train into Mongolia

Our first morning in Mongolia, this was the view from the train...
(see if you can spot the gers)

Lake Baikal

The beautiful clear waters of Lake Baikal, Russia

Russia to Mongolia

Here are a few pics from Russia finally! St Petersburg Church, Moscow convent, some shots from the Trans-Siberian train (sunset enroute and our wagon with fellow feral wagon mates stretching the legs :)






After Moscow we went on the train to Yekaterinburg (pretty and friendly), then a looong train ride to Irkutsk (nice little city except for all the fluffy pollen blowing around from the trees like snow!), then went out to Lake Baikal. Gotta say out of all of Russia, Lake Baikal is the place i'd like to come back to! Absolutely beautiful scenery and the lake itself is just astounding. Holds 20% of the worlds fresh water, is actually growing all the time cos it is on the edge of 3 tectonic plates and the water is so pure you can drink it right from the lake. Not that we did lol :P

Haven't got the pics from it sorted yet so will put them up soon (hopefully tomorrow) but as with anything that amazing pics just can't do it justice!

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Now in Mongolia after another train journey. Was with all English speaking tourists in our wagon this time which was a big change as prior to this we have had no other English speakers. All good fun and now at least a few Russians know how to play 'squares', 'snakes and ladders' and 'chinese checkers' :D

Only been in Ulaanbaatar so far here in Mongolia and while it is not a beautiful city, it is fairly quiet, friendly people and not to fast paced (though you take your life in your hands when you cross the road!) Saw a buddhist monastery this morning which had a huge gold statue (50feet high i think) which was just eye boggling. Seen various other bits and pieces and heading out on Friday for a 4 day 'learn to be a nomad' trip which we are really looking fwd to! Lots of horseriding, yak carts, living with the nomads etc so should be pretty interesting :)

Will hopefully have some interesting pics to post when we return!

the rest of the time :D

Photos aka what we do when not looking at large monuments saying “oooh”;

Ve doing homework

Writing in journals with lots of “journals suck” and “what the heck did we do yesterday?” comments

On the train – its the ‘express’ can ya tell??

Ve doing the classic “get the giant mosquitoes off me dance”

Moscow day one ...

::playschool voice:: “Our first day in Moscow ... through the funky, weird-arse Russian window”

Got picked up by car from train at 8am this morning and decided that driving in Russia is actually really fun, so long as you pretend it is just a rollercoaster and you can’t actually die:P Made it out of hotel again by 2pm after a failed attempt to order a pizza (i got confused and he, in standard russian style, hung up, so i waited in vain then gave up and we had tuna, crackers and chocolate for brunch), a sleep for me and a doze then a read for Vera (who Ve? read? i hear you say lol).

Found the metro station with the help of the girl at the front desk “you turn left, then up some stairs, then just follow some people”... yes well, i should really say we eventually found the metro station :P Made it into the centre of Moscow – aiming generally for the Red Square via food. Had a slight bit of trouble actually finding food as everyone seems to supply alcohol and icecreams (plus half the streets are blocked off – but more about that later) but no actual food! And no Steph – alcohol is not a food group ;D

Eventually followed a sign to cafe (haha we know the Cyrillic for that one!) down an alley, round a corner, past the enterprising lady with the portaloo and through a whole bunch of blokes in uniforms (“don’t make any bomb jokes, don’t make any bomb jokes, ...”) to an unmarked door that actually led to food (“food glorious food” just think of Oliver and hum along...).

Surprisingly enough found a very funky upmarket cafe upstairs! Even managed to entertain the dour waitress when we both actually whooped in delight upon finding English translations in the menu :P

Anyway back on the streets (dunno which ones cos we never did figure that out), fed and watered and back to aimless wandering with lots of whispered “is that the red square?” and “why did the army feel the need to block off just half of the markets?” and “what the heck does a backwards captital R sound like”. Kept wandering but we had to go through a few one-way road blocks which really didn’t make our chances of ever getting back to the same metro station look very good! Anyway we persevered (ok aimlessly wandered for a while ;) through crowds of frustrated Russians and about a billion people in uniform from cute little cadets to camouflage army guys (though how well blue camouflage gear works in the city is anyone’s guess).

