GrayRailwayJourneys

I have opened my first Flickr account and here's the link Philip Gray on flickr It covers St Pancras through to leaving Moscow. It seems to loaded them backwards. Sorry about that! Philip... read more

And finally we're here! There's been a bit of a break, as we've been very limited as to internet access since Almaty... We left Uzbekistan on the 6:43 to Almaty; a journey of approximately a day and a half. The first stage was nice and easy, as usual, until we hit the border crossing, then the usual interminable wait set in. Fortunately the departure from Uzbekistan was less fraught than the arrival, and it was rather nice to see the little guards compound from the train, rather than the inside, listening to the train departing without us. So, two hours at this border, which was interesting as the customs guards did identify a couple of the huge nylon bags, under our seats, and questioned us regarding them - clearly they weren't ours, and further conversations with ... read more

Leaving Kazakstan was fine, the border guards & customs did their usual checks, with a few showing interest because we were tourists; something of a rarity on this route apparently. The Uzbekistan entry started out nice and easily too...customs forms aside (although our friendly providni (a great big, incredibly helpful bloke, who spoke more than just a few words of English). Incidentally he also sorted out our first tranche of Uzbek Sum, for which the black market is a much better rate for exchanging (Euros, Dollars, or Pound Sterling!) We had the initial interest as expected by now for being tourists, and the passports were collected in the usual manner; typically the passports are collected, then returned an hour or two later, either by the providni or the border guards. We heard the usual stamping of ... read more

We arrived in Moscow and made our way to Kazanskaya station where we were to catch the train to Tashkent at 11:30pm later that day to leave our backpacks in left luggage. Well what to do with half a day in Moscow? We’d done Moscow last time when we had a whole day. Lunch near the Bolshoi and then acting suspiciously for 20 minutes looking for a geo-cache? Everybody knows St Basil’s cathedral on Red Square, the one that looks as though it is an advert for pick and mix. This time we looked inside; no big spaces at all; it is series of very high chapels all vividly decorated. See here for photosynth panorama: St Basil's Interior For the late afternoon a lazy time on Moscow River, cruising past the Kremlin, the Moscow parks and ... read more

Sitting in a marshalling yard in Ukraine The last visa arrived with 20 minutes to spare and to keep up with the theme David and I caught the train to paris with 10 minutes to spare. It was the usual swift journey to Paris arriving at the Gare du Nord at about 12pm. It’s only a short walk to the Gare de l’Est but we were pleased we had 45 minutes transfer time. Enough of this leaving everything until the last minute. The TGV raced us through France until we reached the hills by the German border; very pretty but not much Grand Vitesse. Our plan was to meet Peter in Munich but we found ourselves on the same train, in the same carriage on the way from Mannheim. We enjoyed beer and a good meal ... read more

And we're all set! Good news! Dad got his visa...with 20 minutes to spare....so now he just needs a ticket to get from Almaty to Beijing, hopefully on the same train as us - so that one is now back with Real Russia to arrange as we slowly head that way! I am now packed fully and correctly (hopefully). All set to go tomorrow for the 6:59 from Beaconsfield...pics to follow! Peter, dad and I are now at the did I forget something stage?!!! And if we did it's too late..... So wish us luck, and we'll try to update as we go! Dave... read more

What cameras and associated bits to take?? The next thing....was what camera gear to take...? After the last trip, my first thought was no backpack for the camera - this is something I have been thinking for some time anyway, as backpacks make the changing of lenses and filters so much more time consuming. The question was, what to replace the lowepro backpack with? Eventually I settled on a Crumpler 7 million dollar home. One problem - it's only available in the US....DOH! A colleague was over there, so I bought it blind, hoping it would be right, and as it turned out....yes...it's bloody brilliant! I can fit everything I could in the old backpack, plus some, and it's quicker and easier to use. So, I can easily now take: Canon 5D Mk II body Canon ... read more