30.8.2010 | Day 30 | 14 275 km | Hoi An, Vietnam
Since we left Sapa, it has been more traveling and sitting in different forms of transportation than actually exploring and doing sightseeing. But, while the 48 hour from Sapa to Hoi An, I had lots of time to think about how tourism is changing the world, and not necessarily into the right direction.
There’s no doubt that tourism creates a lot of jobs and makes especially cities and towns near ocean coastlines blossom with all the money tourists bring and use while on vacation. But then there is the other side of the story; Tourism can (and will) destroy something that has been original for centuries. I felt really heart broken to see in Sapa - a small mountain town with many villages surrounding it - that it has turned the lifestyle of some villagers totally upside down.
You couldn’t walk the streets one minute, without a villager woman or a child dressed in their traditional clothes starting to show what she has to sell. They start asking where you are from and more you answer and reveal, the more they stick and try to sell to you - even if you’re at a terrace of a restaurant having a lunch. Because of tourism, their lifestyle has changed.
Waking up early in the village, walking into Sapa and spending the whole day there trying their everything to sell various items to Western travellers. Even a 10-year old villager kid now can speak pretty decent English so that they can sell better. Is that really a life that they should be living, compared to the time before tourism? Earlier they weren’t roaming the streets of Sapa, but were with their families in the villages they live. It’s an impossibility for me to say how happy they were back then, but looking the smiles of those farmers and villagers who can be seen driving up and down the mountain roads, I just get the feeling that they are happy.
The more we give the villagers money by buying something we probably never need, the more we encourage them to live like that. That’s what is the problem of tourism; Western travellers have way too much money in their hands to change the lifestyles of some villages, or even some cities. Driving through Da Nang to reach Hoi An, we saw miles and miles of ocean shoreline “destroyed” because there were about a hundred different resorts and golf courses in construction, with all the advertising signs written only in English. Not hard to guess for who they were designed. Even in Hoi An, the shoreline has been taken by hotels and villas, and only a fraction of a beach remaining in public use. As I went for a swim yesterday to the public beach after the sun had set, I saw a lot of locals arriving to that same small public section of the beach to enjoy themselves. Again, I felt pretty bad, since a lot of beach that had been untouched earlier are now built for Western travellers to enjoy.
It is what it is, but at least we can say that we’re living in small hotels and eat in different small restaurants, so we know the money goes to locals, not to international companies that have luxury beach resorts all over the world. The double-edged sword of tourism...
Monday, August 30, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
North Vietnam tour
25.8.2010 | Day 25 | 13 162 km | Sapa, Vietnam
Before the journey started, Vietnam was a big question mark for me. I didn’t know much about it, but the impression I had was that it’s a nice place to visit. Now, almost a week in Vietnam, a nice place to visit is a huge understatement. I didn’t know just how much this country can offer for a traveller; City life, paradise islands and trekking the mountains up north.
Our flight landed in Hanoi, so we booked a two-night stay in the city’s old quarters. Only a two hour flight from China, but everything changed instantly. The first impression is pretty wild, as our taxi driver took us through very unorganized traffic to our hotel. Everyone is flashing their headlights, honking the horns and changing lanes like their life depends on the few extra seconds gained of the overtaking. But, the longer you look the traffic, you’ll just get used to it. In the end, no accidents in sight even though there are thousands and thousands of motorbikes navigating between cars… It just works!
This time Hanoi won’t get much praise words, because at this point we only had seen big cities and we were dying to get somewhere to recharge ourselves. For that, we booked a trip to Cat Ba Island. Only 160 km away from Hanoi, but still a combination of taxi-bus-another bus-ferry-a third bus. Somebody could argue that there would be easier way to do it, but nevertheless once we got to the island, it looked like a dream come true - a real paradise island.
Cat Ba Island is simply beautiful. Excellent beaches and mountains climbing up from the sea made our two day stay feel a week too less. We rented motorbikes and drove the winding coast and mountain roads up and down, until we got serious sunburns. Of course, it just had to happen! But then we just parked our bikes and rented a bungalow 50 meters from the Cat Co 2 beach shoreline, swam in the ocean and hung our hammocks under coconut trees. I probably haven’t had such a relaxing moment in my life ever before. It was too bad we once again chose to make a too tight schedule, since I really wanted to stay in Cat Ba for much, much longer.
Next stop was a small town called Sapa, almost at the border of China. We’ll claim 23th of August, 2010 the most useless day so far, since it only consisted of traveling. This time a combination of bus-junk-bus-walk-taxi-train-minibus took a full 24 hours to do, with only about 500 km in length. We were totally exhausted when arriving to Sapa, but luckily we could already check in to our Guesthouse room with a mountain view. Strange, first two weeks our hostels and hotels neither did have windows or the views were other buildings or alleys. Now, first we had a beach view and now spectacular mountains!
After we slept some of the sleep debt away, we again rented motorbikes to see Silver Waterfalls and climbed the twisty roads up to 2 km in altitude. It’s hard to write how much fun it is to feel the open road in a motorbike, especially with these views. Our luck however was about to change, as about 10 km away from Sapa, a loud bang stopped our trip - My rear tire blew up. Aleksi drove back to the town to get help, while I just stood beside the mountain road for a time felt like eternity, as every passing motorbike or a car or a truck looked at me and laughed. Oh well, to be honest, no-one were being evil but just shouting hello’s for me happily :) But it can worn you down after the 50th time, as you are pissed off about what happened.
