Azure Cloud Temple

27th September

Today we climbed Tai'shan, arguably China's most sacred mountain. At a mere 6000 steps and about 1500 metres, it was a snip compared to our recent 3 peaks nonesense. Yet I can comfortably say that racing up this hill is not advised.

The ascent is picturesque, with bridges, temples and fine views scattered along the way. Just before reaching the summit, you are faced with a bad boy stairway to heaven affair where the steps seem to disappeer into the sky. The top is dotted with fine temples and is truly fantastic.


Later, back down in town (Tai'an), the true China is revealed. Although a small city by their standards, its 600,000 inhabitants and industry have done a fine job of covering the city in smog. This evening we had Tai'shan chicken and I when faced with it, I had to refer to that age old saying 'I ain't eating no chicken heads or feet sucker!'.

Cattle train

26th September

We experienced our first chinese train today in real style - hard class. Basically a crowded, noisy carriage full of character. I was boxed in by the window, Ed and a 28 inch screen tv a few centimetres from my nose. This made doing anything tricky except doze in and out of conciousness when the hawking quietened down for a rare minute.

However, 4 hours into the journey our companions with the tv left and I then joined Ed with the constant staring, smiling and laughing at by the locals. It also meant that I was now subjected to their friendly food offerings of eggs, duck intestines and crab apples. I ate half an apple but managed to resist the rest. The locals were really inquisitive; trying to read our books, ask questions and Ed even had his photo taken. Despite the language barrier we managed a bit of communication and were given a grand farewell at our stop, Tai'shan.

Cycling Proficiency

24th September - on bikes spanking it around Beijing.

Cycling around Beijing is so stupid that it is fun.

We picked up our bikes from the hotel, nice old school brutes not dissimilar to the model that I had back at college. Once aboard, myself, Helen, Caroline and Maxine hit the streets and began what can only be described as a 6 hour game of chicken.

Recently, China has toughened up laws on running down cyclists and it is probably much safer than London. However over here, no one pays a great deal of notice to traffic lights and you often find yourself having to cross 4 lanes of moving traffic by just going for it. Awesome fun (although Helen has asked me to mention that it was scary), and you cannot beat riding down a 20 lane road, with a cycle lane that is 3 lanes wide, as you pass Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.

The Great Wall

23rd September

Up early this morning to be driven 3 hours out of town to a less-touristy part of the great wall. Was definitely worth the lack of sleep, as apart from a group of charity walkers and hawkers, we saw few tourists during our 15km hike from Simatai. The wall really is impressive; you've all seen pictures but to appreciate it's magnitude you really do just need to go and walk some of it for yourself. It was a tiring 4 hour undulating trek but luckily an obscure short cut to get back down was spotted - a zip line across a 200m wide lake. I was a bit hesitant at first but eventually agreed to get strapped on and enjoyed the ride down.

The Gobe

21st September

This is the final stretch of our Trans-Mong experience. Have left Ulaanbaatar and are heading south towards China. The scenery is fast changing from quintessential Mongolian rolling grassland to desert. The gers are becoming less frequent although we have passed several horsemen hurding in their traditional dress.

We have just passed through 'Eagle Valley', a wide floodplain where I have seen about 30 big beast eagles sitting on posts, stretching their wings, slowly gliding and even being mobbed by a flock of crows. It seemed that this stretch of steppe could not support such a large group of predators but there they were, not mating, not feeding, just chilling. Maybe it was a Mongolian Tourism stunt...

Lonely Planet

20th September

The weather out here changes fast. Last night, as I drifted off to sleep, lightning lit up the circular sky light in the ger. By contrast, tonight we have a perfect cloudless sky. Myself, Paul, Ian and Richard spent the last 2 hours lying on our backs, half way up the hill counting shooting stars.

I counted 10, including a few that were so bright they seemed to cut open the sky. The beer and vodka we took up there did the job of keeping us warm and we spoke about the cosmos. It made me realise:


a) how little anyone knows
b) how little I know
c) of the little I did know, how much I have forgotten

I will be looking at Wikipedia as soon as I get to a internet cafe where it is not blocked.

