The ice we drive upon is getting pretty thin...

It was a cold and long winter in Siberia this year.
Travellers at the hostel who came in from Lake Baikal reported that the lake was still frozen, so a few of us decided to go to the lake and on to Olkhon Island. The shortest distance from the mainland to the island is probably a 3 km wide stretch of the lake. When we got there we were told that the ice was getting too thin now to drive across at this part of the lake, so we were handed over to two "ice guides" who showed us the way to walk across. It was a lot of fun walking until the ice cracked and one of us fell through but got pulled up again. We were probably midway by then and suddendly everyone was getting very serious and concentrated about the walk. Another one fell through the ice and had to be pulled out again. This was the moment when I was happy to travel with a trolley that I could just let go and not a backpack that would probably pull me down. Finally all reached the other side and everyone started cracking jokes again, happy to have reached the shore.

We checked in at Nikita's Guesthouse. The Island is a place where you can get away from it all. The whole 72 km long island has a population of 1500, 1200 of which live in Khuzir, its main settlement. No bank, no hospital, no police. Olkhon was connected to electricity just in 2005, no landlines, just recently mobile telephony arrived covering Khuzir and around. No TV, there's an Internet cafe which is closed. A shop (supermarket would be the wrong term here) sells the basics and uses an abacus to do the math. There's a few guesthouses that cater for those who come here (mainly Russians in summer, French and Germans who want to camp on the ice during winter). No toilets with a flush, no hot water, no showers. There's a banya (something very close to a Finnish sauna) where you can mix very cold and very hot water to wash yourself.
Besides our little group there was a Spanish guy from Asturias who is staying for 3 months on the island to work with the local carpenters at Nikita's and a French girl, staying for three months as well, who is writing a novel here. Apparently there is another frenchman on the northern shore of the lake who is writing a book as well. About solitude.

The next day we charted an old Russian minibus and visit some of the smaller islands around. It does feel a bit weird driving on ice, but after a while you get used to it. It is actually a quite bumpy drive, since the ice breaks up and freezes over again and the driver tries to avoid the cracks wherever he can. The island is a centre for Shamanism and Buddhism so we go and visit some of the sites, have lunch on the ice and a tea. Main diet is "omul", a fish that only lives in Baikal. It is served for lunch and dinner everyday and is really tasty. We pass a "fishing village", which is in fact about 20 cars parked in a row who cut holes into the ice and set up tents and all.


On Friday most of us wanted to return to civilisation as we had onward trains booked. It was not easy arranging for transport. Due to the ice there are no ships going yet. The safest option would be a hovercraft, but it appeared to be undergoing repair. Walking back across the way we came is no longer recommended by now since the ice is melting. Also a story goes round that a car last week broke through the ice. I get slightly worried about this, but we are assured, that the ice is still good enough for driving in another part of the lake. Once on the lake our Russian minibus packed with 11 gets rather quiet.
I think about what happens if the ice would break. I sit next to the exit, but would it be possible to open the door?
I have a strange urge to listen to "swim until you can't see land" by Frightened Rabbit that I cannot explain. Maybe if you can swim the water would be resonably warm. How deep is the water here anyhow? The world's deepest lake, that holds an impressive 20% of the worlds whole fresh water resources goes down to 1637m, but I guess as long as it's deeper than the height of the bus it doesn't really matter...
I usually don't get worried, if an airplane gets into turbulences, but this was scary!
When we finally made it to the shore (the drive was probably 20 minutes, but seemed like ages to me) everybody started cheering and hugging the driver. He's my hero.

I am back in Irkutsk and off to Ulan-Ude today, my last stop before leaving Russia!


Crossing lake Baikal by foot

Buddhist Stupa on a small Island next to Olkhon

Cliff next to Olkhon

A fishing village on lake Baikal

Our cars on the ice

Evening entertainment at Nikita's: Nicolai plays his accordeon and sings in Russian, Tajik, Belarussian, English, Spanish... and is clearly enjoying what he is doing. Listen here

The Trans-Siberian Railway

That's right. Railway. Not Express. There is nothing fast about this train. And it is actually not THE Trans-Siberian either. It's a network of trains with different destinations. The most known route is propably the one that takes you from Moscow to Vladivostok in 7 days. Then there is the Trans-Mongolian, that branches off after Ulan-Ude and crosses Mongolia on its way to Beijing. The Trans-Manchurian goes around Mongolia and takes in Harbin on the way to Beijing. Then there is the Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM or Baikal -Amurskaya Magistral) that take a more northern route around lake Baikal to the pacific coast.
All trains no matter where in Russia's eleven timezones are running on Moscow time. It can be a bit mindboggling to figure out when they are actually leaving. The trains are surprisingly punctual (you go and have a look, nederlandse sporwegen!) and they won't wait. All trains are identified by a number, the lower the number the better the quality and the service generally. Odd numbers are headed to Moscow, even numbers take you away from the capital.
Each wagon has its provodnitsa (carriage attendant). They make sure everyone's on board when the train leaves, wake you up when you should get off the train, and provide some hot water for tea (make sure to bring a cup, some tea bags or instant coffee).

