2007-Dec-25 - 10 4 Good Buddy - over and out

This is my last blog update before I hit the shores of home. I’ve still some more content to add to the web site, like stats from the Big Journey and some more photos etc, and tidy up the site ... but all from the comfort of my own office, with the next Blog probably being about setteling into mainstream life again lol.

I have to admit that I’m really looking forward to sleeping in my on queen sized bed again, watching TV in English to all hours (and yes catch up on Coro!!), not having to put up with other peoples idea of music, being able to go to the fridge and make a sandwich when I feel like, giving up on always being "security" conscience, and be able to simply walk naked through the lounge at will, lol. I'm also looking forward to some "kiwi" treats, like a decent F&C take-away (which will be my first meal back home!!), and being able to drive my car again lol. 

Ive just arrived in to Winnipeg after a marathon 33 hour bus ride from St Marie through endless vistas of snow and ice. Included in the "package" was an enforced 13 hour stay in the bus on the side of the road as we couldnt get through a snow storm which caused quite a bit of havoc in the area. Chicago airport was closed down and a number of people were killed. Not far from where we were, three truck and trailer units went off the road due to the ice which caused more havoc.

On the flip side though, I will also miss the adventure of not knowing what each day will bring and the excitement of just being on the move to new and exotic places and the experiences they bring. And in some ways will also miss living out of a backpack, the frequent nights of broken sleep, the upset stomachs and trots, the unwashed and smelly clothes, and the plain bone-weariness of some of the travel... (yeah right!!) cos thats all part of it and make traveling waht it is. Who really wants a safe boring holiday with nothing to write in the blog eh, lol.

Ive decided to forgo stopping in any more Canadian towns on the way (they all look a like - white) and am heading direct to Vancouver tomorrow at midnight. This will be a 38 hour stint and I am desperatley seeking a book as Ive read everything and nothing is open here cos of it being Christmas eve. Hmmmm I wonder if Santa will find me tomorrow with one??

So the Big Journey is nearing its end. As always a trip like this teaches you a thing or two about yourself and others. In some ways it has allowed me to get away from "real life" and reflect on what has gone by and what life has left to offer. You could even compare it to abit of a "religious retreat" really lol. I’ve clarified a few things for myself and now have some idea of what I want to do for the next 50 years!! As for what I have learnt about others, well, the world has its fair share of rogues and mischief makers, but fortunately the few negative episodes experienced are eclipsed by the kind and considerate individuals that I have met along the way. In truth though, after nearly 6 months of travel there have been few negative experiences and plenty of rich, positive ones. And its not only the many exquisit places and wonders of the world that are worthy of travelling to, but the meeting of the people’s and the experiencing of their cultures too. In the end you find at the heart of it, most are not very different to yourself, with similar ideas and dreams... to live in peace, to enjoy their kids, and to simply live and embrace life

On one of those long bus trips I opened up the notebook and set out a list of future goals to be tackled on my return. There are building projects to complete, business ideas to put in practice, family to hug and hold, new things I need and want to learn, future trips to plan and, of course, the finding of away to support all this while retired lol. You cant stand around and let yourself become rooted to the ground in your third age now can you ... you just have to plan it in abit more detail

There is always the question of what would I do differently too. I suppose the biggest change would be to plan a "holiday" within the trip, to have a good amount of time to just wind down and "live" in one place for an extended time. As I’ve mentioned before, travelling is not holidaying and as you need regular breaks from work, you also need to plan for these in your travels... somewhere you can just get away from it all and be yourself for a few weeks, find a local, get to know the neighbours, that type of thing. I reckon 3mths of constant travel at a time is enough.

Secondly I would put less reliance on others to help me "take care of business" on the home front while away. Get rid of all the responsibilities if you really intend to enjoy the time away. Dealing with hassels at home is difficult enough when you're there but trying to sort certain things out when on the other side of the world ... The good news however is that the problems experinced have actually given me a germ of an idea for a new business lol.

The obvious question though is would I do it all again ... and naturally the answer is OF COURSE!! and probably not all that far in the future once I get my breath back :) And a big thankyou to Ross who I shared a fair whack of the trip with (as well as a few barrels of beer). It was great mate!! Happy Christmas all.

So to end as I began in the first BLog ... what is the meaning of LIFE? Its simply ... Live It For Experience

2007-Dec-23 - Now freezing in Canada :)

The bits of Canada Ive seen to date have been very white!! Toronto had its biggest snow for several years 3 days before I arrived and as I jumped off the plane the temp was down to -2 (although they have this cute temp guide as well which says "but feels like" - and that said -12!). Spent a day wandering around the place (in shorts of course!! with a few quizzical gazes) and then yesterday headed down to Niagra Falls for the day and was suitably impressed. The thing that really impressed me though was the number of spinnoffs they have going to seperate the tourist from their $$s lol  - they can squeeze $100s getting you to look at the Falls from all angles.

After getting back to Toroto I had to catch the 1am Greyhound to my next stop Sault Ste Maria, a good 18hours away. There are no reservations for these and its "first in first served". The guy at the ticket desk suggested I line up at the stop at least 90min before it leaves at was going to be a "busy night". He wasnt joking!! Even that early I was still number 30 in line (bus holds 55) and by the time we loaded on there were 200 inline!!  Apparently they put extra buses on but no gaureentees as to the time they leave. I hadn't really taken into account the Xmas rush when I planned all this.

They guy I was sitting next too was quite interesting: he had jsut been deported from the USA that morning (he was Canadian) after having spent 4 mths in detention, locked up 23 hours a day - his crime - he hadnt registered to work in the states, even though he'd lived there for three years, marrried to an American and  had not been told he had to register on a yearly basis. He said that they had a right to hold him for up to 5 YEARS without a trial because of the terrorisim act... and Russia is painted as the police state!!

Ive one night here and then get the Greyhound on another overnighter to Winnipeg. Money is just working out right - Ive $300 left on my Visa before Im broke lol.

