Tag Archives: photos

Helsinki

I took an upmarket European train from St Petersburg to Helsinki. There were laptop points, waitress service and TVs, but no hot water for my tea. Back to Europe Proper. The border check was over in about 10% of the … Continue reading

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St Petersburg

Another inexpensive plaskart train took me to St Petersburg, a little quicker than I’d have liked. I managed to get to sleep around 2am. We were woken at 4.30am, a good hour before the train arrived. Fortunately the hostel reception … Continue reading

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Moscow

I took a third class ‘plaskart’ to Moscow, which was about a third of the price of a second class ‘kupe’ ticket and a lot more interesting. Within 20 minutes of boarding I’d bumped into the Australians I’d met in … Continue reading

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Ekaterinburg

I missed my train out of Irkutsk by reading the date as the time. It was an easy mistake to make, but it cost me dear. The next train was at 2am. My bed was in the coupe section, but … Continue reading

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Irkutsk and Lake Baikal

On my train into Russia I shared a cabin with a Chinese girl who refused to speak to me until she found out I wasn’t American. “I hate America,” she said, “I hate war. I love China. I love Russia. … Continue reading

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Mongolia

There’s only one train a week from Beijing to Mongolia, and I very nearly missed it. After a night out drinking with John & Macro and a half-hearted idea to stay up all night I finally fell asleep at 5am, … Continue reading

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Great Wall

While I was in Beijing I took a day-trip to see the Great Wall. Here are the photos. In places it was more of a climb than a walk.

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Beijing

After more than a month travelling in China, I got to Beijing on Saturday, a week later than planned. An astonishingly quick 13-hour sleeper train took me from the t-shirt weather of Shanghai to the biting cold of the north-east. … Continue reading

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Hangzhou and Suzhou

I had to wait a week to pick up my passport from the Russians, and with little to do in Shanghai and a weirdo room-mate I thought it would be better to see some of the famous places nearby. My … Continue reading

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Shanghai

I was never supposed to be in Shanghai. From Xi’an the plan was to head for Beijing, stopping in somewhere called Pingyao on the way. This all changed when I found that the Russian embassy in Beijing doesn’t like issuing … Continue reading

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