Even though I didn’t hit anything and the outer tire was perfectly fine, we had to pay for the repairs. So a warning for anyone who wishes to rent a motorbike in Asia; Be sure to go through what you will have to pay if something breaks. If the engine dies along the way, you will probably have to pay for it! We were strongly arguing that we’re not going to pay, as the tire most likely blew because of too much pressure, but as we found out the price of 150 000 dongs ($8) we agreed to pay just to get hell out from the middle of nowhere before dark.
Today, we were supposed to go trekking, but as we woke up, we couldn’t even see out of the balcony because of heavy fog and rain falling down. We cancelled our trek, which actually in the end is just for good as we need the rest. So, finally a day we’re not going to do anything but just sleep and sleep some more...
Before the journey started, Vietnam was a big question mark for me. I didn’t know much about it, but the impression I had was that it’s a nice place to visit. Now, almost a week in Vietnam, a nice place to visit is a huge understatement. I didn’t know just how much this country can offer for a traveller; City life, paradise islands and trekking the mountains up north.
Our flight landed in Hanoi, so we booked a two-night stay in the city’s old quarters. Only a two hour flight from China, but everything changed instantly. The first impression is pretty wild, as our taxi driver took us through very unorganized traffic to our hotel. Everyone is flashing their headlights, honking the horns and changing lanes like their life depends on the few extra seconds gained of the overtaking. But, the longer you look the traffic, you’ll just get used to it. In the end, no accidents in sight even though there are thousands and thousands of motorbikes navigating between cars… It just works!
This time Hanoi won’t get much praise words, because at this point we only had seen big cities and we were dying to get somewhere to recharge ourselves. For that, we booked a trip to Cat Ba Island. Only 160 km away from Hanoi, but still a combination of taxi-bus-another bus-ferry-a third bus. Somebody could argue that there would be easier way to do it, but nevertheless once we got to the island, it looked like a dream come true - a real paradise island.
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| Cat Co 2 beach at Cat Ba Island from a kayak |
Next stop was a small town called Sapa, almost at the border of China. We’ll claim 23th of August, 2010 the most useless day so far, since it only consisted of traveling. This time a combination of bus-junk-bus-walk-taxi-train-minibus took a full 24 hours to do, with only about 500 km in length. We were totally exhausted when arriving to Sapa, but luckily we could already check in to our Guesthouse room with a mountain view. Strange, first two weeks our hostels and hotels neither did have windows or the views were other buildings or alleys. Now, first we had a beach view and now spectacular mountains!
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| Twisty Sapa mountain roads, not a bad place to drive a motorbike... |
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| Blown tire in the middle of nowhere |
Today, we were supposed to go trekking, but as we woke up, we couldn’t even see out of the balcony because of heavy fog and rain falling down. We cancelled our trek, which actually in the end is just for good as we need the rest. So, finally a day we’re not going to do anything but just sleep and sleep some more...
Thursday, August 19, 2010
The last chapter of China: Hong Kong
18.8.2010 | Day 18 | 11 601 km | Hong Kong, China
To be honest, I didn’t know much about Hong Kong, except that it is a small area with millions of people living there - and that all my childhood miniature cars were made there. One cool thing about not knowing anything about a place you go is, that you can then be very positively surprised. And that is just what happened!
Hong Kong is a beautiful place. Our hostel was located in the heart of Kowloon peninsula and no matter which way you headed, the city was just full of life. Dozens and dozens of different restaurants and all kinds of stores from electronics to pet stores and back to hardware stores. It’s a city that is what it is because of the very limited space to build; Everything has had to be built into a very small area.
But yet even though Kowloon’s density is one of the world’s largest, it works amazingly well. Well, traffic jams are to be expected, but even buses have been designed to transit people how it’s the most efficient, by using double-deckers. One of the strangest thing for a city like this is still, that the subway costs are huge compared to the mainland China. One single ticket costs 100-500% more, which keeps some of the people out of the system.
The true beauty of Hong Kong is still outside Kowloon. We visited two different sights, The Peak and Ngong Ping. The first one was located at the center of Hong Kong island, where a 100 year old tram track took us to see the city from the heights. The tram ride itself was fantastic, but as we looked down to the city from The Peak tower, it revealed how much mankind can actually build to a small area. The latter sightseeing tour took us to see the world’s tallest, outdoor bronze Buddha statue in a cable car with a glass floor from sea level up to more than 500 meters. Ngong Ping showed us areas of Hong Kong that have been left how they are always been; Fantastic scenery with mountains raising up from the seas. This was so unexpected after the busy city, that it almost took my breath away.
The visit to Hong Kong was absolutely worth it, even though it was meant to be just a “transport city” for Macau and Hanoi, Vietnam. Even though I have seen the major sights of this city, I really wouldn’t mind to come again sometime in the future!
Now, we’ll change into a lower gear and start a different part of the journey. A flight to Hanoi, Vietnam and then we have time to see Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand with no schedules made for the next month. It will be interesting to see what happens along the way…
To be honest, I didn’t know much about Hong Kong, except that it is a small area with millions of people living there - and that all my childhood miniature cars were made there. One cool thing about not knowing anything about a place you go is, that you can then be very positively surprised. And that is just what happened!
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| Even the smallest shop has a huge sign over the streets |
But yet even though Kowloon’s density is one of the world’s largest, it works amazingly well. Well, traffic jams are to be expected, but even buses have been designed to transit people how it’s the most efficient, by using double-deckers. One of the strangest thing for a city like this is still, that the subway costs are huge compared to the mainland China. One single ticket costs 100-500% more, which keeps some of the people out of the system.
