. Most of the halls in the temple are locked, so we had a look at some of them, and then went to the courtyard to view the famous debating. In the courtyard, the monks are lined according to their rank. The youngest are generally in the lowest rank and are the most boisterous, frequently jostling each other for position in the debate. The monks take turns in being seated, and asking questions, while the others stand before them, expounding their thoughts on the issues of importance, and enthusiastically slapping their hands for emphasis and to draw up energy from the earth for their further consideration of the topic. Further up the ranks, the debates are more considered but equally entertaining. Have a closer look on the video by clicking on the big picture below.

When we got back to the hotel, we found workmen installing telephone lines in our room, as almost everything in the hotel was still under construction. We were fed up, and I went to complain to our travel agent. As I was complaining, a Dutch group came in, and joined in. They started demanding a new hotel, and suddenly, there were five groups all demanding a new hotel. We were relocacted to really nice place, the Cool Yak Hotel, right on the doorstep of the Barkhor district – perfect location!

The Barkhor district is reknowned in Lhasa, as it is a kora (pilgrimage circuit) around the perimetre of the Jokhang Temple. Only the uninformed, or purposefully disrespectful (ie Chinese authorities) attempt to circle the temple in an anticlockwise direction. In our Lonely Planet guide, it advised to walk it several times, because just like a snowflake, no two instances are ever the same. And it was true. We walked it in the afternoon, which was quiet and gave us an opportunity to interact with locals and discover temples on the side-streets branching off the main circuit. And we walked it again just after sunset, a popular time for pilgrims, which left us completely dumbfounded and overwhelmed. It was almost impossible to walk on the wide street at sunset as the ground was covered with prostrate pilgrims who had come from all over Tibet. Each of the regions is distinguishable by different hair, generally braided incorporating brightly coloured ribbons on both men and women, and traditional dress from head to foot. The people are immensely hospitable, and even invited us to join the turning of the massive prayer wheel in one of the small temples. Although we had not planned it this way, we were enormously lucky, as our trips to Tibet and Nepal, two of the most Buddhist populations in the world, would coincide with the key dates in one of the key Buddhist festivals of the year – pure coincidence! Maybe we had some special karma, but what is great about the timing is that there is so much activity and many more temples than usual are open.

The Buddhists are reknowned for their non-violence, but the Chinese authorities in Lhasa take a different view. Throughout the monasteries are CCTV cameras. Near each monastery is a police station “for the monk’s protection”. In Lhasa, around the famous Barkhor market and circuit, army surveillance stand on rooftops, and every 100 metres is a police stand with several police and army. During lunch, we watched a bus arrive with a full squad of police who marched through the square. In the front of the temple and the prostrate pilgrims, a SWAT team officer stood with his automatic weapon,while two busloads of his SWAT colleagues arrived later to gather around the square. All entrances into the Tibetan part of the city are guarded by armed military, and several more patrol the streets. You’d think that you were in the middle of a war-zone, not one of the most peaceful people’s on Earth. The Chinese obviously aim to intimidate and exercise oppressive power, such is their habit. We spoke with many people who wanted to visit foreign countries but explained that the passport application process for a Tibetan normally lasts 5 years, with checks on the person, their family, their friends etc. You cannot even set foot in Tibet as a foreigner, without being part of a guided tour. The Chinese insist on holding a Chinese (or preferably Tibetan) national accountable for your actions, and their tool of choice is fear. And of course, the Dalai Lama, the holiest man in Buddhism is in exile, and his image (Buddhists venerate images of the Lamas) is forbidden. All Tibetans we spoke too expressly asked us to avoid addressing political issues as there are eyes and ears everywhere. As a tourist, hide your copy of the Lonely Planet or other guidebooks which mention the Dalai Lama, as the police will confiscate them if they have the chance. China – what a messed up society! There is no excuse for denying people human rights through a policy of fear and intimidation. Would you accept this in your country?

Moving on, one of the things we really enjoyed in Tibet was our visit to the Blind Massage. An NGO called Braille Without Borders (http://www.braillewithoutborders.org) sets up special schools for the blind in Tibet to educate them in English, massage and other skills which can earn them a living. It’s a great idea – massage is based on touch, and some people may prefer the extra privacy afforded them by a blind person. The massages were great, but what we enjoyed most was having tea with the staff afterwards. Genzen, Udun and Tashi were really hospitable and very capable people, and we admire them, their kindness and the charity very much. That was a very moving, and also relaxing, experience.

On our last morning in Tibet, the agency had messed up our itinerary. The agency was a disaster, so I insisted on seeing the manager (a Chinese man who didn’t speak any English). Eventually, one of the guides agreed to call him, during which time I was giving out to Corsen, our contact in Xi’an. We had had enough of the hotel, the noise, the messed up itinerary, and I demanded a full refund. We settled on a 1,000Y refund, which brought our budget back in nice shape. I felt bad for giving out to Corsen as he was very helpful and I recommend him, but beware of the agency in Lhasa who has a predisposition for making simple things messy.

That afternoon, our third guide brought us to the Potala Palace. It’s a tall, glorious, red and white palace which towers over Lhasa. It’s a tough climb at altitude, but we would rise another kilometre in height the next day, so we were glad for the test, and we passed. There are views all around Lhasa from the palace, including of the area which was once a settlement around the palace, but is now a massive paved square for a Chinese flag – hmm cultural awareness. The Palace has a bit of a museum feel, as pilgrims visit in the early morning, and we were becoming a little tired of numerous Buddhist statues – our pre-work on Buddhism had not been completed! What are impressive are the golden stupas which house the tombs of now dead, now reincarnated Dalai Lamas. Also nice were the 14th Dalai Lama’s rooms which he used before being driven into exile. But what I liked most were the hanging clothes of auspicious symbols everywhere which constantly move in the wind, and the bright coloured walls of orange, blue and lime, which dazzle in the bright light and thin air of the mountains.

That night we made our final preparations for our trip to the Himalayas. We bought local Tibetan altitude medicine (no Western medicine available so stock up before you arrive), 20 litres of water (4 litres a day per person) and two cans of oxygen (€2 each) in case of emergency.

Lhasa, where the people are so devoted and so friendly and who face adversity with a smile and their favourite greeting; “Tashi Dele” (good fortune and happiness to you).

Day 1

We’ve been up since 05:15, after about 4 hours sleep, in order to get to the train station in plenty of time for our 06:51 departure from Xi’an to Lhasa. So much of the early part of our journey is spent sleeping. We’ve been lucky. We have an upper and lower berth in a 4-berth cabin in second class (the highest class available on this train). Of the other two berths, only one is taken; by a French man travelling with a a group of 4 in the next cabin, so he only pops in to sleep. So we have a lot of comfort.

