Adventures with Fred and Carolyn
We’re pleasantly surprised! Atlas Obscura, via World Expeditions, our tour company, set our expectations rather low for the country ger (AKA ‘yurt’) accommodations. We were not expecting flush toilets or electrical outlets in our our ger, or cell coverage. But, we are happily checking the day’s email and downloading a smattering of news. Our ger … Continue reading “First Night in a Ger”
[Updated 14 July 2019] Ulan-Bator (UB) is a bustling city in a pause after strong expansion due to a faded mining boom. There are still hundreds of high rises under construction, but many are paused. It’s not a handsome or affluent city. Modern buildings sprout in the central city, surrounded by aging relics of Soviet … Continue reading “Day One in Mongolia”
We really can’t say what we expected in Moscow, but we were amazed and impressed by its energy, modernity and yet its respect for a long and complex history. In the city center are skyscrapers gleaming bright and mirroring one another. Yet just yards away, one can glimpse the ‘seven sisters’ architectural stars from the … Continue reading “Moscow Surprises Us”
Well, we kinda forgot to explain our trip plan. Visiting St. Petersburg and Moscow were just the start. Our real destination is Ulan-Bator, Mongolia, where we have a twelve day tour of Mongolia planned. Connecting those locations, we ride the Trans Siberian Railway, with a few days to feel dwarfed by the gargantuan Lake Baikal … Continue reading “The Big Plan and Train Life”
One of the first things we did on arrival in St. Petersburg was buy SIM cards for our phones. Of three reasonable carrier choices we chose MTC as they had the best national coverage. All the carriers were great bargains compared with AT&T. For $8 we got one month of unlimited data / text and … Continue reading “Travel Support Technology”
It’s Day Two. That was a bucking bronco of a night train! We’d occasionally wake when the G-forces got extreme. Amazingly, though, we both slept well, even with the rocking of what Fred called a demonic nanny! We awoke near the town of Tyumen, shown on the map above. At our noon stop at Isham, … Continue reading “Sunday Morning on the TSR”
We arrived St. Petersburg in the evening, checked-in to the Corinthia hotel. The above view is from our room at 3am that morning. The standard of living here is quite high. Lots of positive emotions in the crowds of St. Petersburg and even more so in Moscow. People’s day to day lives look busy and … Continue reading “St. Petersburg and Moscow First Impressions”
Besides walking around the city and eating great food, we wanted to get to know the place better. The river and canals are the lifeblood of Sankt Peterburg, so a river tour was a must. There are a zillion providers, but owing to the narrow canals, boat sizes don’t vary much. We were careful to … Continue reading “Touring St. Petersburg”
Our first big challenge was buying new SIM cards for our phones so that we could text and call locally as well as grab some internet. Fred had researched the options and decided on the MTC brand. We’d noticed that making our way around wasn’t trivial. Virtually all signage was in Cyrillic. I know about … Continue reading “Getting Connected in St. Petersburg”
Our journey begins. Around the world. From home in San. Diego to San Francisco, Helsinki and here to St. Petersburg. We arrived Sunday evening after some 18 hours of travel, looking forward to the summer White Nights revels. In June and July, the sun never fully sets, only dropping to dusk, leaving a milky sky … Continue reading “St. Petersburg – Night One and Day One”