The true beauty of Hong Kong is still outside Kowloon. We visited two different sights, The Peak and Ngong Ping. The first one was located at the center of Hong Kong island, where a 100 year old tram track took us to see the city from the heights. The tram ride itself was fantastic, but as we looked down to the city from The Peak tower, it revealed how much mankind can actually build to a small area. The latter sightseeing tour took us to see the world’s tallest, outdoor bronze Buddha statue in a cable car with a glass floor from sea level up to more than 500 meters. Ngong Ping showed us areas of Hong Kong that have been left how they are always been; Fantastic scenery with mountains raising up from the seas. This was so unexpected after the busy city, that it almost took my breath away.
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| These sights caught us by a total surprise |
Now, we’ll change into a lower gear and start a different part of the journey. A flight to Hanoi, Vietnam and then we have time to see Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand with no schedules made for the next month. It will be interesting to see what happens along the way…
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
The Las Vegas of East
16.8.2010 | Day 16 | 11 533 km | Macau, China
On second thought, let’s not go to Macau. It is a silly place. Well, maybe not as silly as Camelot in Monty Python, but the small country (or what ever it is) of gambling is a very strange place. As we had been into Las Vegas and thoroughly enjoyed the 100% fun they offer, we were very disappointed how Macau casinos work.
First of all, no drinking while gambling! At Vegas casinos, waitress bring you free alcohol drinks for a $1 tip. In Macau, you are not even allowed to drink at the slots or at the tables, only at the small bar areas. And well, nobody was drinking. Also, I was thinking of gambling a bit in some poker tables, but surprisingly there were none. It was all about Baccarat and other strange dice table games what locals were playing 24/7/365. We did find couple of places to play very cheap two Hong Kong cent lucky-7’s (0,002 Eur bet per line), which we did play a lot. And obviously lost, but that was expected :)
The most fun we had when we found a greyhound race track. Sadly it was Monday, probably the slowest day for races, but it was massive fun to first look at the dogs and decide which to bet, of course reading the odds as well. And you actually could drink beers while gambling as well! But not to our surprise, we were the only ones drinking…
In the end, we left Macau disappointed. Comparing Macau and Las Vegas depends pretty much only about are you a Westerner or an Easterner. Better to stick the one “closer” to you, as the games and the atmosphere we enjoy is in Vegas. But for the Chinese people, going to Macau is the better choice.
On second thought, let’s not go to Macau. It is a silly place. Well, maybe not as silly as Camelot in Monty Python, but the small country (or what ever it is) of gambling is a very strange place. As we had been into Las Vegas and thoroughly enjoyed the 100% fun they offer, we were very disappointed how Macau casinos work.
First of all, no drinking while gambling! At Vegas casinos, waitress bring you free alcohol drinks for a $1 tip. In Macau, you are not even allowed to drink at the slots or at the tables, only at the small bar areas. And well, nobody was drinking. Also, I was thinking of gambling a bit in some poker tables, but surprisingly there were none. It was all about Baccarat and other strange dice table games what locals were playing 24/7/365. We did find couple of places to play very cheap two Hong Kong cent lucky-7’s (0,002 Eur bet per line), which we did play a lot. And obviously lost, but that was expected :)
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| The Venetian in Macau is the world's largest casino |
In the end, we left Macau disappointed. Comparing Macau and Las Vegas depends pretty much only about are you a Westerner or an Easterner. Better to stick the one “closer” to you, as the games and the atmosphere we enjoy is in Vegas. But for the Chinese people, going to Macau is the better choice.
I'm melting!
14.8.2010 | Day 14 | 10 198 km | Shanghai, China
Weather forecast for a Saturday in Shanghai: Sunny, 38c, feels like 45c. And they weren’t lying. When you leave air conditioned hostel room to the streets, it’s like entering to a sauna with your clothes on. Instant sweating starts and you start to feel exhausted, making it impossible to tour the city for a long time before you need to head back to your hostel. Looking back, hot Moscow was a piece of cake. A Finnish person is not designed for a climate like this!
Shanghai, excluding the hotness, is a very surprising city after Beijing. It’s like the complete opposite with massive skyscrapers and you can watch the buildings just continue on and on from a skyscraper observation deck. It’s a shame we can’t explore this city for more than just for one and a half day, but to properly tour Shanghai, it just would need to be a “little bit” cooler for us.
The most fun in the city we had, when we wandered out from the main streets to narrow alleys and strange shops, watching how the people really live here. Laundry hanging from poles, weird pet shop “malls” selling, well, animals that probably shouldn’t be kept in captivity. It was the first time I saw a tamed squirrel, sitting in a shoulder of his owner. Strange, but it was great to see something real instead of the new skyscrapers. We however did also see something very fake, or maybe I have just missed companies that sell Nakio and Motorcola phones…
Before we exit China, I just have to mention our train journey from hell. Our plan was to use overnight train with 4-berth sleeping cabins, but as they were sold out we had to take the morning train with just regular seats. Now, think our Trans-Mongolian journey with two Chinese in our cabin and multiply it by 100. Everybody had their cell phones and other gaming devices on max volume and when ever they answered a call, it had to be done by shouting. And of course the loud smacking while eating, sigh… The train was also running almost two hours late for an unknown reason, so we were stuck in a horror show for about 14 hours.
But, as I mentioned about opposites describing Beijing and Shanghai, it also has something to do with the people. I received my first thank you in English from a local while I held the door for her. That was actually very rewarding for a change! Walking at the streets you can also somehow feel that it’s a much friendlier city and Shanghai would beat Beijing 100-0, if I had to choose from these two cities as a place to live.
