Living My Dream

Wow !
Overwhelming !!!!
Moscow !

Great Hostel by the Red Square… Got my Visa Registered…. you see in Russia… besides applying for a visa… you have to register it whenever you spend more than 72 hours in a new city…
So I have to spend 800 roubles (27USD) to register my visa… at the Napoleon Hostel…
I only need to pay 300 roubles (10USD) in Irktusk

Big City.. Big Prices !

But everything else is big too… St Basil Cathedral…. State History Musuem… The Kremlin !!! all so big and beautiful !!!
It was awesome … especially if u have someone like Abraham .. my Mexican Amigo … so much fun !!!
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Hosted by 2 Couchsurfers in Moscow.. hee hee.. lucky me
Alla for 1 nite with her parents… thank you for the wonderful Borsch Soup and Pasta ! yummi !
and a few nites with Sandy !!! … Champagne and Caviar… hmmm…. love her class…
Sandy is always busy as she tangos !!! yes… and she teaches at Art at the Intl School in Moscow ..

Got to know what is Eurovision… apparently this contest existed since the 1950s… participated by the countries in EU.. and Russia is the host this year…
Wow!! really amazing… Met Velio who is also couch surfing with Sandy.. he is a fan of Eurovision… attended all sessions of Eurovision.. u should see how excited he was on the final nite
Spent a beautiful day with Sandy and Velio at the Botanical Garden and the Park by the Moscow River

Also met up with Thomas … whom i’ve got to know in Olkhon Island.. Thomas is a retiree who is studying Russian in Moscow … cool aye
he also introduced me to Arbat area… we cover grounds at the Kremlin too…
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also check out the Metro station in Moscow.. incredible…
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What a life i have… and i truely appreciate it… i am blessed 

My 2nd Couch Surfing Experience.. with Julia… and i get to meet her 1st couch surfer.. Peter !!!
cool … Peter is a Russian Traveller… very well travelled so .. lots to share
Julia is fantastic gal… who is beautiful, confident and cooks well too

Had beautiful walks around Tomsk with Julia.. tried the local delicacies too.
Also visited the Traditional russian village by the Tomsk River…

Julia is also very busy … she had to leave early for her business  trip… but no worries… I met Kesh and Anna while i was in the last town Krasnoyarsk.. and they are University students in Tomsk !!!!

So off i go … to stay at the Tusur University Hostel.. with Kesh and Anna.. hee hee
Attended the Victory day concert in the hostel and Kesh (who is from India) cooked indian curry for me !!! yeah !!!
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Thanks all !!!

now ready for my 3 day train ride to Moscow !! woowee !!!
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Krasnoyarsk…. A very special town for me…
cos its my very 1st experience with couch surfing
have any of u heard of this ?
www.couchsurfing.com

wow !!! i’ve heard about this from friends last year.. so decided Russia will be a country I would like to try it out… So i sent  my Couch Request to Anna (Anya) hee hee…
And she replied..yes, she has a couch for me!! yeah!… actually she is so lovely…. she slept on the floor and let me sleep on her couch… so sweet of her… and i felt really bad…

Anya is a dynamic person… very busy with her job as a producer in and advertising firm… yet, she finds time to pick me up from the train station, bring me around town etc etc…

Thank you Anya… for making my virgin Couchsurfing experience so unforgetable..

I also did the 10 Rouble Tour - all the landmarks on the 10-rouble note is in Krasnoyarsk.. so check out the pix ok?

Great timing that I was in Krasnoyarsk during the Victory Day Celebration weekend !!!

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and they warned me that i don’t need 1 month in russia !!!!
i can’t find enough time to go to places i wanted to go aaarrrggghhhh !!!!!

started my trip with Irktusk… one of the most common 1st stops for travellers coming from Mongolia..
Irktusk is my 1st impression of Russia’s wooden architecture……. rustic and nice
Love the Central Market ! and without being able to speak a word of Russian… I’m so proud of myself… I can buy food !!!! but of cos without some surprises… hee hee
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Listvyanka was where i got my 1st glimpse of the frozen but beautiful Lake Baikal
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Lake Baikal is the deepest fresh water lake in the world at 1637m….
Its also hold 1/5 of the World Fresh Water… you can literally drink of the water in the lake….