The first thing I notice, while awakening from time to time, is the mountainous countryside around Xi’an. After only an hour or two, we are already surrounded by huge hills on both sides, cut deep with valleys which are currently dry. Further on the train rises in elevation, and the hills no longer loom as high but are dry and arid. By about 4pm, we have already risen on to the Tibetan plateau in China’s remote western region of … . The train has already risen to an elevation of around 3,500m, on a flat plateau deceptively higher than any place I’ve ever been before. There is a huge lake that extends to the southern side, and the plains are dotted with small tents with smoking chimneys, prayer pyramids bedecked in colourful ribbons, and herds of yaks, horses and sheep as well as solitary shepherds. The terrain changes from flat plains coloured orange, then pale yellow, to desert sand dunes rising on the horizon on the far side of the lake – it’s an amazing mix of environments and as we travel further we begin to see small specks of snow on the far-off mountains, only 4,000 or so metres high. We have light headaches due to the altitude but so far are faring well. Tomorrow we rise to almost 5,000m as the train snakes its path closer to our destination, Lhasa and Tibet.

Day 2

I slept pretty well and pretty long. I woke for a while at one point during the night and was able to watch the driving snow reflecting in the headlights of the train engine. I was happy to be in the comfort of my train cabin.

I woke up this morning with a bit of breathlessness. The train was beginning to climb again. We are still on a plateau, although it seems we are climbing gradually all the time. The headache went away only to come back later, but not as bad as before, more a nuisance than anything. Today the train will be climbing to almost 5,000m altitude before descending a little and rising again to Lhasa at 5,450m. Walking up through the carriages earlier, I saw one passenger who had requested and plugged in the oxygen mask. She was white as a sheet. I felt sorry for her, but felt better in myself knowing that both myself and Ninfa were faring ok at this altitude. I feel the big shock is yet to come when we get to Lhasa, as it is surely a false sense of comfort we feel given that oxygen is being pumped into all the carriages at the moment.

 

One of the benefits of travelling to Lhasa by train is the gradual climbing and adjustment to the altitude. But the scenery is amazing, and altogether a much more spectacular journey than the TransSiberian and TransMongolian. Today we’ve seen snow-covered mountains shimmering in the bright sunlight, and a lake surrounded by a yellow shore, with red and blue water and red hills in the background. And these are just the teasers before the Himalayas … We will spend this evening resting / acclimatising in Lhasa, before exploring the city for two days, and then heading overland to Kathmandu, via Mount Everest itself!

 

While waitng for the infamous Tibet permits to be authorized, we flew roundtrip from Xian to Gulin in the South of China. We flew on China Eastern airlines and Hainan airlines, a flight of 1:40. From Guilin we took a bus to the very beautiful Yangshuo. It is an area of unmatched natural beauty surrounded by the karst formation mountains and the Li and Yulong rivers.

Yangshuo is one of those towns that has a special charm, due to the combination of its natural beauty, its culture, and ironically because of its tourist buzz. Yes it is a spoiled paradise, but nonetheless a unique paradise. Yes there are hordes of tourists, some westerners, but when in China , most of the tourists are Chinese. The climate was hyper humid and very foggy, and mosquitoes roamed everywhere, nonetheless we were captivated by Yangshuo from the beginning. Contrary to the other parts of China we had been in, English was widely spoken there, a big tourism oriented economy depending from it. We found a especially friendly girl from a tour agency, “Jenny”. Tony told her that since most Chinese had also Western names we also wanted Chinese names. So the next day she had come up with names for us and baptized Tony: “Li Cong Wen”, and myself “Li Hua”. Li is her family name (so basically she adopted us), Cong Wen meaning knowledge, and Hua signifying tree with strong life. She said she had tried to change her name officially to Li Hua herself but the Chinese bureaucracy was too much and in the end couldn’t do it.

We stayed in a very pretty and comfortable small hotel in front of a creek, and from our room we had amazing views of the karst formations that would increase or decrease depending on the mist. The whole town of Yangshuo is a tourist market selling all kinds of Chinese souvenirs, and tours of all sorts. There is quite a nightlife scene and abundant restaurants catering to all tastes. We enjoyed our time walking through the markets and appreciating the amazing scenery that encompasses the town. I like peace so I was easily annoyed by the touts that won’t leave you a minute alone, but Tony loved the attention and haggling with them, even though most of the time he would not buy anything.

We went on two tours in the rivers. First we went on a motorized bamboo (nowadays PVC) raft down the mighty Li River. This river was quite brown and the current was strong, but during the ride you appreciate the spectacular karst formations on both sides, and also some of the traditional way of life, such as farmers planting their rice terraces with the aid of their water buffaloes. It is in this part of China where we saw a more traditional way of life. The people wear their cone shaped hats and sell their merchandise from the double basket they carry on their shoulders. We also saw fishermen using cormorant birds to do the fishing for them. The Li river also had its share of touts. I was amazed to see how in a river in rural China, the merchants have set up computers and printers in small isles in the river. They take your picture from a distance and then your boatman without your consent takes you to them and they try to sell you the photo, printed in situ. Many others sell beer and souvenirs. An incredible ride down the Li River we had. We had not realized it, but this activity is illegal according to the Tourism Bureau as this river is quite dangerous. Illegal, legal activities in China – the infrastructure for this tours is very well set, and there are hundreds of rafts with tourists and no sign of the Chinese authorities doing anything about it…

We also took an authentic non motorized bamboo raft through the smaller Yulong river. Very nice shallow river with very clear water. It even has small parts where your raft slides down to lower parts of the river (perfect photo op for the touts to snap your pic). The karst formations there are not so pronounced but it is a very fun and beautiful journey, which I liked even more than the one on the Li river. Again there were many of Chinese tourists on it and they take fun of shooting water at people with some device they sell to you before the ride. It seemed quite a fun activity, but we were not part of it annoyed me when strangers shot water at us, as I have been trying to battle my bronchitis before getting to the altitude of Tibet.

We took advantage of the many massage parlors in town and were delighted to be massaged for 9 hours during the 4 days we were there. We tried all sorts of massage: feet, facial, head neck shoulders, oil body, and traditional Chinese body massage. The latter one is done with your clothes on and it is hard core, at points I felt like a masochist taking it all joyfully, but they were all worth it.

Not only did we indulge ourselves in pleasures but also in cultural Chinese activities. We took a class of Tai Chi in the local park. We really enjoyed it, as it is a balance between stretching, exercising and relaxation. We might even take it up in the future.

We took a course in Chinese cooking, not only did we make delicious food but we had fun while doing it. First we went to the market to see the local ingredients. I did not enjoy that so much as in that part of China they still eat dogs and you can see them being butchered in this market. It was a very raw and crude market making me want to become vegetarian again. I told the teacher I would not make the chicken dish, and asked her to teach me a tofu recipe instead. The Chinese eat all sorts of animals, as the teacher said: anything that moves we eat. She even admitted they eat rats. I did not see them in the market, but saw plenty of other live creatures including different types of live worms and frogs. As well there is an extensive quantity of rare and delicious vegetables in China and I was delighted at trying many recipes. It would be easy to become a veggie in China.

After the market, we went to the rooftop kitchen and were each assigned a cooking station. We prepared 3 dishes: Kung Pao Chicken, Beer Fish (the specialty of Yangshuo) and Pork Dumplings. I also made Tofu with mushrooms. We chopped all our ingredients, in different shapes according to Chinese traditions, then our meats and then we cooked, step by step. We (group of 6 students) then our creations. All were pretty tasty, except for the fish which was quite bony, as Chinese love to eat bony dishes.