2007-Dec-20 - Welcome to Fortress America

In Frankfurt the ticket said to allow 90 min for security etc but it took just on 2 hrs!! If it had been a renactment of Rigar I would have been well out of luck. Before you can get a boarding pass for American Airlines you are subjected to a "stern" scrutiny with a pre-booking check. Here I was quizzed about the usual things like, did you pack your bags, are you carrying anything for someone else etc; then a level up, with questions such as how did you get to the airport, can you prove that, did you let anyone carry your bags in the airport and so on; till the next level of questions - where have you been in the last six months, CAN YOU PROVE THAT, why did you visit those PARTICULAR country's, how can you afford to do that, why do you not have an itinery (ahhh I booked it my self - "Really??") - and this is only the precheck!! Before I was allowed to the ticket desk I had to show some proof of BEING in those other country's. Jokingly I said I have a "scrapbook" - that tomb of papers Ive been carting around and now weighing in at 5kgs lol - and she said "Yes that would be appropriate!". So I had to open up my nicely packed backpack and get the thing out, which she took into a back office and showed to her supervisor. What a process. Im not sure what would have happened if I had no proof of where Id been. And this is the process the 300 odd people boarding go thru.

Getting the ticket was fine and then it was off to the "security" check and x-rays. This, and the friendliness of it, has varied from airport to airport with the time taken from a couple of minutes through to nearly a quarter of an hour - some make you remove your boots and belt, others dont, some have picked up my asthma puffer with the metal detector, some havent, most want the laptop screened seperatley but some havent even appeared to notice it, some subject you to a patting down while others just get you to walk through the metal detector, however ALL have picked up my souviner solid brass buddah (meaning that I have to empty my day pack out each time and repack it!) BUT NONE have picked up the metal "flash drives" I keep around my neck. Hmmm is this a concern or not lol.

Arrival in most of the European ports was generally a quick glance at you and the passport and then sometimes a stamp, although in Portugal and returning to Germany, there were no boarder controls at all. Fortress USA is different however. Reasonably quick admittedly but they now have my digital photo and index finger prints on file! All for a 2 hour stop over. Here though, in the Chicago Airport, was the most meticulous security check to catch the local flight to Toronto!! Once again they had a pre-check before the security check, with a wait of 20 min, although there were few questions this time. The guy in front of me ( an American teenager) had an expired ID card and was therefore subjected to an "extensive" security check which appeared to be everything but an internal search. Im sure he didnt look all that different from the pic on his "old" student card ending last month.

2007-Dec-17 - Freezing in Frankfurt

Arrived in Franfurt to a blast of winter weather which was just right to freeze the "balls of a brass monkey" :) By the way, the old saying isn't a reference to male monkeys but to the fact that cannonballs used to fall off the "brass monkey", a brass triangle plate which they were stacked on in a pyrimid shape beside the cannons, because the cannonballs were iron and did not stay on the brass when it shrank in extreme cold!! However I digress ... to Frankfurt ... in an ironic way it is a great place to finish the trip as its like a summary of the whole trip in some ways. I wandered out this evening for a bite to eat and found within the city centre, resturant after restaurant from many of the places Ive stayed - Donna Kebabs from Turkey, pastries from Italy, rice and noodles from China, an Irish Pub with F&C, an Asian buffet, Spanish Paiella and ... yes you guessed it ... a Mongolian Marquee!! I actually settled for an Indian meal, which was delicious, but mainly because the Irish Pub was closed for their Christmas party. Dinner there tomorrow night. The people are all here too, Turks, Asian, Italian, East Europeans, English, Indians ... a..n..d.. even a few German accents lol, but not much "old cultural stuff".

The immediate problem though is that most of the shops DONT take Visa!!! Arrrrgh. Ive only 8 Euros left and need that for the train to the airport and dont want to draw out any more from an ATM cos the bank fees will cost more than what I need for my last day. Its either starve or go abit up market and use the card. Delima, delima lol.

Portugal was the perfect place to while away 6 days of downtime before the trans Canadian "dash" and is another of those places deserving further exploration. The old city is a maze of intrigueing, winding streets built on an incredable steep hillside over looking the river. There is a great mix of old cultural icons and modern city convience - rail, tram and bus transport, which is balanced extremly well. All very picture postcard too!!. The hostel itself was laidback and friendly with free wifi, although the most God awful music was played most of the time. The food is inexpensive and from the look of the shops most stuff here is really cheap too - leather shoes and boots from $NZ10. Naturally we have sampled some of the local refreshments on offer too, and have also found these to be half the price we had paid elsewhere in Europe (in the supermarket you can buy good wine for as little as $1.80!!!! a bottle).

I have even changed my mind on the value of Port as a drink. Surprisingly the locals don't drink much of the stuff - the majority gets exported to England and it was actually an English invention. This change came about after Ross and I decided to make a visit to one of the many Port tasting places where they certainly didnt stint in the size of the sample, and you didnt have to "spit" it out either ;) Having finished my 3, Ross's 2 (Ross finds Port too sweet and "forced" one down) and a few extra free samples, I decided that Port isn't all that bad ;) Needless to say, after a morning session such as this, we completed the day with a beer lunch and then a beer dinner - with a bit of food on the side - lol. The barman, cum cook, at our "local" made us his "special", which he told us on another night quite proudly "is a special of Porto - not Portugal" and consisted of 3 layers of bread containing cheese, sausage and steak, topped by a fried egg with the whole thing beng drapped with 5 slices of cheese. Next it was surrounded by chips and the whole lot drenched in a mix of tomato sause and beer, heated up with the steam from the coffee machine!! It went down a treat!!! Luckily our "local" was'nt too far from home but the bloody hill appeared a LOT steeper this time around!!

2007-Dec-11 - Sipping Port in Porto

Well not really Port as such, not my thing, but it is wet, alcholic and starts with B which is close enough :). Ross and I teamed up again in Barcelona after having both completed our "pilgramages", and are now in Porto, Portugal. Have decided to settle at the one hostel here for the rest of the week before our respective next stages. In fact Ive spent the whole day online planning the last leg of my trip - the Trans Canada bit. Ive 12 days there and have found the cheapest way to get across Canada is with a 7 day Greyhound bus pass, but it will mean 5 of those nights sleeping on board the bus!! Mind you Ive had plenty of practice of that in the last few months lol, and it will be the last dash to the finish line with a nice holiday at the end. Looking forward to catching up with Aruns mum and her Indian cooking when I get to Vancouver!!

