Novotel Moscow Sheremetyevo

... shorts since it's pretty warm inside too.<br>&#8226; If you're thinking of doing the direct train from Moscow to Beijing I'd urge you to at least think about taking a couple of nights at Lake Baikal and Ulan Bator. The train I caught from UB to Beijing was the direct train from Moscow and about a 1/3 of the tourists had done the non-stop train ride and hadn't ever thought about getting off the train anywhere.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><b r>

... control and customs barking questions at me, which I clearly didn't understand - I really don't like these border checks, I'm always worried there's going to be something wrong with my passport / visa / ticket and they're going to chuck me off the train in the middle of nowhere in the dark.<br>Then just 4 hours later the guard was waking everyone up to get ready for arrival in Moscow at 6am (I crossed another time zone in the night and am now 3 hours ahead of you)<br><br>Walking ...

... from next door. The poor child was used as a go between us RM and the rest of the carriage! His French, as you would imagine, didn't extend much beyond colours, weather, pets and his family BUT this is leaps and bounds away from any Russian that Ian and I had or have! It was really great having Alexi mediate since it broke the ice with his parents and gave them an excuse to come and join us for some communicating. Trying to explain that we were ...

So I did make it to Moscow, unfortunately my first couple days here had me stuck in bed with a nasty cold (and no it was not swine flu). I was suppose to go to St. Petersburg but just couldn't make it, my flight from Istanbul was delayed over 2 hours and I spent another grueling 2 hours in line at passport control, so with the cold on top of that I was pretty wiped ...

... Toria. Tapaaminen oli cs:n (couchsurfingin lyhenne jota aion kayttaa tasta lahin) kautta ja siihen osallistui n. 35 henkiloa. Ravintola oli varattu meille. Mieleen jai etenkin Alberto, milanolainen italianopettaja taalla Moskovassa, saksalainen pariskunta Frankfurtista (joiden kanssa kielena oli tietenkin saksa), venalainen logistiikka-manageri Aleksei, seka muutama venalainen josta jai mieleen etenkin unelmia taynna oleva Moskovassa vasta pari vuotta asunut ...

... the checkpoint. Then we waited around. I was hanging out in the hallway on the train as it was much cooler there and ended up talking to a Ukrainian man who couldn't speak any English except for 'Sir Paul McCartney.' I got that he was asking me a question about the former Beatle but didn't know what. Then a young Russian boy and his mother stepped in and helped to translate a bit. Found out the Ukrainian was asking if I like Sir Paul McCartney. I told him not really but I do ...

... Basil's Cathrdral  propper bright and colourfull. Had to get on the 2135 train to Ulaanbaatar in the Evening, the trans siberian is only a train, not even that long at that! 15 carriages.  as it turned out trying to carry a bike, rucksac and daysac is difficult!  PHOTO_ID_L=dsc05620.jpg PHOTO_ID_R=dsc05646.jpg plans for china may change yet.

... bel, Akustik, Licht - alles aus Deutschland mit Dutzenden von LKW's gebracht. Im Vorraum wird gerade das Buffet ausgetauscht, vom leckersten Lachsschnittchen meines Lebens, zu Spannferkeln, Roast Beef, und einer schwer überschaubaren Auswahl an Salaten. Nach einer Stunde Reden stellen sich alle Gäste auf die Bühne und legen ihre Zeigefinger auf einem Touch Screen. Sie müssen sich mit ihrem Fingerabdruck identifizieren, sagt die blonde Moderatorin, damit von der Laufband die ersten ...

... waited while she did her standard paper shuffle, paper shuffle. A ha. Yes. THOSE train tickets. We were told that we had to walk over to Bloc 4 to pick them up. Onward we went. At Bloc 4 we greeted another reception, and had to explain the entire thing again. She then had to call over to Bloc 3 reception. Then after several minutes of speaking I had to get on the phone and talk with the same assistant manager I just ...

... who loves music, bought a CD. Out of Noodichy there is a lake where you can drink something while relaxing. There, I bought a drawing made by a funny painter. We took the tube to return to the city and we had lunch in a Yolki-Polki restaurant (like My-My, but better quality) where we can eat a good caviar. We walked around the city as a goodbye: and we saw all the ...