Mare

19th September

We were invited to a family's farm today and all politey tried the dairy products which had been kindly made for us; the butter and yoghurt were pretty good but the fermented mare's milk is definitely an acquired taste. One that I will give a miss. Luckily I said that I would share my bowl with Ed, and luckily he'll consume anything!

Yee-ha

18th September

Staying in a ger tent in the middle of a national park in Outer Mongolia. Today we explored the countryside on horse back. Despite my horse being far too small for me and having no hat (Ed said that's just a British thing), we had a great time.


Pretty much given a free reign for two hours; trecked through forests and streams and even managed a few gallops across open plains (Jess etc; check me out). Loads of fun and looking forward to doing it again in equally amazing surroundings.

Red Hero

17th September - early morning on the train to Mongolia.

Those little things that you take for granted on the Moscow train have slipped away - no quilted toilet roll, no complementary foot massages, they don't even have sky sports. This redefinition of 'basic' seems to be driving our party to vodka. Again.

17th September - later in Ulaanbaatar

We have arrived in Mongolia in the middle of the celebrations of 70 years of state education. The kids are out in force in the main square, dressed in various costumes from traditional warrior to fluorescent satin outfits. I was disappointed to learn that the children in formal suits were not undersized butlers or hoodlums but in fact just children in suits.

Despite the fact that the city has been around for several hundred years, one gets the distinct feeling that if they wanted to, the population of Ulaanbaatar could up sticks and get back to a nomadic lifestyle on the plains in no time at all. Nothing seems particularly permanent and ger tents can be seen next to brand new office buildings.

The people are refreshingly friendly after Russia. Although mobile phones are available, many people sit around on the pavement and hire out their satellite phones to passers by. The country also seems to be keen on its weight, judging by the number of people sitting on the pavement offering the services of their bathroom scales.

We ate at a top end Mongolian restaurant this evening and the food was fantastic; seldom do I feel the need to photograph my dinner (although I had to try it first...). However, to put this into perspective, the meal and a couple of beers came to about 15 USD which is between a 7th and 10th of the average monthly wage in the city - the equivalent of eating in Nobu in London.

Lake Placid

Some factoids on Lake Baikal:

- largest body of fresh water in the world
- many endemic species including the Nerpa seal
- zooplankton keep the lake clean and it is said that they can knock off a
corpse (toe nails and all) in a day
- Silicon is used in place of calcium in some lake species

Add to this strange ecology, the juxtaposition of Siberian nouveau riche Barbie Castle new builds (they seem to love turrets and pastel colours) with the original one room wooden shacks along the shore as well as the utter calm of the water and you have a pretty strange place.

I spent at least 40 minutes trying to get that perfect skimmer, where the stone keeps bouncing into the distance until it disappears over the horizon. I nearly succeeded.

We are staying in a swank alpine cabin with hearty big food, clean air and even hot showers. A welcome change from the Keito 'Squaddie wash'.

Sounds too damn good to be true I know, that's why we commissioned the Rumble Strips to put together a virtual siberian lake for your delectation. Click on the play below to go there.

Hot Hot Heat

13 September

On our first night at Lake Baikal we were treated to a Russian Sauna. This involved the usal unbearable heat but also being doused numerous times with cold water. stepping out into the Siberian night and being beaten with silver birch branches. Whilst wearing thin sheets. We know each other even better now.

Dark skies

12th September

A 76 hour train ride is not usually where you might find yourself short of time. However, as each day passes, we move through numerous time zones and because the train stays on Moscow time until it leaves Russia, our days are becoming ever shorter. Today it got dark at 3.30pm.

The landscape has changed again today. I look out onto hills covered with conifers, occasionally spotted with the fiery reds and yellows of autumnal birch trees.

Go East!

11th September

At about 12.30am this morning, we left European Russia and entered Asia. No gate, no sign, no men in hats. Just trees, hundreds and hundreds of trees. We drank some vodka.

A routine for life on the train has already begun. You get up, eat something, look out of the window, maybe read a little and then go back to sleep. This happens every 3-4 hours. Our evenings, somewhat predictably, are dominated by vodka drinking and being told to shut up by 'Blondie', our fearsome Russian train attendant.

