/Lelde/ Esam Kjina. Jau otro dienu. Ari te nu BAIGAIS karstums! Tikko paedam pusdienas, tagad nedaudz nogaidisim, kad lielumlielais karstums aiz muguras , iziresim ritenjus un pabraukasim pa perimetru. Brauciens ar vilcienu no Ulanbatoras lidz Pekinai bija ljoti omuligs - skats aiz loga, manuprat, fantastisks - nebeidzams tuksnesis... kas pa krasam un noskanju.......Musu kajiti okupeja ari tads jauks pusmuzha shveicieshu paris, kas visu laiku sukaja ledenes - vienjiem bija kadas 3 pakas ar koncham lidz vismaz:) Parak ilgi man Pekina uztureties negribas - pilseta, liela, druzmaina... Redze [View Full Entry]

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/Lelde/ tikko tikai atklaju, ka pedeja sadalja nebija publiceta un, lidz ar to, sanjemsiet zinjas ar baigo noveloshanos.:( Lai vai ka shodien - 06.06.07- parradamies no 7 dienu celjojuma pa Gobi tuksnesi. Gobi tulkojuma no Mongolju valodas nozime - tuksnesis. No visa ta teritorijas smilshu kapas gan aiznjem tikai 3 procentus, sniedzas 100km garuma, 13 km platuma un dazhas no kapam ir pat 300metru augstuma. Tu ir vesels storijs ar zinamu stresa piedevu un nepatikamiem atklajumiem par cilveku dabu, ka mes lidz tam tripam nonacam beigu gala... Varbut detaljas neiedziljinashos, gan jau, ja sa [View Full Entry]

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Atkal karstums, karstums....Nu, Ulan-Batora galigi neatgadina standarta galvaspilsetu - majas ir diezgan zemas, panolaistas, tuvu ne visi celji ir asfalteti, koka budeles un jurtas kaut kur pa malam sastutetas. Ari diezgan puteikljains. Man patik, ka viss te tads vel nestandartizets un nesakartots, necivilizets lidz pedejam. Un smarzho te pec jera galjas un aitam, nezinu, varbut tapec, ka mes shodien pusdienas edam bashi - tadi pelnmenjveidigi izstradajumi- ar jera galjas pildijumu, kas man nemaz negarsho... Aizgajam lidz Gandan Tengchili (shkjiet tas kaut ka ta raxtas) Templja vietai - viss [View Full Entry]

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/Lelde/ Izbrauciens ar transsibirijas ekspresi 006 bija tiri jauka, vel nebijusi pieredze. Shi piedzivojuma izbaudishanai bijam norezervejushi pirmo klasi (kaut ka negribejas 4 dienas no vietas viena kabine ar nezinamiem ljaudim) - kruta, ne?:) Nekads luksuss mus nesagaidija - braucamlidzeklja ziedu laiki jau vairak ka 10 gadus aiz muguras, vardu sakot, mus sagaidija tads baigais padomju retro :) Tualetes ljoti primitivas (nekadas dushas vai vannas, protams) nedaudz ar tadu urina iesmarzhu un diezgan prastu toaletes papiru - vismaz pirmajai klasei vareja "uzlikt" kvalitativaku produkti!!! B [View Full Entry]

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Labrit!!! Tikko ka piecelamies un neko par sho dienu vel uzraxtit nevaru, jo ta pat ta isti nav iesakusies:) Atcerejos, ka gribeju musu viziti vecaja Arbata pakomentet, ta ir tada ta ka mums Jomas iela Jurmala, bet nu man galigi neaizrava, izskatijas galigi sashljukusi un apbruzhata... Un vakar nakti bija tada fantastiska zibenjoshanas kadas stundas garuma!!! Skaisti! Nu, labi - jaiet. /Steven/ The day started with lightning. Not so many pics. today- for good reason. We nade a tour of Moscow's notable metro stations and we have heard that to take pictures here is prohibited,and would [View Full Entry]

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nu ta, otra diena Maskava "nolauzta". Shodien metro nemaz nelietojam, bet gaisa gabalus nogajam kajam. Un atkal dikti dikti karsts.... Pirms saku par shodienu nedaudz japastasta par vakardienu...tad nu vakar vakara iedzeram nedaudz alinju un dikti sagribejas uzpipet-gajam skatities kads publiks smekjetava tusejas, lai "aiznjemtos" vienu pipiti.Un ta nu viss kaut ka iesakas, ka beigas lidz plks.2 nakti notusejam ar jauku australieti Loreinu un citiem hostelja viesiem. :) Satiksme Maskava ir shausminosha - mashina mashinas gala, bruac bezmaz ka grib un ka mak, pipina diezgan konstanti kur va [View Full Entry]

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After an over night train from Riga to Moscow(17 hours) we found our hostel( we highly recommend the Napolean hostel - cheapish, clean good facilities, you can book it at hotelworld .com) and then rushed to get our tickets from the travel agent( more recommendations here- if you want to be sure that your tickets are booked for you on busy trains then use Svezhy veter- all details on www.seat61.com- which , in itself is a trove of information). So we've got our 1st class tickets as far as Ulan- Bator, perhaps a soft option, but being a couple, we [View Full Entry]

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The other day Lelde and I took a bus to the coast to go for a walk along the beach. This is when we saw a beaver cleaning himself by the sea. This brings the thought that Latvia's ecology is stil well intact, with a system that supports many large mammals, including wolves and the odd bear! Yesterday I experienced something new. Lelde and I were waiting at a bus, stop to go home, when an old coach pulled up, opening it 's doors. We got on and Lelde informed me that this is a form of ''unofficial'' public transport, something [View Full Entry]

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Some stats on Latvia: Popn. 2,259,810 (July 2007 est.) Ethnic groups - Latvian 57.7%, Russian 29.6%, Belarusian 4.1%, Ukrainian 2.7%, Polish 2.5%, Lithuanian 1.4%, other 2% (2002) Capital city with population: Riga - 874,000 Highest peak- 312m (Galzina Kalns) Forested Land: 47.1% Coastline: 531 km Terrain: low plain Here we are in Latvia - base camp for our mission to the Far East. A chilly start to our adventure- whereas Spring has well and truly sprung in Britain from where we have just come, here Winter is still being pursuaded to release it's grip. My (Steven's) first visit [View Full Entry]

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Here are some pictures from Easter weekend in Liepaja, in the West of Latvia. We were staying with Lelde's family on a farm in the countryside. It was pretty cold-it snowed a bit on Easter day. In Latvia, it is a tradition on Lieldiena(Lit. Big Day) to colour eggs by wrapping them in muslin parcels and adding leaves, flowers and anything else, then boiling them in water with lots of onion skins- nice results this year. We also played a lot of Novus, a traditional Latvian game with a sqaure wooden table with a circular whole in each corner. It 's [View Full Entry]

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