RPR
Roger Joined: August 15th 2009
Logged in: December 1st 2009
Logged in: December 1st 2009
Travel Blog Posts
Had three days in Lake Baikal just outside of Irkutsk, Baikal is the biggest freshwater lake in the world with an average depth of 744.4 m (2,442 ft) and contains a total of roughly 20 percent of the world's surface fresh water. Was extremely cold, hovered around -15, so the thermals came out en masse! We had a new Honcho called Kosta who new every line of Ace Ventura so joined JC and myself in driving Johnny Ringo mad for three days. Was great fun as there was limited things to do there as it is not urban and I am a little ctied out atm. Spent a lot of time relaxing or hiking but also took the opportunity to go Dog Sledding which was amazing. Had Seven Huskies hauling me over 10km of snow covered ... read more
Had three days in Lake Baikal just outside of Irkutsk, Baikal is the biggest freshwater lake in the world with an average depth of 744.4 m (2,442 ft) and contains a total of roughly 20 percent of the world's surface fresh water. Was extremely cold, hovered around -15, so the thermals came out en masse! We had a new Honcho called Kosta who new every line of Ace Ventura so joined JC and myself in driving Johnny Ringo mad for three days. Was great fun as there was limited things to do there as it is not urban and I am a little ctied out atm. Spent a lot of time relaxing or hiking but also took the opportunity to go Dog Sledding which was amazing. Had Seven Huskies hauling me over 10km of snow covered ... read more
Had 2 days in Irkutsk either side of Lake Baikal, was a nice place but not much to menton really, lots of the old communist monuments as well as Lenin and Stalin streets, seems like the reformists have forgotten about Siberia! Left late in the evening on the last day there to head to Ulaanbaatar!... read more
Had only three days in Moscow and it wasnt too bad, not as cold as St Petersburg. Generally an amazing place, so big and so much happening. Maybe the craziest Metro I have ever seen, really well organised but so busy.Saw the Red Square, The Kremlin, Lenins Tomb (he waved to us) the Bolshoiy as well as the Statue Park, The Revolution Museum and The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. Managed to buy some new shoes as my sneakers werent quite cutting it in the snow, thankfully had Mashas expertise on hand. Had a couple of nights out, the second being the craziest, still we managed to get back to the Hostel by 8am in time to catch our 10am train which was going to last 5 days...plenty of time to catch up on sleep.... read more
Arrived in Budapest after a very long train ride from belgrade, however the good news was the train station was only a 3 minute walk from the Hotel. had a chance on the first night to have a look around and get my bearings, seemed to get a little lost and apparently was walking parallel to the Danube without actually seeing it! Next day tried to cram as many touristy things in as I could. Saw the Museum, Parliament, Buda Castle, castle Hill, The Chain Bridge and Budapest Castle (complete with Funicular). Came back down the Funicular at night, the Chain bridge and Danube were stunning by night. Day three saw Heroes Square, Saint Stephens Basillica and Vajayunhad Castle. Also had the chance to take a stroll around Margaret Island which is quite pretty, it is ... read more
Prague definitely rates up there with Budapest as one of the prettiest cities I have been too. Much like Budapest it is very accommodating of tourists and indeed has everyything you could want comfort wise. the best part 16 Czech Krowns to the Aussie dollar making Pints only $2 each! The train trip from Budapest was interesting and made me glad I chose to travel by rail. Unlike the previous train this one was much more comforatble so the 7hr ride slipped by rather quickly. Travelling through Slovakia was interesting and in a purely selfish way made me happy i chose not to stop there as it wasnt too pretty! The scenery in the Sth of the Czech Republic (being much less industrialised) was stunning. Spent my first day (really only half a day) shopping for ... read more
Okay feeling lazy but this place was great so deserves an entry of its own so will add what Wikipedia has to say: Karlštejn Castle (German: Burg Karlstein, meaning Castle on Carl's stone, Czech: Hrad Karlštejn) is a large Gothic castle founded 1348 AD by Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor-elect and King of Bohemia. The castle served as a place for safekeeping the Imperial Regalia as well as the Bohemian coronation jewels, holy relics and other royal treasures. Located about 30 km southwest of Prague above the village named Karlštejn, it is one of the most famous and most frequently visited castles in the Czech Republic. If you ever get to the Czech Republic have a look.... read more
Dresden was only a 2hr train ride from Prague and on the way to Berlin, so felt i had to stop there and was glad I did. Only had 2 days and 2 nights but that was probably enough. For a city that was so heavily bombed during WWII it is really beautiful, lots of modern architechture but lots of the old has been painstakingly restored. The river crestaes a nice subtle division between the old town and the new. The old town was definitley my favourite and saw so many great places to see such as the Frauenkirche, the Opera House, and the Zwinger Palace which was amazing from the outside and even more so from within the walls. The whole city was easy to get around, and even though there were tourist centres etc, ... read more
Had 3 days in Berlin which wasn't nearly enough, was lucky however to be there on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Wall, so lots going on. Saw the usual suspects such as the Berliner Dome, The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, the TV Tower, and the Holocaust Memorial. All amazing, the river really sets the city off, and also helps divide the new and old towns. The best part of the visit was seeing The Checkpoint Charlie Museum as well as the part of the Original wall, really well done and rather an emotional visit. Also saw the Berlin Zoo and saw Knut the Polar Bear. Public transport was fantastic especially the S Bahn, definitely something the Germans do well, unlike their airports, never seen as much chaos as the Air Berlin flight to ... read more
Glasgow, cold, wet, cold, wet, cold, wet oh and cold! But despite all of that still glad I made the journey, was dissapointed not to see it last time I was in Scotland, but was well worth a look. A very busy place and very grey and drab but n onetheless interesting. Drunk some more Guinness (yes I know Im in Scotland) and had a good curry (again yes I know Im in Scotland). Saw mopst of what Gl;asgow has to offer, main Square, Tollbooth, Cathedral, and the pedestrian mall, also used the opportunity to stock up on some English reading material before heading for Belgrade.... read more
