Category: Around the World in 60 Days

Friday, 21 May 2010 Siberia Transit, Russia Apart from a number of platform stops, now on the train for two full days travelling across eastern Siberia to Vladivostok. Have picked up a guitarist in Ulan Ude who is giving concerts a couple of times a day with a mix of local traditional music and something… Read more

Thursday, 20 May 2010 Ulan Ude, Buryat Republic, Russia Having enjoyed watching a military youth parade in the main square with the world’s largest head (25ft tall) of Lenin overlooking proceedings, depart Ulan Ude for the ‘Old Believers’ village at Tarbagatay. A place where the ‘Old Believers’ set up a standalone village in the 19th… Read more

Wednesday, 19 May 2010 Ulaan Baatar Day trip to Mongolia. Like you do. Were meant to be having lunch in a ger on the Mongolian steppes. But. Due to trackworks on the Mongolian section, the rail timetable means we have to leave Ulaan Baatar at 1350hrs. So. Disembarking train at 0800hrs it’s to be a… Read more

Tuesday, 18 May 2010 Russian/Outer Mongolian border Most of the night is spent stationary in a siding in Ulan Ude, in the Buryat Republic. Having unhooked from an electric locomotive, hook up to a diesel locomotive for the border crossing and eventual journey through Outer Mongolia to the capital, Ulaan Baatar. Lunch has to be… Read more

Monday, 17 May 2010 Lake Baikal, Russia Wake to the dulcet tones of people in the corridor saying things like. Ooh. Aaah. Wow. Look at that. Wow. Hmmm. Something’s up. Open cabin curtains. Which reveals a rock face inches away from the train. Hmmm. Need to rush to get out of bed now to see… Read more

Sunday, 16 May 2010 Irkutsk, Russia Everyone is complaining about the noise and movement of the train last night during breakfast. No one had any sleep apparently. I on the other hand slept very well. Didn’t hear a thing. A bomb could’ve gone off and I wouldn’t have heard it. That’s the joy of Jameson’s… Read more

Saturday, 15 May 2010 Novosibirsk to Irkutsk transit, Russia Full day’s journey on the rails such is the distance between Novosibirsk and Irkutsk. Leisurely day. Excruciating talk on the construction of the Trans Siberian Railway. Talk goes on as long as it took to build the flipping thing. It’s by our Russian train leader. Half… Read more

Friday, 14 May 2010 Novosibirsk, Russia Building up a rapport with the septuagenarian South African couple in the cabin next door to mine over the past few days. We’ll call him WAMC. He used to have business interests in Siberia selling machinery and equipment so knows this region slightly. Each morning the train prints a… Read more

Thursday, 13 May 2010 Yekaterinburg, Russia A further 2hrs forward of GMT as we cross the Urals overnight. Thus missing the opportunity to see some hills. Scenery has morphed from flat landscape to flat landscape with silver birch trees. Land of the silver birch… Now we’re in Siberia. Yekaterinburg to be precise. Famous for being… Read more

Wednesday, 12 May 2010 Kazan, Russia Introduced to tea Russian style. Served in a cut glass mug in an ornate pewter holder. Very posh. Having travelled the 500 miles to Kazan overnight it’s an early morning visit to its UNESCO listed Kremlin. Technically, we’re in the Republic of Tatarstan, an autonomous region for Turkic Muslims,… Read more