Don't worry if you don't speak any Russian, just get on board! The Russians are extremely hospitable, everybody shares food and drinks with you and tries to communicate with you. I was travelling in off season and trains were not too packed, sometimes I was the only foreigner on the train. Once word has spread that a foreigner is on board I was politely asked if I may be spoken to, only to find myself minutes later surrounded by English teachers, professors of the Russian acedemy of science, icehockey players and officers from the Russian army, asking me for my email and whether I was on facebook or linked-in.

On the last leg from Ekaterinburg (also referred to by its old name Sverdlovsk) to Irkutsk I ended up sharing a compartment with two officers from the Russian army. After a while Michail put a bottle of Putinka Vodka on the table and started pouring three glasses. We cheered. We drank. You don't mix vodka with anything. It's against the law. Also, you don't say spasiba (thank you) everytime they pour you a glass. We're here to drink, not to talk. Right. You drink what has been poured in one shot if you're a man, women may take it in sips. You drink some orange juice afterwards. You buy some snacks to have with your drink and share it. Only a fool drinks without eating. Whatever is on the table is for everyone. Good philosophy. At the end of the day you learned some more russian proverbs and the Russians insist that you accept some tacky presents. Then the laptops come out and you look at family pictures for the next hour or so. You return some less tacky presents. You learn the Russian word for friend is drug. The Russian hospitality is a drug. You return some probably less tacky presents and you're asked to sign them for your new drugs.

Other things to do on a train:
Learn Russian with a podcast.Or Mongolian. Or Chinese
Read Anna Karenina
Solve a Sudoku
Make new friends
Play cards or a game of chess
Practice yoga
Share food and drinks with your new friends
Write your journal, blog, postcards
Brush your teeth
Change your watch twice a day to local time as you pass through the timezones

The cheapest way to get tickets is through the website of Russian Railways. It's in cyrillic and you need to open an acoount first. But it's doable even if you don't speak any Russian, there are some sites that tell you how to work through the pages.
Some travel agencies offer tickets, they apply a service charge of course but it's the easiest way to arrange a trip by yourself.
And then there are tour companies that provide full service including visa support and all. Obviously that's the most expensive alternative but also the least hassle.
Tickets go on sale 45 days before departure.

For any trip on any train to anywhere check out this great site by the man in seat 61.

some impressions from the rail:

Buying some smoked fish at the station

The samovar providing hot water, bring a cup with you!

Dining in style at the train restaurant

some railroad nostalgia

A night at the conference hotel

Besides the main tourist centres, like St. Petersburg, Moscow, Lake Baikal etc., the concept of a hostel is still in its infancy in Russia, which leaves the flashpacker with no other choice than checking in at a hotel. Western style hotels are ridiculously expensive (starting at US$ 200, sky's the limit), so I usually go for the cheapest experience. In Yekaterinburg which is also referred to by its old name of Sverdlovsk, I checked in at the "Sverdlovsk Conference Hotel" right opposite the train station. These places remind me of the hotels where I used to stay when I visited the "stans" 8 years ago and are a true communist experience. After checking in at the reception you are not given a key but instead a card with your room number written on it. With this card you can go up to the floor where your room is located and receive a key in exchange from the dezhurnaya (floor lady) which is usually a babushka (grandma) sitting at a reception desk on each floor. You better stay on good terms with her, she supplies hotwater for tea and laundry services. The rooms have hot water for most of the day, are reasonably clean and the TV has some 10 Russian channels and besides MTV the rest of the channels are all Russian, which sometimes feature Hollywood movies that are dubbed in a strange way. The characters start out talking English and one usually catches the first two words or so when the Russian voice takes over and continues until after the person stopped talking. No lip sync here. It can be fun to try and follow such a movie and make up an own storyline.

