Welcome to the Peoples Republic of China

Leaving Mongolia behind with fantastic memories from a great 3 weeks in the country we set off bright and early on our train to Beijing, China. Along with us for the journey were a couple of "Train tour groups" - groups that has set off from Moscow to do the Trans-Siberian with either a couple of stops or none at all. In order to avoid the midnight renditions of Waltzing Matilda we took the opportunity to enjoy the comfort of our Kupe cabin for the 24hour trip through Mongolian desert and the border into China. Luckily enough we also bumped into Steve and Sarah our cabin mates from our trip into UB on the train heading to China.

Pulling into the station just inside Chinese territory (about 11pm) we were welcomed with rousing music piped into speakers dotted along the platform along with uniformed soldiers spaced the length of the train. Announcements were made in a variety of languages welcoming us to the PRC and wishing us a pleasant stay. All very well organised and an interesting introduction to China.

Following our ceremonial arrival our carriages were shunted off to siding hangers where we were able to hang out of the windows to see the changing of the wheels for the different guage line ahead. The carriages were separated then hoisted up with huge jacks before the wheels were swapped out with the new size.

Come morning we were scooting through green fields as we neared Beijing stopping briefly at a station as we crossed through the Great Wall north-weat of the city.

Arriving into Beijing we hustled our way into a taxi and from there Dee picks up the tale....


We've been sitting in a packed male dominated internet cafe for the last 6 hours trying to catch up on all our internet stuff. Suspiciously enough the same young guys from this morning are still sitting around us playing online games while they chain smoke pausing only clear their throat in a loud hock and deposit phlegm on the floor beside them. Nobody is showing any sign of moving .... this is dedication to gaming at it's best.

We've been in China for two weeks now and are loving every minute of it. Our first stop was Beijing and it didn't fail to disappoint. Despite the hazy sunshine due to pollution Beijing is a clean, vibrant hub to spend some time in. With it's many sights, specular food, maze like hutongs and colourful markets you can easily spend days exploring.

The famous Beijing hutongs are neighbourhoods of narrow roads and alleyways. Life in the hutongs seems to work like clockwork small busy family restaurants feed hundreds, rickshaws are busy delivering coal and collecting empty bottles, women separate rubbish, streets are swept and life seems to tick by with organised precision. So ... the food... it is probably best to start with that because there's been a lot of it in the last couple of weeks. After longing for a good Chinese meal for a couple of months we have been rewarded with culinary nirvana. We stayed in a hutong that was lined with amazing food. After a week of trying different places out we still hadn't scratched the surface - and to be honest we reluctantly left. One of the most enjoyable things to do was to walk up the hutong streets at different times of the day. In the early mornings the breakfast dumpling trays are stacked high later these are replaced by sizzling kebab stalls in the evening. During the day you can snack on potato pancakes, egg patties, mini candied apples, roasted chestnuts, buns.... the list goes on and on. We found one great Muslim restaurant serving tasty lamb kebabs, grilled bread and an out of this world aubergine dish. We became such regulars that we were allowed into the kitchen to see what the secret was. For the budget conscious backpacker there is even better news .... it's hard to run up a big bill in these restaurants. With the average dish costing a couple of dollars and a beer costing 30 cents everyone is a winner. Splurging we ventured to the famous Peking Duck restaurant to sample the local speciality.

In the run up to the 2008 Olympics there is an obvious drive to psych the city up for host success. Official souvenir shops are already dotted throughout the city and huge blowups of the five "friendlies" logos hold centre stage in Tiananmen Square. The level of readiness would almost fool you into thinking the games will be in a matter of weeks. Unfortunately as part of it's modernisation for the games the government is demolishing some of the old cosy hutongs forcing families, street vendors and small business out and replacing them with wide glitzy touristy streets. It seems such a shame as the character and history of area dies as well. Probably the biggest challenge for Beijing is improving the air quality in time. There are rumours of factories shutting during the games - it will certainly be interesting to see how it all pans out.

No trip to Beijing is complete without seeing the wall of all walls. The Great Wall of China zigzags 6,700 kilometers from east to west of China. We decided to work up an appetite by hiking the steep rocky 10 km stretch between Jinshanling and Simatai. This part of the wall has not been renovated like much of the other sections outside Beijing. This made it a challenging climb through ruins and crumbling steps often at a 70 degree angle. At the peaks was amazing to gaze into the horizon and see the wall snake into the horizon over steep mountains.
Back on the flat (and a little stiff) we visited Tiananmen Square, joined the queue and paid our respects to a pickled glowing Mao on view in his huge mausoleum. We saw Lenin last month in Moscow so we're going for the trio! Then it was on to the immense Forbidden City, right in the heart of Beijing this complex of palaces was home to two dynasties of emperors and thus off limits to Joe Soap for 500 years. You need an entire day to wander around the grounds and take it all in.

