Siberia

Well, I am in Omsk, killing some time before catching my next train to Mongolia.

I had hoped to be able to type daily updates, but I can't even seem to manage to write them all down, so it's clear that's not gonna happen.

Moscow was phenomenal, although extremely large. It was also a lot cleaner than I expected. Omsk is in bit rougher shape, but it feels more properly 'Russian' - not because it's run down, but because it's less cosmopolitan and touristy. I mean London is 'British' but not the same way that somewhere like Swindon is British. Or something.

The train from Moscow to Omsk was good. I thought I would have lots of time to read and write but ended up spending all of my time hanging out with people in the cars beside me. There was a swedish couple, a guy from the czech republic, a russian man and a russian single mom (who was from Omsk and spoke english - extremely helpful!) We shared food and tea and beer and had a blast...I only hope I'm as lucky for the next leg! I'm feeling pretty positive about the trip. The way I have designed it, I never spend more than 2 nights on a train and I think that's a good thing. The swedish couple were doing 4 nights/5 days straight, and I think that would make me mental! So now it's two more nights on the train and then 5 nights in Mongolia. I will stay in the capital the first night, but I'm hoping to find a tour out to the country-side, and to get a picture of me riding a camel. Really, that's all I want from this entire trip: photographic evidence of me on top of a camel in Mongolia...everything else is just icing on the cake.

Speaking of trains though, the time zone thing is messing my body up. I crossed 6 time zones in as many days, with only a short break in the middle. My body is never sure when to eat, when to sleep, or what to do... Most of the time this is ok, since I'm just sat on a train, but still, it's a bit jolting to the system. I will cross 2 more into Mongolia and China, and then two more when I arrive in Japan.

Oh! One thing I would suggestif you ever plan on traveling in Russia is to learn the Cyrillic alphabet. I surely can't speak Russian for the life of me, but just knowing which characters are what has made all the difference in the world (especially traveling solo). For example, P = R, B = V, C = S, H = N, Y = U. There are lots more, but considering most of the English guidebooks use the roman alphabet, and most of the russian street signs use the cyrillic, its nice to be able to translate between the two. It also helps for basic words on menus and directions and so on.

Well, I still have two hours before my train leaves, but I need to go to the supermarket (cyepmapket) and get some food for the train, and then navigate the trolleybus back to the train station (thanks to my super-cyrillic reading abilities I have been using cheapo public transportation and not had to pay for a taxi once!) so I think that's it for now. I will update again from Mongolia, and try to upload some photos...possibly of me and camels.