Silk Road Day 24: on the train

Spent all day on board the train travelling across the Kazak desert. Hardly a person to be seen, a few herds of wild camels here and there. Late at night the Kazak border control police came on board to make sure we were all leaving the country - and I think they wanted to check out our train! - and they wanted to get their photos taken with us. Of course you don't refuse men with guns.

After a few drinks and a chat with Tony, our resident lecturer, we made it to bed by midnight. We'd been told to expect to be woken by the Russian border patrol police at about 1.30am. I woke up at 7.30am so obviously they'd decided to let us in the country anyway.

Silk Road Day 17: Almaty

Woke up this morning to pouring rain in Almaty. After a 6am breakfast (!) we set off for a morning of sightseeing. We drove up to the Medeo, which is a big ice skating rink in the mountains, but it was very foggy and we couldn't really see anything. We visited the Zenkov Cathedral, which is built of wood entirely without nails, but it was hard to get excited about getting drenched in the process.

The rain did stop long enough for us to have a look at the earthquake monument.

We were back on the train at 11am for our overnight run to Tashkent.

Silk Road Day 16: Kazakhstan

We were due to arrive in Almaty this morning but because of recent floods and messed up train timetables we only arrived at 7pm. So we spent all day relaxing on the train, looking at the desert and the mountains. Not really a problem at all, and our compartment is very comfortable.

When we finally arrived at the hotel Kendall did not want to join the group dinner so we had room service and went to bed early.

Books I have read so far on this trip:
I Am Ozzy
The Cinderella Deal
Things I Learned About My Father In Therapy
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
The Girl Who Played With Fire

Silk Road Day 15: China - Kazakhstan

This morning we crossed the border from China into Kazakhstan. We were told it could take several hours and to be very patient, and to NOT take any photos. Happily after two hours and 15 minutes of sitting around and having our passports scrutinised, we were permitted to exit China and enter Kazakhstan.

We are now on the Russian train, the Golden Eagle Trans Siberian Express, which is much more luxurious than the Chinese train. We have our own bathroom with a shower and a toilet, which makes life much easier. The beds on this train are much softer and bigger too. And we are now eating good old fashioned Russian food, which makes for a nice change from the Chinese.

We left Alashankou at 2pm and have been travelling through the Kazak desert ever since.

The next big thing

In exactly six months from today, the boy and I will be embarking on our next big adventure. We'll be travelling on the Silk Road by private train. The marvellous people at Captain's Choice Tours are organising this all for us, and all we have to do is show up at the airport with our passports on the right day at the right time.

You can click on this link to see the full itinerary - four weeks of it - and meanwhile you can look at this map (sorry it's not a big larger) to see the route we will be travelling.


Why yes, we are excited, thanks very much for asking.