Last weekend I went to Niagara Falls to see a friend and check out the Falls, which I hadn't seen since I was 10. It wasn't how I remembered it at all but I had a good time even though a Denny's omelette cost $15 and a side of pancakes was $8.99.
Her name in English is Dried Seaweed Snowflake. In Korean its Kim Noon Sung Yi.
I have decided to post my journal of the Tran-Siberian railroad. After reading it I have discovered to my horror that I know nothing of writing in a journal. So take it all with a grain of salt.
At the bottom is a slide show, if you do not want to view it but still want to see pictures just go to the link on the right.
26 Sept. 2007
I am on the train! I woke up at 5:30 and was at the station (right across the street from the hotel) at 6:30 with my water and raman soup to last me for the week.
Just finding my carriage proved to be my first adventure with one conductor pointing left, then another pointing right. I finally found it and am sharing it with 2 Russian girls. One speaks a little English with a very seductive accent and the other not a peep. I do have a little Russian phrasebook to keep us going. Unfortunately Anna Kounikova they are not.
Went to the dining car for lunch where I met two Brits returning home from teaching in Japan. They have become my train friends along with an Aussie.
It took 4 hours at the Chinese/Mongolian border. The Russian girls didn't have proper visas for either country and were promptly led away by police only to return later a little lighter in the pocket.
Earlier in the day one of the Russian girls befriended a Mongolian passenger. Said passenger decided to stop in after we crossed the border (at 2AM). He and the Russian decided to have sex all night in the bed only 2 feet from me. It wasn't a quiet night by any means. I am hoping he gets off (of the train) in Ulan Bator, which is coming up soon.
27 Sept
So far, from what I see Mongolia is brown and flat. At one early morning stop I bought dumplings from a group of women pounding on the train's windows. Not sure what was in them (some sort of meat) but they were ok.
11:04 Right now I am sitting in my bed listening to my Polish neighbors playing guitar and singing. Outside it's mostly brown with small patches of green. Occasionally you can see Mongolian tents (yurt) way out in the distance.
As we pass all the Mongols wave. Ulan Bator looked to be a dismal little city and was happy to be out of there after our twenty minute stop. Wile there I tried to exchange money but the one and only bank was closed while we where at the station. A man was walking around offering to exchange with everyone but I passed since I had no idea what the rate of yuan to tugrik was.
On a positive note, the Russian's lover is gone! No more love sessions in my room! It was quite a teary goodbye for him though.
The train stopped just before sunset. I ran up to the train engine to try and get a photo of it and the setting sun for a nice cheesy memory. As I was lining up the shot a crazed (and possibly drunk) Mongol tried to smack the camera out of my hands! He kept shouting "No!! Go!!" and was trying to hit me. I let fly a few choice words (which he seemed to understand!) and started to chase me. I was able to hop on the train to relative safety where my courage came flowing back and I was able to convey through sign language that I thought he was numero uno. Why me?
23:00 Mongolia/Russia border
I am sitting in my room with the Russians and two Poles who are singing and playing guitar. It is nice but I just want to sleep.
28 Sept
00:00 The most beautiful woman I have ever seen just checked my passport. I think I am in love.
02:00. We just left the border. After sitting for 5 hours we are finally on our way. I am going to sleep.
I thought I was getting rid of the Russians this morning but it turns out all the schedules are on Moscow time (6-7 times zones away) so I didn't get rid of them until this afternoon. After they left an Australian moved in from down the hall. He is a nice 22 year old who is traveling around for 3 months before starting med school.
The big event for today is seeing lake Baikal. It was big and we had perfect weather as well.
Trying to get rubles is turning out to be quite a challenge. You can't get them outside Russia and locating an ATM is harder than finding Jesus' bay's momma. The restaurant car changes money sometimes so we tried there first. The restaurant car changes at every border crossing, so first there was a Chinese car selling Chinese food and cases of beer for $16. Later the Mongol car was selling cases for $30 and finally the Russian car sold beer for $60-100 a case!!
The woman who runs the Russian car is the meanest and rudest person I have ever met. She refused yuan (Chinese money) and threw (literally) US dollars back in Andrew's (the Aussie) face. Everyone I have talked to refuses to eat there because she is such a bitch.
