http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/skeogan/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from skeogan en-us Wed, 30 Dec 2009 16:17:35 +0000 Wed, 30 Dec 2009 16:17:35 +0000 17112007In Zhongmu we put our feet up and relaxed before getting ready to head across the border into Nepal. It was a chance to refect on what we had seen and experienced in the last few days and of course to toast the happy couple. We had met a German man named Harald that evening and he asked to accompany us. That brought our party to 4 and meant that the trip to Kathmandu would be that much c http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Kathmandu/blog-264524.html With our Chinese Visa's running out our minds had been made up for us we were going to have to head for Nepal which was no bad thing as it turned out.DAY 1 13112007We left at 7.00 am Pete Anna Lucia and myself along with our new mate Dunba who was going to be our driver and guide for the next few days. He had little or no English but he was a nice jovial sort who had a way of making himse http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Tibet/Friendship-Highway/blog-255019.html The train journey to Tibet is the highest in the world. They actually have to pump oxygen into the cabin to offset the effects of altitude sickness because it peaks at about 3000 meters. The journey was going to take us about 48 hours so we decided to splurge and get a 4 berth cabin between us. It turned out to be well worth it 2 days of hocking and spitting would have been tough on the nerves.Ev http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Tibet/Lhasa/blog-247060.html The train journey here was about a day long. It was our longest trip on a train since the Trans Mongolian. I'd forgotten the joys of cabin fever.We had booked into a place called Sim's Cozy Guesthouse. We had been told that this was the place to go to organise Tibet visa's so we went straight in and took the bull by the horns. This time there was no drama's. It was Saturday however so the ball wo http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Sichuan/Chengdu/blog-244344.html We arrived at Xi'an train station early in the morning. We were met at the station by people from the hostel we were staying at the Lu Dao. This place doubles as a hotel with the top floor used for the hostel. The Lonely Planet had raved about the place saying the manager was well in with the PSB the people who you have to get the Tibet visa off. So first thing we approached the manager and wer http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shaanxi/Xi-an/blog-244333.html The CITS in Datong had booked us into a hostel named Tianyuankui Kezhan and a representative from there met us at the train station good start We were brought to this very nice guest house very well laid out with all mod cons. We were led then to a room which was a 2 bed dorm with a private shower a PC and free internet This was not your typical backpackers joint and we feared the worst. Tu http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanxi/Pingyao/blog-236631.html Datong has a population of about 3 million people and is a big coal producing region. It served as the capital around 400 AD and did so for about 70 years. You'd think that a city this steeped in history would have loads to see and do unfortunately this did not prove to be the case.We took the overnight train from Beijing and arrived in at about 7.00 am. We knew what it was we wanted to see and i http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanxi/Datong/blog-236392.html The train journey to Beijing was one of the more enjoyable ones as the whole troop from Mongolia was on it. The 26 hours flew by. At the Chinese border we had to change the bogie's under the train because the Russian and Mongolian tracks are wider than other parts of the world. We were brought into a shed and the carriages were hoisted up and the new bogie's were slotted underneath.We made it to B http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/blog-219561.html With a band of 8 Greg Pippa Robert Carla Anna Pete Lucia and myself we started out on our 8 day hike around Mongolia. The trek was to take us west as far as the city of Karkhorin and then back east to Ulaan Baatar and up to a park outside of the city. We had 2 drivers Sugra and Togo 2 guides Tosnoo and Kishgee and a heap of food and drink so we all bailed into the same trusty Russian http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Mongolia/blog-216788.html We got the train at 5.30AM and headed for Mongolia. The carriage was a bit all over the shop and some Mongolian couple had taken it upon themselves to put their 2 kids in our bunks. What was worse was that they had their 4 berth carraige to themselves while they put the 2 kids in with a complete stranger. They'd also taken up all our storage space and there was a bit of a standoff between us to ge http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Mongolia/Ulaanbaatar/blog-215422.html Irkutsk is probably the main city in Siberia and the closest to Lake Baikal which is the reason that we got off the train really.We got off reeking and wanting a shower but it took us ages to find the hostel and when we did the guy wasn't there so we had to call him. I could have cried We did get in eventually and to be fair the place was nice and clean and more like an apartment than a hostel. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Irkutsk/blog-214208.html This part of our journey involves a 4474 km train ride from Moscow to the City of Irkutsk in Siberia. The rail system in Russia appears to be the feather in their cap. It prides itself on its punctuality and I can testify to that. Apparently railways managers get a hefty bonus each year and the punctuality of their trains is a big part of it. All trains countrywide run on Moscow time which leaves http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-212973.html We moved onwards to Moscow. We had planned to spend a day longer but when we booked our train tickets we had to leave earlier than expected so we only really got 1 full day to schmoose Moscow. As with St. Petersburg it wasn't even close to being enough.Train tickets proved alot more difficult to book here than St. Petersburg. The Station area was split into 3 distinct stations its massive and we http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-207876.html We arrived in St. Petersburg on 21st September after an overnight flight from Dublin with Balkin Air. There was a stop over in Riga along the way and it was late afternoon by the time we got here. First night was spent in the Pushkin Park Hostel who had provided our Visa Invitation Letters and were Registering our Visa's for us as well. Place was nice and clean but a wee bit expensive so we only s http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Saint-Petersburg/blog-207856.html