Round the World (RTW).

June 2004

Preparation: Having traveled for many years, the RTW trip should be the culmination. In addition, I wanted to visit relatives in Switzerland. One way to do the trip is via transsiberian train. On the net I stumbled onto Monkey travel which organizes transsiberian trips. First I had to get visas to China and Russia plus getting an invitation via Monkeys. To get the visa one has to send in 150 $ to an agency in Washington, who got them for me. There is a fast service, but in my case this was not necessary.

The first ticket I got was from Florida to Beijing via Toronto and Vancouver. On May 27, 2004 I started the trip. My first night was spent at the Toronto airport, which according to the net had decent sleeping facilities. This was not the case, and all chairs had side arms making sleeping difficult.

From Vancouver the flight went straight north over Alaska and then northern Siberia. I could see many very tall mountains but no habitation.

Customs in China were rather lenient. A taxi driver came after me, and led me to an ATM where I drew out Chinese money. The taxi trip cost me 300 Yans, and I figured 100! He took me to the Zhaolong Youth Hostel which was part of a very large fancy hotel in the center of Beijing. My sleeping facilities were good, and I had a whole room to myself.

Next day a bus trip to the China Wall (at Simatai) was planned by the hostel, and I was on it. After two and a half hours we were in the mountains right near the Great Wall. The access was very steep, so I did not climb all the way up.

I stayed in Beijing 4 days. One day I made a trip to Tinnamon Square, and I used the bus plus metro. Destinations were marked in Chinese and also in English. I got out at West Tinanmen Square and walked up the Metro steps. Outside was beautiful weather and lots of people. I walked to a beautiful park, and later to the Forbidden City.

Early on the fourth day, most hostel tenants met downstairs and got in a bus that took us to the train station of Beijing. Officials from Monkey Business were there, and we were guided to the exact train wagon and compartment. Each one of those had 4 cots with pillows and covers. The toilet was on the same wagon, and each wagon had very hot water. People traffic at the train station was great, and the help of Monkey was welcome.

The train left pretty much on time. After a few hours we were in the mountains and crossed the Great Wall. Further North was Inner Mongolia, the Gobi Desert and eventually Mongolia. Here we all had to go through customs which was a very slow process. Passports were very closely inspected, but we did not have to open our baggage.

Great Wall

 

Gobi Desert	Ulan Baatar

At Erlian was the end of China. It was night when we heard a lot of noise. The train wheels were changed to the Russian gauge. Each wagon was raised by powerful jacks and new wheels moved underneath. Really amazing, and it took several hours.

Now we rode through Mongolia and the Gobi desert. The desert appeared similar to the one in the Western USA with sage-brush like vegetation. We saw round yurts (or gers) where the Mongols live. Also lots of horses, some grazing cattle but only one Bactrian Camel. I ate breakfast in a beautifully decorated Mongolian diner.

The main stop was Ulan Batar, the Capital. At night we passed Mongolian Departure Control and afterwards Russian customs. All went well, but those agents had very sharp eyes. At last one officer said: "Welcome to Russia". So, after 5 hours, we got rolling again. Ulan Ude was the first stop in Russia. Some people stayed there while some of us got out quickly to buy water, beer and munchies. The train soon followed the South side of Lake Baikal. Vegetation consisted of birch, pine and spruce. Some train wagons were loaded with timber, others with coal.

House in Irkutsk	Lake Baikal

Church of St. Nicolas

Our train arrived in Irkutzk at about 5 pm on a sunny day. As we got out we saw the sign Irkutsk and Monkey, so we were OK. A van drove us to a hotel where we could use the ATM to get Rubels. Here I found out that my main credit card had expired (important to check this before departure!). Luckily I had two others and was able to get some cash. I was taken to a lady for a so-called family stay. She fed me some rice plus meatballs. I could take a shower and had a nice bed for the night. I could have watched color TV, but did not understand Russian.

Next morning the van returned and took me plus a couple other Monkey clients to Listvyanka on the Baikal. It took close to one hour on a beautiful road through nice forests of birch and a few conifers. It really was a roller coaster type of road. I was delivered to another home where I got fed, could sleep and enjoy a sauna.