When the Beijing summers got a little too hot for the emperors they hightailed it off to the Summer Palace. The grounds and scale of this park is astounding. It has it's own artificial lake and lots of little gardens, plenty of room for chilling out. We spent a lovely day there soaking up the atmosphere and watching people fly their kites ridiculously high. Beijing certainly whetted our appetite for more. After eventually checking out of our friendly budget "Wanch Hotel" we escaped Beijing via hard seat on a smokey train to the city of Datong in the province of Shanxi.

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Farewell Russia... Hello Mongolia...

As borders go the Russian-Mongolia one is an infuriating experience. It's renowned for being time consuming, a massive delay is even built into the train schedule. We pulled into the Russian border station at 12pm and were informed that nothing would be happening until at least 4:30pm. There wasn't another train in sight so it is hard to see what the delay was. The choice was to sit on the train or to wander around the village. The village proved to be tiny and doable in 15 minutes flat so it was back to the train to play the waiting game. We travelled Kupe class this time sharing a compartment with an English couple Steve and Sarah. Out of boredom we decided to spend the last of our roubles on sweet cakes and some beers and let the hours drift by. It's important to note that during this entire time the toilets are locked, this causes problems even for the most dehydrated traveller let only anyone consuming extra liquids. Steve got handy with his leatherman and managed to let everyone into the toilet whilst Marcus distracted the provodnitsa with a barrage of questions.

Other travellers have warned us about this particular train, it is regularly used to smuggle goods over the border and for this reason custom officers take a long time checking all the nooks and crannys. Our whole carriage was full of western tourists so we missed out on any smuggling action - not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. After a few more hours we pulled away from the Russian border into no-mans-land to be met at the Mongolian border by smiles and female border officiers dressed in short black skirts and knee high boots. We've definitely left Russia behind!!! An overnight journey brought us into the city of Ulaan Baatar and for the first time on this trip we were met by a "Marcus and Dee" idiot board giving us a smooth ride to our guesthouse.

The minute you hit Ulaan Baatar you know you're in Asia. The dusty city bustles with activity, minivans accelerate towards you, accommodation prices drop dramatically and life becomes a little bit more relaxed. Shirking relaxation time we hooked up with old friends Rog and Cindy from Canada and left the very next day for a 10 day trip around the wilds of Mongolia.

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Irkutsk

Arriving in Irkutsk at 4am Moscow time, 9am local (it really does take a bit of getting used to seeing clocks throughout the station showing a time 5 timezones away) we made our way out into a grand, bustling station.

We had ambitious plans to get straight off the train and race to the bus station to catch a bus up to Olkhon island on Lake Baikal for Marcus's birthday the next day. Our late arrival and the infuriating town planning of the bus and train station miles away at opposite sides of the town soon dashed this plan forcing us to hang around Irkutsk until the next day.

Irkutsk city currently resembles a hard hat construction zone. It seems like absolutely every path and building is in the process of "improvement" forcing pedestrians out onto the busy dusty roads. The drivers are crazy, the newly painted white pedestrian crossing lines on the streets seem like a waste of paint, nobody pays them much heed. We heard a rumour that a one Mr. V. Putin is due to visit shortly and the last time he came through he thought the place was a bit of a kip so apparently there is an 11th hour effort to polish it up a little. One thing you immediately notice about this Russian city is how Asian looking most of the inhabitants are, a true indication of how East we have travelled in the last few days. The city bustles with big Chinese markets selling lots of smuggled goods. When you walk around the markets you get the feeling things are not quite above board. The ever present Russian police presence is not as tourist targeted so you don't feel like you are looking over your shoulder all the time. In one of the markets we witnessed a teenager sprinting away from a policeman. The policeman was carrying a big bag of fruit but it didn't seem to hamper his speed as he pursued the young man dragging him back .. fruit still safely in hand.



Irkutsk's character and charm can be found in its old wooden houses with fantastic windows. Serious subsidence has caused alot of these to lean dangerously to one side or have bottom floor window sills at street level.

