I think i will just come out with it right from the very beginning i really have not enjoyed china due to so many reasons its hard to list. I am all for new and different cultures but china really is something you have to witness to believe. Everybody knows china has 1.4 billion people but that is just a number until you are on the ground you dont realise what that feels like especially when they just see you with dollar signs in there eyes. Everything in china involves standing in a queue or waiting around for days because all of the bus and train tickets for some journeys are sold out for two weeks. In xian it took two hours to go 20km due to the traffic. This for a few days is ok but after three weeks i have been struggling, i very nearly couldnt face going to the great wall or the forbidden city. These are cool places but if there were less people it would be infinitely better. Another thing with china is the various customs such as hawking up massive gobs of spit constantly in the street, on the metro just everywhere as well as letting babies relieve themselves at will. On the metro i have seen a woman just stand up and hold the baby in the aisle and let it go. For chinese who are used to this i guess they dont mind but when it is 40 degrees 90% humidity as well its enough to drive you insane.
Anyway enough of the bad things i did spend five days cycling along a really scenic river in yangshou, going swimming, eating great food and drinking on the rooftop terrace. After nearly 5 months of constant sightseeing i was really happy just to do nothing. The train to shanghai was sold out so i had to stay an extra day but after a 24 hour train i eventually arrived and went straight to the expo. I had heard various reviews of the expo but decided to check it out for myself. Ill sum it up two hours to get in, and between 1-3 hour queue for any good pavillions. So instead i took a tour of the turkmenistan pavillion amongst a few other less well known. The highlight had to be North Koreas proudly proclaiming "a paradise for people" it made me laugh a bit anyway. There is really nothing in shanghai apart from a battle against 22 million people so i left for beijing. I stayed longer than expected in yangshou as well as hong kong so i only had two weeks before i had to be in chengdu.
Beijing is really one of the oddest cities i have ever seen. I was walking down a street lined with really expensive shops but due to the smog and the tramps going through bins as well as the decrepit bicycle carts it just doesnt gell, its two alien worlds being forced together. I took one day trip out to the great wall at Mutian yu which was spectacular although it looks like it was rebuilt very recently. The other sights in beijing like the forbidden city really are overhyped and i hate to say it you have seen one you have seen them all. The real highlight for me was the summer palace, the day i went the smog was not so bad and from the pagoda there was a really spectacular view of beijing. I also managed to see Mr Mao to get the hatrick of dead communist leaders.
I only had five days left to see Xi'an and chengdu so i took the first available train. 12 hours standing. It is the worst thing i have ever done. The first hour i could speak to this guy who spoke english then that was it 11 hours crammed into the area where you can stand as moving was impossible. It was so hot, it smelled people still continued to spit and get food and cigarettes everywhere. By the end i was nearly insane as at the same point i hadnt eaten anything for over a day being unable to keep anything down due to my first bout of food poisining. Fortunately i arrived in Xi'an checked in and fell asleep for the rest of the day. I had organised to see the terracotta warriors the next day and i joined a tour from the hostel. The warriors are really not what you think, very few have actually been excavated most of it is just mounds of earth. Its ok but again the stress getting there, the fact the tour guide was trying to rip us off, that the food in the restaurant was revolting and the painfully slow traffic just ruined it.
Anyway im now in chengdu the city that had the really bad earthquake a few years ago. This place is alot more laid back and today i went to the panda breeding reserve. It was a special place as they were really close, although they are only very slightly more active than sloths. I have so many photos but the internet here is so slow as everything is filtered by the government. I am only able to write this using a proxy website.
And tomorrow i go to Tibet. Solo travel is not alowed so with the help of many people i have arranged a tour for the next eight days. I have no idea what it will be like, maybe you dont see the real tibet i just dont know. But taking the highest railway in the world complete with oxygen masks is really cool. For the first time in a while im really too excited!!!!
Sunday, 22 August 2010
Tuesday, 3 August 2010
From Japan to China
What can you say about hong kong its nothing short of incredible. I had originally planned to be here for four days just long enough to get a Chinese visa. It is already day six in hong kong today and unfortunately i will have to leave tomorrow otherwise i would have been tempted to stay for a few weeks. Admittedly being here for longer than planned is partly due to the fact that UK visas are double the cost and take double the time of everyone elses and hopefully i should have it today.
The last three days in japan were completely mental trying to fit everything i had left to do. From Hiroshima i headed back to kyoto to use as a base in order to visit Himeji castle as well as Nara. The castle unfortunately was under restoration and so only the gardens were accessible but they were the best i saw in japan so no loss there. The next day i day tripped nara which was the ancient capital of japan and has all the temples, pagodas etc set around a big park. Nara is famed for its tame deer which wander the busy streets in big herds and add to the calm and relaxing atmosphere. I also planned to go the baseball at some point in japan and that night Hanshin tigers were playing in osaka which is an hour away from Nara. I arrived about 2 hours before the game and found much to my disapointment it was cancelled due to the weather which had been raining on and off all day. Gutted i remembered there was a game in Kobe another city close to osaka. This story shows how amazing japans transport actually is as from the Hanshin stadium i caught the train back to osaka, ran and jumped onto a train to kobe before navigating accross the city on the subway and making it to kobe just as the game started. Relieved and happy at the situation i took my seat and settled in to enjoy the game and the crazy japanese fans. The team here the Orix buffaloes are pretty rubbish and so there werent that many people there although the chants of 'home run home run in the bag' were loud and pretty comical in there accent. Unfortunately one inning later the heavens opened and this game was also called off so slightly dispondent i went back to Kyoto. The one day in two weeks where it rained was the one where i needed it desperately not too. Theres not much you can do when you have a limited schedule so that remained the only thing i didnt manage to get done in japan.