The Vodka Train

13th September

Just got off the 4 night and 3 day trans-siberian train from Moscow to Irkutsk. Was lots of fun and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone wanting to travel east. We're travelling with a group of 15 people across to Beijing and having been confined to such a small space, for such a long time, definitely know each other well now. Spent the time admiring the views, eating, playing cards, reading etc. And drinking vodka. Inevitably our cabin, which we shared with the lovely Caroline and Maxine, became the drinking cabin for the group and we were visited more than once by the guards to keep the noise down.

However, I must say that I am glad to be off the train, have a shower and a good feed. Having heard horror stories about the food, I lived on noodles, bread and my trusty bar of dairy milk so a four course lunch with fresh salad and vegetables was gratefully received on our arrival.

Looking forward to exploring Siberia.

Russia, land of trees

10th September - on the train somewhere south of the Urals.

Today I was woken by music that sounded much like the theme music of Shadow of the Beast II. I looked out of the window half expecting airships and pink skies, but was faced with a dirty old train yard full of rusty metal.

The view from my window is that of relentless combination of rain and conifers. Occasioanlly small patches have been felled, but mostly they seem to press up against the side of the train in a most claustophobic manner.

Sometimes we pass small settlements, although there is seldom sight of locals and they have an eerie quality in this half light.

Jah Division

9th September - Moscow

Made it onto the trans-mong despite our driver doing his best impression of 2 fast 2 furious on the way. Much vodka was drunk to celebrate.

Last night we went to a traditional Russian restaurant. This means a little food, a lot booze and then some live music. We were treated to the magnificently named 'Jah Division' and their Russian reggae. Our table was almost back-stage and we had the same view as the drummer.

People

8th September - Moscow

It seems the soviet 'jobs for all' approach is still in place. As we descended one of the escalators into the metro, I saw a team of 4 cleaners riding up inthe other direction, polishing the metal surface in between. That's good shine.

Cirque

7th September - later

The 'other circus' in Moscow is quite out of the centre. Although it's in the middle of a large area of heathland, as you walk down the hill to the big top, the horizon is dominated in all directions by high rise flats.

We saw an adaptation of the Nutcracker Suite and it was unbelievable. The costumes and imagery were reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland on crack and the tone of the whole production was equally dark. And yet it was still a circus with obligatory strong man, ripped trapeze monkeys and people in 10 foot rabbit costumes with human faces that got into the audience and abused people.

Overwhelming. Go to Moscow and go straight to this circus. Now.

Dirty Grey Town

7th September

Moscow is a dirty grey affair with drab buildings and too many cars. When our sleeper train pulled in this morning, we had a heavy steely sky to match. At that point, I had an inkling that I was going to like the place.

Our hotel is amazing and a world away from our almost subterrainian hostel in STP. The view from the 16th floor is impressive, bringing in train lines, trees and the sprawl of the Northern Moscow suburbs.

The centre too is impressive. There is a real sense of the big city. After the
mandatory Red Sq and St Basils (which wouldn't look out of place in a toy shop), our guide took us down to a river boat cruise. Every building that we asked about seemed to have a history, such as the Theatre that used to house and sometimes be the end of senior communist staff 30 years ago.

Dancing Bear

4th September

Today I saw someone playing with a 'dancing bear' in the street. It was wrong.

Venice of the North

3rd September

As a first stop in Russia, St Petersburg is an easy start. Despite beautiful canals, massive and somewhat imposing buildings, there is a real sense that it is geared up for tourists and ripping them off.

Our hostel, which was down a dirty alley by the football stadium, was a high walled no window affair with frowning staff. None the less, it did the job and was a mere 30 minute stroll from the centre.

We covered the normal tourist route; a hike around the Hermitage, a boat trip around the canals and a night at the ballet. All very nice.... and a little dull.

Much better was a dusty bus ride through the suburbs seeing the communist housing projects that stretch far south of the city, our destination, Peterhof, a palace and beautiful grounds on the edge of the Gulf of Finland.

Gear up

Over the last few days I have been avidly preparing for our departure on Sunday. This has involved eating even more than usual. I have tried to have at least 3 proper meals each day plus pot noodle supplements. Yesterday I ate a whole chicken.

I have also accumulated some fancy kit for my travels. Most notably a 'Point it' book to use when my language skills aren't up to it. I tried it out in Thetford and it seemed to work very well.