Weather forecast for a Saturday in Shanghai: Sunny, 38c, feels like 45c. And they weren’t lying. When you leave air conditioned hostel room to the streets, it’s like entering to a sauna with your clothes on. Instant sweating starts and you start to feel exhausted, making it impossible to tour the city for a long time before you need to head back to your hostel. Looking back, hot Moscow was a piece of cake. A Finnish person is not designed for a climate like this!
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| Skyscrapers rule the city |
The most fun in the city we had, when we wandered out from the main streets to narrow alleys and strange shops, watching how the people really live here. Laundry hanging from poles, weird pet shop “malls” selling, well, animals that probably shouldn’t be kept in captivity. It was the first time I saw a tamed squirrel, sitting in a shoulder of his owner. Strange, but it was great to see something real instead of the new skyscrapers. We however did also see something very fake, or maybe I have just missed companies that sell Nakio and Motorcola phones…
Before we exit China, I just have to mention our train journey from hell. Our plan was to use overnight train with 4-berth sleeping cabins, but as they were sold out we had to take the morning train with just regular seats. Now, think our Trans-Mongolian journey with two Chinese in our cabin and multiply it by 100. Everybody had their cell phones and other gaming devices on max volume and when ever they answered a call, it had to be done by shouting. And of course the loud smacking while eating, sigh… The train was also running almost two hours late for an unknown reason, so we were stuck in a horror show for about 14 hours.
But, as I mentioned about opposites describing Beijing and Shanghai, it also has something to do with the people. I received my first thank you in English from a local while I held the door for her. That was actually very rewarding for a change! Walking at the streets you can also somehow feel that it’s a much friendlier city and Shanghai would beat Beijing 100-0, if I had to choose from these two cities as a place to live.
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| Two travellers taking a moment to stand still, while the city just keeps moving on... |
Holy censorship, Batman!
13.8.2010 | Day 13 | 8792 km | Beijing, China
Ah, China. The best place in the world to catch up with your friends via Facebook, watch funny videos from Youtube and update your Google-provided blog. Goddamnit! Everything is blocked, making things a bit difficult for a Westerner during a trip like this. But enough about that and my deepest apologies about the delay of this blog.
Anyways, Beijing. After four days and now (again) in a train to Shanghai, I left the historical city with mixed feelings. All the sights we saw, Summer Palace, Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City and especially The Great Wall were massive and fantastic to see. But the people living in the city are something that I still can’t believe.
The rudeness is just something else. If you’re waiting for the subway and standing beside the opening doors, that’s the first thing you’ll be doing wrong, 20 Chinese will walk straight for the doors in front of you. If you’re going to wait until the exiting passengers have left the train, that’s the second wrong move. The locals will start entering the train as soon as the doors open, making it very difficult for others to get out and causing a massive block - and when you actually get in, 40 Chinese have boarded the train before you. So, use your elbows and ram through people. That is how this city works.
Waiting in a line for a ticketing office booth, or well, anything that requires waiting is also something just not possible for these people. If again you don’t use your elbows, people will come from the sides, so that they can do their business faster. And don’t even think about holding a door for the locals, it’s a 100% certainty that they won’t do the same for you or say a simple thank you. During our stay in China we’re only able to see Beijing and Shanghai, so we aren’t going to experience what people are like outside big cities. And that is a shame, since I’d like to see true Chinese people, who most likely are completely different. We still got to see a glimpse of how people might be outside these big cities; People coming to see the sights were very happy and for some reason also wanted to take photos with us. So, we probably ended up in about 5 different photo albums. I feel like a rock star now!
I’ll also end on a positive note. Beijing is a very safe and clean city to travel into, so if you want to climb The Great Wall, it’s a good city to stay for a while. The subway system is very cheap and easy to use, as every sign is written also in English. It’s also the safest, since every bag goes through x-ray check. Only problem about the subway is still, that it’s massively overcrowded. But somehow it was expected!
Ah, China. The best place in the world to catch up with your friends via Facebook, watch funny videos from Youtube and update your Google-provided blog. Goddamnit! Everything is blocked, making things a bit difficult for a Westerner during a trip like this. But enough about that and my deepest apologies about the delay of this blog.
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| The Badaling Great Wall just continued on and on... |
The rudeness is just something else. If you’re waiting for the subway and standing beside the opening doors, that’s the first thing you’ll be doing wrong, 20 Chinese will walk straight for the doors in front of you. If you’re going to wait until the exiting passengers have left the train, that’s the second wrong move. The locals will start entering the train as soon as the doors open, making it very difficult for others to get out and causing a massive block - and when you actually get in, 40 Chinese have boarded the train before you. So, use your elbows and ram through people. That is how this city works.
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| A Chinese style boat coming to pick up people to see the Summer Palace |
I’ll also end on a positive note. Beijing is a very safe and clean city to travel into, so if you want to climb The Great Wall, it’s a good city to stay for a while. The subway system is very cheap and easy to use, as every sign is written also in English. It’s also the safest, since every bag goes through x-ray check. Only problem about the subway is still, that it’s massively overcrowded. But somehow it was expected!
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Trans-Mongolian Train diaries
9.8.2010 | Day 9 | 8792 km | Beijing, China
Day 1: Moscow - Vladimir
Rail km’s 0 - 191
Train departure set at 21:30 Moscow time. And of course, at 21:00 we’re still at the wrong railway station, Leningraskiy! A quick look at Aleksi’s Trans-Siberian Railway handbook reveals us that the right station is Yarovslavskiy, but luckily just a walk distance from where we were. At last, we found the right train, a Chinese one leaving always on Tuesday. We were lucky not to miss our journey…
This is where the surreal feeling kicked in. Seriously, next 7 days we’ll be just sitting on a train traveling almost 8 000 km. A length you can't just understand when talking about a train journey. But nevertheless, it still looks to be the trip absolutely worth of every minute.
