AlandJule

It was a fast train from Moscow to Saint Petersburg (especially compared to our 4 days on the Trans Siberian) we did the approximately 900kms in just under 4 hours. It was a smooth ride across more flat Russian countryside. We were booked into a small boutique hotel that had been newly renovated so was very comfortable and quiet after the throbbing masses of the Moscow hotel. The next day our guide meet us for another 16km long walk around the sights of Saint Petersburg. We stopped for coffee along the way and were served large coffees in soup bowls which kept us firing for the rest of the day. The churches and buildings along the main stretch of the city were magnificent again and we spent the morning strolling through these stunning buildings. The government ... read more

There was panic at the station (by Al )when we arrived at Irkutsk station in what we thought was adequate time and 1hour and 15 minutes before it was due to depart. As we looked up at the board to show which platform we were going to be on the only Moscow train was showing as departing at 13.22 and it was now 17:10 (we thought our train was due to depart at 18.22). When we looked at our tickets they said 13.22 also but the English directions from the travel company said 18.22. Aaarh we’ve missed our train!!! I went and asked a security guard if he could help as the information office was closed already. After a little while he returned to explain in broken Russian that the time shown was Moscow time not ... read more

We had a great dinner with Patrick in a restaurant that had sections for Japanese, Chinese and Mongolian foods beautifully furnished in the each country's tradition. We sat in a Mongolian ger to eat. Patrick was able to fill in the history and background of Mongolia and how this made them the Nation they are today. It was a helpful history lesson for us for our next two days in Mongolia. Our guide picked us up with car at 10am the next morning for our whirlwind tour of the city. First it was off to Chinnghis square, which is the central square of the city with a large statue of Chinnghis (Genghis in our vocabulary). He is very much the hero of Mongolian history and even now after any special event (marriage, birth, graduation) the whole ... read more

Welcome to our Trans-Siberian Experience blog. Today we begin our journey across Asia into Russia with some highlights of our last couple of days in Beijing. Thanks for joining us on the journey. We hope that you enjoy it as much as we will. There is nothing like arriving in Beijing in the middle of a couple of days of a tropical storm that drenched the whole of the east coast of China and produced major flooding in a number of areas. In the middle of this the Riches and ourselves sloshed our way around Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. We followed it up the next day with a trip to the Great Wall at Mutianyu in even heavier rain. Attached are a couple of photos from those two days that we managed despite the ... read more