On Wednesday 2nd September at around midday, the train arrived into Shanghai station. It was just over one-month since I had set-out from Devon, and this brought to conclusion my most epic train-voyage to date. The journey could have been much shorter, if we hadn't stopped off along the way. We could have taken the direct 6-day train from Moscow to Beijing; reducing the journey-time to just over a week. Travelling to the other side of the world by train is not all that common, as transportation habits go, so I spent a few moments reflecting that this is what I'd [View Full Entry]

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I'd had some difficulty procuring a ticket to China. Being a touristy destination of sorts; the travel agencies in Ulaan Baator know what's what, and buy-up train tickets in bulk for weeks in advance. The staff at UB guest house had found me a train ticket direct to Beijing, but after various agency-costs and donut-fees this was going to knock me back 140USD. So, having assessed the situation I opted to travel to Beijing the cheap way... The first leg of my journey was an overnight train journey to the Mongolian boarder town of Zamiin Uud. A coupe ticket cost me [View Full Entry]

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Arriving into Mongolia's capital on a chill-some morning, we were met at the train by a hostel rep offering us space in 'UB guesthouse'. Seeming like a good deal we accepted and jumped into a taxi. You can tell at once that Ulaan Baator is much more geared up for travellers. Most travellers use Ulaan Baator as a base to undertake tours of other places in Mongolia, such as the Gobi or Terelj national park. There're some worthwhile sights within the city itself, and during this first day we visited a few of them. Around midday we walked to the main [View Full Entry]

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After another overnight train ride we found ourselves in the city of Irkustk, close to Lake Baikal: the deepest and most voluminous lake on the planet. All trains in Russia run on Moscow time, so according to our ticket we would be arriving at 01:45am. Irkustk has a time difference of Moscow+5 hours, so in Irkustk-time we arrived at the more sensible hour of 7am. The train that we had been travelling on was headed for Vladivostok on the eastern coast of Russia with a time difference of +7 hours. Doing this train journey has really made me appreciate the vastness [View Full Entry]

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On the evening of 18th of August, we left Tolyatti by bus for the near by city of Sumara. From there we climbed aboard a train bound for Novosibirsk, capital of Siberia. It was a very hot evenning, and as we walked down the platform to find our carriage, everyone had piled-off of the train to get some air, most stripped off to the waist. I began to suspect that another 'banya'-like experience was on it's way. The train was indeed very hot, and on most Russian trains you can't open the windows- genius! But sheer fatigue made sleeping possible. During [View Full Entry]

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On the evening of 10th of August, we climbed into a chasnik taxi and made for St Petersurg station, where our two-day train voyage was to begin. Many cups of tea, several chapters of 'war and peace' and a game of chess later, we arrived in Tolyatti; home of that wondrous machine, the Lada. Tolyatti is an industrial city, well off the beaten tourist track, with a population of around a million. Apparently, around a half of the people in the city work in some capacity in the production of Lada cars, either at the massive Lada factory or one of [View Full Entry]

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The coach pulled into St. Petersburg on the morning of August 4th. Tom came to meet me and guide me back to his friend's pad where we'd be staying for the duration of our time in St. Petes. We took the metro to an area in the south of the city for 40 pence and then travelled by bus to Irena & Sophie's flat. Having dropped off my baggage we headed back into the centre and took a walk around the city. Transport is abundant and very cheap. The underground takes you to any part of the city for 20 rubbles. [View Full Entry]

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It was a warm London morning, when after one hour of sleep, I boarded the 'ecolines' coach bound for Riga, Latvia. Approximately 36 hours later, the coach reached its destination, and I headed off into Riga to locate 'Old Town Hostel'. The next day, I took a 'free walking tour' of Riga, with a guide who showed us some notable sights in the City, and gave a brief architectural lecture. Places visited include 'Stalin's birthday cake' and the ex KGB HQ. That evening, I boarded another bus, bound for St Petersburg, Russia. [View Full Entry]

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Spent a couple of days on the farm helping out here and there over Easter. Fantastic weather. Things are starting to appear in my veg patch. Campus, is really nice at the moment, but unfortunately Tom has a degree to finish! [View Full Entry]

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On a chilsome friday afternoon I set out from Nottingham with the group 'Engineers without Borders', towards CAT, centre for alternative technology. We arrived at the centre, to the warmth of the 'eco cabins' in which we'd be staying. The wood stove was in operation, giving us excellent relief from the cold. Later on we were joined by a group from Birmingham and then later by the second group from Notts (at around midnight!). The next day we made our way up to the site, for a talk with one of the Engineers about 'Zero Carbon Britain', the centres' proposal to [View Full Entry]

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