Spain was a treat, although only stayed in two places, Barcelona and Santiago de Composite. They were a nice contrast to each other but not how I had imagined "Spanish Life" to be. Barcelona was a vibrant and bustling city, not too pricey, with lots to see and do and extremely clean. Santiago on the otherhand is a religious meca where pilgrams turn up to see St James's tomb and walk the walk. Another one of those old places with cobblestones and narrow winding streets together with a decidely ornate cathedral. However most of the restaurants charge for "local seafood" meals like a wounded bull (prawns @ $200 a kilo!!), but we did find a couple of excellent Turkish kabab shops and a roast beef meal at reasonable rates :). They msut be rather well heeled pilgrams here!! The surprise of the day were the "electric" candels that you could light at the cathedral by putting a coin in the slot to set one going for however long. Even a choice of sizes with differing prices  depending on the saint you were leaving your prayer with lol,. Ross was even enticed by the monk collecting "donations" to "hug" the icon of St James, which is the last act of the pilgramage - although I must have looked like I didnt need saving as it was never mentioned to me lol. Apparently the further south you go the more Spanish it gets - so it looks like another place that deserves a return visit.

I got a bit of a serve from the bus driver on the way from Barcelona to Santiago :) It was another overnighter and I decided to have a kip down the back on the full backseat. Apparently we had a stop over for a meal break (I was asleep) and he didnt spot me, so when he came to count the number of passengers who had gotten back on the bus we were one short - me!! He wasnt too happy about the mucking around and delay when someone finally pointed me out and went on about my feet being on the seat lol ... or I think thats what he meant by shouting "footah" at me several times and pointing to his foot :)

Portugal, or rather Porto, is just so cheap compared to the rest of Europe. Food is good, great coffee and cakes, friendly hostel and the sun is shining. What more could you want to finish off the Big Journey in Europe!!

Thoughts have definetly been turning homeward in the last few days, which is a shame in a way as there is still lots to see and experience here. But it will be good to get home again and stay in the same bed for an extended time rather than only a night or two. Lets hope the great summer weather holds out for a bit longer :)

2007-Nov-29 - Goodbye to Malta - I hope

Winter definetly has its advantages when traveling this end of the world with no crowds and cheaper rooms, but there are also the odd disadvantage too. Having had brilliant weather the last 10 days here, what of course happens the day I go to leave?? Yep another bloody storm! I rose bright and early at 4am to walk up and down the hills of Vallenta for 90min (no transport at this time of the morning) to arrive at the ferry terminal by 6am for check in. Just made it before a few squally clouds started to appear. The rain held off and we set off OK, leaving on time but once we left the Grand Harbour the swell really kicked in and the winds started to froth the waves up just nicely thankyou. The catamaran fast ferry used is top class and is only a year old (built in Australia) but cannot sail in seas over 2.5m. Result: 30 min into the trip the ferry had to return to base. Wwe were bobbing up and down like a cork and there were also a few green tinged passangers on board, although nothing like some of the Cook Strait sailings Ive been on.

Anyway we waited past two more deadlines till finally at 4pm they called it quits and said that we would try again tomorrow. The staff were pretty good about it - there were only two of us who waited it out on board - and they filled us up with free coffee and put on DVD movies for us to watch. So it was a wet trek to another place to stay (closer to the ferry terminal) but resembling a drowned rat by the tine I arrived looking like - and they were the last of my "clean" clothes. I knew I should have done the washing the other day as I now have to "recyle" the stuff that needs to be washed cos thats the only dry stuff Ive left. At the moment its bucketing down outside with peals of thunder and forked lightening - which really look quite neat with all this happening over the harbour and fortified city that this hotel overlooks :).

Apart from this little set back (I have another 5 days before I fly out from Sicily so things arent too "worrying" yet) Ive only had a few moments of excitment of late. The capital city here is made up of about 5 smaller fortress city's that have all over time merged into one big place, and the place is a maze of narrow streets, deadends, impenertrable castel walls and streets at varying levels. Trying to find your way around can be a nightmare - even with a map - as I found out the othe day. I thought Id better do a test run on the walking trip to the ferry from where I was staying but took a wrong turn several times before I ended up walking for about 4 hours in varying sized circles. Sign posts are of little help here too as they generally point out places miles away with no indication of how far away they actually are, and are often contridictory. Like at the T intersection with a sign to the airport - pointing both ways!! To top it off I was cornered by a pack of bloody dogs in one scraggy area of town just on sunset. No damage done other than a near heart attack and a nervous tick under one eye!! BUT I did remember the advise from Mongolia about using a flashlight to scare off roaming wolves .. and they were right .. it doesn't work!! A big stick and a charge at them with a lot of bravado and whooping did help though, and as these were more foxy sized than wolf sized they weren't too sure what to do and lite out of there nearly as fast as I did - thank goodness :).

2007-Nov-25 - The Malta Experience

The hostel itself is very nice. It consists of 6 floors, with the top floor being a common room, laundry, internet cafe and large rooftop area where you can soak up the sun and over look the Mediterianne. The first floor is the cafeteria and reception, while the other floors have 4 seperate "apartments", each consisiting of a small common dining area, kitchen and 4 dorm rooms (each with 6 bunk beds). The majority of the people living here are students and range from Asian to South American. Apparently Malta has a high proportion of overseas english language students here because it is cheap (as low as $NZ8 a night at this hostel, long term), the weather is great most of the year round and everyone speaks english, which is good if your learning it!

So to my fellow apartment dwellers on the male floor. There is an Aussie expat Englishman, Bob, around the mid 60's, who talks continuously and who is looking to buy an apartment here in Malta to retire too as he thinks moving into a retriement home in Melbourne is too expensive. He was living on a yacht somewhere in Oz but ran into some rocks and it sunk, leaving the insurance money to retire on. From what Ive seen he doesnt really seem to have much of a clue on exactly what he is doing or of the in's and outs' of buying a property here. As a foreigner you cannot buy a second hand place in Malta, only new, but at the cheaper end of this market you have to "fit it out" yourself - ie add kitchen furniture, doors, bath etc. He said that he had built a bed once and should be able to handel it!! When I asked if he had tools he said he hadnt really thought about that ... hmmmmm.

Joe is a young friendly outgoing Maltize/Australian guy (26) who has come back to "find his roots" and join up with his dad here in business. Apparently that lasted 3 weeks though as he got sick and tired of his father always talking about the cost of living and the bills he had, which cramped his partying style, so moved out and cant wait to go back to Townsville.(Sounds like a certain son of mine lol). He has this heavily accented english and lots of advice on Malta to give and reckons that all Maltese will try and rip you off if they can get away with it (which I tend to agree with!!). Ive already found that the bus drivers are reluctant to hand back any change if you give them too much and have twice found out, to late, that I had been over charged on fares when reading the ticket price later.