Travelled with the Hoovercraft to Olkhon Island … after a 5-hour minibus ride…
So cool to see the Hoovercraft glide on icey Lake..

Olkhon Island …hmmmmm….. I’m in love !!!! with is beautiful island…
Total population of 2000 people with 1000 of them in Village of Khuzhir….
There’s where i stayed at the Nikita Guesthouse… full board… makan / eat all your meals as much as you want… hee hee
Also got a taste of OMUL… the fish from Lake Baikal …. yummi !!!!

oooohhhh…. and imagine…. sitting by the lake…. quiet… you hear nothing.. but the crackling sound of the ice on the lake …
this time of the year …. the lake is melting … welcoming summer…
When fully frozen in winter.. it can be frozen up to 1 meter deep and people drive on it… dog sled… ice skate… cool aye ??? errrr… i meant COLD .. brrrrr  
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hahahha !!! one of the best train rides i’ve taken ..

All was normal and BORING when it started

We were greeting with sausages hanging in each car/carriage/compartment… curious, we found out that its the train attendants “goods” … they were just hanging a few in each compartment .. so it seems like each passenger have brought them along… hmmm…. this is getting interesting….

Met Tim (from Manchester) …. and Russians Tuyana, Eleana and Mama (Tuyana’s Mum)

Then at the border station in Mongolia… more passengers boarded… they started going into each -compartment bringing stuff like handbags, t-shirts, jeans etc… 

Not understanding them… we just turned them away… thinking they were trying to sell us… 

Then we slowly realised whats happening, they were trying to distribute the goods among all the passengers, so it seems that it is our used clothing, accessories, so when custom arrive, there is not need to declare…. you see these are small time “traders” who buy from Mongolia to sell in Russia…

So we decided to help… yes… help smuggle…. 2 pairs of track pants from Train Attendant… 2 pairs of track pants from another passenger and a COACH handbag… and 2 pairs of Jeans from the Mongolian guy in my car…thats my loot…

Tim had a more interesting lot… 2 bags of Camel fur Duvet… 2 track pants from Train attendent etc etc

Then the Mongolian guy started taking off his own pants… and started wearing the jeans he was carrying… not 1 but 5 pairs… check out the pix.. when its ready… hahaaha

this is getting hilarious… then another russian lady in my car… started wearing layers of t-shirts…..

The Russian Custom came…. they were really authoritative !!!! STAY IN YOUR CABIN … they said…

They had 4-5 groups handling different clearance, one for the ticket check, one for the passport check, one for Baggage check (this guy have a weighing scale with him - all passengers are allowed to carry up to 35kgs of baggage) another group of them were checking narcotic stuff… taking pillows out, mirror to check hard-to-reach corners etc

some of them had their baggage held by custom to be re-weigh in the station, some had their customs forms held back due to what they declared…. silence, tension, stress !!!!! oh dear…

but the custom hardly check Tim or my baggage… cause we are tourist…  

after 1-hour check and wait… Eleana got her custom form chopped and sign and returned to her.. phew !

then another half and hour … Tuyana received her baggage that were re-weighed…. another relieve…

then when all’s clear… we closed out cabin door… and u see people stripping off from t-shirts and jeans… 

lol !!!!! we had so much fun

We even celebrated with Eleana as its her birthday !!!! she’s a great singer too !!!!

What a trip !!!!! … now its time for a well-deserved nap … 

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At last.. I will have to chance to stay in a GER (Felt Tent)

Trip started with Driver spilling Petrol all over the van.. we had to “evacuate” the van.. while he clean it up

and The Terelj National Park welcome us with a magnificent view !!!!

