Our Russian Cycling Experience (22nd - 27th June 07)

While Moscow was great, we also wanted to see a side of Russia outside of Moscow & St Petersburg. And we were also in need of exercise after sitting on a train for 5 days eating non-stop. So we decided to head to the 'Golden Ring' of Russia. This term refers to a collection of cities around the Moscow greater region that are known for their great churches and history. The location of the cities form a ring around Moscow. We decided to do a smaller Golden Ring tour, as it is supposedly quite repetitive and we were a little short on time. So we set out on a 5 days cycling trip, to the shock of most locals who said cycling in Russia was a bad idea.

Moscow to Sergiev Posad
Distance - 79km
Average - 17.2km/h

Riding out of any city is hard, but today was no fun at all with lots of road works and not much of a shoulder to ride on. But the air was nice and clean (well compared to Beijing) and it was also nice to be back on the bikes.

When we got to Sergiev Posad we were a little worried when the cheapest accomodation we could find was $100nz for a room. Comparing this to $10 a night in Asia this was a bit of a shock. But we had no other choice of where to stay so we splashed out for this hotel. And it was very nice. It seems like the prices of hotels are the same as NZ, but there is not the hostel or cheap hotel options in some of the smaller cities.

Sergiev Posad has a walled citadel - a Kremlin, which contains mulititudes of churches from different eras. The most stunning was a white church with blue onion domes with gold stars. Day 1 of churches was beautiful after we got a bit 'templed out' in Asia.



Sergiev Posad to Pereslavl Zalesskiy
Distance - 80km
Average - 16.5km/h

Today was another horrible riding day with no shoulder on the road, riding on the main expressway. Maybe those locals were right telling us not to cycle. Also only expensive hotels to be found.

Pereslavl Zalesskiy to Suzdal
Distance - 137km
Average - 18.2km/h

It was the ride today that made the last two days worth it. We found a small road heading west which we took to reach Suzdal. There was little traffic and the scenery was amazing with picturesque landscapes for the whole way. It was a long ride, but with a blue sky and green scenery, there wasnt that much to complain about.

Suzdal was beautiful and we decided to spend two nights here to rest our legs. Lots of churches again, but by day 4 of our church tour we are getting a little 'churched out'.

Suzdal to Vladimir
Distance - 65km
Average - 16.4km/h

Today we could have gone 30km down the expressway but given our horrible expressway experience, we took back roads that took 60km. It was worth the extra distance to avoid a truck riding 2cm away from you or a car honking loudly in your ear.

At Vladimir we were very excited to find a cheap hotel - our first so far on this trip. It was very soviet era as it looked like a slab of grey concrete. But it was cheap.

Overall it was nice to see another side of Russia. The few bad days riding were outweighed the good days. From Vladimir we caught the train to St Petersburg, via Moscow for a few hours. And now St Petersburg is another side of Russia, with a much stronger European influence - 4 days left to explore it.

Moscow (19th - 22nd June 07)

After our 5 days and 4 nights on the train, it was great to stretch our legs in Moscow.

When we arrived at Moscow station, our local city guide was a stunning blonde who was very typically Russian. Over the next few days she showed us the great sights of Moscow. On day 1 we did the 'sights' of the Kremlin, St Basils Cathedral, the State History museum and many bronze statues. By the end we were totally over any sights and just wanted to enjoy the local scene of Moscow.

St Basils Cathedral


Church in Moscow

Coming into Russia I had all these pre-conceptions about the country and its people - the sterness, the hostility and the mulititudes of concrete Stalin era structures. Yet throughout the day our pre-concpetions were proved totally wrong. The architecture in Moscow is beautiful - most of it was pre the communist era and was very grand. Further, once you get chatting to the Russian people they are really friendly and smile much more than I was expecting.

The beautiful Metro stations


The best part of Moscow for both Nick and myself was the great bars and cafes that we went to over the three days. Our local guide was great in knowing what we liked and she managed to find these great venues that seemed to be down an alley and through a big black door. But imagine Rakinos twisted in a Russian way, and these places were great fun. And they werent that expensive. Food was either the same price as NZ cafe food or cheaper. And a big glass of Russian beer was about $4nz.