That left me with a day in osaka which everybody had said wasnt great although their aquarium is amazing. It has to be one of the best in the world and it had a huge seven story central tank with whale sharks as well as a tiger shark. It was well worth a trip to osaka just on its own. The final night i tried out a capsule hotel which is a really interesting experience. If your my height its fine but people who are over six foot must struggle. The capsule hotel is only really for business men who missed the last train but mine had a gym, tvs and was really comfortable. Thats another month gone already nearly half way :-(
As i said before hong kong is great its more like i would call proper asia but has all the trappings of home as well. For me japan was too sterile a country and suprisingly i found it not particularly interesting or exciting but as soon as i was in hong kong its more like proper travelling again. I had a couple of days exploring the various areas of the city as well as lantau island the home of a spectacular cable car ride as well as the worlds largest seated budha. Hong kong has everthing you could possibly want from beaches and mountains to the best skyline both in the day and night i have ever seen. Hong Kong has the world record for the longest running light show but honestly it is appaling and the city without the show is much better and the view from the star ferry going between the island and kowloon will stick with me for ever. It really must have been the jewel in our empire. After a couple of days i met up with Ben a friend i met in Russia and we had a couple of days just chilling before joining a pub crawl with some others from our hostel on our last night. For what it is Hong Kong is really expensive maybe like 10x china where i am now. Drinking was around 6-7 quid a beer but somewhow for a tenner we got free drinks and entry galore. My night was cut short as i have another cold due mainly to the chinese obsession with near freezing air con in any indoor area. A week of going from 40 degrees to 20 then back into 40 really messes you about.
Another long one but i have had so little access to computers recently. Im now off to take a dip in the river in yanshou in southern china (the scenery from the HSBC cormorant fishing advert) which is stunning and also a legendary backpacker retreat.
The last three days in japan were completely mental trying to fit everything i had left to do. From Hiroshima i headed back to kyoto to use as a base in order to visit Himeji castle as well as Nara. The castle unfortunately was under restoration and so only the gardens were accessible but they were the best i saw in japan so no loss there. The next day i day tripped nara which was the ancient capital of japan and has all the temples, pagodas etc set around a big park. Nara is famed for its tame deer which wander the busy streets in big herds and add to the calm and relaxing atmosphere. I also planned to go the baseball at some point in japan and that night Hanshin tigers were playing in osaka which is an hour away from Nara. I arrived about 2 hours before the game and found much to my disapointment it was cancelled due to the weather which had been raining on and off all day. Gutted i remembered there was a game in Kobe another city close to osaka. This story shows how amazing japans transport actually is as from the Hanshin stadium i caught the train back to osaka, ran and jumped onto a train to kobe before navigating accross the city on the subway and making it to kobe just as the game started. Relieved and happy at the situation i took my seat and settled in to enjoy the game and the crazy japanese fans. The team here the Orix buffaloes are pretty rubbish and so there werent that many people there although the chants of 'home run home run in the bag' were loud and pretty comical in there accent. Unfortunately one inning later the heavens opened and this game was also called off so slightly dispondent i went back to Kyoto. The one day in two weeks where it rained was the one where i needed it desperately not too. Theres not much you can do when you have a limited schedule so that remained the only thing i didnt manage to get done in japan.
That left me with a day in osaka which everybody had said wasnt great although their aquarium is amazing. It has to be one of the best in the world and it had a huge seven story central tank with whale sharks as well as a tiger shark. It was well worth a trip to osaka just on its own. The final night i tried out a capsule hotel which is a really interesting experience. If your my height its fine but people who are over six foot must struggle. The capsule hotel is only really for business men who missed the last train but mine had a gym, tvs and was really comfortable. Thats another month gone already nearly half way :-(
As i said before hong kong is great its more like i would call proper asia but has all the trappings of home as well. For me japan was too sterile a country and suprisingly i found it not particularly interesting or exciting but as soon as i was in hong kong its more like proper travelling again. I had a couple of days exploring the various areas of the city as well as lantau island the home of a spectacular cable car ride as well as the worlds largest seated budha. Hong kong has everthing you could possibly want from beaches and mountains to the best skyline both in the day and night i have ever seen. Hong Kong has the world record for the longest running light show but honestly it is appaling and the city without the show is much better and the view from the star ferry going between the island and kowloon will stick with me for ever. It really must have been the jewel in our empire. After a couple of days i met up with Ben a friend i met in Russia and we had a couple of days just chilling before joining a pub crawl with some others from our hostel on our last night. For what it is Hong Kong is really expensive maybe like 10x china where i am now. Drinking was around 6-7 quid a beer but somewhow for a tenner we got free drinks and entry galore. My night was cut short as i have another cold due mainly to the chinese obsession with near freezing air con in any indoor area. A week of going from 40 degrees to 20 then back into 40 really messes you about.
Another long one but i have had so little access to computers recently. Im now off to take a dip in the river in yanshou in southern china (the scenery from the HSBC cormorant fishing advert) which is stunning and also a legendary backpacker retreat.
Tuesday, 27 July 2010
A letter from Miyajima
Im now back on Honshu in the city of Hiroshima with only three days left in japan after a brief foray last week into Hokkaido. With mixed feelings im kind of looking forward to leaving as a few things are starting to annoy. Despite being so advanced in some respects things such as the ticket offices in railway stations belong in yesteryear. The timetable bafflingly is not on computer but instead invloves the service personel taking an age to look through a book larger than the yellow pages. Any journey involving more than one or two changes takes forever. Also with little money left in the budget for this month finding accomodation is also a pain. Two nights ago i had to travel two hours from nagano to find somewhere i could afford and when in nagano i had to sleep in an internet cafe which was certainly a new experience. But despite this the last few days have had the best sights so far.
Yesterday i visited one of the best museums/memorials i have ever seen. The a-bomb memorial park and peace museum were unbelievably moving and it was a shame that i did not have more time having arrived that afternoon from Hakuba. The last few days have been hectic and with no respite today i took a day trip to Miyajima an island jut off the coast that is home to the `famous` floating tori as well as it turns out an amazing scenic walk amongst shrines, temples, pagodas and masses of tame deer. The island was amazing and was definately the best place i have visited in japan so far although the temperature has really started to get beyond bearable.