Adding to the fact that I have always been interested in Alternative Medicine, I was still feeling sick and needed to get back in form before hitting the Tibetan plateau so it was the perfect opportunity decided to visit a “reputed” Chinese doctor, Dr. Lily – Li. Well…in 2 minutes she diagnosed that I had problems sleeping and and lack of appetite. She came to that conclusion after looking at my fingernails and taking my pulse and of course after my answers to her 2 questions about how I was sleeping and how was my appetite. Yes I was sleeping badly after so many trains and hard Chinese beds and my appetite was suffering because I was taking antibiotics and I was getting tired of Chinese cuisine… So 40 Yuan (5 Euros) for her 2 minute diagnosis and 450 (55 Euros) Yuan for her secret mix remedy (after I refused to get acupuncture from her)… Needless to say I did not purchase the remedy either, just a few more days and my Western antibiotics would heal me.

Unfortunately we had no time left in Yangshuo, but if we did we would have taken Mandarin lessons, chess lessons and a bike tour through the magical scenery. There is so much to do there that it would be very enjoyable to return. Now we had to get back to Xi’an and see our luck with our Tibet tour.

Booking train tickets in China is complicated. You have to go to the station in person, and queue at the single Foreigners desk to get any route information and tickets. From experience, the queue is always 20 people deep, but anyway so are the 20 other Chinese only desks. We had previously got information on trains to Xi’an but by the time we decided our preferred day, the tickets were sold out, so we had to buy 3^rd class sleeper seats on a slightly earlier train. Our first experience on a Chinese train (to Beijing) was left us less than impressed. So when we boarded the Xi’an train, we saw that our seats were in an open carriage with 48 beds divided into groups of 6, no cabins / doors, and no other foreigners. Ninfa took a while to become accustomed to our situation, but the Chinese were nice and helped us make space for our bags and get settled. Boarding a train in China is funny. When we went to the Great Wall, we were arriving at the platform 10 minutes before departure. All the Chinese were running along the platform to board as quickly as possible. When the platform attendant checked our ticket, she pointed to the clock and said “Hurry Up”. I couldn’t understand the rush, but then again, perhaps punctuality is not my forte.

Once on board, we went straight to the restaurant car for some relief from the claustrophobia – we were in the top bunks, which are about 50cm below the roof, so it’s a tight squeeze. The food in the restaurant was good and we stayed there almost until lights out. We also met, for the first of a few times in Xi’an, a group of Dutch tourists who were in high spirits. What we couldn’t believe is that one of them was wearing a Honduras shirt (initially we thought he was Honduran), and they were all drinking Jameson! By lights outs, we were all in high spirits and slept well until Xi’an. What we didn’t plan for was Ninfa picking up bronchitis because of all the coughing and sneezing in our carriage.

So on our first day in Xi’an, Ninfa stayed in to recuperate, and I went to see the Bell Tower and Drum Tower. In medieval China, the Bell Tower would herald the sunrise to the wall-guards and town citizens. The Drum Tower would announce nightfall. Each tower contains huge ceremonious bells and drums, and I was able to watch an interesting short concert in both.

Xi’an is famous primarily for the Terracotta Army which guarded the tomb of the emperor Qin Shi Huang who was the first to unite China under one single empire, standardising writing, language and measurements during his violent reign 2,200 years ago. As it turned out, we didn’t get to see the Terracotta Army as planned, but due to our Tibet travel arrangements, we were going to be spending another day in Xi’an after our trip to Yangshuo in Southern China. The main hall contains countless rows of warriors all facing the same direction and all individually designed to the minutest details of facial features and dress. It’s an impressive sight. The other halls contain current excavations as well as fragments of other soldiers who have not yet been reassembled by the archaeologists. I had opted to hire a guide to illuminate the history to us during our visit, rather than taking the recorded audio-guide. Bad move! She was less informative than the plaques in place in front of the exhibits. I had previously attended an exhibition in the British Museum in London a few years ago, and to be honest, I found that a more enlightening experience. Other than a few soldiers cased in glass, it is difficult to get close enough to see the detail on the pieces. On the other hand, the main hall is a sight to behold, and well worth the trip.

Another thing that Xi’an is famous for is its Muslim Quarter. It is home to the oldest mosque in China, and a web of pedestrian alleys lined by merchants selling anything from Quotations from Mao, to “100%” silk scarves to fake watches and SIM cards. It’s an entertaining stroll, speaking with the vendors, haggling for stuff I didn’t want (they always ended up accepting my offer of less than 20% of their original price!), and soaking up the atmosphere. It’s so difficult to find anyone who speaks English in China, that I’m thankful for the social interactions with street-sellers, if only to get to know the Chinese a little better. And for all their coughing and spitting, they’re friendly, and always meet a smile with a smile, or giggle and say hello. And despite what we read about Xi’an, we felt absolutely no threat of petty crime. But the mosque, I almost forgot. We had our fill of glorious mosques in the middle east, so I wasn’t expecting much from the Great Mosque in Xi’an, but it is unique in the mix of Islamic decoration and Chinese style, and is a little oasis of calm filled with birdsong, yet right in the heart of the buzzing Muslim Quarter. I really liked the aquamarine bamboo tiling on the rooves which added to the tranquil setting.

Another feature of Xi’an is its gateway to Tibet. It’s notoriously difficult to get to Tibet in China, and you must go as part of an organised tour – another example of the Chinese government’s obsession with control – but Xi’an has daily trains to Lhasa. We had made contact with Corsen, a hostel manager and tour guide in Xi’an who had assured us he would get us train tickets and a competitively priced itinerary around Lhasa and on to Nepal. His list price was 6,000 Yuan per person for a two-person tour, totalling around 1,400€. He offered us 4,800Y per person, and after a good 20 minutes of haggling, we agreed on 4,000Y pp (or €940 in total for a 6-day tour). It was still way too high and, as much as I liked Corsen who’s a nice guy, I resented having to pay so much to a Chinese travel agent who charges exorbitant rates to visit Tibet, while the Tibetans themselves cannot even compete in the market and earn that money themselves. And also, we expect Tibet to be very cheap once we get there. It’s a government-sponsored scam, and it hurts to have to play the game.

Anyway, Corsen agreed to allow us recruit another two people on the tour with us, which would lower our price further. In the end, he found another two people, and offered us a further discount reducing our price to 3,400Y per person. After a morning negotiation, and another subsequent evening negotiation less than 12 hours before our planned departure, I told Corsen that we weren’t paying more than 2,800Y per person, otherwise we weren’t going. We ended up agreeing on 2,850Y pp, or a total of €670 for both excluding train. This was thanks to a lot of research and e-mailling Ninfa had done with other travellers, and we were on a high thanks to our successful teamwork in saving €460. One thing I have noticed in Xi’an is that either Chinese people are terrible negotiators, or that everything is so cheap here that you would be paying too much if it was free.

Another trip we made from Xi’an was to a Panda Rescue centre on the city outskirts. I really wanted to see pandas in China, but unfortunately this experience was very much like a zoo. Granted that if the pandas weren’t in this centre, they would already be dead, it still failed to be as uplifting an experience as I had hoped. Nonetheless, seeing a panda slouched back with his legs spread out before him, munching on a carrot without a care in the world, will remain a fond memory.