A tour-guide gave us a tour of the area. This included looking at nice wooden houses, visiting the wooden church of St. Nicolas and visiting the Baikal museum. Scenery was gorgeous. The lake is very deep, freezes solid in winter and has interesting wildlife.We did not see the famous Baikal seals.

Next day, our van returned to take us back to Irkutsk so we could board the train to Moscow. That trip took several days. Often we slept, when I looked outside I saw lots of trees and occasionally some Steppe. It was rather dull.

Natasha, train attendant	Moscow train station

Some people left the train at Ekaterinburg, but most folks went on to Moscow. A few km after Ekaterinburg we saw a very small obelisk, one side said: Asia, the other: Europe. It was right on the Ural…. But I did not see any mountains. Mostly just forest. Several times on our ride we crossed very wide rivers. I assume it was the Ob, Irtish, Volga, or even the Yenisey (fed by Angara, the outlet of Lake Baikal.) All these rivers go straight North into the Arctic. The train went through several important cities, like Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Ohms and Kazan. Visiting any of those might have been nice, but since they were not mentioned on my visum to Russia, I couldn't.

After 5 days on the train, we arrived in Moscow. A lady picked us up at the platform and took us by minibus to the Hotel Zaira. I had my own room with toilet and bath, also TV and radio. Too bad, that I could not understand what was said on TV in Russian. There were a couple of rainy days, and since I felt a bit exhausted, I mostly stayed inside during those days. Once I ventured out and took the metro to close to the Kremlin. It cost 350 Rubels to visit this, and being too tired I returned to the hotel by bus and metro. The last day I had to go to the main train station and wait till 11:55 for a train to St. Petersburg.

The night train arrived in the early morning. This time there was no Monkey delegation to take us to the hotel. Several taxi-drivers met me. I accepted a ride from one for 50 Rubels. The driver took my heavy suitcase and the bag, and off we were. We got to the hotel Viborgsaya, but then the driver asked for 300 Rubels, which I did not have.

After a lot of haggling, where I was on the losing side, I was able to fork over 15 $ US and the taxi driver left. Some friends were able to get to the hotel cheaper by taking the Metro!

Again my hotel room was quite acceptable. It was early Sunday, and after settling in my hotel room I started out discovering. I walked to the Metro and got out at Nevsky Prospect. They have enormously long and steep escalators. Everything is well marked, but in Russian letters. This gave me a lot of trouble, and I wish Peter would have introduced the Arabic spelling!!

I walked by the Hermitage with lots of people waiting to get in, also many tourist busses from Europe. Monday the Hermitage was closed so I decided to try on Tuesday and walked on. I followed the Neva river and crossed a bridge. Then I visited (for free) the fortress of Peter and Paul. There was beautiful spring weather and I saw lilac, tulips and other nice flowers. Up here plants bloom considerable later than in main Europe. A lot of people also enjoyed the nice weather, interesting buildings and the River Neva. I kept on walking back to Nevsky Prospect, which is the main drag through St. Petersburg. Among other things there is a chocolate museum and a stroganoff museum as well as the Kazan cathedral.

Near Hermitage, St. Petersburg	Neva River

Church of the Bleeding Savior

Next day again I took the Metro to Nevsky Prospect. In order to get out at the right place, I had to count stations. I wanted to visit the Hermitage, but settled for seeing the Russian museum. Here I found beautiful paintings, furniture and many other things. There was also the Church of the Bleeding Savior. I enjoyed it from outside, entrance was 250 R.

St. Petersburg really is one of the most interesting cities I have visited. Artwork, buildings etc. are beautiful. Still I was disappointed that Peter (the Great) did not introduce Arabic letters. I admit, though, that I did not work very hard in learning Russian (script and language) before the trip. Of course touring this place made me very thirsty which I quenched with a milkshake at McDonalds (or McLenin!).

On the evening of June 17 I went to the train station for Vilnius. This was the exact date I had on my visum. As I said above, one has to strictly adhere to that.