After i wrote last time i headed a few hours north of Hakodate to the capital of Hokkaido, Sapporo for a day and then onto Daisetzusan national park. Sapporo is a pretty boring place to be honest which was a shame as the hostel Inos place was the best ive stayed in so far on the entire trip. The Sapporo beer museum was the only real saving grace and a happy hour was spent trying the various samples. There are very few people who make it up to Hokkaido and those that do all seem to be english people all teaching in japan, which seems to be becoming ever more popular as the demand exceeds the supply. As Sapporo was only worth a day i headed to Daisetsuzan national park in the hope of getting some decent hiking done as well as possibly seeing some bears. Everybody's image of japan is of densely packed buildings with everybody living on top of each other, but as soon as you leave Tokyo and the endless cities that merge with it the country becomes some of the wildest landscapes ever.
I stayed at Sounkyo which is a small hot spring resort town which provided a great base in which to carry out some hikes around the various local peaks and hopefully to the volcanically active mt. Asahi. First day i headed to some waterfalls that appear on all the photos of the area, and to be honest they were much more underwhelming in real life. But the second day i headed up on the rope way and from the top an hour or so climb to the top of mt. Kurodake. From here i was hoping to do a big loop on the mountainous plateau and across to an active caldera. As soon as i reached the top of Kurodake the weather started to go pear shaped and i made it to a glacier before strong winds and driving rain meant i had to turn around. I saw a tiny bit of the crater with the sulphur river but managed to miss the bear that everyone else saw, big time gutted. Hokkaido in the end turned into a bit of a wash out which was a shame as it was the last opportunity for hiking for a while. Despite this the relative cool made a great change to the 35 degree 80% humidity down south.
Trying to make the most of my remaining week i took the fourteen hour train to Nagano of Olympic fame. I got in at near midnight and had nowhere to stay so crashed in an internet cafe. The good thing about japan is that they have a variety of unusual cheaper ways to sleep than would be elsewhere mainly due to the fact the trains stop so early. Most parks have a spot for those with `difficulty commuting` as the trains stop so early. Nagano has few sights so i took the scenic local train to the nearby mountain city of Matsumoto which has the oldest and probably the best castle in japan. The castle and the city as a whole were great having an atmosphere unlike anything else i have seen in japan. Being a hot sunday afternoon the entire city was out in carnival atmosphere with food stalls lining the streets and people playing on the towns river beach. From Matsumoto having not found anywhere affordable i took another scenic train up into the mountains to Hakuba. The hostel here is part of the K hostel chain which provides an amazing service and if you ever visit japan this is highly recommeded although also very popular. Hakuba being off all the main routes meant another early morning in order to get to Hiroshima but it was well worth it for an afternoon in the peace park.
The last three days as you can imagine are packed starting with tomorrow with a trip to Himeji castle on the way back to Kyoto. From Kyoto i can day trip the ancient capital Nara and go the baseball before my last day in Osaka then on to Hong Kong and China on saturday.
Yesterday i visited one of the best museums/memorials i have ever seen. The a-bomb memorial park and peace museum were unbelievably moving and it was a shame that i did not have more time having arrived that afternoon from Hakuba. The last few days have been hectic and with no respite today i took a day trip to Miyajima an island jut off the coast that is home to the `famous` floating tori as well as it turns out an amazing scenic walk amongst shrines, temples, pagodas and masses of tame deer. The island was amazing and was definately the best place i have visited in japan so far although the temperature has really started to get beyond bearable.
After i wrote last time i headed a few hours north of Hakodate to the capital of Hokkaido, Sapporo for a day and then onto Daisetzusan national park. Sapporo is a pretty boring place to be honest which was a shame as the hostel Inos place was the best ive stayed in so far on the entire trip. The Sapporo beer museum was the only real saving grace and a happy hour was spent trying the various samples. There are very few people who make it up to Hokkaido and those that do all seem to be english people all teaching in japan, which seems to be becoming ever more popular as the demand exceeds the supply. As Sapporo was only worth a day i headed to Daisetsuzan national park in the hope of getting some decent hiking done as well as possibly seeing some bears. Everybody's image of japan is of densely packed buildings with everybody living on top of each other, but as soon as you leave Tokyo and the endless cities that merge with it the country becomes some of the wildest landscapes ever.
I stayed at Sounkyo which is a small hot spring resort town which provided a great base in which to carry out some hikes around the various local peaks and hopefully to the volcanically active mt. Asahi. First day i headed to some waterfalls that appear on all the photos of the area, and to be honest they were much more underwhelming in real life. But the second day i headed up on the rope way and from the top an hour or so climb to the top of mt. Kurodake. From here i was hoping to do a big loop on the mountainous plateau and across to an active caldera. As soon as i reached the top of Kurodake the weather started to go pear shaped and i made it to a glacier before strong winds and driving rain meant i had to turn around. I saw a tiny bit of the crater with the sulphur river but managed to miss the bear that everyone else saw, big time gutted. Hokkaido in the end turned into a bit of a wash out which was a shame as it was the last opportunity for hiking for a while. Despite this the relative cool made a great change to the 35 degree 80% humidity down south.
Trying to make the most of my remaining week i took the fourteen hour train to Nagano of Olympic fame. I got in at near midnight and had nowhere to stay so crashed in an internet cafe. The good thing about japan is that they have a variety of unusual cheaper ways to sleep than would be elsewhere mainly due to the fact the trains stop so early. Most parks have a spot for those with `difficulty commuting` as the trains stop so early. Nagano has few sights so i took the scenic local train to the nearby mountain city of Matsumoto which has the oldest and probably the best castle in japan. The castle and the city as a whole were great having an atmosphere unlike anything else i have seen in japan. Being a hot sunday afternoon the entire city was out in carnival atmosphere with food stalls lining the streets and people playing on the towns river beach. From Matsumoto having not found anywhere affordable i took another scenic train up into the mountains to Hakuba. The hostel here is part of the K hostel chain which provides an amazing service and if you ever visit japan this is highly recommeded although also very popular. Hakuba being off all the main routes meant another early morning in order to get to Hiroshima but it was well worth it for an afternoon in the peace park.