Then there is Ferdan the Brazilian bongo drummer, slim build, probably in his early 40's with shoulder length grey hair tied in a ponytail, who has been here a month or so and insists on playing the bloody drums on odd occasions in the common room ... not my idea of relaxing background music however. Another guest is Kurt who has also been here for over a month and has no immediate plans to do anything different. A rather strange guy with an upper class twang of sorts, but not English, hair like Crusty the clown on The Simpsons, and with some rather bizarre ideas on life and how to pick up women. He tends to sleep most of the day and goes out all night. And these are the normal ones who live here lol.

There is also an Arab student who can't cook and burns everything, setting the smoke detectors off regularly. Another Aussie guy, who is the spitting image of the old time spaced out hippies with shaggy hair, big glasses, "groovy" shirts and flairs. He comes back in the small hours, turns the lights on and is totally inconsiderate of those trying to sleep. Problem is he is also up and away again early so there is no chance of making lots of noise to be inconsiderate to him as well!! And lastly a bald headed east european guy with a cobra tattooed on the back of his skull that disappears down his back and who Ive never heard mutter a word. Real mafia type!!

So those are my companions for the next little while :). Malta is a fasinating place to visit - stock full of history, places to explore and picturesque scenery - but I wouldn't want to live here. This place is swamped with tourists most of the year around, being the main source of income for the islands, and even now in the "winter" season going out side is like walking on to the set of "Waiting for God" with streams of ROF's (Right Old Farts) walking the promenade and blocking the cafe doorways. What it gets like in the summer season when the population trebles I hate to think. The food here is nothing to write home about either - the pasteries are not a patch on Italy or Turkey - and although accomadation is less expensive than Europe, living here is not really all that cheap, and in the summer it doubles. But the history and the sun are well worth the effort to be here.

To date Ive spent a couple of days exploring the old fortress towns and ruins that litter this country, another couple of days sunbathing under blue skies and a warm sea breeze, and the rest of the time just lazing about, reading and experiencing some cafe culture. A nice holiday in fact.

2007-Nov-20 - A Blur of Travel

The trip from Turkey to Pozzala was abit of a blur although everything seemed to piece together quite nicely. Bloody exhausting though!! The ferry left Cesme at 5:30pm after a beautiful sunny day, arrived at Chios (a Greek Island) at 6:30, and then it was a wait until 10:30pm for a ferry to the Greek mainland. Slept in a passageway for the night as all the seats had been taken (I was traveling "deck cargo" class) lol. After a not too bad a sleep - finally getting to use the sleeping bag! and the Med was like glass - we arrived at 5:30am in Athens. My very short stay here consisted of port views and a long distant view of downtown Athens and the temple thing on top of the hill from the train but left few endearing memories other than that of a dirty, dusty, drab looking place. Then it was on to Petra (the Greek eastern port) via two connecting trains, about 5 hrs away, and another ferry contection to Brindise, Italy, later that night. This port was a rather seedy affair and I was glad I wasn't waiting around to long as it didn't look the safest place to spend time after dark. There were all these young arab guys hanging around the streets boardering the port, and everynow and again some of them would try and make a dash over the fence to get into the ferry area. The port police would then rush them (if they saw them) and then these guys would be vaulting back over the fence, back to the street. This little game went on for the couple of hours while I was waiting to board. Talking to a security guard later he explained that they were trying to stow away on trucks in the port so as to get to Italy. Then they head up to Germany and England to "sell their organs" on the blackmarket - or so he reckoned anyway! Why they dont just build higher fences and save all the hassel Im not sure.

Once on the ferry it was another night in the passage, but with a considerably rougher trip this time, and we arrived on the "heel of Italy" just as the sun was rising. Over the next 30 odd hours it was another 3 train connections, two more seedy waiting rooms, an over nighter in a train seat and a further ferry crossing, before I finally arrived at Palermo, Sicily. A total of 3000 kms covered in just under 100 hrs of constant travel - God that shower was good at the hotel. Along the way, I did met up with this delightful young kiwi lady though whose company I quite enjoyed for the next little while. She spoke Italian too which saved a bit of time in finding things and we shared a lot of similar ideas on things in general. Its meeting people off the cuff like this that are the true gems of travel :).

If Sicily is anything to go by, Italy is an expensive but very enjoyable place to stay. The food here (especially the pasteries) are just out of this world and the "culinery culture" is something worth emulating!! although the lack of Internet access is a pain. I have also discovered that there are 3 prices for coffee and eats at the cafe's - expensive to sit outside at a sidewalk table, dear to sit in the cafe itself but cheaper to stand at the bar and drink and eat standing up like the locals do!! However "cheaper" is in relation to the euro prices and I try to avoid even thinking about what Im spending in NZ dollars!! Accomadation is EXPENSIVE but thank goodness it is generally winter rates in most places but even this is still costing $NZ40 a night for a dorm room.

From Palermo it was off to Agrigento to see the Valley of Temples (Greek), and a great place to just and sit and contemplate that Homer may have sat at the same place composing his "Iliad of Troy" long ago. I had thought to have a few days at the small vilage of San Leone to unwind abit but unfortunately the beaches here are all rocks, and the sun and sand respite I was looking for didnt eventuate. So it was off the next day to Catania to try for a ferry to Malta but then found the only sailing for the week was full. Another half day of "riding the rails" got me here (Pozzalao) and with fingers crossed I hope to be on my way again tomorrow for 10 days in the sun (or bar!!) doing nothing in Malta :).

2007-Nov-11 - Plans of Mice and Men

2007-Nov-10 - To Cannukkale or not to Cannukkale?

So whats Turkey been like. It has certainly been a great place to just chill out - especially in the "chilly" weather at this time of the year lol. Mind you there were still a few reality checks when in Istanbul too. Bomb sniffing dogs at the tram stations, bag checks and "detector" wands scanning you on the Metro, a military presence with soliders carrying BIG guns and a tank convoy we passed just on the outskirts of this place. AND no I did not have time to get a picture this time either lol. I did however get a gun pointed at me today by a sentry when inadvertently taking photos of a "military" instalation that looked just like a Turkish Bathhouse - or to my eye it did. I thought it prudent to complie and put the camera away ;)

While here in Cannukkale there has been everything from icy wind and rain to brilliant blue sky and sunshine. My wearing of shorts has illicited much comment from locals and tourists a like (as it has from Irkutsh to London admittedly) and I ve been asked just how close exactly is NZ to Antartica!! Ross and I joked a while back about how every time we went to a Museum or Art Gallery we always seemed to be there when a camera crew were filming us in the background - well Ive managed to go one better this time, and at the local muesum I had my photo taken for the local paper - wearing those infamouse shorts!!