Next step, our conductor shows us our 4-berth 2nd class cabin. We had the impression there would be some kind of an air condition; A necessity right now in Russia, where temperatures reach almost 40c. In reality… The air conditioning is just a regular propeller, circling the hot air in our cabin. Marvelous! Oh well, we’ll just have to deal with it. Only the 1st class cabins had normal air conditioning.
As soon as the train started to move, it was time to open our first beers and take a shot of vodka, obviously. A quick visit to the restaurant car 8 cars from our car showed us the reality of this train; A real clash of nationalities. This train is not for mainly Russian people traveling across their country, but people around the world wanting to make this journey just like us.
A beer later in the restaurant car, we headed back to our cabin to watch a stop at Vladimir station. It was an empty one because of the arrival time, 00:20. We saw one local drunk being moved by militia couple of times, but we were pretty sure he had no understanding where he were. After that, it was time to get some sleep, because of the darkness there was nothing to see outside.
Day 1: Moscow - Vladimir
Rail km’s 0 - 191
Train departure set at 21:30 Moscow time. And of course, at 21:00 we’re still at the wrong railway station, Leningraskiy! A quick look at Aleksi’s Trans-Siberian Railway handbook reveals us that the right station is Yarovslavskiy, but luckily just a walk distance from where we were. At last, we found the right train, a Chinese one leaving always on Tuesday. We were lucky not to miss our journey…
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| Two trains starting the journey across Siberia; Trans-Siberian to Vladivostok on the left and our train, Trans-Mongolian via Mongolia to Beijing, China. |
Next step, our conductor shows us our 4-berth 2nd class cabin. We had the impression there would be some kind of an air condition; A necessity right now in Russia, where temperatures reach almost 40c. In reality… The air conditioning is just a regular propeller, circling the hot air in our cabin. Marvelous! Oh well, we’ll just have to deal with it. Only the 1st class cabins had normal air conditioning.
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| First sights of the countryside after Moscow |
A beer later in the restaurant car, we headed back to our cabin to watch a stop at Vladimir station. It was an empty one because of the arrival time, 00:20. We saw one local drunk being moved by militia couple of times, but we were pretty sure he had no understanding where he were. After that, it was time to get some sleep, because of the darkness there was nothing to see outside.
Day 2: Vladimir - Nizhniy Novgorod - Kirov - Balyezino - Perm
Rail km’s 191 - 1436
I couldn’t sleep much on the first night and woke up just after sunrise. Heavy smokes from the forest fires had disappeared after Nizhniy Novgorod and for the first time in our trip the weather was cool, probably around 25c.
Aleksi was still asleep when I ate my morning porridge, so I just enjoyed the views and the rolling noise of the train. This is where I realized how life works in this train. Throw out the normal sleeping rhythm out of the window and eat, sleep and watch the views when it’s convenient. The day rolled on just like that, three one to two hour naps and wake up just before the next station to stretch your legs outside.
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| Shaggy villages beside the railway tracks |
At Perm station, we had a quick but serious adrenaline rush. All passengers were minding their own business at the station platform like at every stop, buying groceries and all kinds of items from local sellers, when suddenly without any warning the train started to move! All ran quickly to the doors, but as 20 passengers were trying to get inside into a moving train, the process slowed down and we had to run for the next available door and just got in before it was too late. Seriously, I can buy a whistle to the conductor so he could actually inform passengers when to jump back in!
After Perm stop we made a stop in the restaurant car and decided to eat dinner worth of 300 roubles. Salad, bread, stroganoff meal, pineapple juice and water was just what we needed. However, as our roubles are quickly disappearing from our pockets, that was the last time before Mongolia when we could have a real dinner.
After our meal, it was time to head back to our cabin and make some mix of Vodka Putinka (of course, named after Vladimir Putin) and orange juice. At some point sleep took us to it’s gentle arms once again…
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| Yekaterinburg (Sverdlovsk) train station at night |
Day 3: Perm - Yekaterinburg - Tyumen - Ishim - Omsk - Barabinsk - Novosibirsk
Rail km’s 1436 - 3335
Waking up, watching the views, eating noodles, taking a nap… You already know the story.
If you’re looking to have a relaxing vacation after a stressful year at work, I can’t imagine a better place to spend it than in this train. You have no other option than to relax and just on the third day you start to feel that it really works. The sound of the train and the railway tracks is so soothing, that after you get used to it - You’ll always fell asleep at the time you want. I haven’t had a sleep this great in a long, long time what I had last night…
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| Our luxurious bathroom for a week |
As it was the third day of the journey, we started to feel… Well, not so fresh and so clean, clean. Aleksi made a brilliant discovery (he is an engineer after all), that cutting a big water bottle in half makes you a portable shower! So, locking the bathroom door meant a perfectly private washing moment, and man did it feel good to shower off three days of dirt. We’re not sure if it’s something you are allowed to do, but we really didn’t care.
Once again, our day ended with Mr. Vladimir’s spirit, but as the bottle emptied and another Vodka bought from the restaurant car already half way, I was ready just to pass out.