The last three days as you can imagine are packed starting with tomorrow with a trip to Himeji castle on the way back to Kyoto. From Kyoto i can day trip the ancient capital Nara and go the baseball before my last day in Osaka then on to Hong Kong and China on saturday.
Sunday, 18 July 2010
Culture Shock
As of today i have been in japan for 12 days and everyone has been truly amazing and impressive。Everything about japan is both new and high technology as well as preserving the culture and traditions。Normally technology spells the end of any culture but somehow it exists here in harmony.
My last day in vladivostok summed up everything i like about travelling. I met Ben a fellow english traveller who i looked around vladivostok with before going to the funniest football match of my life before missing the last bus walking forty minutes back in the dark and poring rain before being invited to a random russian 25th birthday by some people on the street. We were essentially guests of honour and were plied with vodka and food for several hours. The only trouble is these nights always occur when i have to get up early for a very important bus or train. This time after retiring at 3am i struggled manfully to pack my things and get to the bus which left at 9am and then make my flight to japan. Utter madness, when your travelling thecommon sense with regards to nights out merging with early mornings is forgotten.
I arrived in narita that night, managed to negotiate the mass of signs and information and get on the correct train to tokyo. It really isnt that bad but i had got into a comfort zone in russia being able to read signs etc and it was certainly a jolt. July is japans rainy season and this has pretty much shaped my time here. Go out in the baking hot sunshine try and get undercover for the crazy hours of rain that are about to arrive. I had three days in Tokyo seeing the sights most of which were traditional gardens, islands of of peace set among the craziness and sky scrapers all around. I also had one 4am start to get to Tsujiki the largest market in the world to see the tuna auction. As instructed i arrived at 5am to be told that i was late and it had finnished. Instead i had very fresh early morning sushi. I know sushi is pretty popular but this has completely passed me by. I had tried it once before and not enjoyed it and this was no better. Sitting in a very intimate restaurant surrounded by people saying this is the best thing they have ever eaten while i am sat there trying not to throw up. Oh well a good thing the rest of japanese quisine is immense.
In tokyo i had inishaly planned to spend four days but i managed to tick off two areas of tokyo a day as well as go to shinjuku at night. Honestly you dont know what a crowd is until you have been here, and it seems everybody is going the opposite way to you. I had heard that there was a major festival on in kyoto in three days so i rearranged my plans and somehow got the last bed in the city. With three days to kill i decided to try to climb mount fuji which is japans highest mountain and only 2 hours away. The climbing season is only for two months and in this time hundreds of thousands of people climb. The first two days the weather was so bad i couldnt even see the mountain but on the third it was my final chance so i got ready and started climbing. Most go from the 5th station about halfway but i decided to go traditional and start from the segen shrine right at the bottom. Being pretty good at walking by now i made good progress and managed to pick up two americans on the way. By the time i got to the top at 3776m (nearly three times Ben Nevis) 10 hours later i was glad i had. The weather was so bad that you couldnt see the person standing next to you and with the high winds and rain it was pretty dicy not ideal on your own. The final section was like slow motion, fuji is high enough for altitude sickness and by the end it was take ten steps and take a break just to slow your heart rate to an acceptable level. By this time it was also dark so we spent the night in a mountain hut at the 8th station (3200m) before stupidly running down in 1 hour (supposed to be 4 hours) to the 5th station. At that point i just wanted to get off the mountain as i had a splitting headache from the altitude and just wanted to be in the warm. The run down screwed my legs for days.
After Fuji i headed to Kyoto which is the culture capital of Japan. There is a shrine or temple or zen garden everywhere you look. I had two days of wandering through these before going to the Gion Matsuri festival. Kyoto was packed and so were all the places to see which kind of ruined it a bit. Having to jostle through crowds to take a photo isnt great. The festival though was great, the night before the whole city was on the streets in traditional kimonos as they decorated giant wooden floats and sold amazing street food. The day of the festival the streets were lined with decorations and for three hours the huge procession of floats were pulled through the streets. Any festival in japan would be great and Gion Matsuri is one of the biggest.
That night as i hadnt got a bed i had planned to take the night train to Hokkaido. Unfortunately this meant a 7 hour layover between trains and my plans to sleep in the station ended at 2am when they kicked me out. So i had three hours wandering the streets with all my stuff in some dodgy area by the station before i could get in and go back to sleep. Fortunately Japan is pretty much the safest place on earth, but i wouldn't have liked to have tried that in many places i have been. But happily 7 hours later after passing through the longest under sea train tunnel i was in Hokkaido and last night i was treated to the Keirin cycling and an unexpected spectacular view of the city and a huge fireworks display from my guesthouse halfway up the mountain overlooking Hakodate.
Sorry this has been a long one but its the first time i have had internet that isnt an absurd price. One thing with Japan is you have to watch the pennies as the pounds just disappear.
My last day in vladivostok summed up everything i like about travelling. I met Ben a fellow english traveller who i looked around vladivostok with before going to the funniest football match of my life before missing the last bus walking forty minutes back in the dark and poring rain before being invited to a random russian 25th birthday by some people on the street. We were essentially guests of honour and were plied with vodka and food for several hours. The only trouble is these nights always occur when i have to get up early for a very important bus or train. This time after retiring at 3am i struggled manfully to pack my things and get to the bus which left at 9am and then make my flight to japan. Utter madness, when your travelling thecommon sense with regards to nights out merging with early mornings is forgotten.