The 1st group of 4 went for a slow one hour horse ride…me having experience the horse ride in Inner Mongolia was really reluctant to take another horse ride.. but with much coaxing from Julica and David.. i decided to give it a try … again… since Julica took the morning ride at a really slow pace and lasted only an hour…

But boy were we WRONG !!!!… sigh

Enna - the 11-year old nomadic “leader” who was helping us with the horses.. well. lets put it this way.. he got bored. and decided to get the horses galloping !

OMG ! and that is just the beginning !!!… he went on to pull the tail of the horse i’m riding.. causing it to kick his boy on his knee.. and he is not not very happy with the horse and decided to switch horse with me..

and bear in mind.. all these while … i was screaming for him to stop and did not even take pictures with my camera cos i was too stressed up!!!!

and this went on for 2 freaking hours !!! arrrrgghhhh !!!!

but at the end of it … was good fun !!! right Stephanie, David and Karl??? hee hee.. I provided entertainment for 3 of them… 

but the nite ended beautifully with some card games and the sky was cloudless and beautiful with stars 

The next few days was just chilling out for me… caught a few good movies on DVD.. THE READER and IN THE WILD…. 

and of course Karl’s Birthday “party” at the Granville Irish Pub..

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Unbelievable !!!!… a 12 hour wait for custom clearance in both borders !!!
and boy am i lucky… i didn’t realised i overstayed china 7 days !!!
I have a 1 year tourist visa in China.. but each visit i can only stay for 60days- i arrived china 11 feb and left 18 apr… shit !
i was refered to the immigration officer.. who had a few minutes discussion with his superior… but those few mins seems FOREVER
But..
thank my lucky star… i  stayed humble.. kept apologising… and they let me off without a fine !!!
phew !!!

Ride with Bayar & an old  Mongolian Couple… they drank all day… whisky, vodka.. and snored and talk in their sleep… but it was fun !!!
when we get into Mongolia.. it started to snow… amazing to see the patches of grassland white with snow…

Mongolia … I am here
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Wow ! i’m getting closer to Mongolia and RUssia !!!! yippee !!

and i’m so proud of myself…
i took the public transport.. of cos with the help of a mongolian friend…. who works in the tour agency… but he insist i should try going on the public transport..
so i went..
to the Resonant Sand Gorge by the Kuqi Desert !
stayed with a local couple.. and their grand kid…
Ah Yee… is 72 years old.. and by the way.. she don’t care a damn about your privacy or your sleep.. she just open your door when in you are in the middle of changing clothes or at 6.30am in the morning… while u are still i your dreams… lol

but she provides me with lovely home cook meals so i shan’t complain lah.. hee hee

Well.. i rode a horse, camel and a desert Motorbike.. but can’t find the guts to sand slide 110m down though
but it think i did well … very well..

again.. gorgeous weather !!! lucky me !!!
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Yun Gang Caves…
Over 50,000 carved statues… 250+ Caves !!
A picture paint a thousand words.. look out for the pix uploads !!!

sorry i’m late with uploads cos when i was in some area i have problem gettting access to internet…
patience ok ?

More train rides..  

boy am i lucky with weather… have been monitoring weather in Beijing for the last 2 weeks… had been sub zero degrees….
but when i arrive… weather changed !!! its 20+ deg C !! can u beat it !!!
Sunny and nice !!! Miss the Sun !

And i got to meet little Roger !!!!
Roger got promoted to a Daddy in Nov 08…. so this little bundle of joy… so cute…
Congrats Roger !!!

Getting very excited now…as this means i’m in one of the last cities in China… ready to embark on my trans siberian / mongolian railway journey…
from here.. it shall be Inner Mongolia (Hohhot) then Mongolia (Ulaanbaatar)… then Russia and Europe !!!! yeah !!!!

but i’m beginning to miss home too