Research

Last night we attended what we had thought was a talk on Trans Siberian expeditions but which turned out to include information for 'gappers' . So there we were sitting with these shiny bright 'twelve year olds' ... that sure made me feel young :(

Fortunately this was somewhat recompensed by the Trans-Sib speaker, Odette (interesting lady, forty-something and with a posh accent like GP) who didn't quite have it for the backpacking lot and would rather prefer people who genuinely wanted to see and preserve the place for what it was - the last untouched place on earth.

The Q&A session after was hugely useful - it's always good to know that the food isn't as bad (apparently you get apple pies and cheeses even) or expensive as various postings suggest (it's aboutUSD15 per day per person but one can always stock up from shops at Moscow). So, the good news is J (or JD as mr-no-name-policy prefers to be called now) no longer needs to pack in a month's worth of beef jerkies and do his Chris Ryan thing. Have also decided to go with the Trans-Siberian company (see www.trans-siberian.co.uk) instead of the vodka train (simply because they seem to have got their act together much better). Oh, and they take USD on the train (it seems Euros give a better rate but once you cross Mongolia towards Beijing, they only want dollars). I didn't bother asking about Rinminbins... hah! can just imagine the chinks telling me where to put it!

Well apart from dusting off my Michael Palin collection, preparations are now well and truly underway ... dates, itineries, budgets and key contacts (where exists) for each destination, visas, kit, wills, finances etc etc are being ticked off the checklist. For those of you who are planning of doing a similar trip, a word of warning -- they don't tell you to plan 6 months ahead for nothing. As we've effectively compressed that to a mere 3 weeks prior departure, let's just say it's cutting it real fine.

Just been to the India embassy this morning - they are good (if you're on a British passport, you get the visa within the day itself). I waited ~45 minutes to submit our applications (all forms ready filled, photos attached of course) and was told I could collect our visas in an hours' time. Pretty good huh? Then again at £30 a pot, even I'd keep it rolling too (I'm guessing they get at least 500 applications per day, which makes a nice little stream of revenue of about £15k a day..kerching!)

Can't wait!!!