I arrived in narita that night, managed to negotiate the mass of signs and information and get on the correct train to tokyo. It really isnt that bad but i had got into a comfort zone in russia being able to read signs etc and it was certainly a jolt. July is japans rainy season and this has pretty much shaped my time here. Go out in the baking hot sunshine try and get undercover for the crazy hours of rain that are about to arrive. I had three days in Tokyo seeing the sights most of which were traditional gardens, islands of of peace set among the craziness and sky scrapers all around. I also had one 4am start to get to Tsujiki the largest market in the world to see the tuna auction. As instructed i arrived at 5am to be told that i was late and it had finnished. Instead i had very fresh early morning sushi. I know sushi is pretty popular but this has completely passed me by. I had tried it once before and not enjoyed it and this was no better. Sitting in a very intimate restaurant surrounded by people saying this is the best thing they have ever eaten while i am sat there trying not to throw up. Oh well a good thing the rest of japanese quisine is immense.
In tokyo i had inishaly planned to spend four days but i managed to tick off two areas of tokyo a day as well as go to shinjuku at night. Honestly you dont know what a crowd is until you have been here, and it seems everybody is going the opposite way to you. I had heard that there was a major festival on in kyoto in three days so i rearranged my plans and somehow got the last bed in the city. With three days to kill i decided to try to climb mount fuji which is japans highest mountain and only 2 hours away. The climbing season is only for two months and in this time hundreds of thousands of people climb. The first two days the weather was so bad i couldnt even see the mountain but on the third it was my final chance so i got ready and started climbing. Most go from the 5th station about halfway but i decided to go traditional and start from the segen shrine right at the bottom. Being pretty good at walking by now i made good progress and managed to pick up two americans on the way. By the time i got to the top at 3776m (nearly three times Ben Nevis) 10 hours later i was glad i had. The weather was so bad that you couldnt see the person standing next to you and with the high winds and rain it was pretty dicy not ideal on your own. The final section was like slow motion, fuji is high enough for altitude sickness and by the end it was take ten steps and take a break just to slow your heart rate to an acceptable level. By this time it was also dark so we spent the night in a mountain hut at the 8th station (3200m) before stupidly running down in 1 hour (supposed to be 4 hours) to the 5th station. At that point i just wanted to get off the mountain as i had a splitting headache from the altitude and just wanted to be in the warm. The run down screwed my legs for days.
After Fuji i headed to Kyoto which is the culture capital of Japan. There is a shrine or temple or zen garden everywhere you look. I had two days of wandering through these before going to the Gion Matsuri festival. Kyoto was packed and so were all the places to see which kind of ruined it a bit. Having to jostle through crowds to take a photo isnt great. The festival though was great, the night before the whole city was on the streets in traditional kimonos as they decorated giant wooden floats and sold amazing street food. The day of the festival the streets were lined with decorations and for three hours the huge procession of floats were pulled through the streets. Any festival in japan would be great and Gion Matsuri is one of the biggest.
That night as i hadnt got a bed i had planned to take the night train to Hokkaido. Unfortunately this meant a 7 hour layover between trains and my plans to sleep in the station ended at 2am when they kicked me out. So i had three hours wandering the streets with all my stuff in some dodgy area by the station before i could get in and go back to sleep. Fortunately Japan is pretty much the safest place on earth, but i wouldn't have liked to have tried that in many places i have been. But happily 7 hours later after passing through the longest under sea train tunnel i was in Hokkaido and last night i was treated to the Keirin cycling and an unexpected spectacular view of the city and a huge fireworks display from my guesthouse halfway up the mountain overlooking Hakodate.
Sorry this has been a long one but its the first time i have had internet that isnt an absurd price. One thing with Japan is you have to watch the pennies as the pounds just disappear.
Saturday, 3 July 2010
Time travelling
Since i last wrote quite a while ago i have spent an equal amount of time on a train as well as off it. The problem with having only a 28 day visa and crossing the country by train is that a week is already taken off your trip, see five places and thats it time to go. Until you visit russia you just dont realise how huge it is, 8 timezones in all. I am now in Vladivostok the furtherst east i will be in the entire trip, further east than Australia. I thought this morning what would happen if FC Vladivostok ever qualified for europe some Liverpool fans trying to work out how a place 12 hour flight away was in the UEFA cup.
Most of the cities in Siberia are worth no more than a day unless you can visit the surrounding area. Yekaterinburg proved that way although i had two days there as i messed up my tickets, i thought i had booked 6am but i was looking at the date rather than the time. I managed to get out to see the Europe asia border marker which is in the ural mountains just outside of the town as well as the church of blood where the romanovs (anastasia story) met their grisly end. This was essentially everything and as there was no one else at the hostel a day relaxing by the river and the park was a good option. The mix up in tickets also meant i was able to watch england slovenia which was predictably tense and drab affair. I left fairly confident we could improve as we had won the group and had ghana in the next round.
The train station turned into a massive stress as the taxi was late and I arrived about 10 minutes before the train was due to leave and could not find it. As i was due to spend the next three days on it i could not really afford to be left behind. After frantically searching every platform it turned out it was late (nothing had been even remotely late to this point) but there was no one to explain this and after an hour or so with much relief i borded the train.
As with anything about travelling its the people and not the places that make the trip and the trans-siberian is no different. My carriage was full of people who did not speak english and did not want to try and make do with sign language etc that had tipified my time in eastern europe to this point. It proved to be three days of severe boredom as i proceeded to max out my ipod and books while staring out of the window at scenery that never changed. Since moscow the route of the train has showed countryside that to me looks like the wild west era of the USA. A group of small wooden cabbins amidst the forest and grass, with people eaking a living off small plots of land. Apart from the inevitable satelite dishes life has not changed much in hundreds of years. Outside of the cities and towns which are all 10+ hours apart its like serfdom of old.
The next stop was irkutsk next to lake Baikal. I had been looking forward to this for ages as i have hardly been able to hike or explore any countryside. I had an afternoon in irkutsk which despite the guidebook calling it the paris of siberia was plenty. I met tom (english) and patrick (dane/german) at the hostel and together we went out on a night out i shall remember for a long time. As there was little else to do we had a few beers in a bar where i expected to see england play ghana until patrick broke the news that england were playing germany the next day. A few beers led us to a packed club where everyone was in swim wear. Despite being heavily overdressed we headed in and soon realised why as it turned into a massive foam party with some very friendly locals. Im not sure what time it finished or we left but the three of us im pretty sure just made the bus at 7.45 the next morning heading to Olkhon island.