The taste of the food at the breakfast buffet is a bit bland, but the selection is quite good. What the smörgåsbord lacks in taste it make up for by giving the dishes great names such as "Pan Cakes Tasty", "Sour Cream Village", "Boiled Rice Golden", "Steamed Vegetables Creative" and my favourite "Black Coffee Grande Espresso" (which couldn't have been further from it).


As opposed to the hotels, going out for food is often a pleasant surprise. Besides great Russian cuisine there is a wide selection of international food in all cities available, sushi seems to be the most popular and it's served everywhere at quite decent quality. At the "Cuba Libre" in Kazan, they serve probably the best fajitas and mojitos this side of the Volga and when the tables are removed the whole place transforms into a salsa club where not only Shakira's but also Tatyana's and Anastassia's hips don't lie.
At a scottish pub in Yekaterinburg the waiters are wearing kilts (not sure whether with or without undies) and there are 12 beers on tap.



Don't get your hopes up too high, the maxi-bar in the corner is empty.

Enjoy the luxury of a private bathroom:

The door is equipped with a security lock.

It's a long walk if your room is located at the end of the corridor.

The desk of the "dezhurnaya"

and in case you are missing some great German food, go to Ratskeller:

Flashpackin' the USSR!

Railed in all the way from Minsk, Belorussky
didn't get to bed last night.
All the way the paperbag was on my knees.
Man, I had a dreadful ride.
Flashpackin' the USSR
You don't know how lucky you are, boy...

Once in Moscow I hit red square in need to get some money since my Belarussian roubles (also referred to as "rabbits" by the Russian) are worthless here. I found an ATM at the GUM which is where Moscow's nouveau riche spend their petroroubles. As opposed to Minsk there is no luxury brand that cannot be found.

The first evening I witnessed Swan Lake at the Bolshoi, a ticket I bought on the internet more than a month in advance and that cost me an arm and a leg. It was worth it. The acoustics and the venue are amazing and the ballet is just spectacular. Have a listen here for some impressions and to hear the audience shout their "bravos".

I spent 5 days/4 nights in the capital and could have easily stayed some more weeks to explore the place. And while the Kremlin, Red Square and all are great sites not to be missed I went to see some rather odd attractions as well:

The History of the Gulag Museum presents the dark history of Stalin's days where people were detained for little or no reason. A 17 year old boy was sentenced to 7 years of correctional labour camp for a teenage prank of stealing a bottle of vodka. Camps were all over the country and had no name but only numbers. Many of these camps were placed in the north where Stalin had the mental idea to build a railroad above the arctic circle. Prisoners "lived" on 300 g of bread a day while being forced to work 8 hours on the railtracks. The guards were awarded extra homeleave if they shot an escapee. When someone asked to step out to take a leak from the working area and walked into the woods a guard shot the "escapee" for an extra day at home. After work before returning to the baracks the prisoners were strip searched by the guards to make sure they did not steal anything (there was nothing to be stolen obviously). It was -40 degrees outside. 
The project was never finished. It proved to be impossible to build tracks on the permafrost ground of the north. What was built during winter was washed away when the snow melted and all work was lost. Shortly after Stalin's death the camps were closed, although some continued operation under a different name operated by the KGB.
The Museum has artwork of released prisoners on display as well as items from the camps and a model of the cells. It's as depressing and shocking as it is interesting. English and history student Olga from MoscowMania works part time at the Museum can give you lots of additional information.

A place that was not opened until 2005 to the public is a bunker 18 flights of stairs down from the ground and protected by a fake building of 6 meters of reinforced concrete which is now the cold war museum. After both sides of the iron curtain started to build up massive stacks of nuclear weapons, the Russians began to build underground places from where the control could be kept alive for up to 90 days if a strike would hit the city. The fake building would have windows where light was turned on and off to make it look inhabited, while underground a whole different thing was going on. Even people working there were not aware of what was going on beyond their checkpoint. Access was through the building and - at night when the Moscow Metro stopped operating - the bunker had its own secret metro station. It's a whole city under the city. The visit itself is admittedly a bit touristy but nevertheless interesting. Once you stepped down the 18 flights of stairs you get to see a movie about the history of the cold war. From a Russian point of view. You also get to see the communication sites, can use some old phone switchboards, dress up in Soviet Uniforms, hold and AK-47 and have a shot. Of vodka.

The bunker close to Taganskaya Metro station is the only one known and open to the public, visits are only possible by appointment, so call ahead, they do have one English speaking guide. There are obviously more of these facilities, probably still in operation...

