No one really talks about how it feels to be home again. I think if people talked about how it really feels, no one would go in the first place, therefore -missing the point.

 

I feel hollow at the moment.  It was great seeing everyone again, and the front door has been revolving with people to see, but having the first few moments of being alone were really strange. What bugs me is that nothing has changed... in 18 months, NOTHING has changed. I feel like I have changed a lot, and am now a square peg trying to force myself through this round hole. Everything seems smaller, quieter and less shiny than I remember, and the rain doesn't help!!

 

I miss my girl. So much that it hurts physically. I want her in my arms again, and I can't wait for that feeling of completeness to come back to me. I feel like one arm and one leg is missing at the moment.

 

There is a dog in this house that is playing with a fucking squeaky toy- excuse me while I go and ram it down its neck.

70's bondage porn isn't really my thing- those that know me, will know that I am wayyyyyy more into the mod stuff. Everyone who knows Brett at ALL will know that 70's tennis racket porn is EXACTLY the type of shit he is into!

 

As you can see, my livejournal has been hijacked. I guess that I have no one else to blame but myself for handing out my password and leaving it in the "safe" hands of my darling Brettley. Thanks Brett!!

 

Well... the dream is over. Homecoming begins tomorrow at midnight, and Sydney will be accepting me and my baggage (emotional and physical) on the tarmac at 11am on the 21st. Melbourne will be doing much of the same on the 2nd of July.

 

I can't really put myself in the position of home yet. I can't SEE myself standing in arrivals looking for my Mum. I can't imagine seeing all my friends again and going back to work. I don;t know if I am ready for the return because I still don;t feel like I have said goodbye to London properly, even though all this time has passed.

 

Oh- well... best just live another 22hrs in denial before I board that plane, and have a ball in Honkers. 

Victoria Peak- I love you.

Beijing has been an incredible place. It's a real treat for all the senses. What has made Beijing even more amazing has been our incredible travel companions. What a group! They have made this leg of the trip even more special than had I been travelling just on my own.

 

We've been living in the Hutongs now for almost a week now, and there is no place on earth I would rather be calling home right now. Getting run over by a bike as you step out the front door just adds to the excitement, the tiny courtyards and the red lanterns bring the streets alive at night.

 

After feasting on Peking duck on day one, we set off to Tiennamen Square, and also the Forbidden City. We then hired a boat on the lakes and cooled off my driving it around with our feet dangling in the water. Exhausted, we clambered to the back of an alley in the city markets and ate from hot sticks. We also sampled Scorpions and Starfish. (The scorpions were so fresh that they were actually still wriggling on the stick!!) I could take or leave the starfish, but I would definitely go back for more scorpions. (Yes, there are photos to prove it!)

 

We lounged on day 2 with a long late breakfast at a hostel before a visit to the Lama temple, which was fascinating and beautiful. We spent the balance of the afternoon drinking back at the hostel and playing the guitar at the hostel before venturing out late for more duck! We stumbled home through the backstreets in a surreal haze, drunk and in the company of our new friends.

 

I have certainly developed a drinking problem here as beers are 20p each for 600mls. A full round for our whole group comes in at under L1.50! As cheap as it all is, money just can't buy what we have right now.

 

Yesterday, we visited the Great Wall. It's amazing to stand amongst it all in awe. We tried to get hold of some 'cheapy cheapy' Opera tickets last night with no luck, so we thought- fuck it! More duck please!

 

Tonight we head to Xian for a couple of days to check out the Terracotta army. The lads are staying in the Jing for a couple of days before meeting up in Chengdu on Friday, where they are in charge of getting us a 6 bed dorm. All I can see in the near future is carnage on the bottle and Pandas in my eyes.

 

We left Inner Mongolia. The border crossing from Mongolia to China was a nightmare that lasted hours, as after we pissed around with visas and declarations to the Chinese government, we then had to change the wheels of the train. This involved lifting the train up, and taking the wheels out from underneath and replacing them with new ones. Besides a lot of banging and horn honking, the procedure is straightforward enough.

 

 

Hohhot is an interesting place. The capital of Inner Mongolia and more neon lights than Las Vegas! The people are also very friendly and warm. The English is funny... and the Chinglish funnier! The other day I was in a shop that had English versions of all the signs, one of them read: "Mutton and cow dry area", what they were trying to say was- This is the part of the shop that you can buy dried out mutton and beef! (Kinda like jerky.)

 

We also had a full day tour of Hohhot, but I skipped out the morning due to a bad back from sleeping on the train. I did join just in time for lunch though, where a Chinese Hot Pot was had. This is the most communal meal I have eaten and more akin to a Fondue party than anything I have ever had before. A huge chunk of table is taken out on the centre of the table, under which sits a gas burner. The 3 different types of broth are then sat in the whole above the burner and begin to simmer away. Once the boiling starts, all sorts of meats and veggies are added in until they cook. You then grab them out with chopsticks once cooked and dunk them in a dipping sauce on the way to your mouth- sensational!