The main expense in Moscow is accommodation at $40nz for a dorm bed. So I can see why a recent study put Moscow as the most expensive city in the world - as accommodation takes about 80% of your daily costs. But otherwise you can get around cheaply on the metro and eating at cafes rather than restaurants. Also most sights have a very good student price which makes things much more affordable to (luckily they havent seemed to notice my student card has expired).

Overall we had a fabulous time in Moscow. All my stress about Russian bureacracy and scams was erased once we were actually there and had the best few days that we have had in a while. It is definately a city I will come back to sometime soon.

The greatest train ride in the world - the Trans-Mongolian (15th - 19th 07)

After stocking up on groceries in UB we boarded train 5 which in 4 nights would deliver us to Moscow!! Musts included coffee, coffee and more coffee. Plus fruit, veges and instant noodles. We also backed on getting some platform food to keep us going.

After the train left the station we were approached by the mongolian providistna (carraige attendent) who read a pre writted sentence in broken english "please can you help me" ....'yes'....."i am afraid of customs" which she then pointed to a 2m high stack of blankets. This was the first time we realised we were in a carriage full of mongolian traders. We kindly hid the blankets in our cabin so she could smuggle them over the boarder (under her quota) then sell them in Russia. For our part in the operation we got free coffee (which we already had plenty of) plus we got in her good books and she could make or break our trip.

We arrived at the border at 10pm and had to wait on the train (awake) for 8 hours while they took our passports. We think this was a bit of russian interogation torture trying to break us and admit to smuggling blankets. But after getting a short sleep we woke at 4am sunrise to views of Lake Baikal in Russia, the largest fresh water body in the world!!

Before our first train stop in Russia there was a hive of activity in our carriage as bundles of jeans, shoes, thermos flasks and mascara were pulled out from hidding places and bags as the traders prepared. What followed next was incredible. As the train pulled into the station the traders jumped off and were mobbed by hundreds of fanatical russians on the platform trying to buy their goods (shoes for 200 roubles NZ$10 and blankets for NZ$3). This continued until the train started to pull away when the traders jumped on as it was leaving. Mongolians get subsidised tickets for teh train so use it to run goods into russia which they sell at every stop!! Everyone is in on it, the station guards, the carriage attendents and .......US. At one point they even had maniquins up in our carriage windows for when we stopped.



Life on the train seemed to pass quickly by eating, reading, eating and talking with our cabin mates (the kiwi and swede). We had a great guide book (the trailblazer) which had sights at given kilometre marks so we were kept busy looking out the window for markers marking the asia-europe border and the like.



The train stopped a few times a day where we could get off and buy things like smoked fish, bread, beer, kolbasa sausages, fruit and veges either from Kiosks or Babushkas (grandmothers) selling their pickings.

This trip passed very quickly and 4 nights on the train was a breeze. Our next challenge is to go the other way from Moscow to Vladivostok .....in winter.

Mongolia - Roughing it in a Ger (10th - 15th June 07)

Part one of our Trans Mongolian Train Journey from Beijing to Moscow was an overnight train to Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia. We shared a 4 berth cabin with two others (a kiwi and swede) who booked their ticket through the same company. We bought our tickets through Vodka Train a loose tour group that secured us tickets. In the end we realised it was easy enough and half as cheap if we did it ourselves. But we were provided with accomodation and a "honcho"; a local who gave us tips on the city when we got off the train in Mongolia and Moscow.



This train trip was by far the best we have ever been on. We started off by going through tunnel after tunnel as we passed through the mountains of northern China. We think they we showing off by going through the mountains instead of going around like they do in Russia. Once we reached the Mongolian border we had to change the gauge on the boogies (thats train talk for swapping the wheels) as the tracks in Russia and Mongolia are 3.25 inches narrower than the rest of the world. Communists trying to rebel against the west. This involved jacking up each carriage then putting on new wheels, and we got the best view from onboard.

After a night on the train we woke to amazing views across the Gobi Desert, which in this area is more a grass land that stretches for miles. It was breathtaking scenery with the occasional Yurst (felt gers) tents of mongolian nomads dotting the countryside.



We arrived in Ulaanbaatar (UB) then spent the afternoon exploring the town with our Honcho and trying out some great Mongolian malt beers. Mongolia has an asian face to it, but the city felt more like the west, with designer clothes and more glamour than asia. After a night in the city we went to stay in Ger Camp in a nearby national park for one night. The park is located in a wide valley with steep granite walls, so we spent the afternoon clambering up big boulders, riding camels and some mini horses. Nick was petrified of the horse but didnt seem to mind the camel. He says it has something to do with not being in control and he much prefers his bicycle.