Quiz time:
Since I have a strange obsession with embalmed socialist leaders I had to go to see Lenin in his Mausoleum on Red Square. There are four socialist leaders that can be visited (it used to be five, but poor Stalin is now burried six feet under in a simple grave next to the Kremlin's walls. What a loser. Big FAIL here). Two of them I will manage to see on this trip. Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (who looks quite pale by the way) is number one and Mao will be number two once I get into Beijing. The first person to name the remaining two will receive a postcard of the chairman. The two I am missing are a bit more difficult to achieve. At number three you are not allowed to wear shorts. Number four requires you to wear a suit and pretend to cry, once you managed to enter the country which is a challenge by itself. Enough said.

I will leave the capital of Tatarstan where I spent the last two days tonight and head to Yekaterinburg to cross the border between Europe and Asia.





...flashpackin' the USSR
Hey, you don't know how lucky you are boy...



I was lucky enough to run into Romain, who also prays in the church of Canon and shares my passion for photography, so we went out at night with our tripods and kept on changing lenses. 

moscow by night:

She got Red Square, say what you will I don't care, I couldn't resist it!
Skirts are short and heels are high and I wonder how the moscovitas manage to step over the cobblestones...

Lenin Mausoleum

more red square



my comrades and me on red square:

Minsk

A Russian proverb says: Better seen once than heard a hundred times.

Reason enough to spend a holiday in Europe's last standing dictature!

I was apparently the only tourist who was not (A) visiting the Tshernobyl kids he was taking care of or (B) seeing his Belarussian Internet date for the first time. All other people I met fell into either category (A) or (B).


The great tourist attractions such as "the island of tears" and a massive collection of stalinist architecture are not the only pleasure Minsk has to offer for the eye. The National Library that President Lukashenko had ordered to be built looks more like the death star than a library building. In order to have a look inside the death star I had to become a card-carrying member of the library. It's impressive (not thatg I could read a single book, though)

It's also probably the last escape where shopaholics can go into rehab. There is one cinema. One. Tickets are sold out for the next month to come. There is one Mc Donalds and one Mango. That's it. In the rest of the department stores is nothing really you would want to purchase. There is also no advertisements in the street. Busstops are decorated with posters of Belarussian girls in their traditional costumes harvesting corn or proud Belarussian metro conductors in their uniforms.
I walked through Minsk when the orthodox easter celebrations were held in the churches. The queues were impressive and people brought cake and eggs (and some vodka) to have it blessed by a priest.

On the train to Moscow at night I shared a compartment with Vasily. We had some issues communicating in the beginning until I could tell him in my limited Russian that I come from Germany. He replied in fluent German from then on. Vasily served during the cold war in the German Democratic Republic and that's where he learned the lingo. Since they did not accept Belarussian roubles in the restaurant car and I did not have any Russian money he insisted that the Vodka was on him. When we arrived in Moscow he came with me and got me on the right metro. As we took the escalator down what felt like at least 100 m undergroud he told me that this is only the official Metro and that there is a second secret system. I never found out what his job was, but I guess he was an apparatchik and he knows...

In Moscow I checked into the filthy hostel where Spanish women complain about the cleanliness of the showers and Russians play online poker all night. I share a dorm where one is always snoring, another one comes in drunk in the middle of the night from a pubcrawl and yet another person has the alarm set to 6 o'clock to catch an early train and takes an hour to pack everything in noisy plastic bags. Red Square is a five minute walk, the staff is extremely helpful and there's always a cold beer in the fridge. Unshaved and smelly backpackers who just got off the Trans-Siberian are happy to have the first shower in 5 days.
En bref: It's paradise. Life couldn't be better.

Not the yet to be opened Apple store of Minsk, but the National Library a.k.a. the death star.


Worth checking out:
What's on in Minsk
Everbrite's Belarus page
Travel Europe's Belarus Travel Guide
Wikitravel Minsk

some restaurants my colleague Anna recommends:
This one is on the way from Trinity Suburb to Independence avenue, a bit behind the town hall
Фрески (Freski)
площадь Свободы, 23 (Ploschad Svobody/Liberty Square)
open 10:00 - 01:00

This one is close to the metro Oktyabrskaya at the Independence avenue and it is next door to the McDonalds
Абрикос (Abrikos)
проспект Независимости, 23 (prospekt Nezavisimosti / Independence avenue )
open 11:00 - 00:00

Another one a bit further away in the direction of Victory Square
Госцi (Gosti)
проспект Независимости, 25 (prospekt Nezavisimosti / Independence avenue )
open 11:00 - 01:00

Even though two restaurants above have house numbers 23 and 25 they are not so close to each other!
It's about 150 meters away!