One of the BEST things in Turkey, fullstop, is the Baklava and Kadaif sweet cakes. These are just devine and I have found myself being tempted daily to sample them with a cup of coffee on the side. Even twice a day here in Cannukkale as food here is half the price it was in Istanbul!! The pastry's are made of flour and water, dribbled on to a turning hot plate so that they become pliable "threads". These are then formed in to a variety of cakes either layered or in "nests" and filled with nuts and other flavoursome things. Then to finish they are either painted with butter and baked or drenched in sugar and/or honey. Mouth watering.

Ive also taken two "tours" whilst here (which because of cost I rarely do) and both certainly added to the experince. The first was to Gallipoli, and if attempted on your own, is not all that practical as the area covered is over 40km in length with no public transport. The Gallipoli experience was more informative than emotional for myself, but to relate the numerous gravestones and memorials to real people, and hear the Turkish view of the whole debacle did bring a touch of sadness to the whole event. There are very few NZ graves there however, just memorials, as the majority of the bodies were never recovered to bury. The one place I did find that had some what of an emotional impact, was, surprisingly, one of the Turkish graveyards. Here you look over ANZAC cove, and the only sound to break the silence is the slowly flapping flag with the waves lapping on the beach. It is here (on the memorial) that you read about Attaturks famouse command when he sent his first regiment in to stem the ANZAC's initial push. "I am not asking you to attack; I am asking you to die; to hold this position to the last man." and they did. All 645 of the soliders, including their commander were killed. The sad part is that the Turks were only issued with 5 rounds each because of lack of amunition (fix baynets after that) and the area that they were defending could only hold 10 men a breast at one time, so as each group of 10 were killed another group of 10 took their place knowing what the result would be.There is not a grave marker with an age over 28. Saddly the Australians were to repeat the same exercise at the "Neck" massacre later on when they were ordered in over 4 waves (the movie Gallipoli) even when it was obvious after the first wave was mown down that it was pointless. When you see the battlefield (only the size of a tennis court!!) you really appreciate the sencelessness of it all.

The second tour was to Troy (which I didnt even realise was here until reading the Guide book) and if not for the guides explanations, would only appear to be several layers of stone walls and another ruin!! The guide was excellent, he has written several books on the area and is recommended by the Lonely Planet as well, and really made history come alive. Apparently the battle was NOT over Helen but was another conflict undertaken to wrest control of the entrance to the Dardenalles, which is what the Gallipoli campaign was about as well. How histroy tends to repeat itself.

2007-Nov-7 - Thats Turkey for you!

After four days in Istanbul I am now in the process of moving on to Canakkale, the cloest town to the Gallipoli campaign area. Its about a six hour trip and I intend to stay there for a couple of days before heading to Cemes on the coast where one can begin to island hop through the Greek Islands to the mainland or beyond.

Istanbul as a city is not all that impressive to view - dunn coloured, dirty and with a scattering of historical buildings interspersed between the modern. As a rule it is not all that cheap either but once the sun goes down and you can view the floodlite mosques, smell the cooking aromas, and listen to the constant banter from the various vendors and doormen when wandering the ancient city streets ... it becomes a whole new world. To date I have found the Turksih people to be nothing but friendly, outgoing and approacable, but I would also keep a close eye on my watch when they shake hands! Scamming money from tourists seems to be a bit of a game played with a smile and a "nothing personal" air about it ... you have money and we'll see if I can get it ... and if they get caught out there are profuss apologies and smiles all around. The local bar I have been drinking at is a good example. All drinks and food are on tick, and you had better remember exactly what you have spent. I have seen a number of people question the short change given or the number of pints charged for ... followed by apologies by the barman for his poor math!!

I was even sucker punched myself the other night by this lovely old Turkish guy. Mind you in the end, the advice and experience he gave me probably compensated for having to pay his restuarant bill!! I had decided to take an evening out to photograph the two brilliantly lite mosques, the Blue Mosque and the Aya Sophia, which are prime attractions in Istanbol and only 5 mins walk from where I am staying. While out this old Turksih guy introduced himself and told me he had been to NZ some years ago (most turks you speak to appear to have at least one friend there, as they ingratiate themselves, just before they try to sell you something!!) and he invited me to view and photograph the Istanbul skyline "that generally only well heeled tourists" can gain access to. He "knew" people you see. I was abit iffy about this at first, as you never really know where you might end up, but he seemed friendly enough and no, I would not be eating any potentially drug laced cookies offered when we arrived in some dark alley!!

He took me on a bit of a guided tour to some monuments and buildings nearby, explaining about them as we went. We then arrived at this posh restaurant and he gave me a hotel pass with the explanation of showing this to anyone who might enquire. Then it was up to the top floor "Skyline Restaurant" in the elevator. Here he introduced me to the Maitra'd who was full of smiles and took me out to the balcony to view the most fantastic city skyline you could hope to see. It was magnificant, both sides of the Bosphurous illuminated from the bridges to the sea, and all the mosques in their lighted up glory, without one tree or lampost obscuring the view for a change. Then it was off for a view of the famouse underground cisterns, where again he knew someone and I had a private tour (although I was told we had to be quick because "someone" might arrive back!!). All the time he had been chattering on about his business interests, his family in Finland where he usually lives, his life as a child in Istanbul and his job as a Maratime Engineeer -- so natural the next thing was to go and have coffee together "at a very nice cafe I know" where he would point out other places to see (on the map he had given me). In whole we spent an enjoyable 4hrs together. Aaah ha ... then comes the sting. When the bill, which appeared to be rather inflated, arrived, I realized for the first time that I had eaten WITHOUT checking the prices, which I rarely do. He then aplogised profusly because he didn't have his wallet on him and could I please pay the bill (+ tip and a packet of cigarettes!!) and we would split it tomorrow. Well what could one say. Needless to say when I went to meet him the next day at his shop, he was "out". Still it was an interesting night, and his sight seeing tips along with the "tour" were in the end probably worth the extra twentyfive bucks I ended up forking out :)

2007-Nov-3 - London Town

2007-Oct-28 - A mix of irreverent TV shows and religion

2007-Oct-23 - Blobbing Out in Belgium

Finally a week with no disasters, lost passports or lost sleep - - - YET!