Eventually we realised that (a) it was Russian Independence Day, (b) every single thing we were trying to get to was down a blocked off street and (c) there was no way on earth we were getting back to our metro stop. By then it was about 5pm, so we figured we could count ourselves as “having made an effort” (to do something other than read and sleep and bath all day in our flash hotel room with larrrrge towels – those who’ve travelled like we do will get the huge importance of this fact) and conclude that we could end our adventure by navigating three metro lines in Cyrillic to get back to the hotel!

Which we successfully did (oh yeah! i’m goooood) and then ... wait for it ... actually managed to order a pizza (2^nd time lucky) in total Russian. Not only that but it actually arrived too!

Notes to put this brief interlude into context:

1) Caught train from St Petersburg last night – departing midnight-8am (nice sleeper carriage, but still not that much sleep :)

2) there seem to always be lots of people in uniform (army, police, navy, ??) so for today to seem out of the ordinary in terms of numbers of armed forces is saying something!

3) taxi drivers in Russia ... well the less said the better :P

4) no photos today cos never actually saw anything worth taking photo of and snapping the armed guards just didn’t seem like the best idea!

Note for concerned relatives ::waves to Mum::

2) Up until this point we have been eating very well with usual day of bread, muesli and yoghurt for breaky; bread/crackers, cheese, meat/tin fish, boiled egg and fruit for lunch and fresh veg and pasta soup for tea. However if we ever get scurvy it would be here in Russia :P

Note for person who decided Russia should go with the Cyrillic alphabet:

::pokes tongue out::

St Petersburg, Russia

Haven't done the photos yet but since i am madly updating i thought i'd better do a speedy Russia update too :)

Been in St P a couple of days. The people are pretty friendly and there are some interesting buildings but i gotta say the language is killing us! Thank goodness we know some Czech and Polish cos it is bad enough having to decipher the Cyrillic let alone remember the sounds as well. A lot of it is really similar to what we have already learnt so memorising is not too hard. I am getting the hang of the Cyrillic but when you are standing at a counter and need to order food in a hurry it is waaaaaay behind my capabilities :P The first night we ordered "any soup" cos we figured they'd have to have soup and it was too hard (and we were too tired) to try and work out what varieties they might have lol. Turned out to be really yummy and luckily the girl at the counter knew the word "jam" when we attempted to get some savory dumplingy looking things to go with it, cos i don't think they would have worked very well with the soup ;D

Otherwise all is good. The palaces and buildings and monuments are all hugely impressive and imposing (and not necessarily in that order). Spent a day in the Hermitage (inside the Winter Palace) and were suitably blown away by the absolutely fantastic collection (both in size and actual pieces) of art, not to mention the building itself! Did city tour today so got lots of sights and history which was fun. Kinda wishing we had stayed in a hostel rather than a hotel just for some company but i reckon we'll probably get that on the train tonight.

Yep thats right we are off to Moscow tonight! Only a fairly short 8hrs on the train so i guess we'll experience sleeping on the trans-Sib and not much else :P

Hope you're all good and thanks for the comments :D

Vősu, Estonia

Just arrived this afternoon in Vősu on the northern coast of Estonia and it is just gorgeous! The forest comes right down to the beach and it is peaceful, warm, sunny and beautiful. Not to often you can sit on a warm sunny beach at 7:30 at night (and still have to wear your hat lol). Just what we needed to cos both of us have been pretty tired and not all that enthusiastic about the next destination. Then we find somewhere beautiful and fairly remote like here and we pretty much both say “thats why we are doing this!” I always forget how draining cities can get. Even if we really like the place and have a great time - it is just constant people and traffic and distracting things. Out here it is forests and water and the odd elk :)

4 days later...

Have thoroughly enjoyed our stay here! Been for a forest hike, long bike ride, swim in the Baltic (me), sauna (Vera) and lots of time lazing in the sun. The only bad thing in the entire place is the lack of darkness at night when you want to sleep!

Tallinn, Estonia

Managed to arrive in the cute little city during their ‘Old Town Days’ medieval festival, completely by accident! Great timing though cos there is constant traditional (and less so ;) music, performances, market stalls and displays for the entire time we are here. Tallinn itself is a really lovely city and the people are very friendly.