The evening was spent playing cards with the Brits (Andy and Tamera) and Andrew.
29 Sept
Lots of exercise today. Every stop I and a few others would hop off the train (which only stops for 10-20 minutes) looking for an ATM and always failing. On the plus side we were able to see much more than everybody else who just stayed near the train.
I think my diet is getting to me. I have been eating ramon soup for every mean and have not had a movement since Tuesday, it's Saturday now.
Not much to see other than trees, lots and lots of trees. Chatting with the trains other captives breaks up the monotony.
30 Sept
Got into Europe today! Was also able to get some rubles from a more prepared passenger so it's been a great day! Some kind Germans had loads of rubles and were very willing to trade my yuan for them. I was able to feast on something other than ramon which included a sugared pastry and a fatty sausage that a Chinese girl picked out for me.
I hung out in the Poles room a lot today. They sang and sang. Jan (said Yan), the English speaker has been incredibly helpful and is always telling us where we are and what happened in the cities we passed through. Today he gave Andrew and I "Poland" hats. He is good people.
This evening the Chinese girl and her friend stopped by to chat. It was quite a struggle to communicate at first, but it was fun and lasted for hours.
At one stop a Japanese passenger decided to entertain us by playing an air organ(??) on the train platform. It was great and a few of us....er, well...me, danced along. Everyone seems to be having a great time on the trip.
1 Oct
Got into Moscow and flew to Vienna where I took a train to Czech Republic and got hit on by a gay villager.
Here are all the pictures from China. If you want to know a few details about where each is from you have to go to the PICTURES link and see. I will post the Trans-Siberian ones later this week.
I am sitting in a coffee shop just down the road from my grandma's house and I feel like I am back in Eastern Europe. It is filled with Lithuanians (I think) playing dominoes. One guy is getting really upset because they aren't including him into any games...or maybe it is "Tom" who is quite annoying while on the phone and talks a bit to loud to his coffee partner. I don't think the rest of us need to know that he is a big believer of "fate and whatnot."
I really liked that I could go someplace and not understand a word anyone is saying. If I could get Tom out of here it would be perfect, other than not being able to get my phone online.
Looking around I just noticed that what I thought was a guy is really a girl. I never had that problem before I got here (other than the transvestite in Czech).
I gained 10 pounds (5 kg) in the past week. I have even been trying to eat light, but alas, if I am to stay in this country I am bound to be fat(ter). I went out with a friend and she mentioned traveling around South America. That would be great but she doesn't have a dime to her name and won't be getting a job anytime soon. I need somebody rich to travel around with.
I think there will be an untimely death on Gladys Ave soon. Not sure whose, probably mine, I think I get on Grandma's nerves a bit.
After another week in Czech I headed to London to see an old roommate and drink some fine beer. I was only there 2 nights and one full day but I got in a lot. I went with Dave (of Korea and Czech fame) to sightsee and go to the National Maritime Museum where I really wanted to see the Longitude Clocks. I was as giddy as a school boy when I saw them and didn't care about the rude Koreans pushing ahead of Dave. Actually, that last bit isn't true at all. I wanted to yell "waygook-in!!" (foreigner) at them and point and say "an-yong" (hello) like they (or at least some of their fellow countrymen) have done to me countless times.
I have to thank Potter and his future bride's brother's future bride for putting me up for the two nights.
After that I went on to Toronto to see my friend Kim Noon Sung Yi (translated it means "Dried Seaweed Snowflake) who I met in Korea. After traveling through 7 countries in 2 months, Canada was the only place to give me a hard time getting in.
I was sent to a special desk where I was quized about where I was staying (a hotel, just didn't know which one), who I was meeting (Seaweed girl), her phone number (didn't know), her birthday (didn't know), and lots of other things. The officer didn't seem to like any of my answers and had me sit and wait for 30 minutes before deciding I was mostly harmless. Yay Canada!
I had a great time in Toronto and Noon was a great hostess. She showed me all around and even took me to see the Lord's Cup. She is one of the few people in Korea (or at least met in Korea) that I will really miss.
I promise I will post loads of pictures soon. I am just waiting on my computer being shipped to me.