We arrived in Xi’an on 12 May in the morning, and left to Yangshuo on the morning of the 14^th of May (read about that in our next post). We returned on the night of the 17^th and left again on the morning of 19 May to Lhasa. We stayed in a hotel that Corsen organised us for the first two nights, and then in the NanTang hostel for the last two nights, which we highly recommend – king-size bed, in a happening side-street that really comes to life in the evening, but with (as everywhere in China) frustratingly slow internet.

We finally arrived in Beijing! It was very hot, a drastic change from the cold weather we had been in since Moscow. We got out of the train station and were completely disoriented, the amount of people in Beijing streets was enormous. It was hard to walk around outside of the train station with so many people, and especially people who push and shove by nature, no courtesy to be expected. I did not think it would be so hard to communicate in the capital of a world power, but it was, almost zero english. I thought at least the young people would speak a little, but no, it was very hard to find people who spoke a few words. I also expected to find a huge tourist information office in Beijing’s train station where we would get our bearings of the city, none of that either. Every time we asked anyone for “tourist info” they would try to sell us a tour somewhere.

We try not to rely on guidebooks for three main reasons: a lot of the information is inaccurate, probably because it was researched years ago; much of the information is very subjective because of diverse reasons and according to who wrote it; and mainly because if it’s in a guidebook it means it’s a very touristy place lacking authenticity. As well as that guidebooks are expensive and weigh a lot. Anyhow, I try to research different sources before arrival, ask other travelers, and mostly rely on the local tourist info offices and especially seek the advice of the local people. We did finally find a tourist info office and it was as useless as not having a guidebook, the info in our hotel was also not so reliable as they only wanted to recommend the places they got commission from. We had no choice but to buy a guidebook. We went to many bookstores that sold English books and Western guides from all over the world, except the China one of course. Western guidebooks on China are banned, probably not only because they want to sell their own publications but because of the Western opinion on the Tibet issue. We definitely did not want to buy a Chinese produced biased guidebook, so we kept visiting all the bookshops in Beijing hoping to find one. We got lucky when an Irish guy heard us asking the salesman for a Western guidebook. He told us that his hotel sold LP guidebooks on China, so on we went to his hotel and we finally got it…an illegal copy of LP China. It is exactly the same as the original one, if it were not for some pages where the photocopy is a bit blurry and half the price, we would have never known it was a fake. Welcome to China!

Our first impression of Beijing was that it was very modern and expensive, it kind of felt like USA: 3 Starbucks, 3 McDonald’s, and 3 KFC per block. Seemed like capitalism was in full bloom and socialism nowhere to be seen. That was because our hotel was in the Wangfujing area, we did not know it then, but it is a very exclusive part of Beijing, therefore all the modernization, and lack of socialism on display. After spending some time in modern Beijing, we ventured into the heart of traditional Beijing, the real China, which is full of hutongs: old traditional neighborhoods in between narrow alleyways, a sort of maze that encompasses single-story, same-design, small houses with common courtyards. Sadly many of them are being destroyed to build massive buildings. In the hutongs we explored with all our senses the traditional way of life in Beijing, our favorite part of our Beijing visit. We took a pedicab through the hutongs and lakes of central Beijing, also savoured authentic cuisine, much tastier and for a tenth of the price than the “street markets” in Wangfujing area, which obviously caters for tourists only. We of course had Beijing Duck at the very famous Quan Ju De, where presumably Mao enjoyed his meals. They bring the duck to your table and start cutting artistically its different parts and instruct you how to eat them. Last they bring the duck bone soup. We also enjoyed plenty of noodles, steamed buns, dumplings, strange vegetables (veggie’s paradise), soups, rice, etc. and Tony had his try at scorpions and silkworms.

On a Sunday (bad choice of a day) we visited the the world’s largest and most infamous square, Tian’anmen. It has not much beauty of its own as other famous squares do, but its splendor is that it holds up to (and has had) a million people, for occasions such as Mao’s death. Maybe there were not a million that day, but to us it sure seemed like it. From there you can see the wall of the Forbidden City with the big photo of Mao on it. In China we have run several times into Chinese people who want to take their photo with us, we of course reciprocrate and do the same. Although most people in Beijing don’t have a clue about English, they are willing to give it a try and help you, and they always smile and giggle a lot. Oh and the Chinese love scandals, you see and hear a lot of yelling constantly.

After the snapshots and clearing security (in Beijing every metro station has a security check) we made our way into the majestic Forbidden City. And indeed a city it is. We spent half a day admiring it and it felt like we had seen nothing yet. You could probably be there for a week and not see it all. It was the home of 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties, along with their many concubines, and the political and ceremonial headquarters of China for almost 500 years, until 1912 with the abdication of Puyi, the last Emperor of China. It is composed of an outer and inner court containing 980 buildings in an area of 720,000 m2. The main attractions are its halls, temples, and its garden. Its construction was started in 1406 and it took 15 years and more than one million workers to complete it. One of its highlights is the Hall of Supreme Harmony which was used for ceremonial occasions. Unfortunately you cannot visit the inside of the halls and can only get a peak at them from behind the overcrowded windows. There is no doubt that the Forbidden City is a magnificent site in itself, but we have to admit it is not as well preserved as the important palaces and castles of Europe, especially the interiors, as it would be nice to go in and have a look at what their life was like in the day. However apparently there are efforts being made to restore it to its glory era, before 1912. Personally what impressed me the most is the architecture of the roofs.

As far as the obligatory visit to the Great Wall of China went, we knew that the Badaling section of the wall was going to be loaded with tourists as it is the most accessible, but we were too lazy to make the extra effort to go to a less visited area, so on we went in the modern fast train to Badaling. Oh boy it was crowded, even on a weekday it was mobbed with tourists, 99% local internal tourism. Well, we wanted to see the Great Wall and we did. Badaling is suppposed to be an easy climb as it has been restored, but it was quite steep and the steps are quite high as well. I’m glad we decided to take the cable car to the highest guard tower and take it from there. It is quite a sight to appreciate with your own eyes how the wall snakes through the territory. The different sections of the “Long Fortress” – literal translation from its Chinese name were built by different rulers in different periods of time. It is said that all the sections together add up to 8,851.8 km. Its purpose was to defend the territory from invasions, although it failed to keep out Chinggis Khan, but what it did achieve was to communicate different parts of the territory enabling transportation of goods and people.