Olkhon was an amazing place, we reached the island itself after 4 hours of driving before having another 3 hours to get to the village where we were staying. Desperately in need of some sleep i managed part of the journey but after the ferry it disintegrated into essentially driving accross the peak district with no road. Everyone drives the old soviet trucks that will go anywhere and do anything and even a 4x4 i doubt would have made it. Kuzhir the village had only got electricity 5 years ago and was stuck in a time warp with wooden houses and cows wandering around the streets. Luckily that evening we found a tv and twenty people (90% german) crowded around the 5 inch screen to watch the game. Completely gutted.
I had a few days on the island and managed despite the drizzling weather a mountain bike ride accross the central hills to the deserted east of the island, as well as a tour. I even managed a swim althought the 7 degree water was hardly inviting. The guest house we stayed in was properly rustic with outdoor toilets and showers but three meals a day of home cooked amazing food. Your realise that Baikal is huge not only in surface area as well as the depth over a mile in some places. Standing on the cliffs you could see forever. I took so many photos which i shall sort through before uploading although i didnt see a seal.
I was gutted to leave so early but my train was the next morning. It was 72 hours but his time with some nice russians Serghei his wife and his mother, who were heading back to the air force base in vladivostok after visiting home. Most russians i have met on the train are in the armed forces and these guys showed true hospitality stuffing endless quantities of home made schnapps, beer, smoked fish, sausage and cheese down me. Its no suprise you dont see many old guys and those over 30 have a mouth full of gold teeth as the diet is horrendous. The time passed really quickly getting off at a few stations to catch some fresh air and sample the delights being sold on the platforms.
There is not a great deal to do in vladivostok apart from get ready for my flight on wednesday to japan. Really looking forward to it although i think a massive culture shock is due.
Most of the cities in Siberia are worth no more than a day unless you can visit the surrounding area. Yekaterinburg proved that way although i had two days there as i messed up my tickets, i thought i had booked 6am but i was looking at the date rather than the time. I managed to get out to see the Europe asia border marker which is in the ural mountains just outside of the town as well as the church of blood where the romanovs (anastasia story) met their grisly end. This was essentially everything and as there was no one else at the hostel a day relaxing by the river and the park was a good option. The mix up in tickets also meant i was able to watch england slovenia which was predictably tense and drab affair. I left fairly confident we could improve as we had won the group and had ghana in the next round.
The train station turned into a massive stress as the taxi was late and I arrived about 10 minutes before the train was due to leave and could not find it. As i was due to spend the next three days on it i could not really afford to be left behind. After frantically searching every platform it turned out it was late (nothing had been even remotely late to this point) but there was no one to explain this and after an hour or so with much relief i borded the train.
As with anything about travelling its the people and not the places that make the trip and the trans-siberian is no different. My carriage was full of people who did not speak english and did not want to try and make do with sign language etc that had tipified my time in eastern europe to this point. It proved to be three days of severe boredom as i proceeded to max out my ipod and books while staring out of the window at scenery that never changed. Since moscow the route of the train has showed countryside that to me looks like the wild west era of the USA. A group of small wooden cabbins amidst the forest and grass, with people eaking a living off small plots of land. Apart from the inevitable satelite dishes life has not changed much in hundreds of years. Outside of the cities and towns which are all 10+ hours apart its like serfdom of old.
The next stop was irkutsk next to lake Baikal. I had been looking forward to this for ages as i have hardly been able to hike or explore any countryside. I had an afternoon in irkutsk which despite the guidebook calling it the paris of siberia was plenty. I met tom (english) and patrick (dane/german) at the hostel and together we went out on a night out i shall remember for a long time. As there was little else to do we had a few beers in a bar where i expected to see england play ghana until patrick broke the news that england were playing germany the next day. A few beers led us to a packed club where everyone was in swim wear. Despite being heavily overdressed we headed in and soon realised why as it turned into a massive foam party with some very friendly locals. Im not sure what time it finished or we left but the three of us im pretty sure just made the bus at 7.45 the next morning heading to Olkhon island.
Olkhon was an amazing place, we reached the island itself after 4 hours of driving before having another 3 hours to get to the village where we were staying. Desperately in need of some sleep i managed part of the journey but after the ferry it disintegrated into essentially driving accross the peak district with no road. Everyone drives the old soviet trucks that will go anywhere and do anything and even a 4x4 i doubt would have made it. Kuzhir the village had only got electricity 5 years ago and was stuck in a time warp with wooden houses and cows wandering around the streets. Luckily that evening we found a tv and twenty people (90% german) crowded around the 5 inch screen to watch the game. Completely gutted.
I had a few days on the island and managed despite the drizzling weather a mountain bike ride accross the central hills to the deserted east of the island, as well as a tour. I even managed a swim althought the 7 degree water was hardly inviting. The guest house we stayed in was properly rustic with outdoor toilets and showers but three meals a day of home cooked amazing food. Your realise that Baikal is huge not only in surface area as well as the depth over a mile in some places. Standing on the cliffs you could see forever. I took so many photos which i shall sort through before uploading although i didnt see a seal.
I was gutted to leave so early but my train was the next morning. It was 72 hours but his time with some nice russians Serghei his wife and his mother, who were heading back to the air force base in vladivostok after visiting home. Most russians i have met on the train are in the armed forces and these guys showed true hospitality stuffing endless quantities of home made schnapps, beer, smoked fish, sausage and cheese down me. Its no suprise you dont see many old guys and those over 30 have a mouth full of gold teeth as the diet is horrendous. The time passed really quickly getting off at a few stations to catch some fresh air and sample the delights being sold on the platforms.
There is not a great deal to do in vladivostok apart from get ready for my flight on wednesday to japan. Really looking forward to it although i think a massive culture shock is due.