HOWEVER ... there is a rumour that the trains in Germany may be on strike this week and I need to catch the train to Dusseldorf Airport early on Tuesday to fly out to Southampton. Lets hope they would prefer a long weekend with the Friday off rather than the Tuesday when I need to use the train system ;)

Been a quite one since I waved Ross off at the Pizza place in Riga airport. I have been at my brothers place in Belguim the last 5 days and its been good to just kick back and dooooo ..... nothing! without feeling guilty about not seeing the local tourist sights - basically as there are none. Montzen is a small village in Belguim 30 min from the German border and 10 min from the Dutch. There is a church (every village has one of these), one shop and one "drinking" house which apparently only alcholics drink at. Most people in Belgium drink at home and after going out to another local village for rabbit and beer I can see why - $4 for a glass of "fine" beer. No such thing as pints or jugs here! The houses here in the village are generally modern Belgium places and the people commute to the city to work.

I have also wandered around the Village abit and hiked a while on a country walk down these narrow farm lanes seen on the likes of Emerdale Farm (oh the smell of the cows brought back so many memories of home); visited the highlight of Aachen, which is about 30mins on the German side of the border - their 1200 year old cathedral; participated in some German culture - Coffee and Cake at 4pm, in an ancient bakery that Dickins would have been at home in; and visited an American war cementry on the hill over looking some very green hills like home.

It has been a great chance to have a breather, update all my pics and website, and try to downsize the pack for future flights. I have also been able to spend litterly hours on the net trying to secure air tickets home and have managed a confirmed flight from Vancouver to Melbourne on the 30the December - only problem is that it means I will miss out on the New Years drinkies as we skip the whole of the 31st crossing over the International Date Line :(.

2007-Oct-19 - Airport Antics (Just like an the EasyJet Reality Show!)

2007-Oct-16 - The Luck of the Irish and The Tale of Two Passports

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us" ... and so it goes in Charles Dickens Tale of Two Cities and sums up the last 24hrs for myself. Ive had some depressing news from home but have also had some Irish luck on this side of the world too.

To begin ... after the English/France game the other night, and a wee bit of a jaded day to follow, it was abit of a toss up about whether we really felt like going out again for the Argie/Springbok clash basically the same day. But out we went anyway - just for a few. We get to the pub, the scene of the crime the night before, and decided to head for the same spot in the bar rather another area of which there were plenty to chose from. This pub has quite a number of small drinking areas tucked away on two floors and each has a widescreen TV playing different sports channels, and tonight the place is just about empty in contrast to the crowds the night before.

So we get up to the bar and the first thing the barman says as Im taking off my jacket, is "are you from New Zealand?". Naturally I thought this guy is pretty quick cause it is written on my jacket - but politely I answered "Yes". The next question had me stumped as he then asked "You wouldnt be Tom Connolly would you?". Now Id only been in this bar once before, admittedly quite under the weather when I left in the wee hours of the morning,  and this was Latvia where I'd only just arrived after all and he wasn't the barman from the previous night!!!

"Hold on a tick Ive something here for you" - My first thought was that Id left with out paying my tab, or that Id done something foolish in the bar before leaving and Id left my name and address or that some how some one I had met had tracked me here to Riga. "Is this yours by any chance?" - and no prizes for what he held up - apart from a wave of disbelief - it was my bloody passport!!! Apparently it must have fallen out of my jacket at some stage of the night and had been found in the bar that morning. To think that we nearly didn't come out at all and had debated even going to this particular bar this evening. Can you just imagine the cafful at the airport on Wednesday when arriving for my flight, passport less and not even realising that it was missing till I got there. Doesn't even bear thinking about. Talk about the luck of the Irish :)

Not everyone has been so lucky though. We have come across a number of sorry tales from travelers that have come to misfortune with a similar theme - an Aussie in Vietnam walking home from the La Lousianna who was hassled by this old hooker, and when she finally buggered off he found she had also slipped all the notes out of his wallet - the American in Talinn who woke up freezing one morning after drinking vodka all night to find himself only in his underwear, asleep on a mattress in a building site berefit of passport and money - another American who had slightly to much to drink on the flight over, left his visa card in the ATM and had been waiting 10 days for his bank to sort it out and send him some money - the German who enjoyed the bars in Riga so much he forgot what day he was supposed to go to Russia and had to wait another two weeks to reapply for his visa - get the picture lol. I had at least been spared their fate!

But wait ... the story is not complete! As i said at the begining, this is a "Tale of Two Passports" or to be more correct, really a " Passport with Two Tales". Today we went on a walking tour of the city and I VERY carefully put my passport in a zipped up pocket in my pants, not the jacket this time. After a great day out touring around, we get back to the hostel and I think its probably better to put the passport in the locker as we dont need to carry it around all day like in China and Russia. OH NO!!!!!!!!!!

The bloody thing is missing AGAIN and this time I know it is!!!!!!!! It must have fallen out when I was leaning over doing some arty photo shots at the church or at the cafe where we had lunch. DAMN. Then starts the hunt. Back to the places we had been, the ones that were still open but no luck. Finally I decide the best thing is to head for the main police station so I can report it missing and then tomorrow it will be off to the UK embassy to see what I can do about my early morning flight on Wednesday to Dusseldorf.

The police station is not exactly easy to find and eventually we head into  hotel foyer to ask directions - "its right there across the road but it is not the station to report things like this too, you need to go about 4 km in another direction". GREAT - Im not exactly in the frame of mind at the moment to spend endless hours walking around. So we head for the one next door anyways.

The reception is not exactly chummy here - its not that long since the KGB ran the place remember. Both the atmosphere, the surroundings and the welcome from PC Latvia were dismally cold. He asked what I wanted and then pointed to an old fold down chair and said "wait!" while he made a phone call. After a wait of about 20 min, and a parade of handcuffed individuals through the corridor, another PC, standing about 7 foot tall, they are all big intimadating buggers over here, came to interview me. First question " What  do you want"  "To report a lost passport" "Where did you lose it" "Here in Riga" "You mean in the police station" "Ahh no, somewhere in the city" "The old city or new" "The old". "Right wait there".