This one is very close to the station, so you can eat there before the depature
Эль Помидоро (El Pomidoro)
улица. Кирова, 6 (ulitsa Kirova / Kirova street)
open 09:00-23:00

picture this!

on the road with me are:

Canon EOS 450D body
Lenses:
Canon EF 50mm f1.8 II
Tamron AF 10-24mm f3.5-4.5 Di-II
Tamron AF 18-250mm f3.5-6.3 Di-II

Flash:
Canon Speedlight 580EX II

Tripod

Filters:
B+W UV Haze Filter 52mm
UV Filter 77mm
Cokin P-Series Filter Holder
Cokin Neutral Density Filter ND8 154
Cokin Circular Polarizer Filter 164
Cokin P-Series Adaptor Ring P452 52mm
Cokin P-Series Adaptor Ring P462 62mm
Cokin P-Series Adaptor Ring P477 77mm


other:
remote release
memory cards
2nd battery
charger
Micro-clair lens cleaning cloth

not exactly travelling light:

guidebooks

The trip requires a certain amount of research to be carried out before setting off.

You can download free cityguides in pdf format from in your pocket. Since they are for free, there are obviously lots of advertisements included but otherwise they are not bad at all, in particular if its a city you just pass through and don't want to spend money on a guide book. Also, when you left the place you can simply recycle them and don't need to carry them along. I always have a hard time letting go of real guidebooks. Inyourpocket guides are available for Minsk and Moscow (and many other cities).

For the Trans-Siberian Railway:
IMHO the two best guidebooks covering the railway are Bryan Thomas and the LP edition of the track.

City guides:
Moscow and Beijing mar the beginning and the end and deserve some more days and more extensive coverage.

For Shanghai I trust my personal city guide Shanghai-Sändi to lead me to the darkest alleyways and seediest etablissements.

The LP Mongolian country guide was purchased to do some pre-trip research but given the time I will get to spend there and the meetings with local vs. the weight to carry it, it will most likely stay home. sorry...

The small world atlas is a little book I tend to have in my bag which comes in handy if you meet someone and you want to show them which part of the world you're from, where you've been to, where you're going and to plan future trips.

There's an аппаратчик for that! Part II - getting around, getting by, getting what you want

Some more travelling аппаратчикs I installed on my iPhone before setting off:

Metro plans:
Metro Minsk (iTuneslink): Not the most sophisticated tube app, but it should do the job for a day. Also contains some POIs, restaurants and a map.

Moscow: Metropolitan (iTuneslink) and Moscow Metro (iTuneslink) are two apps I tried out to navigate the Russian capital.

Beijing: Beijing Metro (iTuneslink)

Currencies (iTuneslink) tells you how much your hotel room, bus ticket, souvenir, blini or beer is. Make sure to update exchange rates once in a while (done automatically when the app is started, but you're not always connected to wifi, are you?). Easy to use, good interface:

Mandarin phrasebook (iTuneslink): When I traveled China about 8 years ago the LP Mandarin phrasebook came in very handy, in particular when it comes to buying train tickets etc. It was also very well organized in sections and had some background information on all topics. Unfortunately I can't say the same about its electronic cousin. While it has the big advantage that you can quickly access the relevant topics and can actually play the matching mandarin voice, it lacks much of the background information the book comes with and seems to be less complete. Well, as long as it helps you finding the right party and a female doctor, I guess it does the job...

some food apps: On my first time in China I met some volunteers working for an NGO who gave me a "generic menu for Chinese restaurants". Basically a list of typical dishes written in Chinese with the corresponding English translation. The waiter had always great fun indicating what they could serve up from the list, called their colleagues and we all had a laugh until my gong bao jiding arrived. Now there are some apps that do the same, some better, some worse. I'll see how it works. I have not found one yet, that lets you take a picture of the Chinese writing on the menu and looks up the dish. That would be something, wouldn't it? Check these here out: China Menu (iTuneslink) easy to navigate lots of pics, cnMenu read (iTuneslink) reads the dishes in Chinese for you, but no pics, Chinese Food Menu (iTuneslink) good selection, but requires data connection.

some other useful аппаратчикs:

shazam (iTuneslink) works surprisingly well to identify music that is being played if there is not too much background noise. So if you plan to take the soundtrack home, play the song to the app and have it analyzed. Needs a data connection, so watch your roaming costs.

