Author Mark Johnston

Being an 80s baby that grew up in the west, my perception of Red Square was always a rather gloomy one: a dark, cloudy sky over dingy brick buildings with maybe a military parade filling the cobblestone...

Stepping off the train in Moscow, we officially ended our journey on the Trans-Mongolian Railway. What started in daydreams — staring at maps and imagining what lay in the vast expanse between Beijing and...

On our journey westward on the Trans-Mongolian (Trans-Siberian) Railway we made quick stops in the towns of Yekaterinburg and Vladimir to break up the long train rides. There we explored some wonderful and...

Too early for a Mark Johnston Gear of the Year Award? Maybe... then again maybe not. This is my first gear review for the bunches of clothes, electronics and random assortment of other junk I stuffed and...

Images from our first stop along the Trans-Mongolian Railway in eastern Russia-- Irkutsk and Lake Baikal. After one night in the city, we spent three nights on Olkhon Island; if it looks like we sat around in...

The Trans-Sib Hostel in Irkutsk was our first hostel stop in Russia. We only stayed for a single night as the very next day we set out for Lake Baikal, but it was a comfortable stay. Close to the train...

Idre's Guesthouse in Ulan Bator  provides a friendly, comfortable base for either a short layover in Mongolia, (which we did on our journey from China to Russia), or a much longer visit, (which we wish we...

There are two ways to get to Olkhon Island on Lake Baikal: quickly or safely. We got there quickly. After one night in Irkutsk we boarded a microbus outside our hostel and, after cramming 15 tourists plus the...

A quick stop over in Mongolia while traveling on the Trans Mongolian Railway allowed us to witness some of the Naadam Festival, see the Genghis Khan Equestrian Statue and Gorkhi-Terelj National Park and eat...

Like in a classic James Bond film, we were riding in style, first class aboard the Trans-Mongolian Railway from Beijing to Ulan Bator. Inside our private sleeper cabin, surrounded by deep red wood paneling and...

I wouldn't recommend the Beijing City Central Youth Hotel to anyone. Well, maybe a young man looking to test himself before shipping off to BUD/S where you might actually be a little more comfortable. How...

We might have spent more time relaxing in the comfortable atmosphere of the Xiangzimen International Youth Hostel in Xi'an than we did out exploring the city and I'm not ashamed to admit it. The day we...

A short but eventful visit to Beijing that included stops at the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and a wonderful hike along the steep steps of the Great Wall of China. Photos taken with a Canon 5D Mark...