Another 20 minutes go by and a third officer comes in from outside the station and says "Come with me" and takes us both out to a waiting paddy van. "Get in" - they are all very short on conversation or explanation here as you may have guessed. Ross was quite thrilled about the whole deal as it was his first ride in a Black Maria :) They drove us through town to where I guess we were supposed to have gone to report "things of this nature" first and  then left us in another room for another officer to interview me. This guy spoke excellent english, asked me what had happened and then said "and what do you want me to do about it?". I was getting a wee bit peeved at this stage but said I would appreciate a report that I could take to the embassy in the morning to show that I had lost it. "Wait here"

Finally another policeman came out with a big grin on his face and said - "Are you Tom Connolly from New Zealand" "Ahh Yes" "Do you recognise this" holding up my lost passport. Be jeebers - the luck of the Irish twice over !!!!!! Never let me hear a bad word about Latvia policing again :)

2007-Oct-15 - Rugby in Riga and the Art of Sleep

Well I think its tonight ... my time clock has been all shot to hell of late and in the last 24 hours we have snozed and then rewoken three times. Traveling is not all beer and skittles you know lol, its bloody hard work at times and the two things that contribute to the downside of it are: 1 getting the runs and 2 lack of sleep. Luckily this time its only lack of sleep I have to worry about :)

Since leaving Moscow the sleep pattern has been throughly disrupted. We have only had short stints in each city we have visited and this tends to upset the sleeping routine to start with. We have also decided to take a few overnight excursions too, between Moscow and Riga, to save money on accomadation which again tends to be detremental to sleep.

The trip from Moscow to St Petersburgh was an over night train journey of 9 hours, perched on this dinky top tier bunk, which the mattress kept slipping around on, and barely the same width as myself. You can't sit up on these either as there is not enough room between the bunk and the roof of the carriage. If I turned over I would roll off the bunk, so in the end I fitfully dozed most of the night away while trying hard to hold on each time the train lurched to a halt. Score 2 out of 5 for a good nites sleep.

Arrived at St Petersburg at 8.30am, had a Macdonalds breakfast and then ended up walking around for 3 hours in the rain looking for the hostel that we had alredy paid a deposit on. Never found it !! or the other one that we had noted. We were lucky enough though to come across an Internet cafe where we were able to suss out a YHA with a shared 4 bed dorm and soft mattresses (a real luxury as so far they have all been rather solid or thin). However the giant sized, over stuffed pillow was not helpful and the sheets are next to usless. We have found since China that all the sheets are a foot shorter than the beds - no idea why - and not wide enough to tuck in. The end result is that you end up either being wrapped up in the dam things or they get bunched up under you. The dorm room was also on the main street and the traffice flow was constant. I had one great sleep here, out like a light (probably helped by the drinking of several pints during "that" rugby game and getting in at 2am) but other than that, even with earplugs, the road noise was constant and contributed to some long nights. I even had to resort to a couple of nana naps in the late afternoon. Apart from the one night, Id score this sleeping location as a 3 out of 5.

An 8 hour (day) bus ride to Talinn gave me a bit of respite, and I was able to catch up abit on the sleep I missed by dozing in my seat for a couple of hours on and off. Handy hint here - bring your towel when on the bus as its a good pillow to rest between your head and the bus window, it absorbs the road noise and stops you getting bruises on your head from the rough ride :). This just scored a 3 out of 5 for ease of sleep.

Arriving in Talinn in the dark, with freezing rain and a solid artic wind blowing, we missed our street and wandered for an hour before finding the hostel. We were feeling quite worn out by this stage and were looking forwards to a good nites sleep - huh, to be so lucky. This was a great hostel for partying but not for sleeping. We ended up in a 10 bed dorm (the cheapest going at $25 a night each) but this also happened to be the entry and exit point for the kitchen and bathroom, and was sandwiched between other smaller dorms.This meant a constant stream of people going through it, laughing, chatting, coughing and banging doors all night long. The best plan here was to go to bed late (1 or 2am) and sleep as late as possible (although the windows faced east and the sun didn't sleep in!) as thats what everyone else did. Beds were great (save for the pillow which this time was about the size of a dinner plate) and to save $$, instead of paying extra for sheets, we were able to finally use our sleeping bags which hadn't been out of the pack to date. As can be imagined the sleep rating was not high here at 2 out of 5 and any sleep that was generated, was through exhaustion lol.

The last stage of getting to Riga was another over night bus trip leaving at 12.30am and arriving at 5.30am. This trip was in a quite modern touring bus and along roads that are as good as any motorway back home, and cost less than a night at the hostel. Managed to doze off and on during the trip but did not feel refreashed at all. In the past, when ever we have arrived at hostels and hotels, its always been easy to get a bed and flake out on arrival. Not this time however! A 5 min walk to the hostel from the bus station ... easily found this time ... to be told that book in time would not be until 12pm but if we returned by 10 there might be a bed free. So what to do ... remembering that this is Riga, the so called Bankok of Europe, with bars that are open all nite and even at 6am, still thronged with people, who it must be said, mainly appear to be drunk English larger louts, with a smattering of local mafi and street girls ... YES so what to do in a place like that ... you join in of course :)

So to while away the time we found a local bar, sunk a few pints, was nearly involved in a punch up that developed at the table next door, watched the bouncers remove a sleeping drunk to outside where he proceeded to curl up on the pavement and continue sleeping (its below zero here at night), observe the girls of the night ply their trade and then, to complete the morning, we found a Macdonalds. Arriving back at the hostel at 9:30, dying for some shut eye, we were again told by a different staff member that we would need to come back at 12!! Luckily there was a nice soft sofa in reception. However within 10 minutes the girl had checked out the 20 bed dorm room to find it .... empty!! We could have occupied the beds when we first arrived.

This place is as quite as the proverbial grave ... WHICH IS GREAT ... its more a hotel with a dorm room than a hostel, and the beds are comfy and the pillow is just right :) We slept soundly thru to about 1pm, off out for a bit of an explore, then to another Irish pub to settle in for the rugby. Here the beer was great and the bar meal excellent. And it all appeared to be so very cheap ... mind you it only appeared to be cheap!! Unlike the other country's we have been to where you get a huge wad of notes with face values in the thousands, that in reality add up to a couple of NZ dollars, the numbers here are small (pint of beer is 1.8 Lat) and you tend not to think of items as being expensive, until that is, you convert if back to NZ$ and find the small 10 lat note in your hand is really worth $30!!. I bought an English newspaper without thinking and realized later that it had cost me $6.

I finally got "home" around 2:30am, after having gotten lost for an hour wandering the streets, as they all look the same, but I managed to find McDonalds and from there it was just around the corner. I had had visions of sleeping it off in some quiet back street at one stage but couldn't find one quiet enough ;) Even so, once back in the dorm I had my best sleep for days, waking up to a nice dark, quiet, room at 11am. For tonight at least the rating is 5 out of 5.