 

We then boarded our final trans-Siberian train ride to Beijing. We woke up yesterday morning in the hustle and bustle of this amazing city.

 

Last night 9 of us who met on the train in Moscow met up again for dinner in Beijing- GREAT reunion, only missing Tony, which was still a massive gaping hole. (We miss you Tony!) We ordered 3 hot meat dishes, a couple of veggie dishes, THREE Peking Ducks!!!!!! We all had a beer each of China's finest. The grand total of the bill each was the same cost of ONE beer at home. Amazing food... amazing prices.... fine dining!!

 

OK... so I am having a LOT of trouble posting to livejournal, as the government has blocked access to livejournal site in China!! For those interested, there are some interesting articles if you type in google search "China and Livejournal"... it absolutely SUCKS. I will not be beaten by the Chinese Government though- so, I'm asking Brett to post for me. Thanks!

We've now arrived back in Ulaanbaatar after a nomadic trip in the Gobi dessert. We set off last week for the Gobi, and started with an 8 hour off road trip in a van. Don't ask me how, but I managed to sleep through some of the bumpy ride!! We arrived in the middle of nowhere, to a family of nomads who took us in for the next 3 days. We were presented with a warm cup of Mares milk (yes it tastes as bad as it sounds!) which I struggled to keep down, so did Andie. We exchanged a few what-the-fuck-is-this glances before dutifully swallowing the last mouthful. We were also given biscuits and I grabbed what I thought was shortbread only to find out what I was holding was a lump of "butter" made from- you guessed it- Mares milk. I TRIED with all my might to eat the lump, but it really did taste and smell of baby vomit and I just couldn't bring myself to do it. So, I held on to it slipping and melting in my hand until I could politely dump it in the cup of warm Mares milk once I had finished.

 

After initial introductions (we were staying with a young couple and their 4 year old boy, and the wife's brother who all lived together and between them also looked after 400 head of livestock) we were left to free time to roam around the Ger tent. The Ger tent is just a tent that has 2 support holes inside, and is put up using around 60 poles that hold the roof up, before being covered in felt to keep it warm. (The fire inside helps too!) The nomads move 4 times a year to different parts of the dessert to stay warm or cool depending on the season. We caught them in Spring time, where the days are sunny and windy and the nights are clear and cold. There was no one around us for miles, and the sand dunes were just out of sight. The stars were the brightest things I have ever seen, and had it not been so chilly in the dessert at night, I would have snapped my neck starring at them all night.

 

We visited an ancient temple around 3 hours drive further into the dessert on the second day, which was amazing- I can't wait to be able to upload photos for you all to see. We then made our way back to the nomad family to sleep again in the evening. Sofina and Karl produced a bottle of vodka and we all took turns holding the cup and saying a word or two, or singing a song for everyone. When it got to the owner of the Ger, he took the cup and started singing a traditional Mongolian song about horses. The song as as beautiful as his voice, then all the Mongolians in the tent joined in- it was a VERY moving experience, and it just made me well up and cry. It's one of those really touching moments that I will never forget.

 

The only DOWN side of the nomad experience was the fact that there was no notion of a toilet ANYWHERE. One had to "go" where ever and when ever one could. If you went behind the shed, the dogs came and watched you, and if you went anywhere else, EVERYONE could watch you!! Something that we found hard to get over, but had no choice. With all the warm Mares milk we had been drinking out of sheer politeness, the experience was less than pleasant!

 

After saying goodbye to our nomad family and wishing good luck to their goats, we headed back through Ulaanbaatar to another camp on the other side of town. We had our own little Ger and fire, and just shared all our meals with everyone else at the camp. Fortunately, it was just us and our guides at the camp, so it was a fairly intimate experience. We also went horse riding across the hills for 2 hours on the Mongolian horses. I was so worried that they wouldn't be able to carry me, and so were the guides as they tied my horse to the lead in case he fell over suddenly!! (ouch!) Apparently, my guide had phoned ahead to the horse man to let him know that he would need a strong horse because there was a "fat girl" on the trip! (ouch again!) But the horse riding was amazing, and we galloped across the hills to a massive monument of Chinngis Khan. (Although Chinngis raped and pillaged many many people, he is somewhat of a hero here!) My horse didn't fall over either, so a good day all round really! We also tried archery and watched some Mongolian wrestling (which is a bit like sumo) going on between the men that lived at the camp, and at night we sat around the badly tuned guitar and sang with each other.

