konbanwa!

I thought I'd also update you all since Liam is in the amazing Japanese bath now!
I can't say that Russia was not up to my expectations, as I didnt really have any expectations for it, however, I didn't love it! It was certainly an amazing experience, the Trans-siberian is awesome in so many ways and I'm so glad that we did it and its so amazing to look at how far we've been on a map, the sense of achievement is incredible! But there was something that I can't really explain that I didn't like about it, I think a lot of it was to do with us not staying any where for too long and therefore dealing with Provindistas (train ladies) and customs officials more than with actual local people. In Russia's favour, all of the normal people (not officials) were lovely and nearly always helped us out when we needed it, we also had an excellent time at out homestay where we stayed with a really nice lady. It was brilliant buying food from the Babushkas at the stations along the way and haggling for cake and dumplings and seeing how simply some people live.
The ferry from vladivostok to Fushiki was an adventure! It is primarily a boat for gold-teethed Russian car dealers to ship second hand Japanese cars back to Russia. As 'foreigners' all the people who weren't Russian were treated like second class citizens, but we all (about 10 of us including a couple of Japanese people!) banded together and in the end had a really fun time! There were a couple of bars and a club and some cabaret, as well as a swimming pool (which we didnt venture into due to a little bit of spitting that went on in there). As ever on this trip we heard amazing stories of other peoples travels, probably some of the best were from a Dutch couple who were travelling for 2 years by car to everywhere! (www.chindia.tk ) This morning, despite arriving early, we ended up spending most of the morning waiting for the Russians to pass through customs before we could get in the queue. We even had lunch onboard the ship in the harbour, it was quite bizarre!
Once finally off the ship we were straight into a Japanese port town, I was so excited and squealed lots at everything I saw for the first few hours (well havent really stopped yet!). The vending machines was the first cool thing we experiences, and the excitement was doubled due to the finding of grape flavoured fanta (a favourite we found in Mongolia-its amazing). We caught the train back with some of the other foreign crew and sadly said goodbye at Takaoka station. Takaoka is beautiful! We are living on the same street as one of the biggest Buddah statues in Japan and near many beautiful monasteries and parks. Its also a festival here so the streets are decorated.
Our Ryokan is AMAZING! Its traditionally Japanese, so we have to abide by all the customs (http://www1.coralnet.or.jp/buddha/etips/index.html), we have to wear different shoes for the house, the toilet, the garden and no shoes in our rooms. We had special sweets and tea on arrival and after both having the most amazing Japanese baths ever (we have only had showers or sinks for the last month!) we are both relaxing in our yukatas and looking very Japanese! I think we have the most spectacular room in the Ryokan which overlooks the little garden, so that outside the sliding doors of our room is a beautiful ornamental pond with carp in it- the view is spectacular!
I was getting a bit peckish on our way into get some dinner and magically we were browsing a sushi stall and the lady just gave me a bag of some delicious snack thing for no reason! Japan is very magical so far and we are so excited about the rest of the month.
We will now attempt to post some of our pictures!
xxx

Konichiwa from Japan

Just a quick note from me (Liam) before i have my bath in the tradional Ryokan we are staying in. We arrived safely after an interesting ferry crossing. We will explain more in another blog. We are both well and so excited at being in Japan at last. It is so amazing and cool and friendly and a complete change from Russia.

Sayonara
x

The End of the Line

We have finally reached Vladivostok, its a strange but cool place! There are many sailors about (We think its some kind of special day here) and there are fun fairs and rides and lots of beer being drunk! We're feeling excited about Japan but also a little apprehensive about the ferry, we're sharing a 4-berth cabin, so fingers crossed we dont get any wierdos. We'll get to eat loads of food though for free and theres a pool and a sauna!!

See you in Japan xxx

Ulan Ude

I (Hannah) thought we could update you on the (amazing) first leg of our journey another time and I'd tell you about where we are now, now!
Well, we arrived in Ulan Ude yesterday, its a small city near(ish) to Lake Baikal, which is this huge expanse of water, which we saw from the window of the first train- pretty impressive. Its been really hot everywhere we've been so far, and here is no different. Its a really interesting town, the people living here are a mix of all different races, theres some Russians, some Mongolians and some Buryat people. It has a really nice feel to it, its laid back and quiet.
Yesterday, after having a night of virtually no sleep due to a 7 hour border crossing which started at about 10 at night, we dropped our stuff off at our homestay (Olga's homestay) and headed out to the Ethnological Museum, which is supposed to be the top attraction here.

The bus ride was quite an adventure! We knew we had to get the no 8 bus, but had no other knowledge of how the buses work! They are amazing, they are little mini-buses/large cars which stop if you wave at them and you're in the right place. Once you're on the passengers work between them to do everything, its so friendly and cooperative! You pass your money down the bus and the driver passes back the change (whilst driving), if more people get on then the passengers pull down new seats for them and open up the doors. To stop you shout out and someone passes the message down and you get off. I just think its so lovely and makes me feel so ashamed of London where we all ignore each other on public transport for some bizarre and unknown reason. We mentioned to some passengers that we were going to the museum and they told the driver and they detoured to take us right there!

The museum itself is supposed to be the best museum of the different ethnicities of Russia in Russia. It was pretty awful! It was an outdoor set-up, with lots of full-scale replicas of the houses of different cultures, there was even a fake monastary. The houses weren't that bad, you could peep into each door and see some traditional furniture and clothes. Then at the end there is a 'zoo'. I dont really want to say anything too bad about it because we are still in Russia for a while, but it really distressed me. There were huge big bears in tiny cages, camels, eagles and other birds of prey and lynxs and foxes all in teeny cages with nothing really to amuse themselves with. They were all skinny and unfed so that I didnt even begrudge the Russian tourists who fed them cheese biscuits through the bars. It was very sad. I really think something should be done about it.

Anyway, we're all stocked up on noodles and canned fish and bread for the final leg of our trans-siberian foray which begins in a couple of hours. We're in first class, yay!

If we find the internet in Vladivostok we will report back, if not then see you in Japan! (OMG I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT JAPAN!!!!!!)
xxx

p.s. Mongolia was so amazing and getting engaged there was just awesome, I'll do a little essay on it another time (and WILL include pictures, somehow)
xxx

From Russia with Love

Just a quick note from me (Liam) to say that we are back in Russia after spending the night crossing the border from Mongolia. We are spending the day and night in Ulan Ude before heading off to Vladivostok on the train tomorrow. Ulan Ude seems a relaxed town compared to hectic Moscow. The famous attraction here is a large statue of Lenin's head!!

Hopefully we will get to update about everything we have done so far later.

We are both really excited about Japan and obviously the good news.

We are both having a great time and looking forward to the rest of our travels.

Hello to everyone back home.

X

Kings Cross to Mongolia

I (Hannah) am wrtiting this post from an interent cafe in Mongolia, I am going to attempt to write about our adventures so far and add pictures too. Hopefully this will work!

....Well, its a lot harder to download to this than I thought and due to the immense volume of of photos we have, I think it would take all week! We're going to have to think of a better way to share our photos, we have done so much and have sooo much to tell you and show you all!

Will write again soon

xxx

An update from Mongolia

Today we arrived in Ulan Baatar after travelling from London with only one night not on the train. The Trans-Mongolian was quite an mixture of experiences from amazing views to going stir crazy. But it was worth it in the end and we met loads of people all doing their own exciting adventures. Mongolia is a definite hidden gem.

Further updates to come (including pictures).

Hello to everyone back home.

Liam
x