RED SQUARE 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...
LESSONS LEARNED ON THE TRANS-MONGOLIAN 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...
3.1 LIKE HOSTEL IN YEKATERINBURG We arrived in Yekaterinburg after a 56 hour long ride from Irkutsk along the Trans-Mongolian. As you could imagine, we needed a nice break from the train. We should have booked a private room for that very...
3.3 SOLNECHNAYA (SUNNY HOSTEL) IN OLKHON ISLAND On Olkhon Island, there are few choices of where to stay in the small town of Khuzhir. We chose Solnechnaya, also known as Sunny Hostel, for its location near the beaches and Shaman Rock at Lake Baikal. We...
IRKUTSK & LAKE BAIKAL PHOTO GALLERY 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...
3.2 TRANS-SIB HOSTEL IN IRKUTSK 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...
3.5 IDRE’S GUESTHOUSE IN ULAANBAATAR 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...
A HOLIDAY WITHIN A HOLIDAY AT OLKHON ISLAND 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...
NAADAM FESTIVAL IN ULAN BATOR Naadam Festival is a countrywide celebration in Mongolia that takes place in several cities and most smaller communities in July each year, with Ulan Bator hosting the biggest gathering of all. When we booked...
MONGOLIA PHOTO GALLERY 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...
WELCOME TO MONGOLIA 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...
1.5 BEIJING CITY CENTRAL YOUTH HOTEL IN CHINA 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...
4.1 XIANGZIMEN INTERNATIONAL YOUTH HOSTEL IN XI’AN 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...