 

Outer Mongolia has been amazing. One of the most amazing places I have seen. The people are warm and friendly, and the landscape is something else. Tonight we are back on board the train again and head to Inner Mongolia. I'm only dreading the 5 hour boarder crossing into China where the wheels of the train are changed over for the Chinese tracks. (There is apparently a 10cm difference in track size!) I'll write again from Huehot when we arrive!

 

P.S. I've been listening to "Cake" loads. John McCrae is amazing- he has kept me company on the long journeys. I never get sick of hearing muted trumpets and rattles!

We left Siberia (not a jukebox in sight), boarding the train to Mongolia. We were running the smugglers route, so after boarding at 6am, we were woken by an angry Mongolian man, bursting in on us because we had moved his bag of rope!! (Which he was hiding in our cabin!!) Andie and I were sharing our cabin with an eccentric Dutch woman who slept upright against a travel pillow, and a Russian woman whose entire upper set of teeth were gold. We all, in no uncertain terms- told the screaming Mongolian to GET OUT as a) he woke us up and b) he shouldn't have been smuggling rope across the boarder in OUR cabin!

 

The smugglers route is HILARIOUS! No one actually CARES what the Mongols are smuggling in, still- it's the biggest mission to hide items throughout the entire train, including in our rooms and the cabin attendants rooms (who are also in on the scamming). One of the guys on the train walked the entire length of the train about 30-40 times with a trolley moving his stash from the back of the train to the front, until the wheel fell off his trolley and he got his wife to left him carry sack after sack of god knows what!! Some of the stranger items we saw being "hidden" were washing machines (!!??!), glasses, slippers and mannequins (which we insisted on posing with and taking happy snaps- what else do you do on a train for 2 days?)

 

The boarder crossing was an 8 hour epic. Passport control on both sides was VERY bureaucratic- we were subjected to a few hours wait on each side of the boarder to get our passports back, scrutiny from the officers, and our room being taken apart looking for "contraband"- yet somehow the guards seemed to have missed all the items stuffed in every other nook and cranny throughout the train, despite the roof being unscrewed and our mattresses being overturned!

 

The old gang was back together for the journey for the last time. We shared our last meal of pot noodles together on the train. We have pretty much all gone our separate ways now that we have arrived in Ulaanbaatar, which was a sad goodbye. Most of us will meet up again on route in China though- so I'm looking forward to that!!

 

We have enjoyed a walking tour of the city of Ulaanbaatar today, and visited the local Monastery. The hotel we are staying in is very plush, and I am feeling ever so guilty with all the poverty around outside. Ulaanbaatar reminds me a LOT of Cambodia, the roads are mental, and the people are beautiful. As were were walking home today from the Monastery, random people would just say "hello!" as we walked past. It's been such a refreshing change from Russia, so much so that I have to constantly remind myself that the people here are NOT taking the piss when they speak to you.

 

Andie and I are still travelling with Karl and Sofina though (2 Brits), and together we make our way into the Gobi dessert tomorrow. We'll be staying with local herdsmen in a Ger Camp tomorrow night, before off-roading for 8 hours the day after further into the Gobi. We arrive back in Ulaanbaatar in a week or so, so I will make good use of the Internet services in this town and write again then!

 

I hope you are all well, and I am sorry to those that I haven't yet had a chance to write to. It's been really difficult finding Internet cafes that are open and reliable. I'm thinking of you all though- hoping that you are all well, and missing everyone like crazy!!

After leaving the shores of Germany, we arrived in Moscow, feeling cold because of the weather and the people!! Moscovites are pricks in general!! And Russian people are REALLY hard work... it's the weather and the communism that makes them that way I think! Still... Moscow itself is amazing! We stayed a little out of town and commuted into the city each day, public transport is easy to use, even if difficult to pronounce! We toured ourselves around Red Square and St Basil's, before having a guided tour of the city. We also went to the Kremlin armoury- that was SPECTACULAR, with Faberge eggs, jewels and gems of the past Czars. We didn't get to see Lenin's tomb, which was a shame.... as Moscow was preparing for Victory Day, and Red Square was cordoned off. However, I did get a photo in true Cossack style, arms folded with a Russian hat on in the square- St Basil's burning like a beacon in the background. It had to be done!

 

So, we packed up our bags and waited for a train. The one that would take us across 5 time zones in 4 days. We met some English girls Lou and Gill on the way, and boarded the Trans-Siberian express (not that there is anything express about it!!). We were unfortunate enough to be bunked in with a Russian couple that were sickly all over each other, ate loudly and slurped their tea. I snored REALLY loud at night apparently, so I guess that is even- and despite our biggest efforts to make some form of friendship happen, we were given the cold shoulder. You can't win them all. You can't win ANYTHING in this country it seems!!