Day 4: Novosibirsk - Mariinsk - Krasnoyarsk - Ilanskaya - Nizhneudinsk - Zima
Rail km’s 3335 - 4940
You didn’t expect to wake up because you’re cold, but during the night the temperature had fallen to 15c as the corridor temperature meter showed us. It was probably a couple of degrees warmer in our cabin, but nevertheless seriously chilly! However, apparently during my sleep I had changed my pants to longer ones, put on socks and a t-shirt. Not bad!
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| Aleksi buying groceries from a local seller at a train station |
This day was surprisingly mostly about taking naps and then taking more naps. Hangovers in a train are not too pleasant and it took a long time to recover. Not to mention that our cabin was heating up slowly, I even tried to turn all the reading lights to generate some extra heat.
Just after Nizhneudinsk, a disappointing stop as there were no local sellers on platform, it also started to rain for the first time. Now it’s just another time to relax before (and after) next stop, Zima, at night.
Day 5: Zima - Irkutsk - Ulan-Ude - Naushki - MONGOLIA
Rail km’s 4940 - 5895
The day for me started from a scare; As I woke up already at 4 am, the railway tracks had gotten seriously bad and the train was hopping up and down, left to right like I was in a rally car. At first I was too afraid to open my eyes, as it was that horrible.
The rain continued and as our surprise, first stops at Zima and Irkutsk there were no local sellers and we had started to run out of supplies - other than noodles, what wasn’t exactly our favorite food at this point. Our “miseries” ended when the train started to roll again and reached the shores of the great Lake Baikal. The views outside the window were spectacular and I can now understand why it contains 20% of the world’s fresh water.
Our trip however changed completely at Ulan-Ude, when our luxurious 2nd class 4-berth cabin was filled for the first time; Two Chinese guys stormed in with huge boxes and without asking anything they just unloaded their stuff where ever they wanted. After that, they started to eat disgusting whole fishes and what ever was included and I can’t even describe how loudly they were smacking while eating!
The first impression was really the passengers from hell, but as we got to the final stop in Russia, Naushki border station, we started to communicate with them just a little bit, as they only knew few words in English. Once all of us opened some beers, things turned much more friendlier.
But then a few words about the Russia/Mongolia border. Not coming as a surprise, but it seemed a lot tougher and time consuming what you’d think. We had to stop at Naushki for about 4 hours, while Russian border officials checked our passports and what ever else they wanted to check, including a thorough search of our cabin. Two drug-trained dogs also sniffed if any illegal substance were being smuggled. At 22:15, we finally crossed the border and entered Mongolia!
Day 6: MONGOLIA - Sühbaatar - Darhan - Zuunhara - Ulan Bator - Choyr - Saynshand - Zamiin Uud - CHINA - Erlyan
Rail km’s 5895 - 7013
We were really tired compared to the part of the trip we didn’t have Chinese people shouting in our cabin, so we missed Darhan and I only just barely woke up to see few seconds of Zuunhara, which was an empty station at 4 am.
We still did wake up for Ulan Bator and it looked great, after seeing several days Russian cities. We would have gladly stayed in Mongolia for longer, but this time the schedule was against us. Rest of the day was about opposites. The bad, our great Chinese friends. As they woke up, the shouting and general bad behavior was just atrocious, not to mention their fishes giving the cabin a foul smell. I hadn’t met people in my life yet, who had no capabilities to take others into consideration, or at least use a proper trash bag for their waste. Their repeat playing of some Chinese song from a cellphone for TWO HOURS was also something that you can’t even describe.
The good, however, made our day. The views in Mongolia from a window were great, with green hills joining perfectly to the valleys and yurts built here and there. We watched the views hours and hours, but to be honest one reason was that our cabin was totally inaccessible because of the foul smell. At some point even the car attendant got fed up and ordered the Chinese to remove the fishes out of the cabin. Yet the smell didn’t disappear for hours…
At some point hills changed to plains and the views outside turned really dull, so I took a long nap before arriving into the Mongolian and Chinese border. When we were successfully typed customs and arrival forms, we had some serious luck; The Chinese power duo were leaving from the train to Erlyan, and once we actually saw it happening we high-fived and ate a surprisingly delicious noodle meal. Hey, never underestimate the power of good mood. Everything was perfect now!
At the end of the day the train reversed into a depot at Erlyan station for a bogie change (China uses narrower axles and all of them had to be changed), which was interesting to watch. All cars were lift up with heavy machinery and new bogies were installed. As a surprise, after the train had briefly stopped at the Erlyan station and we did some beer shopping, a Chinese lady in her about 40’s had joined into our cabin. She was even too afraid to start sleeping and napped in a stool on the corridor, probably not really used to share a cabin with two 7-day bearded guys…
I also need to mention about the greatness of People’s Republic of China. As the train slowly rolled through the border, soldiers were placed on each side of the train to salute us, while Vienna Walz was playing from the loudspeakers. After that, we were given free breakfast and lunch tickets. It‘s all great in China, huh?
Day 7: Erlyan - Jining - Datong - Zhangjiakou - Chanchiang - Nankou - Beijing
Rail km’s 7013 - 7865
Our co-traveller left off already at Jining, so for the rest of the journey the cabin was fully in our use. At first there was not much to see and the stations were nothing compared to Russian and Mongolian stations; Just plain concrete and there was absolutely nothing to see. In 2007 the tracks had been re-routed and the scenery was simply spectacular. The train entered into an amazing valley with mighty looking mountains covering both sides. We started to descend through at least 30 tunnels, short and long, and dropped from 1 kilometer to just few hundred meters in altitude. If I have to choose a part of the journey above others, this was definitely it!
