A full day of sightseeing in Shanghai today …. We started the morning with a trip to the Bund. The Bund is a waterfront area in central Shanghai and looks directly over the new financial district of Pudong. The word
Day 26 – Shanghai
Another day, another bullet train. This one was marginally faster with a top speed of 305 km per hour and took 6 hours and 10 minutes to do the trip from Xian to Shanghai. Once in Shanghai, we were bussed
Day 25 – Xian (2)
Terracotta day today – lots and lots of it ….. In fact, according to some estimates more than 8,000 terracotta warriors, 130 chariots and over 600 horses. The terracotta army is about an hour’s bus ride outside Xian. We started
Day 24 – Xian
Another day, another train …. This one, however, was different. This one flew at the speed of a bullet – well, a bullet train anyway! From having got used to clattering along and bouncing around at a maximum of 80-90
Day 23 – Beijing (2)
A second day in Beijing today and, being a Sunday, we got to watch the Chinese at play. One of the things the locals like to do is apparently to head out to the Summer Palace to the north of
Day 22 – Beijing
A day in the frantic, bustling (and smoggy) capital of China – Beijing – today. With a pollution warning of ‘high’ today, we took the complimentary face masks out with us for the day. How many other hotels in the
Day 20/21 – Train to Beijing
Another day on the train today. We left the hotel around 6am for a 7.30am departure from Ulan Bator. The route took us through the Gobi Desert and while a remote and desolate landscape, it nevertheless had a raw beauty
Day 19 – Ulan Bataar
At last, a day off! The relentless pace of the trip has slowed slightly today as we have a day completely to ourselves in Ulan Bataar. For the morning we decided to have another wander around the Gandan Monastery. It
Day 10 – Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg is famous for two things. Which one is more significant, I will leave you to judge! We arrived there on the train after lunch today having crossed the Ural Mountains. Yekaterinburg is the fourth largest city in Russia with
Day 9 – Vladimir and Suzdal
Slightly bizarrely we spent the first part of the trip heading off to the east, stopping for a couple of hours at Novgorod and then heading all the way back west again! So, when we woke up in the morning