We visited a Nomad family and tried some delciious homemade yogurt (great), cheese (nice) and fermented milk (not nice).

The ger tents are made of felt and have a large stove centred in the middle which is used for cooking and heating the tent. Luckily we didnt have to wake up in the middle of the night as the lovely people at the camp snuck into our ger at 4am to keep it going, but we be them to the chase as we were up ready for sunrise at 4:30.

Overall, Mongolia was stunning. The scenery was unspoilt there are few tourists and the people are always smiling. It is definately on our 'must go back to' list.

The Great Wall (4th - 7th June 07)

Any visit to China has to incorporate climbing the Great Wall. So instead of joining one of the very easy organised tours at our backpackers, we headed off on bicycle for our own exploring.

While the Great Wall sounds like it is one long continuous wall, it is actually in numerous parts. So you get a different Great Wall experience depending on what part you go to. We decided to visit two parts at the Wall - Huang Hua and Simatai. These two were relatively close to Beijing, while not being 'over-restored' which takes away the feeling that you are walking on part of history. So off we set firstly to Huang Hua.

Beijing to Huang Hua
Distance - 80km
Average - 17.1km/h

Riding out of Beijing was pretty confusing, as it was a bit of a gamble getting on the right road. But after a few different attempts we found the road we were looking for. The outskirts of Beijing were pretty ugly - the usual outer city scrawl.

But then once we were well and truely out of Beijing things turned beautiful. The sky started to turn from the grey colour we had seen for the last week, into a gorgeous blue (it looks gorgeous when you havent seen the sky the whole time in Beijing due to the pollution). The road we were on was also nice and quite, which weaved up and down hills with nice rock-faces and trees. Once we were into this part of the ride we realised that it was a great decision to get out of Beijing for a few days.



When we arrived in Huang Hua, we were a little unsure of how to access the wall, as the entrance was no where to be seen. Then we saw a sign that said that this part of the wall was closed for restoration - gutted. But we needed to stay there that night before heading on so we had to start looking for a guesthouse. We didnt see any English signs for 'Hotel' so we started asking locals by pointing to the Chinese characters for Guesthouse in our guidebook. The first people we asked just happened to be in the hotel business (as Im sure most people are that live by the entrance to the Great Wall). Their place was brand spanking new, but really nice. So for 60 Yuan (10nzd) we got a beautiful room with a bed big enough for 3, and lovely staff to look after us.

For dinner with not speaking a word of Chinese on our behalf, or them not knowing any English, we pulled out our guidebook and pointed at the list of common Chinese dishes. They went through and pointed at the ones they could cook for us, and then we picked which ones. It was a pretty straight forward process despite the massive language barrier.

When we left in the next morning we were really impressed with our first 'rural' (not that rural as at a tourist attraction) experience, and hope the rest of China is the same.

The most frustrating thing about this time in Huang Hua was that we later learnt that the sign we saw was wrong and that part of the wall was in fact open. We were kicking ourselves as we should have gone to the entrance ourselves to double check this, rather than believe a blue sign by the side of the road. But we went to another part of the wall instead so all was not lost.

Huang Hua to Simatai
Distance - 125km
Average - 17.5km/h

The first part of the road to Simatai, the second part of the wall we wanted to visit, was beautiful with lots of trees and landscape. But then we hit motorway and things turned into horrible trucks and buses. It is amazing how your motivation to ride diminishes once you are on an ugly road like this. Things got a little better towards Simatai but not that much. Then the last 10km was a complete dust road, which meant that once we arrived we were coloured grey.

Simatai was competely different to Huang Hua in that it was very touristy and the locals had that 'lets get your money' attitude. Most of the hotel owners we approached tried to charge us double of what we were paying in Beijing - a complete rip off. We found a place further down the road that was priced ok and so we cleaned off the dust there. Today was our longest ride to date (by 1km) and so we were pretty exhausted on arrival.

Climbing the Wall
We got up bright and early to bet the crowds on the wall. It was about a 2km walk until we were on the actual wall, but once we were there we were the only ones there. We decided to walk east to the 12th watchtower, which was a pretty steep walk - at some parts it felt more like a climb. From the watchtowers you could stop and look at the stunning views.