Back to not speaking the language, after our break in the UK, though this time we aren’t making much effort to learn it since we are only in Estonia for 10 days. Pics here are Tallinn old town and Vera making soap :)

Traquair Medieval Fayre, near Peebles in the Borders

Organised our entire Scotland holiday to be back in the Border country in time for the Traquair Medieval Fayre ... and it was well worth it! :D Great day of knights jousting, fighting (with flaming maces even!) and generally battling it out (and hamming it up ;). Medieval music, food, displays and artisans, with heaps of interactive stuff and everyone in character and having fun :)

btw - really haven't bothered to figure out the formatting here and since you are at least getting an update at last i figure ya can't complain too much if it doesn't look pretty :P

Isle of Skye

Spent a looong time last night and this morning trying to find accomodation! It is a bank holiday weekend (today is Friday) and every hostel from the Isle of Skye to Glasgow is booked out! Only place we could find was the hostel here in Armadale on the Isle of Skye! Once again – not as far a drive as we’d hoped. Saw Eilean Donan Castle (spelling that wrong i am sure!) on the way which was very pretty, then took an incredibly narrow windy insane little road to the Kylerhea Otter Sanctuary. The road was so bad that a few times we went over such a steep little hill i couldn’t actually see anything besides sky so couldn’t see which way the road was going at the crest!!! Needless to say took it verrrrry slowly. Since this is kind of what i was expecting all the highlands roads to be like i guess i should be grateful :D Passing is fun cos every 50m or so there is a slightly wider (very slightly) bit of road so you have to stop to let the other car pass. Or if you have just gone around a bend and didn’t see each other then someone has to back up (and not fall off the cliff) to the previous passing place! Gimme aussie country roads anyday!!

Anyway pic here is from end of this road so you can help us decide if it was worth it or not ;)

Dundonnell, Scotland

Headed to Lairg from Overscaig to see the Shin Falls. Nice but to be honest we have seen just as spectacular ones on the side on the road up in the northern highlands lol. Both feeling pretty warn out so sat in car park of falls and searched through our books till we found a hostel not too far away which even had wireless!!! Once again not as far as we intended to drive so are going to have a loooong drive one of these days...

Got to Dundonnell hostel just after lunch and had a very chilled out afternoon. Felt exceptionally lazy cos everyone else in this little hostel is here to mountain climb! Great people and had a fun evening.

Overscaig, Scotland

Stayed in a very flash hotel last night for a treat with a delicious 3 course dinner. Even had “real” haggis – though admittedly it was in a pot not a sheeps stomach ;) It was surprisingly delicious but i think i still prefer the beth’s vegetarian version! Once again driving through outstanding scenery that really can’t be described or even adequately photographed. Huge mist topped hills/mountains with waterfalls every 50m at times. Rivers that bend and curve through heather and rocky shores. Such wild and beautiful country ... and so much damn water!!!

Kyle of Tongue, Scottish Highlands

Ferry back from Orkney’s was a lot better with quells but VERY rough. Not really feeling 100% after driving for a while so stopped at the Tongue hostel for the night. Luckily for us it was the most beautiful hostel we have stayed in, with a lovely big room overlooking the water from a hexagonal window, leather couches and table and chairs – all in the room! Not to mention the rest of the hostel, the lovely hostess and delicious homebaked biscuits we bought for the next day.

Beautiful drive to get here across the north coast of the scottish mainland. Towering cliffs over sandy beaches with valleys filled with lush greenery and bright flowers. Betty Hill particularly was stunning – definitely on the list of places to come back to at some point!

Orkney Isles still ...

Spent the next day walking, riding bikes, seeing iron age brochs (kinda round forts), crossing a tidal causeway to see Viking long house ruins and finished the day with a cliff top walk in the evening where we saw thousands and thousands of nesting kittiwakes and guillemots (but no puffins unfortunately) and the odd fulmar and other unidentified birds. Ve bought a Scottish bird book a week ago and we’ve both had fun trying to identify birds.

Very amusing moment of riding bikes along a cliff path, bumping across the stones with Vera singing her own version (new words) of Doe-a-deer ala Sound of Music :D

grrrr - at net cafe (briefly) with all blog update on mem stick but can't use it on this pc!!!!

bus to russia in 1/2 hour from here in estonia :)

hope your all good :)

Meg xxx