MONGOLIA | Thursday, 11 Sep 2014 | Views [519]
Crossing the border to Mongolia was a hum drum affair, enlivened only marginally by the changing of the train's wheels for the wider Mongolian tracks. A young, cheerful Chinese lady collected our passports, a few people bought cheap booze, and ... Read more >
Tags: ger, grassland, mongolia, nomad, steppe, train, ub, ulaan baator
CHINA | Wednesday, 10 Sep 2014 | Views [545]
We've passed through fifty four tunnels on the way out of Beijing. Rumour has it that we will psas through over sixty in total before we are out into open country.
The sky is blue, with only a hint of grey-ish smog overhead. ... Read more >
Tags: beijing, china, hebei, train, trans-mongolian
CHINA | Tuesday, 9 Sep 2014 | Views [546]
As with Shanghai, this was not my first time in Beijing, and I have already seen the main sights. I decided to spend the first day wandering the old lanes and back alleys, known as "hutongs", to get a feel for the ancient fabric of this historic ... Read more >
Tags: beijing, china, hutongs, ticket
CHINA | Tuesday, 9 Sep 2014 | Views [500]
11:22. The departure from Beijing. Train K3. 847 miles. Twenty Eight hours. The real adventure begins. Through the great wall, into inner mongolia, the Gobi desert and across the border into Mongolia, over the vast ... Read more >
Tags: beijing, china, mongolia, train, trans-mongolia trans-siberian, ub, ulan bator
CHINA | Monday, 8 Sep 2014 | Views [321]
In the west we have a saying - "All roads lead to Rome". The Chinese these days have the same saying, but I have been told that in older times, the Chinese equivalent was "All roads lead to Beijing". For me on this day, that seemed apt. ... Read more >
Tags: beijing qingdao train beer tsingtao
CHINA | Sunday, 7 Sep 2014 | Views [323]
It was an early start, and the sky was still a dark slate gray. The plan was a simple one, take a taxi to the train station. For whatever reason, the taxi driver decided to negotiate. We should wait twenty minutes first, and he would ... Read more >
Tags: china qingdao tsingtao beer train
CHINA | Saturday, 6 Sep 2014 | Views [403]
Vast, grand, cavernous. Our train pulled into Shanghai's Hongqiao station. Newly built, but next to the old airport, Hongqiao is typical of the probably dozens of new, huge, railway stations being built across the country. China's central ... Read more >
Tags: shanghai china food train
CHINA | Friday, 5 Sep 2014 | Views [709]
If a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, then perhaps a seven thousand mile train journey should start with a metaphorical one hour hop from Hangzhou to Shanghai.
It was arguably a Chinese train that brought me to Singapore, ... Read more >
Tags: china, hangzhou, shanghai, train
SINGAPORE | Monday, 1 Sep 2014 | Views [410]
Would these be my last glimpses of Singapore?
There was a lump in my throat as the plane lifted off and climbed out of Changi Airport. Would that be my last view of Singapore? The East Coast Park, disappearing through the fluffy ... Read more >
Tags: singapore, take off
SINGAPORE | Monday, 1 Sep 2014 | Views [386] | Comments [1]
I love it when a plan comes together. Although I hate flying, arriving at the airport with all the pieces in place is a good feeling. I don’t like to tempt fate, but I have already cleared immigration into China, so the trip has officially ... Read more >
Tags: getting ready, planning
SINGAPORE | Thursday, 21 Aug 2014 | Views [367]
Visas, Passport, Jabs, Bookings, Trains, Planes, Hostels, Packaging, Shipping and Automobiles
A six month trek from Singapore to London via Mongola and Patagonia takes time and effort to prepare. But once the wheels start rolling, ... Read more >
Tags: getting ready, travel, vaccinations, visas
