Distance so far – 3962km, -19 C, clear and very dark. I finally set off on the Trans-Mongolian this evening after a busy final day in Moscow. One of my biggest nightmares was of course missing the train (it goes just once a week), and for a moment I nearly did. Alexie and I had a quick Georgian dinner (rather special veal and pork dumplings) and as a consequence we then spent and hour and a half in a typically huge traffic jam back to Yaroslavsky station. Anyway, it worked out okay thanks to Victor, our driver, who must have […]
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Today I visited Monino for a pre arranged trip to what was part of the Gagarin Air Force base, but it has actually recently been placed into non military hands. It’s about 40km to the North East of Moscow – it took me about an hour and a half to get out there by car. It’s actually hidden on the outskirts of a suburb, and there are few signs. I had high hopes for this trip, and they were met in every respect – it is a truly amazing place to visit if you have a passing interest in Cold […]
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Moscow, GMT +4, -10 C (high), -19 C (low), sunny You might think from the above that its warmer today, but having spent a couple of hours out, I’m coming round to the view that the temperature is just a number and I can confirm without consulting a thermometer that its nippy enough to freeze solid any exposed bits. I spent the morning shopping at the Ismailovsky outdoor market, where they seem to sell all the tourist stuff you would ever need at reasonable prices. There is also an area here that sells Soviet militaria – plenty of interesting stuff […]
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D405 “Vltava” Part 2 Brest – Moscow Distance so far: 3250 km, GMT +4, -17 C, sunny, clear skies. Morning! Last night turned out to be quite an interesting one. I’ve just woken up (3 hours earlier than I needed to – note to self – I must learn to change time zones before bed). It’s very cold, which is unusual for a Russian train. It turns out the boiler in this carriage is on the blink, so there is a mechanic here with a hammer and some spanners. I think he’s managed to fix it, but can’t help but […]
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D 405 “Vltava” Part 1 Warsaw – Terespol Distance covered so far – 1900 km, GMT +1, -5 C, cloudy. Well that was quite interesting. The Amsterdam train was two hours late into Warsaw but they had held the Moscow train for our arrival. I didn’t see them switch any carriages but they might have done – Amsterdam to Minsk & Basel to Moscow carriages both travel this route. My carriage attendant, who was doing a first class job with little English, gave me a voucher – apparently PKP actually financially compensate passengers when they are this late. It’ll never […]
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Euro Night 447 “Jan Kiepura” Distance so far: 1692km, GMT +1, -5 C, snow showers. Last night I picked up the EN447 from Amsterdam. It does a weird route around Germany (including Dusseldorf, Cologne, Dortmund, Berlin and Frankfurt) before heading to Poland, and terminating in Warsaw. I appreciate that you don’t really “pick up” a train like a woman in a bar, but it makes it sound like I do this all the time, which of course I don’t.. Until last month there was actually a carriage that went all the way to Moscow, but this has now been cut […]
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This post is another anoraky one, so unless you are visiting Amsterdam and have luggage, I’d move along to another blog entry..! I thought some of you might like to know how the left luggage service works now. Although the station is being redeveloped, there is still a big left luggage area and a security guy on duty at the entrance. There is no traditional service though, you have to use lockers and the automated system. If you read this blog you will know of my luggage issues, so my first mission this morning was working out how to use […]
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Distance covered so far: 494km, GMT +1, Weather: 1C, sunny I visited North Shields yesterday afternoon to board “Princess Seaways”, the daily DFDS ferry to Imjuden. The only attractions in North Shields appear to the visitor to be the ferry port and a Mega Bowl, so don’t ever make a special trip out here! Once aboard (another mammoth workout session with the baggage, this time with extra climbing) I did a deal with the Purser and upgraded to Commodore Class for what seemed like a pretty reasonable E 50. For this I got a cabin 8012 (more like a suite), […]
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Up until yesterday all my blogging had pretty much been from my Mac at home. Having a day in Newcastle on the way out has been a really smart move, as I got to practice photographing and blogging in “real world” conditions. There might be a flaw in my thinking there, as I don’t know how comparable the “real world” of the Quayside in Newcastle might be to the Siberian tundra – the locals are both friendly, but one is a bit more chilly and and has a more limited phone signal. First up was a trial of moving my […]
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Distance covered so far: 150km. Time zone: GMT. Weather: 3 C, sunny. This afternoon I travelled to Newcastle, where I am getting the DFDS ferry to Amsterdam tomorrow. It was a small step – just 150km out of 12500km, but my first taste of life on the rails! It was immediately apparent that I have too much baggage. People stare at me like I am some sort of demented human pack horse or mad English Sherpa. I managed to cart it about (just), but the real killer is going up flights of stairs, which feels like a heavy work out […]
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