After spending two unexpected days longer in Beijing we were on our way to Hong Kong. HK was not on our shortlist of destinations, but we had a very good reason to make a short stop. During one of our dinners back home with Thomas and Charlotte, they told us that they were planning to […]
Peace and quiet at the Great Wall
There are many areas around Beijing where you can visit China’s majestic Wall. Some parts are fully restored while others are more authentic. The area around Gubeikou has both and it is famous for a stretch of “wild” Wall. After a great night of sleep and enjoying breakfast in the garden, it was time for […]
Beijing: more than crowds and palaces
After three fantastic weeks in Mongolia, we had a rough start in China. Arriving with food poisoning was not the kind of arrival in Beijing we imagined. All the airports in China have a health check and if your body temperature is too high, you will be placed in quarantine. Scary times for me, since […]
Monasteries and horses, our last week in Mongolia
We had an amazing time at Gomboo’s family, so we were all very sorry to leave the family. Not in the least Gomboo who put on some very sad Mongolian songs. But we still had a week left on our tour. The next days would bring us back to Ulaanbaatar, with a couple more highlights […]
Meeting the Jaks in Mongolia’s Green Grasslands
Staying with nomads is always a very special experience, but the event becomes even more special if the family you are staying at, is the family of your driver. We could really tell that Gomboo was super excited to go home, seeing his wife, his almost 2 year old daughter and his parents again. Before […]
Double lucky in the Gobi
The Gobi desert can be divided in four regions: the Middle Gobi in the north (Dundgov), the East Gobi (Dornogov), the South Gobi (Ömnögov) and in the west the Altai Gobi. Gerlee, our guide, explained that by calling it a desert, we probably would be expecting a big sand pit. During the first part of […]
Lake Baikal; the crystal blue waters of the Sacred sea
One of the main reasons to go to Russia was witnessing the mighty Lake Baikal. Banana-shaped, 636 km long and 60 km wide, it contains almost one-fifth of the world’s fresh water. In winter, the rocky hills will be covered with snow and the lake will be frozen. This ice, created by the Siberian winter, […]
The East-Siberian Capital Irkutsk: a great hostel and lovely wooden houses
After some relaxing days, we said goodbye to the official capital of Siberia and hello to the unofficial capital of East-Siberia to discover the magnificent area around Lake Baikal. This meant two nights on the ‘official’ Russaya (or Trans-Siberian train between Moscow and Vladivostok). We again shared our Kupe with a young friendly Russian couple, […]
Arriving in Siberia: a warm welcome!
After another night train, we arrived early in the capital of Siberia: Novosibirsk. This is the fifth largest city in Russia, but luckily for us, the city center can be navigated easily the way we like it best, on foot. We checked in at Juicy hostel, which apart from its English sounding name did not […]
Our first Trans-Siberian trains to Kazan and Yekaterinburg
Our first experience with the night train from Moscow to Kazan was a positive one. Since the kind receptionists at GoodMood hostel had given us some valuable inside info on riding the Russian trains and finding the right carriage, we made sure to be early at the train station to avoid stress. After much speculation […]