 

We knew from the guide book that the most important person on the train to make friends with is the car guard. These are the woman that didn't quite make it into the police force because of a bung knee, so are forced to patrol the isle of a train car for the rest of their lives. Each car has 2 allocated train guards. We were sure to make ourselves known within the first 5 minutes, as she took our tickets off us. Including our onward journey tickets!! We all were freaking out, and we didn't have enough Russian to tell her why we were upset, and she didn't know enough English to tell us why she had them. A fight in the isle ensued for all and sundry to see!! Not the good first impression we had hoped for!!

 

Our circle of friends snowballed out of control, as the restaurant car became our favorite place to hang out to pick up stray travellers. We have ended up with a core group of 9 people (which made it difficult to squeeze in to the cabin!) 4 Brits, 2 Dutchies, and another Aussie. We all have formed a pretty close relationship with each other. We were actually the only travellers on the train, the rest were Russian, and despite our attempts at making friends, they preferred to stay in their cabin the whole time. (Oh yeah, other then ONE other Dutch guy, who we refer to as dildo because, well... he is.) We spent our days playing cards, celebrity head, telling jokes and eating and drinking. At each stop, we would run off the train and buy the most bizarre things we could get our hands on, and take the most candid, stealth photos of the locals. When we reborded we shared what we had and drank the beer and vodka that got us through from stop to stop. After one stop, we found ourselves squeezed in to a cabin, a stick of salami hanging from the coat hanger on the roof, a table full of beer and an ENTIRE smoked fish which we tore apart and gorged on. (Ummmm... the fish MAY have been a carp. It's true.) I realise that this might sound immature- but believe me, you will turn to ANYTHING that will keep you occupied for that amount of time!!)

 

3 days in to the trip, everyone was a bit on the nose, and we weren't afraid to talk about it! Tony, the other Aussie was sent to the toilet with a pack of baby wipes due to his stench! All I am going to say about the matter is this- Thank Christ for Baby wipes and Fem-Fresh!

 

Finally, we got off the train in Irkutsk, just in time to watch the Victory Day parade. One of our companions asked the Russian girl who took us to the parade what the march was all about. He was very sternly barked at- "THE END OF THE WAR!!" I think he should have played dumb and then asked her who had won, just to see the reaction.

 

After the parade, we were taken off to a little village on the shores of Lake Baikal. Here we were put up by a little woman in a small Siberian log cabin. 2 other Brits, Tony and us. We stayed there 3 days. We were allowed to shower in the sauna twice (which we made a complete party out of) and were not allowed to whistle indoors!! Red rag to a bull in Tony's case!! Galeena (our Mum for 3 days) cooked us the most amazing Russian food every day, and looked after us with tea, coffee and cakes. We also took a hike up the cliff near the shore which was an amazing view, but we had a boring as fuck tour guide that untied the pieces of rag that his mate had left for him through the bush to show us the way. Reassuring. Forest... leeches... rain...

 

Today, we arrive back in to the main town of Irkutsk. We are staying in a high-rise apartment with a strange Russian woman, who is supposed to be making us breakfast tomorrow... if we survive it... I'll write again soon! Tomorrow morning we are off again to the train to head onwards into Mongolia with a midnight border crossing. We meet again with all our train friends, and the party continues!

For those that don't know, (and there would me many- because I have been absolutely SHITHOUSE at keeping in contact lately!!) Andie and I have started the long journey home.

 

Yesterday, we watched the white cliffs of Dover fade into the distance as we ferried it across the channel and bussed it on in to Holland. We actually worked out that we were in 4 different countries yesterday in 11 hours. England, France, Belgium and Holland! I mean what is that!? I could drive for 11 hours in Australia and still be in the same bastard state!! It amuses me! The coach driver was hilarious... give a guy who is bored rotten driving for miles a day a microphone...  there is no stopping the one sided chit-chat we had all the way from London to Amsterdam! Mixed with the fact that his first language was not English, but he insisted on "chatting" in English, and the hilarity factor was way up there! (Well... for us, not the other 10 people on the coach... how do Eurolines make money??)

 

Anyhow, it's all been good practice sitting and looking out windows for our pending train journey, I've had Damien Rice and Evan Dando keeping me company while watching the lush green grass and fields of yellow canola fly by. I'm just starting to ease in to the idea that I am on holidays!!

 

Saying goodbye to England and everything within it was difficult. I've had a really amazing time and made some really amazing friends. I'm really going to miss everyone loads... I HATE goodbyes!! My workmates were really cool, and had such a fantastic last day (thanks guys!), it feels weird not being there at work today...

 

My friends, I really struggled saying goodbye to. I HATE not knowing when I will see people again... but hopefully, you all will come to Oz, and I'll be back here sometime! IN the meantime- God bless the Internet, and the cheap little phone cards you can buy from Crispins!

 

Alright, I best be off again, there is a new city waiting outside to explore!