chloes
Chloe & Tim Joined: October 7th 2008
Logged in: November 13th 2009
Logged in: November 13th 2009
Tim and I decided that we liked trains. So embarked on the Trans-Siberian and Trans-Mongolian Railways for 3 weeks. Plus a stopover in Singapore and a couple hundred rides on the local metros. This is our story!
Travel Blog Posts
Day 23: Breakfast
Last day in Beijing and last day of our holiday...! Could have been a miserable last few hours as it was pouring with rain and we couldn't find any breakfast. Things started to look up as we came across a woman cooking Chinese styled crepes in the street. Not quite sure what the main filling was (perhaps some sort of onion paper was our guess) with beans and egg and teriyaki sauce. Antony Bourdain would have enjoyed. Then found a very cool little street NANLUOGUXIAN, full of Anglo-Chinese bars and some funky shops. For just 5 Yuan each (about 90 cents) we got two authentic Mao posters. From here it was a very easy ride on the Airport Express to Beijing's fancy new airport. A flight to Singapore. A delay in Singapore for 2 hours - ... read more
Day 18: UB
First stop the Central Post Office to withdraw several hundred thousand Turgrogs - about $50.00. We are ring in Mongolia. Choijin Monastery - but it was closed - so had to be happy with looking at the exterior. Long walk outside of the UB city to the Bogd Khan Palace Museum - the Winter Palace of Mongolia. Hardly any restoration - which made the place seem even more authentic than the usual temples. The odd things were the random taxi-dermed animals in a few of the inside rooms. Penguins in Mongolia!? After noon dinner at an authentic Mongolian BBQ - all you could eat for only 9800T's! (about $AU10.00). Nearly got killed on the Mongolian roads several times. These people are crazy drivers and the only way you can safely cross the road is by latching ... read more
Day 17: Ulan Ude
At 5am stopped at Ulan Ude - and our empty cabin is now occupied with two new mates. Petr - a Russian guide for Intrepid - and Alfonzo from Mexico. Tim thinks that it is only 1.30am - so gets off the train ti buy beer and vodka - not realising that it is really 6.30am (local time) and that his early morning drinking scared our new cabin mates. 120km until we get to the Mongolian Border. Arrived at the border town between Russia and Mongolia. Tully is the arse end of the earth. For 3 hours we were able to explore this place - which was mostly some very polluted and rubbish filled farm land, a shitty bridge and lots and lots of gnatty flies (which Tim ate 5 of and breathed in 2 of). ... read more
Day 16: Lake Baikal
Ohhh sooo tired. I am sure if we had the choice - Tim and I would have spent the day in bed. But as always - check out time is in 15 minutes and today is probably the only chance we'll ever have to see the world's largest lake - Lake Baikal. We made it to the drab and dingy bus station, and knowing full well that we had already missed the 8am and 9am bus, we attempted a cab ride, which some out of date blogs told us would only cost $15-$25. Inflation hits this place hard - as the best we got was 1100 R - ONE WAY (about $50.00) - so "NYET" to that. Armed with the town LYSTVYANKA written in Cyrillic in a scrap of paper, I braved the ticket office, and ... read more
Day 15: Irkutsk
We arrive in Siberia at 6am, pitch black and cold. After 4 days with our cabin friends we say good bye - wish them luck and wonder if we'll ever see them again. Get picked up from our tour agent and get taken to Hotel Anagara. According to the guide books this hotel is one of the most upmarket and classy in Irkutsk. Inside the reality is more Gulag in style, a truly Soviet building with (I'd like to believe) is a State Radio hanging in the corner of the room - with only 4 stations (none of them working). The bathroom and shower is an all on one design, like you'd imagine a prison cell to be. The 3rd floor restaurant where we head for breakfast is drab and happiness-less. Breakfast is some very sad ... read more
Day 14: View from the Train
Still in our Siberian Time Warp. I have woken up at 6.50am / 10.50am and it is a beautiful day. My scary Russian friend (with the scar) tells me that the next stop is "BIG CITY" - which I think is KRASNOYARSKY. Feeling very hungry. Have been reading a book about China and I am craving something hot and spicy. The most exciting herb they seem to use in Russia is Dill. Breakfast is Chloe's Coffee Creation, stale bread, cheese and a pastry with potato. Tasted okay with the free tomato sauce the train lady gave us. Lots more villages today, all wooden, weather worn houses, most with cute blue or green shutters and many with blue tin roofs. Mostly industrial towns with loads of brick chimneys and timber yards. The 'cities' are a mix of ... read more