Electricity matters

Plugs can be different. And who travels nowadays without a camera, an mp3 player, a phone (or a laptop, an e-book reader etc.) If you want to know if your device from Djibouti would work in Mongolia (it should actually, can anyone confirm?) you should check out this site. Or that one here. Or this one. Namibian phones should have no issues with charging in Nepal accordingly. These two are the plugs that will join me on my trip:

and they should fit all the long way from the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the Land of Dschingis Khan without an adapter.  Also, they accept voltages from 100 - 240V and 50 - 60 Hz. Chinese outlets are different, but I suppose in China an adapter can be found or it can be fixed some other way. The good thing is that the iPhone charger doubles as a USB adapter, so any PC should do the job. The Canon battery charger can switch cables, so maybe I can get hold of one there... If it doesn't fit I'll make it fit!

18.7 cm of Russian classics

Or 2.4 kg. Not exactly travelling light, is it? O.K., I'll admit it. ebook readers do make sense.

Long railway journeys are the perfect occasion to read all (or at least the one or the other of) those classics that one always had the intention to read, but never found the right moment. And what would suit better a trip through the Russian hinterland seen through the window of a slowly rattling train than a Russian classic. What helps better understand the psyche of your fellow Russian travelers than a book written by one of their compatriots (and the occasional shot of vodka of course)?

on my pile of books are:

Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov - The Master and Margarita
Fyodor Dostoyevsky - Crime and Punishment
Nikolai Gogol - Dead souls, Diary of a madman
Wladimir Kaminer - Russendisko
Vladimir Nabokov - Lolita
Leo Tolstoy - Anna Karenina


other titles worth considering:

Fyodor Dostoyevsky - The Idiot
Maxim Gorky - The lower depths
Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky - The Bedbug
Boris Pasternak - Doktor Zhivago
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov - And quiet flows the Don
Leo Tolstoy - War and Peace

more contemporary:

Jonathan Safran Foer - Everything is Illuminated
Marina Lewycka - A short history of tractors in Ukrainian

Mongolia, the missing link

The Consular service of Mongolia offers a section where you can fill in your visa application form online. When you finalize the form it generates a PDF document that you can print, sign and include in your visa application documents. The section on what is required for a visa is rather empty here, but the Embassy of Mongolia in Belgium has more information. It is advisable to call before sending off your documents to check what exactly is required and how exactly to apply.

I have also read that you can get visas on the spot at the Chinggis Khaan International airport in UB (check before you set off). Cool Airport name by the way, right up there with the John Lennon Airport of Liverpool and the Indira Ghandi International Airport of Delhi.

Note to self: When I grow up I want to work as an airport namer. I will start with Seattle and rename the airport to the Kurt Cobain International Airport (Your gate to Nirvana).

adding it up:

Russia:
applied February 4, 2010, received February 11, 2010, tourist visa for the price of € 35.00
Belarus:
applied February 12, 2010, received February 19, 2010, transit visa for the price of € 20.00
China:
applied February 22, 2010, received February 25, 2010, tourist visa for the price of € 33.00
Mongolia:
applied February 26, 2010, received March 3, 2010, tourist visa for the price of € 60.00 + € 10.00 for post

That makes 4 visas in 28 days for € 158.00

worth knowing: The embassies of Russia, Belarus and China are conveniently located in the town I live (The Hague, Netherlands), so I could drop by in the morning on the way to work and bring or pick up my passport. Count in additional days if you need to send your document by mail. That said, I did not opt for express service in any of these embassies, which is offered by all of them, so if you are in a hurry and willing to pay the price: Go for it. The Mongolian embassy that deals with visa applications from the Netherlands is in Bruxelles and I sent my passport by registered mail. I was very impressed by how fast I got my document with the visa back, considering that I did not pay for express service. They do offer express service, but I doubt that it can be much faster.

to be sure, to be sure, to be sure...
...call in advance to be really, really sure that you have all the documents required.
...show up early! I have seen impressive queues at some embassies and people were sent home as the embassy could not handle all requests on that day. A bummer if you traveled from far away.
...get your things in order! Don't expect an employee from, say,  the Russian embassy to accept a statement from your Egyptian health insurance (no offense to the Egyptian health system intended here). They won't understand what it says and hence not accept it. It's civil servants your dealing with after all and they have their rules. Understand them.
...consider hiring someone. Visa support agencies can do the job for you, they know exactly what is required, have priority treatment. It can well be worth the additional money.
...when sending your passport by mail to an embassy in another city or country make sure to send it by registered mail and also make sure that the embassy sends it back to you using registered mail as well. Also, supply them with an envelope or address stickers of the place your passport shall be returned to.