It was amazing how few tourists there were considering it is a major tourist attraction. All the tourist buses must hoard people to other parts of the wall. But this was great for us and we ended up spending 5 hours walking up and back. A great experience that I really glad we did. And Bex dont worry - we didnt go naked on the wall (not that they could see us in outer space anyway).

Simatai to Beijing
Distance - 138km
Average - 18.7km/h

We were going to break the ride up back to Beijing to stop at a town called Miyun. But once we got there at 11am after 60km, we felt pretty good to go on. So we re-fueled on stewed pork, cabbage and rice and set off for part 2. We found a smaller road this time that was not full of trucks, and so the ride in reverse was much more enjoyable.

But today topped yesterday, which made it officially our longest ride. And we felt it (well I did, Nick was too proud to admit that he was exhausted). But we managed to get into Beijing after 7.5 hours in the saddle. And we were both pretty proud of our accomplishment. Maybe in Europe Nick will try and beat this new target (he has a thing for beating old records).

So back in Beijing for 4 days before we get on the train to Mongolia and Russia. We are both very looking forward to it. Might not hear from us for a while as we will be stuck on a train, but will update things when we find internet access in Russia.

Beijing - A cyclists Utopia

After catching a 24hr train from Hong Kong to Beijing (the ride was too long on our time frame) we have 2 weeks to spend in the area before we board the Trans-Mongolian Train, taking us from Beijing to Ulanbaator then onto Moscow.

We decided to spend a week in the city and a week riding north of Beijing to the Great Wall.
After arriving at the train station we set about putting our bikes together which were still snuggly packed in their bike bags. We managed to get them into our sleeper cabin as luggage, if they were unpacked they would have been put on a freight train 3 days later!! It took us a good hour to get the bikes back in one piece and we had the attention and the help of about 20 curious chinese onlookers who were happy enough to hold a wheel or check out our panniers.

Once we headed off into the Beijing traffic it felt like the world had been turned upside down, there were suddenly bike lanes (one every road) two lanes wide, cars (usually) give way to bikes, there are little bike symbols on traffic lights and there are cyclists everywhere!! This is a city we felt at home. The only problem is our bikes stick out like sore thumbs against the local bikes. There are also bike shops everywhere where you can get a city bike for $50NZ or sidewalk repair shops where a guy will happily fix a flat tyre or change some bearings.

Because Beijing is so big we decided to split our time up at a few different hostels so we would get a feel for different parts of the city and this turned out to be a good approach because the city is HUGE. We spent a few days cycling around and easily clocked up 50km per day. The only bad thing about cycling is the pollution, most days it is ok, but sometimes it gets pretty bad.

We have enjoyed some fantastic food here. There is a huge variety of different types of food and yes, chinese food here is TOTALLY different to NZ chinese food.

In the north they use a lot of wheat so there are lots of flat breads that are often filled with a combination of leek, fennel, pumpkin, tofu or spring onions, these cost around 10cents so are great for breakfast. There are also plenty of the usualy suspects such as steamed buns filled with meat or veges and often you dont know what you are getting which is often part of the fun.

At restaurants you can get dishes from all parts of china and our favourite so far is Kung Pao Tofu, a spicy Sichuan stirfry concoction with tofu, peanuts and spring onions. It is interesting observing the Chinese restaurant etiquette. They often order about 2-3 dishes per person and never finish it, and only rarely do they get it in a doggy bag. We think this is a sign of showing ones wealth, alot like in Malaysia where if you have a big pile of rubbish outside you house is not a bad thing, it is a showing that you are rich enough to have that much rubbish, and look i can afford toilet paper rolls!!!

The costs in Beijing are higher than we have been used to for the last 6 months, we are paying about 10NZ for a bed in a dorm at a hostel (yes our first proper hostel in asia) but food is still really cheap ($1-$5 for a meal).

We have been to a handful of the countless sights in Beijing, such as the Temple of Heaven where the Emperors would go to pray for a good harvest, the Lama Temple, a tibetan buddhist temple and also the forbidden city and Tianamen Square in the heart of Beijing.

Speaking of Tianamen Sqaure, there is an 8 lane bicycle lane running in front of it!! Pretty impressive!!