Lake Baikal lies 70km east of Irkutsk, in wintertime this massive body of fresh water freezes allowing people to drive across the ice. At one stage train tracks were even built across the ice. We spent most of Marcus's birthday crammed into a little van travelling/bumping 6 hours north to Olkhon island. An ex-Russian tabletennis champ and local entrepreneur Nikita has cultivated a tourist industry in the small town of Khuzhir. Nikitas is an eco friendly complex of little cozy wooden cabins serviced by a big restaurant and long drop toilets. It was like paradise full board accommodation for us! We caught up on lots of sleep and ate lots of great food. The restaurant served up three mammoth meals a day. Breakfast was two runny fried eggs, porridge and a pancake. A few hours later everyone sat down to a big plate of omul, the local fish. There was lots and lots of fish! (Lunch and dinner everyday...served in different guises). It was great not to have to worry about what you were going to eat .. you just had to turn up hungry. There were a couple of times we were stuffed from the previous meal but turned up for the next feed just because we were curious as to what it would be.

Nikitas it located in Khuzir, the biggest village on the island. It is a real wild west town. There used to be a fish processing factory here but that has been closed for some years. Mainline electricity only came to the village towards the end of last year and there is no obvious industry...apart from tourism which is a pretty small endevour at the moment, very hard to see what supports the people here. Shops look more like peoples front rooms, cows wander the dusty streets and tumbleweeds roll on through.




To burn off the calories we set out each day on some long walks down the beach and surrounding areas coming back each evening to see the spectacular sunsets at the Shaman Rocks close to Nikitas. Our most challenging and memorable day on Olkhon island was indisputably the day we set off to cycle across the island on a 50km round trip. The eastern part of Olkhon island is barren and dusty however once you climb a few (very steep) hills the landscape completely changes and drops off into wooded valleys with lush long grass. The scenery was made all the more special by all the vibrant autumnal colours. We reached the other side of the island and the big expanse of Lake Baikal by lunch time. It's been a few years since I've been on a bike so a little bit of saddle soreness had set in by lunchtime, we'd both suffer for severals days afterwards!

The ride home was tough going at one point, exhausted after a climb, we contemplated waiting for the rescue vehicle. Digging deep we made it back to the sight of home just as Marcus's pedal fell off.










:: Needless to say our tongues were hanging out by the end of the day ::






As there is no running water in Nikitas the whole world of the Russian banya was revealed to us. The banya is a small wooden house containing a big trough of hot water heated by a fire. In essence it acts as a bathing area cum sauna cum steam room. You mix up some hot water with cold and throw it over yourself. It works out to be a highly efficient shower. The banya soon became the highlight of the day - we are easily pleased these days!








Russia has been a fantastic experience for us both. From the imposing cities of St.Petersburg and Moscow, to the long train journey across Siberia to our week at Lake Baikal, we've enjoyed so many different aspects of the country. One thing we'd both like to do is come back and see the landscape in the depths of winter ... I guess that's another trip with a warmer wardrobe. We've got used to being given the run-around at train stations and not seeing too many smiles. However, after borrowing a lonely planet Mongolia we were excited about a change of country and culture and it was back to Irkutsk to catch the train to Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia.

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The Train ....

The Trans-Siberian railway at about 9300 km is the longest railway line in the world. It crosses a whole continent through European Russia across the Ural mountains (which separate Europe and Asia), continuing into Siberia's taiga and steppes, and finishes in Vladivostok — the Russian Far East coast on the Pacific Ocean. The main route crosses eight timezones. It is mind boggling to think of the distance.

Our journey wasn't going to take us the full way across to Vladivostok, that would have to wait for a future trip, our plan was to follow the Trans-Siberian route as far as Ulan Ude then break off and take the Trans-Mongolian line down to Ulaanbataar and ultimately Bejing, China. Some people do the whole trip from Moscow to Beijing non-stop which takes around 6 days. We included two stops to break up the journey and to give us an opportunity to visit two of the highlights across this vast distance, Lake Baikal and Mongolia.

So on with our post....

Laden down with an extensive variety of noodles, teabags and baby wipes we made our way to the platform in Moscows Yaroslav station to size up our transport across Russia. Despite everyone having numbered beds there was a full on urgent scramble at the platform to get onto the train. Somehow we thought that people wouldnt quite sharpen the elbows to get onto a train that they were potentially going to be on for 77 hours. We later realised that securing territorial luggage space early on was the name of the game. We reached our beds just in time to witness an old woman stuffing her huge black bags up into our luggage space... or rather she was barking orders at a tall man who was doing it for her. He departed leaving her satisfied and all was well until Marcus started to jig around her bags to fit ours in. She started to squeal and shout like she was been robbed - we didn't know what she was saying but we could feel the air turning blue. Our aim was to get on with our close neighbours on the train and not go to war before the wheels had started turning so it was all a bit stressful. After a couple of high exertion minutes (with the screaming still going on) Marcus successfully snookered all the bags in and turned to her giving her the thumbs up sign. Suddenly it was all smiles and peace was restored. It was just as well because the next four days were looking like hell on earth up to that point.