Our highlight while visiting the Great Wall had nothing to do with the majestic wall in itself, but with the Amazing Race. The Amazing Race is my favorite show in TV since it started about 8 years ago. I introduced Tony to it and he has been hooked since. It’s about teams of two traveling the world and fulfilling challenges along the way. At the end each leg of the race (an episode) the last team to arrive at the pit stop is eliminated. The winner of the last leg takes a million dollars. The original version is from USA, but as well there are versions from Asia and Latin America, and some similar programs in Europe. Unfortunately we can’t apply to participate because we would both need to have the same nationality. Anyway this trip is our own amazing race, as repeatedly we are trying to get to places in a hurry and break the cultural barriers. Naturally during our trip we download every episode. The night previous to visiting the Great Wall we were watching one of the episodes in the USA version and it was in China. Just as we were going down the wall to the exit, Tony screamed: “Waoh… it’s the Amazing Race!” We couldn’t believe it, The Great Wall was the pit stop for a leg in the Asia version, the whole crew was working and the presenter was there ready to welcome the first team that was coming in. We waited of course to see the first team check into the pit stop. Although we could tell it wasn’t all as spontaneous as it looks once edited into TV, it was really cool to see our favorite show live! This is the second time we had en encounter of this kind in our RTW, as we saw Charlie Boorman, a very famous travel writer and actor, with his full entourage arriving into Wadi Rum at the same time as us. Just before leaving for our trip I was reading his first book on his travels around the world. We wouldn’t go as far as to ask autographs from anyone but it was still cool to see them live.

So far we have been to two of the greatest and most populous capitals of the world: Beijing in China and Moscow in Russia. Both are very far from Western culture and standards, but inevitably globalization is here to stay. Although Chinese women do not dress to kill as the Russians do, both love Western fashion. I would have liked to see more traditional dresses, but not even in the countryside did we see much. Hopefully we will be able to reach more distant places that preserve better old costumes and traditions. So far in the trip, the place where we have seen a more intact culture and less influence from the West is the Middle East. China is very different from the Middle East, it seems that in China women are treated as equals, they do all the jobs men do, from taxi drivers to construction workers.

The Beijing metro is not as impressive or extensive as the Moscow metro, but it is still the cheapest and best way to get around, especially with the additional lines built for the Olympic Games. Even in weekends and not in rush hours, the metro is always congested, making it even hard to breathe. You better learn to shove and push or you won’t get in.

Cultural differences between China and the Western world are so enormous that we would have to study much to understand them. I know in business this is important, as many deals don’t get closed with China because barriers are created with the lack of comprehension we have on their way of thinking. One thing we will never comprehend is the lack of hygiene. People fart in mid-conversation (and I saw worse), constantly sneeze, cough and spit at will, not even covering their mouths, it seems the loudest and biggest the better. It’s a never-ending chain, they all are sick because they keep spreading it this way, no wonder there have been widespread epidemics causing pandemonium. I’m not saying that some people don’t do it, but spitting in public is illegal in Ireland. This was a law passed to stop the spread of tuberculosis. In China, tuberculosis is still very present. Adding this factor to the contamination, wind and dust in Beijing, it came as no surprise that we both came down with a strong cold and chest infection, forcing me stay in bed for two days. It’s not easy to get Western medicine (in English writing) here, so thankfully we were prepared; what we did add to our diet was plenty of Chinese teas. Soon we had adopted the face mask to avoid anymore contamination. Another cultural difference that I still don’t get is their toilet system, they are very dirty in every sense. If they have adopted so much of the West, they should adopt Western toilets ASAP. I thought the Middle East would be the worst in toilets, but so far China wins the prize.

Beijing is a metropolis and in 5 days we experienced only a tiny bit of it. At least two weeks are needed to discover more of its culture. We enjoyed our first glimpse of China in Beijing and as well we got to see our friend Manuel, a colleague of mine from Brussels who had just been transferred two days ago to Beijing. Once again it was time to board our next train, this time a 13 hour overnight journey to Xi’an. When we booked our tickets the only class available was “hard sleeper”, until we actually got on the train, we were unaware that this was equivalent to Russian third class…and even worse… as the Chinese stack three beds (Russians only 2) on top of the other, so in total about 60 people in an open compartment, and the two of us were the only foreigners. We both got a third bunker bed, the space is so limited that the only position is laying fully on it. What a journey awaited us…

He says: Mongolia looks tiny by comparison to its two neighbours that surround it, Russia and China, but in fact it’s approximately the same size as Western Europe, but with a population of less than 3 million. So it would have been a shame to spend all of our three days in the capital, Ulaan-Bataar. We decided to split half the time in the city, half in the countryside.

We arrived early on Monday morning and went straight to the hostel to catch up on some sleep. We then took it easy for the rest of the day, strolling around the city, collecting our tickets for our final leg to Beijing and just getting our bearings. We both had some vertigo, so we weren’t feeling the best. We think it was a result of having spent so much time on moving trains, especially the bendy route on the last leg, and possibly the after-effects of having drank too much Baikal vodka. Anyway, what we did manage to do was to organise a trip to the Terelj National Park outside of Ulaan-Bataar for 9.30am the following morning.

We drove out through the city suburbs, where apartment blocks gradually become replaced by gers (traditional Mongolian circular tents), where some of the locals ride their horses along the streets and the cows stroll down the footpaths. When we arrived at the camp where we were staying, we met the previous group who were leaving, one of whom told us she had spent the coldest night of her life there, and not to let the fire go out. We took mental note, and went off on a horse-ride with our host’s son, Anand. Communication is always a problem in Mongolia, but Anand was nice, and we saw plenty of horses, cows, goats, ground squirrels and big yaks and camels. We had read that Mongolians love any excuse for singing, and apparently Anands’s excuse was riding a horse.

The Terelj is a long valley surrounded by sloping plains interspersed with rock formations. In summer, these plains are lush and grassy but today it was barren after the melting of the winter snow. Our horses were tired so we headed back to camp for lunch. The camp was a little disappointing and not overly authentic, and the family were not very hospitable. We were disappointed as we had read of better experiences, but we made the most of it and went for a walk up one of the hills to get a better view of the valley. The things I liked best about the Terelj were the scenery and the wildlife. There is barely a fence in all of Mongolia (imagine Western Europe), and the plains are open for the animals to roam free, or as far as their farmers will let them. Everywhere the landscape is dotted with gers. And all day, birds of prey circled overhead and occasionally drew in their wings to dive down. It was so quiet that I could even hear the diving bird shooting through the air before I’d see it. I hope those birds were getting better food than us.

Nighttime in the steppe brought the cold, and we put so much wood on the fire, we were both soon sweating. We woke up a few times in the night to light it again, and kept warm and slept pretty well. When we did awake we would go out and look at the stars which covered the sky. It was easy to imagine yourself back in the times of Chinggis Khan with the surrounding tents, the dogs occassionally barking, and practically nothing else.

The next morning, we headed back to Ulaan-Bataar. Ulaan-Bataar is a city of contrasts, between the modern and traditional buildings, but also between the old and the young. Many of the older people wear the traditional Mongol der (full-length embroidered jacket), while the young people are quite fashionable and trendy. We found a couple of young people in the massive Sukhbataar square, the main square in the city, giving free hugs (we didn’t charge for ours either). Others were rollerblading and riding tandems, and some were obviously celebrating a big traditional occasion, given their attire.