Ni Hao, my Chinese Visa!

The queues outside the Chinese embassy are impressive. It becomes apparent that this country is considered a destination by far more people than Belarus. You queue outside, get a ticket with a number and then you queue inside and wait your turn. Application for a tourist visa is pretty much straightforward: A filled in and signed visa application form, a pretty picture of yourself and a valid passport is all it takes. The visa was issued within 4 days (I applied on a Monday and could pick up the visa on Thursday). Express visas are possible at an additional fee (but those applications are according to a sign only accepted until 10 in the morning - which may be difficult if the queues are long and it's not your turn until after 10 am). Pick up is quicker, you do not have to queue but the guys let the people with a pink pick-up form in and straight to the counter where you pay (€33 in my case, but depending on your nationality this may vary) and get your passport back.

so here it is:

what a beauty, eh?

the ultimate transsiberian-russiandiscobalkanbeatboxgypsypunkplaylist

As you may or may not know I will embark on an overland journey from Amsterdam to Shanghai on April 1st. A good trip needs a good soundtrack, so before boarding the train I am doing some research for an appropriate playlist. So here's the deal: You suggest a song and if you convince me to add it to the ultimate transsiberian-russiandiscobalkanbeatboxgypsypunkplaylist you will receive a postcard from some dodgy town in Siberia. Only prerequisite: (A) I have the song in my collection or (B) I can purchase it on iTunes or (C) you provide me with an mp3 version of the song.

The following tracks qualified so far:

Gogol Bordello - Start wearing purple



Named after Russian writer Nikolai Gogol this band must be on every playlist closely related to a country of the former eastern block. enough said.

Boney M - Rasputin



Yes. Boney M.

Dschingis Khan - Moskau



I was twisted whether to chose this one or that one since I am actually doing the transmongolian (see below for the golden rule #1 of mix tapes). I remember dressing up in such clothes and studying the dance with kids from the neighborhood. ridiculous. but hey, I was 11. In the end Moskau made it.

Billy Bragg - The Internationale



A classic. Billy Bragg had to do it one day. And it works.

Shantel - Disko Partizani



Party, party, Partizani!

Leningrad Cowboys and the Red Russian Army Choir - Kalinka



The haircuts alone are a reason to qualify for this playlist!

Kaizer's Orchestra - KGB



Norwegian Kaizers Orchestra, one of the best bands to be witnessed life!

The Beatles - Back in the USSR



The fab four going east.

Lords of the new church - Russian Roulette



who needs chatroulette anyway?

Red Elvises - Cosmonaut Petrov



Russendisko, Vladimir Kaminer style.

WWW - Leningrad



Another Russendisko classic.

Apparatschik - Katja



Russian Volxmusik made in Berlin.

Katzenjammer - A Bar in Amsterdam



A trip needs to start somewhere and mine starts in Amsterdam. I just need to find the right bar.

Ed Harcourt - Shanghai



Not the official Ed Harcourt video apparently, but a slideshow put together by someone featuring his (Shanghai?) nephew. hillarious. Anyway, it's the final destination and hence on the playlist.

Disclaimer: A part of the countries that will be crossed on the way to Shanghai are not famous for the respect they pay to democracy. Some are rather infamous for their lack of it. In the same way this playlist is not a democratic one either. It's a personal one and the dictator has the right to refuse proposals such as this one here for example. And don't you even dare to suggest that one either! Also obey the golden rule #1 of mixtapes: No two songs of one artist! Ever! Deadline for suggestions: March 28, 2010.

Belarus Transit Visa, bitteschön!

Why would you want to go to Belarus? Because it's on the way to Moscow? Because Harvey Lee Oswald used to live there? To see great architecture soviet style? The KGB headquarters? If the plan is to do Amsterdam - Shanghai overland via Moscow there is no way around Belarus unless you intend to do a major detour. The embassy of Belarus to the Netherlands offers a transit visa that lets you stay for 48 hours in the country for a bargain of € 20. Find more information on the website of the Belarus Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Important for a transit visa to be issued is that your passport sports a visa of the country of your next destination (Russia in my case) or if no visa is required for that country a proof of your itinerary (tickets etc.). The visa was issued within a weeks time, faster service was available if you pay for it. Very friendly service and the best part with places that have fewer tourists coming their way than say Mallorca or Rimini is that service is very personal: When I came to pick up my passport the friendly bloke from the embassy - without asking what my name was and what I was here for - took the passport and handed it to me with a nice "bitteschön!". Needless to say I was the only customer in the embassy. You can find more useful information about the Belarus visa application process on Everbrite's Belarus pages.