Even thinking about spending 77 hours solid on a train is a feat in itself. We expected the worst and instead were pleasantly surprised. We decided that to get the fullest travel experience we would choose Platzkartny class for this leg. Basically the classes come down from 2 bunks in a cabin to 4 to 54 (Platzkartny). Its a bit like hanging out on your local park bench for a few days watching the comings and goings. There are no doors between compartments and there are beds along the corridor of the train. At any given time you are eating, sleeping and living in close quarters with six people around you. We were the only tourists on our carriage, coming to think of it we actually didn't see any tourists for the entire journey. Our fellow travellers were mostly older woman and young families so the surrounds were peaceful. Once everyone was aboard train comfort clothes were pulled out of respective bags. These became the night and day uniform. The men sported vest tops, shorts and sandals. The women wore tracksuits and slippers. The next few days were filled with reading, noodle making, tea making, trips to the toilet and practising some russian phrases with our neighbours. People seemed to handle the surplus of time remarkably well... there were lots of afternoon naps. Marcus and I had two top bunks. Limited space in 3rd class makes the quarters a little coffin like as the ceiling is considerably lower to make room for a luggage rack. Poor Marcus only had a few inches to manoeuvre around in and his legs stretched out into the corridor causing people to duck as they moved up and down the carriage. We had combed Moscow unsuccessfully looking for plastic cups the day before we got on the train. As necessity is the mother of all invention we resorted to using two pickle jars in stubbie holders for our mugs. They worked out great (no spill as you walk down the swaying corridor) and doubled up as a great hot water bottle at night. (Oh and the pink shorts were also a purchase for the train, only colour shorts in the shop and only 2$)

Each carriage is patrolled by two provodnitsas (lady stewards) they work the entire journey constantly cleaning the toilet, vacuuming the carpets and meticulously laying down a runner between stops to save the swanky carpet. You don't really want to cross these ladies, they take their job very very seriously. The TranSiberian has scheduled stops a couple of times a day along the way. At each of these the providnitsa would get all dolled up in the official jacket and hat and authoritatively stand outside her carriage. The stops are a great opportunity to stretch the legs, hawkers line the platform selling breads, sausage rolls, smoked fish and ice creams ... a welcome break from instant food. We took full advantage of these stops although as we travelled further across Russia the time allowed at each station was curtailed as we were running behind schedule. I had a truly epic near miss at one station where I (along with half the train) ran across 3 train tracks and into a little station shop to buy some (cold) supplies. I came out of the shop and looked across the tracks to see our train all ready to go, the platform empty and Marcus frantically shouting and pointing towards a another train about a kilometer long steaming into the station cutting off my path. There was a split second decision to be made so Marcus jumped my side of the oncoming train (I had the all important passports) and we both ran for the overhead bridge feeling completely paniced and hoping that the train wouldn't pull away without us. At the top of the bridge we could see the twenty providnitsas all standing inside their carriage doors. Shouting and waving our arms to catch their attention we sprinted up to the first open door and had to beg the providnitsa to release the steps down for us. Needless to say we weren't very popular and there was a lot of stern Russian been thrown in our direction. The experience ended any extended shopping at any future stops!

The TransSiberian train runs on Moscow time ... in all the train station along the way big clocks tell the time in Moscow. There are 5 hours between Moscow and Irkutsk our stop to visit Lake Baikal, so along the way we lost the time but there was no standard way of making allowance for this. On the second night we noticed everyone was in bed really early and the lights were switched off. People began operating at weird hours. We were caught out by this and suffered a little bit of train-lag, on the final morning we had to get up ridiculously early and get packed up. I woke up looked around and felt totally disorientated, we were surrounded by what looked like complete strangers. All the comfort train gear had been replaced with makeup, good suits and stylish clothes. People seemed very practised in the art of not looking like they'd travelled for days solid on a train. Pulling into Irkutsk, we said our goodbyes to the new friends we'd made and stepped out into the early morning cold ... it felt a little weird to be finally out of the cocoon like atmosphere of carriage number 10 on train number 10.

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