Food in Mongolia gets bad press, and justifiably so in our opinion. From the first evening when we ordered a mutton soup (we didn’t know we were ordering mutton soup), nearly every restaurant we entered smelled of stewed mutton. We usually left those and ate elsewhere. What we did try was a Mongolian barbecue where my chicken had a bit of a muttony flavour; tsuivani which is a noodle, salad and beef dish; and khushuur which are usually filled with beef, but if you’re lucky, only potato and onion. We also tried buuz, lamb dumplings, which were in fact mutton dumplings and remained largely uneaten. For the first time on our trip, we sought the refuge of pizza. We’re really looking forward to some good Chinese food in Beijing.

Mongolia is very inexpensive, food is awful, but there’s a vast amount of wilderness for people to explore. We just saw a little, but many people go on trips to the Gobi desert. We’ll just have to settle for a look at it from the window of our train as we pass through it on the way to China. The country has a very traditional way of life given its love of horses and country life in the gers. And Ulaan-Bataar has plenty to offer for a few days visit, and the people are friendly and approachable. We were warned however not to walk the streets after midnight as many muggings take place, but we can only take their word for it. So we’re glad we chose to travel through Mongolia, and glad to be moving on to our next stop, China.

She says: I don’t read much fiction, generally all I read are travel stories, country reports and maps. During the last few years I had read a lot about Mongolian lifestyle and many travel reports of what a wonderful experience traveling in Mongolia was, I couldn’t wait to get there. Tony and I named our top 10 must-see unmissable destinations, Mongolia was one of mine. Maybe my expectations were set too high, and that is why I am leaving unsatisfied. I knew UB was one of the most unassuming capitals in the world, but I was really looking forward to experiencing the traditional Mongolian way of life in a ger. We don’t like tour groups as most of the activities are touristy and lack authenticity, so we didn’t book our trip to spend a “traditional authentic Mongolian experience” in the countryside through a travel agency. Our guest-house offered us a more independent traditional experience with a local family, so we went for it. On this occasion, we should have gone with the big tourist groups.

So much for traditional… By the time we left I had figured it all out. The family actually lives in UB, the woman and 13 year old son just come to the ger when they have tourists sent by the guest-house (they are friends of the owners) we were at. They are not nomads, they just have a property with animals and a man that runs it for them. They have two gers for tourists, which are very basic, not beautifully decorated like the authentic ones. Their own ger (which we were not invited into) has electricity, a huge flat screen tv with dvd and surround sound and a satellite dish. We knew that the traditional dairy products they make would probably not be of our liking, but we still wanted to taste them. We got none of that, not even mutton. We got a sushi roll (which I later saw in the supermarket), package cookies and blackcurrant tea. The horse ride was not very scenic and the poor horses could barely carry us. The kid had a motor bike and he kept showing off, he even rounded the animals with the motorbike instead of a horse. The night was chilly, but thanks to the English girl’s warning we were able to manage. Tony had to insist for enough firewood to put us through the night.

On a positive note, we hiked up the mountain and enjoyed the beautiful surroundings of Terelj National Park, we played two rounds of Scrabble and saw plenty of movies and tv in our laptop. I love dogs and miss my dogs a lot, so I was very delighted to be in the company of dogs at least for a short time. People say Mongolian dogs are savages, but I tamed the three we had, and they even stood guard during the night outside our tent. I know a night and 2 days is not enough, but all others we met and did the same had a rewarding experience. I leave unsatisfied, but with the resolution of returning to this country for a longer period of time, with better , for a longer period and to a more remote area.

At first, UB, the capital seemed not so nice, but after spending some time in it, it grows on you. If you stay around you will have some fun around Sukhbataar square. We found free hugs, and many people wanting to pose in photos with us. I shall return.

We planned for a two day one night stop in Siberia, to have a look at life in one of the most remote parts of the world, a harsh land of harsh people. The plan was to see the biggest city in Siberia, Irkutsk, and the deepest and biggest freshwater lake in the world, mysterious Lake Baikal, which is the size of Belgium.

We first had a look at Irkutsk, the capital of Eastern Siberia. 5191 km away from Moscow, but still Russia. We were definitely East, Much of the population in Irkutsk has Oriental features, different from the average Russian person in Moscow who is generally very white and light colored hair. In Siberia you see both kind of Russians and in some you can see the mix in features.

So far in our journey, the English language was only spoken by a few and the only place we’ve been where our alphabet, the Roman is used was Turkey. Here in Siberia, if they know 10 English words you are lucky; but Tony is great at languages, so by know he has learned the Cyrillic alphabet which helps us get by.

Part of the fun in our journeys is figuring out how to use public transport, so we hopped on the Irkutsk tram and headed to the Central Market. As any market it sells anything you need, but we always try to find the local produce and things that we have never seen or tasted. Tony detected a “chocolate” stand, so of course we had to try Siberian chocolate. It is greyish brown in color, shaped like a thin flat stick and comes in a zip lock small bag. If we were in Amsterdam, we would think that hash was being sold now in stands in the market. We had a bite…and it was not chocolate…it was an unchewable hardened paste tasting of bitter herbs. Not tasty at all, I had to spit it out instantly! Then tony spotted a kvas tank. Kvas is a Russian malt drink that Tony had taken a special liking to in a previous trip we had made to Russia. He was very delighted when he saw a big yellow tank in the middle of the park with big black letters “kvas”. A woman sits at the front of the tank and dispenses it to different size containers.

Afterward we took a walk around the city, having a look mainly at the Siberian architecture in houses. The houses are beautiful: all wooden with a specially carved facade and decorated windows, like lace out of wood. Some of these houses belonged to the Decembrists, a group of aristocratic liberal officers, artists and nobles responsible of an ill-conceived coup against Tsar Nicholas I and the Bolsheviks, in St Petersburg on December 26, 1825. As a result some were executed and the others exiled into Siberia and then followed by their wives, and made the city prosper by creating schools, scientific societies, hospitals, theaters, newspapers, etc.

After our taste of Irkutsk we headed in a local minibus to Listivyanka, a small settlement in the shores of Lake Baikal. To our delight, the lake was still frozen. The locals said that in 4 or 5 days, the ice will have melted. We walked on the ice in the lake for a while, until we felt that the portion we were walking off had started to break loose. We carefully walked back to shore and sampled a few local vodkas to calm us down.

There is a small local market, half of it sells smoked fish and the other sells souvenirs. Needless to say our favorite side was the fish side. You can’t go into Lake Baikal and not eat a whole smoked Omul fish. We ventured, and to our surprise it was actually really delicious! For dinner we tried some more local specialties in a nice restaurant in the woods overlooking Lake Baikal and we were equally satisfied with our Omul and Siq (the other, more expensive fish of the lake) fillets baked in a “Russian way” in a foil in the oven with local vegetables. But the real surprise was our starter: Raskokatla (something like that). I had read that it was the local specialty: fish in vodka. Small pieces of fully frozen fish arrived in our table and we thought it was mistake. The waiter said it was “Siberian specialty”…We also enjoyed the taste of frozen Siberian berries with mountain honey.