Finally we arrived to Beijing and as a conclusion I have to say that the 7-day journey in a train was completely worth it, even though we also had some bad moments. It took 133 hours and 7800 kilometers to do and there is no way you can “feel the vibe” about the journey without experiencing it yourself. But still, we were really glad to get off the train and the rest of the day will just be bathing and relaxing at our hotel.
Travel tips for a train across Siberia
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| A long and a winding road back to home... |
Rail km’s 4940 - 5895
The day for me started from a scare; As I woke up already at 4 am, the railway tracks had gotten seriously bad and the train was hopping up and down, left to right like I was in a rally car. At first I was too afraid to open my eyes, as it was that horrible.
The rain continued and as our surprise, first stops at Zima and Irkutsk there were no local sellers and we had started to run out of supplies - other than noodles, what wasn’t exactly our favorite food at this point. Our “miseries” ended when the train started to roll again and reached the shores of the great Lake Baikal. The views outside the window were spectacular and I can now understand why it contains 20% of the world’s fresh water.
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| The shores of Lake Baikal |
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| Moscow - Ulan Bator - Beijing |
The first impression was really the passengers from hell, but as we got to the final stop in Russia, Naushki border station, we started to communicate with them just a little bit, as they only knew few words in English. Once all of us opened some beers, things turned much more friendlier.
But then a few words about the Russia/Mongolia border. Not coming as a surprise, but it seemed a lot tougher and time consuming what you’d think. We had to stop at Naushki for about 4 hours, while Russian border officials checked our passports and what ever else they wanted to check, including a thorough search of our cabin. Two drug-trained dogs also sniffed if any illegal substance were being smuggled. At 22:15, we finally crossed the border and entered Mongolia!
Day 6: MONGOLIA - Sühbaatar - Darhan - Zuunhara - Ulan Bator - Choyr - Saynshand - Zamiin Uud - CHINA - Erlyan
Rail km’s 5895 - 7013
We were really tired compared to the part of the trip we didn’t have Chinese people shouting in our cabin, so we missed Darhan and I only just barely woke up to see few seconds of Zuunhara, which was an empty station at 4 am.
We still did wake up for Ulan Bator and it looked great, after seeing several days Russian cities. We would have gladly stayed in Mongolia for longer, but this time the schedule was against us. Rest of the day was about opposites. The bad, our great Chinese friends. As they woke up, the shouting and general bad behavior was just atrocious, not to mention their fishes giving the cabin a foul smell. I hadn’t met people in my life yet, who had no capabilities to take others into consideration, or at least use a proper trash bag for their waste. Their repeat playing of some Chinese song from a cellphone for TWO HOURS was also something that you can’t even describe.
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| Older and slower part of the track in Mongolia, winding up to cross the hills |
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| Mongolian official securing that nobody gets ran over by the oncoming train |
At some point hills changed to plains and the views outside turned really dull, so I took a long nap before arriving into the Mongolian and Chinese border. When we were successfully typed customs and arrival forms, we had some serious luck; The Chinese power duo were leaving from the train to Erlyan, and once we actually saw it happening we high-fived and ate a surprisingly delicious noodle meal. Hey, never underestimate the power of good mood. Everything was perfect now!
At the end of the day the train reversed into a depot at Erlyan station for a bogie change (China uses narrower axles and all of them had to be changed), which was interesting to watch. All cars were lift up with heavy machinery and new bogies were installed. As a surprise, after the train had briefly stopped at the Erlyan station and we did some beer shopping, a Chinese lady in her about 40’s had joined into our cabin. She was even too afraid to start sleeping and napped in a stool on the corridor, probably not really used to share a cabin with two 7-day bearded guys…
I also need to mention about the greatness of People’s Republic of China. As the train slowly rolled through the border, soldiers were placed on each side of the train to salute us, while Vienna Walz was playing from the loudspeakers. After that, we were given free breakfast and lunch tickets. It‘s all great in China, huh?
Day 7: Erlyan - Jining - Datong - Zhangjiakou - Chanchiang - Nankou - Beijing
Rail km’s 7013 - 7865
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| Spectacular views from a train |
Finally we arrived to Beijing and as a conclusion I have to say that the 7-day journey in a train was completely worth it, even though we also had some bad moments. It took 133 hours and 7800 kilometers to do and there is no way you can “feel the vibe” about the journey without experiencing it yourself. But still, we were really glad to get off the train and the rest of the day will just be bathing and relaxing at our hotel.
Travel tips for a train across Siberia
- Buy a sack of groceries before you start your journey. Something you can easily make in a train, like noodles or other foods that only need warming up. There is hot water available in every car.
- If you’re a drinker, buy enough Vodka in advance. The ones they sell in the restaurant car are horrible, cost five times more and makes your hangovers feel something like never before.
- Buy wet wipes to help with your personal hygiene. Showers are not included in 2nd class.
- Reserve enough local currencies for buying bread, beer, fruits and other items from local sellers at station platforms. It’s also fun to use their services, as you’ll have to use sign language to be understood what you‘re buying. And obviously, the money goes to the people themselves.
- Bring something to read and/or do. If I have to recommend something, Trans-Siberian Handbook is a definitive must choice, as it gives you a very detailed view what’s coming up next.
From Russia with…
3.8.2010 | Day 3 | 1170 km | Moscow, Russia
You know how the sentence in the topic ends: With love! Seriously, without going to this around the world trip, I probably wouldn’t have visited Moscow, ever. I had a lot of false thoughts how unsafe and impossible for foreigners the city would be, because of all the “propaganda” western civilization gives you. But experiencing the city for three days showed us how wrong can you be.
