On course
The countdown to the trip is on! Step by step the hum drum of normal productive rat race life is being cast aside and the arrangements for departure are going together. Visa? Check! Foreign Currency? Check! Ticket? Working on that! It's heading in the right direction though.
Despite a minor set-back with arranging the Trans-Siberian, an April departure is still looking on the cards. There's lots to get done first, but this weekend should see a lot of that done, and give me time then to concentrate more or less solely on the trip.
The itinerary remains more or less the same, but with a few refinements. Rather than heading down the UK and into the continent only to head back North again the favourite departure plan at present is to take the ferry from Newcastle to Scandinavia and head more or less straight across towards St Petersburg taking in Scandinavia briefly along the way.
Plans for the Trans-Siberian, which was the part of the itinerary that did contain set dates is now up in the air for the time being, but at least it's allowed me to fully evaluate the options available. The Man in Seat 61 as usual provides a good guide to the different ways in tackling the longest of all rail journeys. At present it's not looking as if I'm going to find a replacement travel companion for this part of the trip, and given that tackling Russian train queues never mind the language isn't something I'd relish doing alone, going through an agency seems to be the way to go. There's a few out there, and the prices can vary from a few hundred to a straight through journey to a couple of grand for a fairly standard Intourist package.
Once the Trans-Siberian portion of the trip is in place, everything else will fall in around it: departure date to meet friends, spend the time I want in the destinations along the way and get to Moscow ready for the departure. At the other end timing the arrival at Vladivostok to meet the weekly ferry to Japan with reasonable convenience. From then on, it's pretty much a case of playing it by ear. There's a visa or two to contend with, but otherwise it's possible to be very flexible.
Last day at work tomorrow, and yes, I'll admit to starting to feel a bit excited by the prospect of it all.
Despite a minor set-back with arranging the Trans-Siberian, an April departure is still looking on the cards. There's lots to get done first, but this weekend should see a lot of that done, and give me time then to concentrate more or less solely on the trip.
The itinerary remains more or less the same, but with a few refinements. Rather than heading down the UK and into the continent only to head back North again the favourite departure plan at present is to take the ferry from Newcastle to Scandinavia and head more or less straight across towards St Petersburg taking in Scandinavia briefly along the way.
Plans for the Trans-Siberian, which was the part of the itinerary that did contain set dates is now up in the air for the time being, but at least it's allowed me to fully evaluate the options available. The Man in Seat 61 as usual provides a good guide to the different ways in tackling the longest of all rail journeys. At present it's not looking as if I'm going to find a replacement travel companion for this part of the trip, and given that tackling Russian train queues never mind the language isn't something I'd relish doing alone, going through an agency seems to be the way to go. There's a few out there, and the prices can vary from a few hundred to a straight through journey to a couple of grand for a fairly standard Intourist package.
Once the Trans-Siberian portion of the trip is in place, everything else will fall in around it: departure date to meet friends, spend the time I want in the destinations along the way and get to Moscow ready for the departure. At the other end timing the arrival at Vladivostok to meet the weekly ferry to Japan with reasonable convenience. From then on, it's pretty much a case of playing it by ear. There's a visa or two to contend with, but otherwise it's possible to be very flexible.
Last day at work tomorrow, and yes, I'll admit to starting to feel a bit excited by the prospect of it all.
posted by Daniel at 7:03 pm
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