A major highlight was experiencing the traditional Russian sauna, the banya. We thought that we would actually get to jump in the Baikal lake after the sauna, but apparently it’s not the norm. The Nordics have a similar experience, but it wasn’t like that in Baikal. You pay for the hours you want to stay and actually have the whole banya to yourselves. There is a very hot sauna (so you wear a funny hat to protect your hair), and then a pool with Lake Baikal freshwater which you can dive in. In Russia, they use a branch of birch to hit yourself or others with the purpose of increasing circulation. We didn’t know exactly how or at what point to do it, so we made a big mess of leaves all over the place. We had a very relaxing time during and after the banya, which alleviated us a bit from so much train travel. We had bought a bottle of Russian champagne, but we were so tired that we fell asleep before opening it. We had left it for cooling in the exterior part of our window and by next morning it had been stolen! But the manager at the hotel “found it”.

Next day before heading back to Irkutsk to embark on leg 2 of our train journey, we purchased some more local delicacies and accompanied by the local brew, ate them in a wooden hut in front of the frozen lake; in the company of Francisco, a very well traveled and friendly fireman from Barcelona, whom we had met on the train. We had a nice time sharing life and travel experiences.

Now on to Mongolia.

We haven’t been doing a lot of video recording so far, but with so much time, and often little to do, the Trans-Mongolian changed that. So to add to our previous post, check out my travel video diary below.

All video channels are stored on our Videos page, where you can currently check out some of our latest adventures in Beijing!

Ever since I can remember I have dreamed about taking a long train journey into foreign exotic remote lands. Tony loves taking trains as a mode of transport. We took the Transsiberian Express from Moscow to Irkutsk and from there, the Transmongolian Express unto China via Mongolia.

We divided the journey in three parts:
Moscow to Irkutsk in Siberia: a journey of 5153 km, 4 nights and 3 days on train number 10.
Irkutsk to Ulan Bator in Mongolia – a journey of 1112 km, 2 nights and 1 day on train 362.
Ulan Bator to Beijing, China – a journey of 1357 km, 2 days and 1 night on train 24.

We both were very excited before boarding and curious about the journey and our companions. Tony has been looking forward to reading a full book on board. Just after departure he realized that he had lost his only book left, he left it in the plane in Moscow. Bad news for him.

There are three classes of accommodation in the trains: first, second and third class. We opted for second. The compartment was much smaller than expected so I was hoping we would be lucky and have the compartment to ourselves, but no such luck. From Moscow we shared the compartment with Alexander, a Russian young guy who despite Tony’s friendly efforts spoke maybe 10 words in total to us during the 24 hours we shared the cabin with him. When he got off a young Dutch couple joined us. We had a good time with them chatting and playing Monopoly and Scrabble. We also met travelers from Scotland, England, Spain, Australia and Ireland whom we shared good times and with some of them, the three legs of the journey.

At the beginning time seems to go by really slowly, but before you know it you get into the routine that most everybody seems to share: sleep, read, sleep, watch movies, sleep, listen to music, sleep. There was a restaurant car in the Russian train and just for the experience we sampled overpriced drinks and a a skimpy and not very pleasant meal. It was so bad that the instant noodles we had bought tasted delicious afterward. Very few people eat in the restaurant so the choice of meal is instant soup, as every wagon provides boiling water. There is no refrigerator or microwave so snacks as pickled vegetables, chocolates, chips, nuts, fruits, and even baby food were our main options besides the soup.

For the first hours it seemed that the scenery would not change from bare skinny trees. But suddenly it started to snow, to the point where in one town there was a snowstorm and many inches of snow started accumulating.

Getting deeper into Siberia it was nice to see the little villages composed of mainly small wooden houses painted in pastel colors and with beautiful windows. This was more like the journey of my dreams.

Most wagons have 9 compartments with 4 sleeping berths in it, and 2 toilets and sinks. If you get lucky (or maybe pay more) you might get the odd compartment that has only 2 berths or even 1. If you don’t speak the language it is very hard to communicate in the station or to the train attendant (provodnitsa) what you want. There was one first class cabin, and I am glad we did not pay the extra money for it because it is almost the same as 2nd class, 4 people to a compartment as well. The only difference was that it has a sort of shower. We still got to use it by paying the provodnista a fee of about 2.20 Euros per shower. There are two provodnitstas (almost all women) per wagon, one for day and one for night. Her job description requires her to direct us to our seats, keep our tickets until the end of the journey, clean the toilets to a very minimum standard, hoover the carpet, and most importantly make sure everybody is not making noise after 8 pm, or else she will call the on-board police on you. They speak no English and are very old school Russian military style so it is not very easy communicating with them, but Tony charmed her so they became friends.

On our last night of the first leg we decided to walk the train from top to end and it turned out to be a bad idea. We went to third class and realized we had been right about paying for second class. Third class does not have compartments, just many beds to a wagon and after three nights it felt very stuffy to say the least. There were many Russian military men on third class and as we crossed from one wagon to another (the smoking space) three of them started communicating (minimum English) with Tony. Then a big Russian man in civilian clothes joined in. He obviously had much to drink and started causing trouble for us, intimidating us in different forms. We were trapped in between two wagons so it was hard to escape, until one of the military guys intervened.

We had so many expectations of the “Vodka Train” as they call these long train journeys in Russia, but we were first disappointed that in second class and first class there was no vodka going around. It is obviously in third class where it goes around and after our encounter, we were glad that we were not part of it.

In our second leg of the journey from Siberia to Mongolia we got a more modern train. It even had a tv in each compartment, yet we still don’t know for what use. The berths were much more comfortable. When we boarded there were several empty compartments so with more experience and after much begging and negotiation (big tip) we got the provodnitsa (more relaxed than the previous ones) to give us a compartment of our own.

It took about six hours to clear paperwork in the Russia border. You are allowed to get off the train for the three out of the six hours it takes, but of all the stops we have made, the town in the border is the least interesting, with no vendors on the ramps and with nothing to do for so long. On the first leg we had many stops of over 15 minutes and some very interesting because of the produce they sell on the ramps. Not only do you get to stretch your legs but if you are adventurous, savor the local delicacies. At one stop they were selling big smoked whole fishes. Tony attempted many times to eat the local pastries, but every time he realized it was meat and just to be on the safe side, it would go straight to the bin. At one stop, the vendors stretches a carpet on the rock in front of the “tourist wagons” and displayed their homemade dishes: cabbage, pelmeni (Russian raviolis), blinis (Russian crepes) and roasted chicken. We did try almost everything, nothing of spectacular taste, but enough to nurture us, as the snacks were not enough, and a bonus is that we did not get sick. And of course, the kinds of beer on sale are numerous and of all sizes and sorts, ranging from a normal small bottle to a plastic bottle of 5 liters. We did try many brands, but were not brave enough to try the cheap 5 liter bottle.

Russian authorities get in the train to check documents and inspect very thoroughly the compartments to make sure nothing illegal is being smuggled out. After six hours we finally started moving. 30 minutes later Mongolian authorities were on board and we had definitely left Russia. What a change, the officers spoke English and even smiled and made jokes. I did get asked for money by an officer, but it was only a Honduran coin for his collection. First time he met anyone from Honduras so he could not pass up the opportunity. Paperwork took a shorter period of time so quickly we were let free to roam the town for over an hour. Tired of snack food, we found a small local restaurant-bar-pub-cafe-karaoke (as they all are in Mongolia) and started savoring the local food. No English menu was available so we guessed some words. We made a good choice and a bad choice. The bad choice was the local soup: mutton and noodle soup. Just a smell and small taste made me go off mutton and become a vegetarian in Mongolia. It would take Tony longer to go off it, but he also did. Lamb is a delicious dish, especially in Ireland, but mutton is the total opposite. By the time we arrived at the border our wagon was the only one left on the train, and then the only Russian wagon, as Mongolian wagons were attached for the new passengers for the rest of the journey.