2007-Oct-13 - (De) Parting the Red Curtain

On the 9th October we departed Mother Russia and bussed into Estonia. So much for all the horror stories that we had read, and had been told, about menacing border gaurds and corrupt customs officials needing to be bribed to leave the country ... maybe it was because we left from a more remote location than most travellers ... but either way the official barely looked at all the paper work and just waved us through!

2007-Oct-5 - The 1am train to St Petersburg

Sitting at the Moscow train station awaiting our overnight "flight" to Saint Petersburg, so thought Id dash off a quick Blog. Moscow has been great - great people - great sights - great atmosphere. The place, for all the rumours and writings about muggings and police, has shown none of this to us and its been a great introduction to the great Western cities yet to come. We spent a day exploring Red Square, the Kremlin, St Basils Cathedral and walking the streets (in a tourist fashion rather than as working boys!) just soaking up the atmosphere. The archectecture here in the inner city is fantastic, churches everywhere, and little of the "communist monoliths" to be seen. They are more obvious however when you stand on something tall and can see out of the inner city. Still there are heaps of parks and trees and rivers to make this place a lovely city to visit. Prices for daily expenses are something else though. To eat breakfast at a coffee house cost the same as breakfast, lunch, dinner and a few beers thrown in, when in Vietnam. There is a cafe culture here too, and the prices reflect this but also replaces MOST of the outside drinking observed else where.

There have been a few minor aliments on the way too. I have now developed a hacking cough and sinus AGAIN, probably due to the cold winds and constant moving between hot and cold places but can at last use those anitbiotics I bought across the counter in Vietnam. Ross has been attacked by Mosquitovites, deadly little mosquitos that reside in Moscow, and looks as though he has some rabid diease with large red welts all over his face and body. For some reason the mossies leave me alone and prefer to feast on Ross (which suits me fine), which according to Ross is because of his rare blood group - like fine wine!! I put it down to the fact that I love onions and garlic which he wont eat ;)

Plans have gone abit awary of late. We have decided we cant make the date for the next KHS meeting in Athens due to the distance and the time factor, so have decided to spend a couple of weeks in the Baltic States. From there I'll be heading for Belgium and then Turkey while Ross is heading to Germany and England. Fights within Europe are incredible cheap - far cheaper than catching trains - with a flight on a budget airline from Riga (Latvia) to London for only $NZ39 or from London to Instanbul for $NZ60!! One problem however with flying back to NZ at the end of this sojorn ... looking for return flights back - there are none up until at least March so will have to rethink how Im going to get back ... might be time to learn to swim!!

2007-Oct-1 - Taarump.taarump.....taarump.taarump......

Its about 4:30pm, the sun is just setting and outside the train window there is mile upon mile of birch trees in a brilliant array of autumn colours. The sun is not really setting that early, it’s just while we are on the train everything runs to Moscow time– a 3 hour difference to the actual local time in this case. For lunch I finished off a Kiwi Fruit yoghurt, some very stringy cheese with sardines and black bread, all bought at the local Siberian diary! By the way Ross has just mentioned the fact that apparently a lot of people wonder why New Zealanders are nicknamed after this fuzzy green fruit!!

We are now into the second day of the longest stage of our great trans-Mongolian train ride, a 56 hour stint from Tomsk in Siberia, to Moscow, the “beating pulse of new Russia”. This time we have booked passage in “Platskarny” class, which is basically third class and supposedly less comfortable than “Kupe” class. Kupe class is the one with the separate compartments we travelled in from UB. Not so. The bunks are the same (although we had to pay another $3 to get a mattress once on board – although no-one else appeared to!) with the obvious difference being no compartment doors, similar to one of the stages we travelled in China. It’s a lot cheaper, open to all the going on’s about us, which is a lot more interesting, and these are a lot less crowded than the Chinese version because there are only 2 tiers rather than 3 on each side!! We have read and heard about the amount of vodka drinking and partying that takes place on these trains (and came prepared!!) but to date it has been very sedate. Our carriage appears to be full of old ladies!!

Our stay in Tomsk was a lively introduction to the Russian way of life and its links to vodka and beer :), and, as it was Ross’s birthday, it gave us an even better reason to get to grips with the local culture. It’s also famous for its architecture which we also spent several hours touring around. We stayed with Greigory, a contact gained thru the Couchsurfing website, and slept on a mattress on the floor at his mother’s apartment. Great guy. He explained that there are only three or four of what we would recognise as “pubs” in Tomsk (a population of 500,000) but lots of restaurants where people eat and drink. And I can see why – people appear to drink all the time outside in the open, so there is no need to go to the pub! Wherever you go you see groups of young people with beer bottles in their hands, chatting and drinking. As it was explained, you drink beer to socialize and vodka to celebrate. However no one is actually drunk and you only buy one bottle at a time, then sit around outside, in the freezing cold (about 7C without the wind chill taken into account!), to talk, smoke and just enjoy the company. When that bottle is finished you wander off and buy another. When it is very cold, it gets down to -50C, I was told, you often end up chewing your beer as it freezes in the bottle!!

Our first night was spent at one of the city “pubs” where a live band was in action. It was a great night, full of dancing, toasting, handshaking and drinking!! The music was a real mixture. Uriah Heap, Beatles, U2, ELO, Chuck Berry, Eric Clapton, and others, all in excellent English, with a few melancholy Russian songs thrown in for good measure, and all played one after the other in no particular order. The pub was tiny compared to what we are used to at home (lucky to fit the Bickertons crowd into it!!), and was located in a cellar where everyone had to sit at tables. The cellar steps were also responsible for some memories that will last a long time for one of our party when making their way up them – but that’s another story ;) lol. In fact the night was very reminiscent of a night at the Blues Bar in Christchurch, and the Russians we met and drank with had nothing but smiles and good times to share – completely the opposite to the dour faces we had become accustomed to in the shops. There was much toasting to the fact that political differences are simply politics and that the people of the world can still be friends despite their governments. What better reason to drink more vodka!

The next day, after quite a long sleep in it must be admitted, we spent with Greigory who took us on a walking tour of the city (few young people have cars) while drinking more beer with him and his friends. Russians are very proud of their history, if not so much their politicians, and we were taken around a number of the local architectural delights. The touring ended at about 1am and we had a rough 6 hrs sleep before setting off to catch the train ... and yes I did get to see the Tom River which was the whole point of the visit :)