я приподю - I prepare

Good news yesterday: my visa application is officially through the Russian consulate (after the requisite 11 business days when it was presumably scrutinized for possible delinquency of human character, terrorist inclinations, or just made into copies in triplicate to fuel the cranky remains of soviet bureaucracy). At any rate, they've decided to let me into the country... which I was a little nervous about, considering the complexity of the application. Now I'm just waiting on approval from the Chinese consulate (no visa needed for Mongolia) and I'm almost there!


The idea: long time coming. The travel bug hits hardest in Kodiak midwinter, when I first started researching, but I've wanted to take the Trans Siberian railroad to Lake Baikal and Mongolia ever since spending six months in western Russia during high school... I'm really looking forward to eating lots of my favorite russian foods - pelmeni (siberian dumplings) and black bread, to dusting off my fading russian language skills over a glass or two of vodka in the dining car, and to finally crossing all that wide expanse of world - by train, by horse, by rusty jeep, maybe even by camel.

The Route:

The Trans-Mongolian, also known as the Peking Express, route of the Trans-Siberian Railroad, 7,855 km total from Moscow to Beijing.

(The Red Line is the Trans-Mongolian route, to get a closer view, click the map)

Originally, I wanted to do the epic overland route from Moscow all the way to Singapore by train, as shown on this map:

Someday, but not this time.

The Itinerary: Lots of research, very little definition. The great thing about traveling solo is the freedom to be a bit of a vagabond. This is what I know so far:

September 13: Moscow
September 15: Board the Trans-Siberian Railroad to head East
September 19: Arrive in Irkutsk and spend a few days exploring Lake Baikal area

Then: to Ulan-Ude and some exploration of a local Buddhist monastery and the Buryatia culture. Catch a local train or the Trans Mongolian down to Ulan Baatar, capitol of Mongolia. Spend a week hopefully in the countryside, possibly at another monastery and at Ger (yurt) camps in the north or central area of the country.

Last week: catch the last bit of the Trans-Mongolian train into Beijing, check out the Forbidden Palace, Great Wall, and try not to get hit by a bus while bicycling through the historic hutongs. Will meet up with an Italian friend from the Russia exchange, who is now studying business in BJ. Flying out of Beiing on October 11.

This blog: I have no idea if I'll be able to maintain it while traveling. It may be just a few text entries, possibly an iphone photo or two if I can get on wireless... the difference in technology since I've last traveled is so changed that I don't know what to expect - a satellite dish outside a nomadic Mongolian ger wouldn't surprise me in the least.