Moscow is a city like nothing else; Clash of new and old, rich and poor and different cultures. Traveling through the city in a car is just mind boggling. The architecture from the times of USSR into today’s glass sky scrapers is stunning. And it’s just not for a couple of blocks, it continues on and on in a way I couldn’t have even imagined. Three days is absolutely the minimum stay in this fantastic city, and you can only take a glimpse what the city can offer. But it’s part of our journey, there will be a lot of cities where we can be just for a little while, when we should have stay for at least a week. Still, this definitely won’t be the last time I’ll be visiting this unbelievable city.
We had a lot of luck coming to Moscow; My old neighbors from Jyvaskyla, Maarit and Timo are living and working in the city, and they were willing to give us the shelter for three days of our stay. And that’s not all, we had our private tour guides in them for every day, which was really priceless as we visited a lot of places we wouldn‘t have being in the city alone. Our thanks goes to their way, they made our visit to the city something we‘ll never forget!
But, of course, you haven’t seen Russia, if you haven’t seen any strange events. First one was, when we tried to go to the Red Square. Militia closed the gates just in front of us without any explanation. Seriously, the whole Red Square closed down for the day. Why? Later on we found out that it was the 80th anniversary of the paratrooper veterans. Paratroopers of today were on a holiday, absolutely and completely drunk all around the square and so the militia decided to close the place before anything bad could happen. We even saw some trouble happening when some paratroopers tried to get into the Red Square, but that attempt was stopped in seconds by Russian special forces (OMON) guarding the entrances.
But then the bureaucracy. Some things are not as easy as it would be in Finland. Let’s use our train tickets for Trans-Mongolian train as an example. First, we had to make a reservation for our seats through Finnish Railways, costing us a reservation fee in Euros. Then, we had to take the reservation to the central railway ticket office in Moscow (which was, surprisingly, not located in any railway station), paying the actual tickets in roubles, without the possibility of credit card payment, with Swiss frangs determining the actual price. At the station, we were told to use counter 6, where a lady took our reservation and started to make several phone calls. Then we had to move to counter 13, where another lady took our passports. As soon as she started to make the tickets, she waved us to go somewhere else, as she wanted to do her work in private. Probably 50 stamping noises and 20 minutes later she waved us back, and finally the ticketing bureaucracy was over!
Travel tips for Moscow:
Moscow is a city like nothing else; Clash of new and old, rich and poor and different cultures. Traveling through the city in a car is just mind boggling. The architecture from the times of USSR into today’s glass sky scrapers is stunning. And it’s just not for a couple of blocks, it continues on and on in a way I couldn’t have even imagined. Three days is absolutely the minimum stay in this fantastic city, and you can only take a glimpse what the city can offer. But it’s part of our journey, there will be a lot of cities where we can be just for a little while, when we should have stay for at least a week. Still, this definitely won’t be the last time I’ll be visiting this unbelievable city.
We had a lot of luck coming to Moscow; My old neighbors from Jyvaskyla, Maarit and Timo are living and working in the city, and they were willing to give us the shelter for three days of our stay. And that’s not all, we had our private tour guides in them for every day, which was really priceless as we visited a lot of places we wouldn‘t have being in the city alone. Our thanks goes to their way, they made our visit to the city something we‘ll never forget!
But, of course, you haven’t seen Russia, if you haven’t seen any strange events. First one was, when we tried to go to the Red Square. Militia closed the gates just in front of us without any explanation. Seriously, the whole Red Square closed down for the day. Why? Later on we found out that it was the 80th anniversary of the paratrooper veterans. Paratroopers of today were on a holiday, absolutely and completely drunk all around the square and so the militia decided to close the place before anything bad could happen. We even saw some trouble happening when some paratroopers tried to get into the Red Square, but that attempt was stopped in seconds by Russian special forces (OMON) guarding the entrances.
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| The reason for Moscow traffic jams; Old Ladas and Volgas cruising down the streets with weird things packed on the roof. Percentage for a possible car failure is just a little too big. |
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| Hannu taking a cooling shower in a public fountain at Alexander Garden like everybody else. Not probably legal, but at 37 degrees the militia didn't mind. |
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| Aleksi rubbing the nose of a war statue at a subway station. Locals touch it every time they pass it for good luck. |
- First of all, learn Cyrillic letters. We didn’t bother to do it because we had no idea it‘s actually very easy, but especially if you’re alone in Russia, doing a quick week of studying of the letters is enough and essential. You will understand a lot of needed information by just knowing the letters.
- Don’t rent a car. Unless you’re used to Manhattan traffic x10, it’s not recommended to drive by yourself. That clash of new and old, +100k’s Cadillac’s versus 1k Lada’s are a dangerous mix. And obviously nobody cares about speed limits. If you know what you’re doing, it actually could be very rewarding, but without any experience it’s just unbelievably stressful and dangerous.
- Eat local foods. Saslik meats, fast food potatoes filled with all kinds of different ingredients and lots of other foods are amazing. In three days, we always ate something new - and never were disappointed!
- It’s very safe. You can walk freely in Moscow and feel that you are in no risk of being robbed. As I said in the beginning, I had lots of doubts about how Russia is, but it’s just the opposite. I felt much safer walking Moscow streets than I felt walking in Manhattan.
- Use the subway. It’s clean, it’s safe, it’s cheap and it’s effective. Maximum 3 minutes waiting time before the next subway on the route. It takes you across the city in just 30 minutes. So don’t take a taxi if you have already seen the views, use the subway like the locals do. Moscow subway compared to New York is cleaner and all stations look different and interesting with magnificent artwork.
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