That night in our deluxe private cabin we had our own private vodka party. We arrived at 6AM in Ulan Bator (UB) and the guesthouse had arranged free pickup for us, just to make sure the other touts wouldn’t make us change our minds about lodging. It was either the much bumpier journey, the vodka feast or the mutton, but I arrived not feeling the best. We both suffered from vertigo for a few days and for many days after I would dream all night about being in the train and would wake up in the middle of the night looking out the window and thinking we were at another train stop. Only until the next morning would I realize we were in a real bed in a real room.

3 days later we hopped in the train for the last leg: UB to Beijing. The Chinese train was a bit older than the two Russians we had been on, was not as comfortable and the hygiene standards were far inferior and our carriage attendant (all Chinese young men) was quite rude. Even the meanest of the Russian provodnistas would seem friendly next to him. We had an Irish and a Japanese roommate. The only improvement in this train is the restaurant car. It is a Mongolian car with Mongolian food and Mongolian decor, most of it of finely carved wood. The scenery is the Gobi desert with few life to be seen. The only movement is the occasional sandstorm or 4×4′s roaming the desert. If I thought Siberia was harsh, this is worse. I don’t know how the nomads do it. They say that this winter has been so harsh that about 45,000 million animals have died.

We spent this last leg playing cards and chatting with the travelers. All travelers who are on this train are very well traveled people, normal tourists don’t do this kind of trip. Some people are only traveling for the journey and then going back home, but most of us are long term travelers, some are traveling for a few months, some for a year, some indefinitely and some until money runs out. It took about six hours to clear border of formalities between Mongolia and China, but most of the time was changing the wheels of the train, as the tracks are different size in China. Each carriage is lifted up separately to change the wheels. This is done with the passengers inside so we got quite a good banging and rocking.

The restaurant car was changed once again, this time to Chinese cuisine and decoration. After the Russian experience we did not venture into trying any more train cuisine, so we stuck to our bottled food, instant soups and snacks. Once in China the change of scenery was dramatic. The region is very mountainous, we were surrounded by high peaks so a lot of the journey was through short tunnels.

We booked and paid in advance for our train tickets through an agency. We were afraid that it would be too late to buy them once we arrived in Russia, and having no days to spare we wanted to assure our tickets. Maybe during high season you need to do this, but April and early May are still low season and we could have saved at least 150 Euros each by waiting until Moscow. Peace of mind came at a high price.

With a bit of delay, 7622 km further East and 11 days later we finally arrived in Beijing! After such a journey we felt like we deserved a diploma. We did it! In some ways it was all we expected and in some ways far from it. Would we do it again? No doubt about it!

Leaving Tel Aviv, it was the start of another day of glorious weather on the Mediterranean coast. Exiting Russia’s Domededovo airport to board our shuttle bus to the metro, we were greeted with an icy wind and a sprinkling of snow – lovely! It’s my second time in Russia (Ninfa’s third), as we had already been in Saint Petersburg in October 2008. Two things that quickly come back to mind now that we’ve arrived in Moscow are the Cyrillic alphabet, and the size of Russian cities.

It’s hard enough to understand a foreign language, but put it in an alphabet other than the Roman alphabet, and that spells “serious communication problems”. Since I arrived in Moscow (MOCKBA), I’ve been trying to decipher the Cyrillic alphabet, which so far has provided me with hours of fascination. Progress is mixed – I can read, sometimes understand, but still cannot conduct the smallest conversation in Russian.

As we walked down Tverskaya Prospect (TBEPCKAЯ ПPOCPEKT), I could not understand the madness or foresight of the town planner who had mapped out streets 12 lanes wide with footpaths 2 lanes wide on either side, and all this before cars were common. What was he thinking?!

We stopped at a little Georgian Restaurant for dinner which we had read about in the free English-language newspaper on the plane (I left the paper and my book in the airplane seat pocket – no reading material for the TransSiberian, ouch!). The food was great – baked bread filled with egg and cheese called khachapuri, a mushroom ravioli-type dish called pelmeni, and our first taste of Russian vodka. It was a big shot, and a suitable occasion to toast our return to Europe – no place like home (or 7,000km near it)!

We weren’t going to be in town for long as we were about to depart East the next day towards the Urals that cut Russia in a North-South line. And this crossing would be the second time in a month that we would travel from from Europe into Asia. So on our whistle-stop visit, we decided to walk off dinner and stroll down towards Red Square and the Kremlin.

We approached Red Square from the North, and entered through the main gates. As you get close, the multi-coloured onion domes of Saint Basil’s Cathedral become visible behind the gates and it’s a breathtaking sight. All along the eastern side of the square, Gum (ГYM) was lit up in white lights as if it was Christmas. This was formerly the State Department Store in Soviet times, where you would find lengthy bread queues. Today it’s home to the world’s best known fashion stores, and you need serious dough to buy anything there! On our right hand side was Lenin’s Mausoleum which is the resting place of the father of the Russian Communist state. After taking our time taking a closer look at the amazing detail of decoration on Saint Basil’s we walked to the nearest Metro, which ended up taking ages – Moscow is small on a map, and immense on foot.

In a lot of cities, travelling on the Metro usually results in getting places fast, but at the price of missing out on the sights and character of the city on the surface. Although this may be true, riding on the Metro in Moscow is a sightseeing trip in itself. I don’t know if we were lucky with all the stations we had to travel through, but they were spectacular. Allegedly constructed in order to double as nuclear bomb shelters should the need arise, the palatial settings are a testament to the Soviet propaganda. I insisted on documenting the experience in photos, so check them out in our Europe>Russia section. Moscow is a city of 15m people, so the excellent state of the stations is impressive. Some of the nicest people we met in Moscow, we met on the Metro. Although the Russians might not smile a lot, we found them very warm and welcoming once we asked them anything. Anyone we stopped always took time to give us directions. I’m not sure you would find that in other cities that big, but we’ll make those judgments when we visit the other big cities.

I hate to end a post on a bad note, but I did notice some things that I did not like about Russia. No doubt about it, alcoholism and binge-drinking is a problem here (as in a lot of other places) – there are a lot of people who get completely ruined drunk. Additionally, racism is quite evident. And a lesser problem, but something that neither of us like, is the amount of spitting that Russian men do.

So as not to finish on a negative note, let me add a few more points. Remember that Red Square is closed on Mondays, so we could not enter Saint Basils, visit the inside of the Kremlin or see Lenin in his Mausoleum. We also used our Moscow time (and a late hotel check-out) to catch up on laundry and do shopping for eating on the Trans-Siberian – necessities of life on the road. And you can buy a take-away of blinis and caviar for about 3 euros. Caviar for the masses – wasn’t that what communism was all about?