There's an аппаратчик for that! Part I - keeping in touch

Oh, iPhone, how did we manage to travel without you back in the days...?


Stay in touch and communication аппаратчикs:

Flickr: Take pics, upload pics, share the sights. Let them get jealous. Or worried.

(iTuneslink)













facebook:The facebook app, essential to keep up with the gossip from home. How could you survive without being in the know that Natasha is single now, Vladimir became a fan of "Vodka Putin" and - most important - what is happening on all those farms and in all these mafias out there? Never leave home without!!! (iTuneslink)

twitter: 140 characters.
A sign of life from the road or a shout out to the rest of the world. It probably won't become a trending topic, but at least it keeps you up to date with the headlines and keep your own journal of the road in a condensed fashion... (iTuneslink)











foodspotting: Food. Omnomnom. A major part of travelling. Remember that Blini in St.Petersburg? Or rather want to forget the Plov in Ashgabat? Food recommendations for the road and warnings for fellow travellers. Foodspotting is about dishes not restaurants. The application lets you picture, tag and place the food you had and upload it to the site. The site lets you search food by location. Sweet. Or Savoury. (iTuneslink)

skype: Get connected on WiFi and call other skype users for free of landlines (and in some countries mobiles as well) on the cheap. Need I say more?Many hostels and cafés offer free WiFi to their customers. The calling costs and rates can be found here.

You can charge your account online and have it topped up automatically once the remaining balance falls under a certain limit. You can also buy flat rate packages that allow you to call a certain country, continent or worldwide for a monthly subscription fee. The iPhone app allows you to access the numbers directly from the contacts list of your iPhone, so no awkward typing needed. Also, there's the possibility to set up a caller ID for free and to set it to e.g. your mobile number, so your friends and family can see who's calling and don't ignore the call because this weird number from Mongolia is showing up again. (iTuneslink)

audioboo: What I missed from previous trips was to take typical sounds home. Like the constant washing up of aluminium dishes at the Golden Temple in Amritsar where the pilgrims are fed 24 hours a day with free daal and rice. Or the shouting at Iranian Bus terminals. 
Or the haggling about a goat on Kashgar's livestock market. Or the debating of the buddhist monks in the courtyard of Sera monastery. Or the entrepreneur human telephonekiosks standing with a mobile phone chained to themselves on the streets of La Paz constantly calling "Llamada, llamada, llamada..." (which I first mistook for "Your mother, your mother, your mother..." and left me wondering why mum should be calling me here when she isn't even aware of my whereabouts). audioboo does just that (without telling your mum where you are hiding). Record a sound, name it and tag it and then upload it. audioboo also places a marker on a map where the recording was done. (iTuneslink)



Note: some of the аппаратчикs require an internet connection which may cost you an arm and a leg when abroad and roaming in a GPRS/3G network. Avoid costs by using the WiFi connection of your iPhone (where available) instead. You can disable data roaming in the settings of your iPhone.

A visa, from Russia with love...

Less than 2 months to go... time to start the Visa run!
The Napoleon Hostel I booked in Moscow offered visa support. It was in my inbox in less than 24 hours. The actual provider of the visa support is GetRussian. The process is pretty straight forward, visa support sets you back € 24,90 for a service within 24 hours (€29.90 for immediate service) and you are not obliged to book any accomodation in any place you plan to visit and that's what we all want, right? Armed with this and the rest of the supporting documents (a certificate stating that you have a valid health insurance that covers Russia, booking confirmation of the Hotel you are staying - not sure if this was really needed, I had a booking for a hostel in Moscow, not in any other places and that's fine) I went to the Russian embassy in The Hague. They also offer a form that you can fill in online and then print your visa application. Print it, attach a pretty picture of yourself and don't forget to sign it. At the embassy - provided your documents are in order - you pay (€ 35 for service in a week, € 70 for express service) and take your receipt which is needed to pick up your passport in a weeks time. Make sure you have other travel documents if you plan to catch a flight in that week, some people tend to forget that... ahem. And a week later, voilà:


P.S.: To locate the closest Russian embassy have a look here or at Everbrite's excellent site.