162 train hours and couple of days into Beijing officially saw the end of my Trans Siberian journey. After settling all our debts with each other (there were loans all over the place thanks to cloned cards (not mine for a change), scams and general innability to access funds in remote places) we went our seperate ways. The only debt I had to honour was a promise to the Ozzie to drink a whole beer, and on Autralia Day I did, in an Australian bar. It wasn't enjoyable and an event i'll not be repeating. Anyway, it's sad to say goodbye as we've gotten used to the idea of travelling together (and bailing each other out). Agreeing we'd all meet again sometime in the future, we did that very night, and again the following two nights.
More than anything however, I'll miss the the journey itself. I loved every minute of it, even the times when I was looking for the quickest exit from a situation. I'm already seriously considering my next route (Vladivostok to Moscow anyone?). It's facinating to watch how much places and cultures change throughout the journey. St Petersburg feels to be a million miles away from the world of Beijing.
A good example of this is the food. In Russia the food is generally something in a pancake or pie and usually they'll sneak cabbage onto the menu of options in an unexpected place. If it's not that then it's potato stacked and baked upon something, sometimes chicken or lamb but regulary just onto another potato. In Mongolia the dish is nearly always burger meat and they can create about 100 different meals with this. Steamed in dumplings, fried in dumplings, battered, flattened, rolled, in a pie, out of a pie, crispy etc. etc. And now we're in China I'm finding that if they can put it on a stick it becomes food. Snake, starfish, strawberry, seahorse, octopus leg, pineapple, scorpion and bugs were all offered to me yesterday in quick sucession. They'd learnt just enough English to shout 'HELLO...CENTIPEDE' in my direction as a walked past. Anything that won't go on a stick, such as ice cream, cream and egg, and gets deep fried.
Two other things I'll miss about the train is trying to fill out strict customs forms in different languages and never really knowing the time. Getting on the train at Irkutsk for example, meant going back 5 hours to Moscow time the second we stepped on board and then jumping forward several hours the moment we entered Mongolia as the timetable switched timezones. We had to be at the ready to jump off at all times just in case!
For nostalgia reasons I've addd a few more pictures from the trip, but for now, after being with the group nearly 24-7 for the past three weeks, I'm enjoying some time to myself. Tomorrow I'll meet a new group and I'll start to continue my journey down through China in a few days.
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