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
Crossing continents
Two and a half months gone and i am now in asia having crossed the Ural mountains on the 28 hour train from Moscow to Yekaterinburg. Im going to the monument that marks the border between the two continents tonight before my train leaves on the two day trip to Irkutsk and lake Baikal. I spoke to some guys in the hostel here doing a similar trip to me and we couldnt work out where the legend of the trans siberian came from as its so boring not like the Vodka train i had been led to expect. Its mainly families and dads going home from the army. The guy i shared a cabin with was pretty cool we had a few beers and he spoke a bit of english but there is only so far sign language and podcasts can take you.
Russia is really starting to grow on me as St Petersburg really was a non event in the end with most days consisiting of either the warm irish bar or the sofa for the football. I made it to the hermitage after standing in a queue in the rain for an hour and a half which was pretty amazing much like the louvre but on a smaller scale. Other than this a short walk round the centre of town took in the church of spilled blood which was pretty cool but it has got to the stage now and i hate to say it but youve seen one church you have seen them all. I also saw the peter and paul fortress which has a political prison which held many of the famous names of the various russian uprisings as well as the cathedral where many of the royal family where buried. Compared to the reviews i have heard about st petersburg i have no idea why everybody raves about it. Its ok at best nothing compared to what was to come in Moscow.
The Soul Kitchen hostel was pretty nice and i met some canadians there who i bumped into again in moscow. We had one night out in St Petersburg with Iliya and various other russians with loose associations to the hostel. We left at about 11pm after the Germany v Australia match. Iliya said if you dont come with us you will never find the bar and it was true as he also could not find it. Maybe an hour walking round and round before behind an anonymous door we found the bar. It was pretty nice but largely quiet so rounds of jagermeister was called for to fix the atmosphere. We ended up following some other people to another bar which again took ages to find despite the constant daylight as it just doesnt get dark. This one was completely dead and after having a russian stress his love for jenson button for what seemed like hours i left to get some sleep before the train to moscow.
I arrived in moscow pretty much as it was getting dark and straight away had to experience the metro. Im pretty sure this has to be the best metro in the world with huge stations of glittering marble and chandeliers as well as being easy to navigate and having a reliable service. I dont know why but this was the beginning of a major liking for moscow. The hostel turned out to be right in the posh area and a perfect base for exploring. The first two days involved major stress in aquiring a japan rail pass as i found the place on the edge of town but they didnt take cards and my withdrawl limit was 1/4 of what i needed per day. Everywhere you find this, russia is modern in some respects but back in the dark ages for everything else. In the end i had to use my emergency currency card and i have no idea how much this cost me in fees but i have the pass which is all that matters.
I also had to register my visa which i completely forgot to do in St Petersburg. Russia ends up being quite expensive with all the little burocratic things invites, visas, registration. It really is a pain. But Moscow itself was really great although more for the atmosphere than any sightseeing. The guidebook describes it as imposing and forbidding but i found it really enjoyable. Knowing cyrillic and a few words helps massively as i had a completely different excperience to some guys i met from leeds who hated it so much. There really is not alot to do apart from Red Square which has the Kremlin, St Basils Cathedral and Lenins Mausoleum. The kremlin is pretty cool and consists of a massive red wall surrounding five cathedrals with the actual government building a bit of a side show. St Basils is worth the trip alone and really is mesmeric as you first get a glimpse then see it get closer and more and more colourful. Lenins mausoleum take it or leave it really, it was a pain to get in as you cant take cameras, phones or anything else and the queue is pretty long for something that looks like a wax work.
The final night in moscow everyone in my dorm went on one mad night out as they were going to japan the next day and i was starting the trans siberian. Starting off with 9% vodka red bull from a several cans and then being bought a constant stream of huge shots by russians in the club means i cant really describe anything else as i have no clue as to what happened apart from a good time was had by all!! Cant wait for the rest of Russia now
Russia is really starting to grow on me as St Petersburg really was a non event in the end with most days consisiting of either the warm irish bar or the sofa for the football. I made it to the hermitage after standing in a queue in the rain for an hour and a half which was pretty amazing much like the louvre but on a smaller scale. Other than this a short walk round the centre of town took in the church of spilled blood which was pretty cool but it has got to the stage now and i hate to say it but youve seen one church you have seen them all. I also saw the peter and paul fortress which has a political prison which held many of the famous names of the various russian uprisings as well as the cathedral where many of the royal family where buried. Compared to the reviews i have heard about st petersburg i have no idea why everybody raves about it. Its ok at best nothing compared to what was to come in Moscow.
The Soul Kitchen hostel was pretty nice and i met some canadians there who i bumped into again in moscow. We had one night out in St Petersburg with Iliya and various other russians with loose associations to the hostel. We left at about 11pm after the Germany v Australia match. Iliya said if you dont come with us you will never find the bar and it was true as he also could not find it. Maybe an hour walking round and round before behind an anonymous door we found the bar. It was pretty nice but largely quiet so rounds of jagermeister was called for to fix the atmosphere. We ended up following some other people to another bar which again took ages to find despite the constant daylight as it just doesnt get dark. This one was completely dead and after having a russian stress his love for jenson button for what seemed like hours i left to get some sleep before the train to moscow.
I arrived in moscow pretty much as it was getting dark and straight away had to experience the metro. Im pretty sure this has to be the best metro in the world with huge stations of glittering marble and chandeliers as well as being easy to navigate and having a reliable service. I dont know why but this was the beginning of a major liking for moscow. The hostel turned out to be right in the posh area and a perfect base for exploring. The first two days involved major stress in aquiring a japan rail pass as i found the place on the edge of town but they didnt take cards and my withdrawl limit was 1/4 of what i needed per day. Everywhere you find this, russia is modern in some respects but back in the dark ages for everything else. In the end i had to use my emergency currency card and i have no idea how much this cost me in fees but i have the pass which is all that matters.