I was in another night train. Twice I had to go through some customs, and had no trouble. I avoided Belarus on purpose, because they charge 100 $ for a transitvisum! Vilnius, Lithuania was nice but it rained, and I was anxious to go South, to Switzerland, so I took the next train to Warsaw, Poland.

Vilnius from station	Wista River outside Warsaw

Warsaw, Poland (old town)

The ride was uneventful. I saw a few storks, and of course lots of agriculture. Arrival in Warsaw was close to midnight, local time. Without Polish money etc. I was rather lost. A local teacher lady helped me out by directing a taxi to the hostel I picked out on the internet during trip preparation. I arrived late, but the lady-attendant let me in. My room was clean again, shower and toilet adjoinging. There was breakfast included, and also internet access. Finally I was able to send messages to my family. In China and Russia I was unable to find internet cafes, post office and telephone office.

Now I needed some local currency. There was an ATM close-by and I got 500 Z with my valid credit card. So I took bus #150 down to the main train station. Here I checked in my baggage, and then went by bus to the end of the line. By walking a little I saw the Wista River. It was rather wide. Next I returned to the city and decided to explore the inner city. There were beautiful buildings there and a lot of people enjoying spring. Post office had some sort of celebration, and I purchased a card with stamps of the pope. That was the last time I pulled out my billfold.

In time I took a bus back to the train station, and discovered that my billfold was missing. Pick-pockets, I assume. Like a dummy I had 2 credit cards, drivers and pilots licence in there. It was in my backpocket, where people say not to keep the billfold. Well, I had had no problem in China and Russia.

At the police station it took a long time to make my report with the help of an English speaker. This report came in handy at home when I had my drivers licence replaced.

Getting my luggage out was not easy, either, since the attendant insisted on getting Polish money. Police led me to the train, since I bought the ticket before. I thought I had tickets up to Milano, but could locate only the one to Bratislava. I bought the ticket correctly, but the conductor saw June 20 instead of June 19! Somehow he found a night cot for me, and the ride south went well.

In Bratislava, Slovakia, I got out, clearly worried if I had enough money to get to Switzerland. I went to Information where I was able to leave my bags while I could wait to collect my thoughts and then take a bus downtown. There was a huge park for buses that go to many places in Europe. One bus was advertised for later in the afternoon to go to Zürich. I still had some dollars which I was able to change and buy that ticket.

Zürich, Switzerland	Weideli Garden

The bus left late in the afternoon, while it was raining outside. We traveled the length of Austria through slightly mountainous region. Arrival in Zürich was at 4:30 am. But I was in my native Switzerland where I knew my way around. Later in the day I made it down to Liestal in the Northwest.

Jura Mountains

Marcote, Tessin on Lake Lugano	San Salvatore

With relatives I made several trips from home to the Jura mountains. One day I went to see my sister in Tessin, the Italian part. She met me at the train station, and after a good lunch we took the boat for the trip around Lake Lugano. Next day we went up to San Salvatore. This is a steep mountain and a cog train takes you up there. The view from the top is fantastic: Alps, lakes, Italian plain are all quite visible. Weather was perfect.

Me picking cherries in Liestal

Back in Liestal, I had the return trip planned for July 1. Already paid for. But that evening when I complained about having had constipation during my trip, my in-laws insisted that I go to Emergency in the hospital.

The doctor said my kidney functioned only 10 % and that if he were my son, he would not let me go. In short, I had to check into the hospital. I stayed there 5 days and got some treatment, but not the full course. The doctor said I could travel and finish treatment in the States. I had purchased another ticket and left the hospital with my relatives.

I got a ride to the Zürich airport. Travel was through Washington and Atlanta to Florida. The desk clerk marked that I needed a wheel chair and a bit more room for my legs. I was put into Business class and had a good ride. Food was good, but I could not eat it all.

Now I am back in Tallahassee, saw the Urologist once and hope he has the right treatment for me after my return. Trouble was that the American system of physician insists on getting referrals to specialists. This is delaying my treatment against cancer for weeks!!