Devil in the details

Tuesday 29

A few months ago I ordered the Beijing Moscow train tickets through the Internet (actually through my iPhone), paid via pay pal (iPhone again) and asked for delivery at the hotel I had booked in Beijing. The tickets were delivered today (Tuesday) for tomorrow's departure by the very efficient china travel service ticket agent. They were left at the hotel whilst Robert and I were out collecting Belarus visas (we got to the embassy 15 mins before it opened to be safe) and off touring the Great Wall at Mutianyu, about 100km north east of beijing. Back at the hotel around 4pm I checked the tickets and realized I had booked mine using an old passport. If the ticket doesnt match the passport, no-can lah! Thankfully the CTS agenT was uber-efficient and managed to get a new ticket issued within two hours.

Pays to check the details, and not to be so pang-say chuay jamban (forgive my poor Hokkien).


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Zai beijing

Beijing west train station was impressive. The train from hong kong rolled in exactly 24 hours later. Queues at the immigration, but no interrogation.

The front of the station was as busy as, well, a train station in Beijing. Finally we found an ATM and got some money (good idea to bring some money on the train next time..)

We accepted we would get ripped off, but took an unofficial taxi to the hotel rather than find the correct public bus. The taxi driver was as surprised as we were to find the hotel.

Successfully applied for Belarus visa at the embassy, located near ritan park. Expensive, as all express visas are, and we had to take a rickshaw to the local bank to pay. The only consolation was that the rickshaw driver gave us a goal by goal replay of the england world cup thrashing, which we had watched in a hutong bar, and out of sympathy let us off some of the fare, as I didn't enough small change.


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Location:Beijing

On our way- hong kong to Beijing part 1

Saturday 26 june

The second leg of our journey started the rail-trip properly. After being detained, inexplicably, at hong kong immigration (something that has happened frequently ever since my first trip to hong kong in 1992), we took the airport express train to kowloon station. The first thing we both realized was that, even on such a modern train, public wifi access would be intermittent. Having handed in my blackberry the previous day, my last day at Prudential, we would either have to wait for public access to wifi or risk large data charges on my iPhone.

From Kowloon we took the k1 bus to hung hom station, arriving at 2.15, precisely 60 mins before the train departure. Surprisingly it was very easy to pick up the tickets (which I had ordered on the internet) but we were encouraged to go through immigration and board the train, the t98 express to Beijing. In hindsight we should have used the time to fill up on junk food and change some money into renminbi.

Booking early meant that Robert and I had excellent seats - the first two couchettes in carriage 10. Carriage 10 is the deluxe-soft sleeper, with ensuite wc and an a lcd tv (with two channels of Chinese cartoons). Our carriage was very near the dining car and the supply of hot-water, which would get frequent use on the 24 hours to Beijing. The carriages are very clean, the aircon cold, and the passage-ways totally silent. A very different experience to my previous train trips in china in the early 90s.

Having ignored the Siren call of McDonalds in hong kong, we were both pretty hungry; however a 3 hour wait ensued for the restaurant car to open. After scouring the somewhat limited menu, and realizing we didn't have any renminbi to pay, we extracted ourselves and bought some instant noodles and cashew nuts using half of the hong kong dollars I found at the bottom of my wallet from a previous trip to hong kong in April. We feasted on the cashews, the lukewarm noodles and a muesli bar, and watched the grey-green afternoon blur into a rain-filled evening.

We played with our iPad, iPhone and read, before settling the gadgets into chargers and calling it a night ourselves. The Rythmic rolling of the carriages soon had us both asleep, very comfortably, despite the rumbling in our stomachs.




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Location:T98 from hong kong to beijing

Leaving on a jet-plan, I do hope we can find the train

A little over 6844 miles to go to Scotland. Robert and I took a leisurely breakfast in the lounge at changi airport's plush terminal 3, charging gadgets, then we had to rush to the shops to buy all the things we left at the house in our haste. The flight leaves for hong kong at 830. Bon voyage Singapore.
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Location:Sq 860 to hk

To Russia with love

Finally I have Russian visas with the correct validity (I hope). The process was a bit cumbersome as it was necessary to get invite letters via the Internet.

Now off to the Mongolian consulate in Singapore for the Mongolian transit visa (the Russian visa is a pre-requisite).

Didn't Ewan mcgregor and Charlie Borman have a team of research assistants to help when they did their bike tour ?




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Viva la visa

Russian visa finally applied for. Ready next tuesday. With that we can apply for Mongolian visa next week. Will have to hope for Belaru visa in Beijing next Monday. One week to go.. We leave for hong kong Saturday morning..


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Last ticket

Have booked the last ticket : Moscow to Berlin. Not cheap but looks very comfortable. It is the moscva express. Departs Moscow 8 am weds 7th July and gets into Berlin the next morning at 9 am.

Start the process of getting visas tomorrow. First off is the china visa. Applying in person in Singapore

Still worried by Belarus visa situation, however looks like it can be obtained in Moscow at a push.



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Nearly made a big mistake. Applied for Russian visa stating the entry date when we arrive I'm Moscow. In fact it needs to state when we cross into russia from china... Could have resulted in being thrown off the train at russian border.... Just in the nick of time.

Thankfully Roberts passport just back from hk consulate. Need to get cracking on the china, Mongolia and Belarus visa and make booking on Moscow to Berlin leg. The elusive moscva express.



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Uk embassy in Singapore no longer issues passports. Robert passport is in hk.. Hope it comes back soon, as we have 3 weeks to get 4 visas..


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Belarus

Belarus visa proving hard to get. Must admit couldn't exactly find Belarus on the map. If we go fr Moscow to Berlin through Belarus, we need a transit visa.


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More tickets booked

Only waiting to book Moscow to Berlin leg. all other legs in place.

Arduous part is getting Robert new passport and then collecting china, Mongolia, Russia and Belarus visa...


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Tickets booked

We leave 26 June from hong kong at 3pm and arrive in largs, Ayrshire, 14 days later at 9.44 am sat 10th July..

Route to follow...


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planning the trip

We are looking into the logistics of taking the trans siberian from Beijing to Moscow. We are starting to look in to the logistics, work and school vacation permitting.

Robert turns 12 this year, and I turn 40, so thought this was a good way before either of us goes into silent, angry, smelly phase of our life.

Dad and son, days together on a train... good idea?

The key question will be how to be keep our gadgets charged?

The road less travelled

Robert and I are planning a train trip this summer. Something a bit unusual. Watch this space.


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Location:Hythe Rd,,Singapore