I also had to register my visa which i completely forgot to do in St Petersburg. Russia ends up being quite expensive with all the little burocratic things invites, visas, registration. It really is a pain. But Moscow itself was really great although more for the atmosphere than any sightseeing. The guidebook describes it as imposing and forbidding but i found it really enjoyable. Knowing cyrillic and a few words helps massively as i had a completely different excperience to some guys i met from leeds who hated it so much. There really is not alot to do apart from Red Square which has the Kremlin, St Basils Cathedral and Lenins Mausoleum. The kremlin is pretty cool and consists of a massive red wall surrounding five cathedrals with the actual government building a bit of a side show. St Basils is worth the trip alone and really is mesmeric as you first get a glimpse then see it get closer and more and more colourful. Lenins mausoleum take it or leave it really, it was a pain to get in as you cant take cameras, phones or anything else and the queue is pretty long for something that looks like a wax work.
The final night in moscow everyone in my dorm went on one mad night out as they were going to japan the next day and i was starting the trans siberian. Starting off with 9% vodka red bull from a several cans and then being bought a constant stream of huge shots by russians in the club means i cant really describe anything else as i have no clue as to what happened apart from a good time was had by all!! Cant wait for the rest of Russia now
Monday, 14 June 2010
Into the north
The dreaded has actually happened and im ill. A severe case of man flu is all i need with the trans siberian five days away. Stupidly i had left Kiev in t shirt and shorts as for the fourth day in a row it was over 30 degrees. I think more in hope than anything else i believed St Petersburg to be at least similar. Arriving i was severely disappointed it was like winter, dark sky, heavy clouds and torrents of rain. Perfect for walking round for hours on end. To be honest though St Petersburg really isnt that amazing a few things were ok like the hermitage museum which is like a mini louvre but apart from that i dont see what the fuss is about.
The whole of ukraine was baking hot perfect for seeing the amazing sights it has to offer but not quite so good for long journeys. Sevastopol to Lviv - 25 hours and officially my longest journey so far. Unfortunately the only tickets remaining were for 3rd class, essentially a vodka fuelled 50 person free for all. I had pretty much the worst bed right at the top in the corridor, no where to sit upright, nowhere to put my stuff and about three people to climb over everytime i needed to get up. The ipod and pot noodles were rationed as essentials to stave off madness. Unlike most other trains the ones in eastern europe only have two windows per carriage that open and at points it is unbearably hot which is why lots of people sit unabashedly half naked.
The train wasnt in truth that bad and lviv really was worth it. As i have said to people here if Lviv was anywhere in western europe it would easily be the most visited attraction. As it was there were a few tourists but essentially authentic. The city itself has hundreds of amazing churches which on a sunday were all packed to overflowing. Most days were just spent wandering around enjoying the weather and cafe culture but before my night train to kiev i got to go shooting with the guy from the hostel. Five different soviet era weapons with five bullets for each. They ranged from the rubbish pistol, to an ak-47, a sniper rifle that nearly took my shoulder off and a semi-automatic shotgun with solid slug. In most countries the ammunition and guns are all banned but you can shoot here with no training. I love eastern europe.
From Lviv to Kiev it is only 8 hours so on board the train sleep and your there. The hostel i was staying was very highly rated and i can see why. The polish owner cooked amazing food, it was a great location and was packed. As soon as i arrived i received a full day tour of the city from this ukrainian guy who was staying there. I think we did pretty much everthing including the cave monastery with the mumified monks. This is the number one thing to do but a minutes worth of cadavers is really a highlight for me. The rest of the time i spent looking through the flea markets. Its amazing what you can find. The stuff you were looking at in the museum you can buy out in the street. I have so far managed to get a Heroes of Stalingrad Medal and one from Sevastopol as well. The australians and i at the hostel also found out the secret to ukrainian drinking as well as there low life expectancy. Pig fat. All shots are quickly followed by a slice of fat that suprisingly tastes amazing as well as leaving no traces of a hangover. Somehow i dont think this will take off in the UK.
Anyway train to moscow leaves in two hours so have to get my stuff ready.
The whole of ukraine was baking hot perfect for seeing the amazing sights it has to offer but not quite so good for long journeys. Sevastopol to Lviv - 25 hours and officially my longest journey so far. Unfortunately the only tickets remaining were for 3rd class, essentially a vodka fuelled 50 person free for all. I had pretty much the worst bed right at the top in the corridor, no where to sit upright, nowhere to put my stuff and about three people to climb over everytime i needed to get up. The ipod and pot noodles were rationed as essentials to stave off madness. Unlike most other trains the ones in eastern europe only have two windows per carriage that open and at points it is unbearably hot which is why lots of people sit unabashedly half naked.
The train wasnt in truth that bad and lviv really was worth it. As i have said to people here if Lviv was anywhere in western europe it would easily be the most visited attraction. As it was there were a few tourists but essentially authentic. The city itself has hundreds of amazing churches which on a sunday were all packed to overflowing. Most days were just spent wandering around enjoying the weather and cafe culture but before my night train to kiev i got to go shooting with the guy from the hostel. Five different soviet era weapons with five bullets for each. They ranged from the rubbish pistol, to an ak-47, a sniper rifle that nearly took my shoulder off and a semi-automatic shotgun with solid slug. In most countries the ammunition and guns are all banned but you can shoot here with no training. I love eastern europe.
From Lviv to Kiev it is only 8 hours so on board the train sleep and your there. The hostel i was staying was very highly rated and i can see why. The polish owner cooked amazing food, it was a great location and was packed. As soon as i arrived i received a full day tour of the city from this ukrainian guy who was staying there. I think we did pretty much everthing including the cave monastery with the mumified monks. This is the number one thing to do but a minutes worth of cadavers is really a highlight for me. The rest of the time i spent looking through the flea markets. Its amazing what you can find. The stuff you were looking at in the museum you can buy out in the street. I have so far managed to get a Heroes of Stalingrad Medal and one from Sevastopol as well. The australians and i at the hostel also found out the secret to ukrainian drinking as well as there low life expectancy. Pig fat. All shots are quickly followed by a slice of fat that suprisingly tastes amazing as well as leaving no traces of a hangover. Somehow i dont think this will take off in the UK.
Anyway train to moscow leaves in two hours so have to get my stuff ready.
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