border crossings – Patamateria

North Pole, Chicken and the Top of the World

To go from the sublime of peaceful Chena Springs to the ridiculous, we stopped at The North Pole. Mmmm. A guy called Con (!) Miller who had already developed a reputation for playing Santa Claus to the Native children in Alaskan villages, moved his store from Fairbanks and renamed it Santa Claus House – atContinue reading “North Pole, Chicken and the Top of the World”

Last Lap to Beijing

Please ignore the strange numbers and notes at the start of paragraphs; they are to help me identify photos to add when I can get uninterrupted wifi access. This was the last part of the Trans-Siberian (Trans-Mongolian…Trans-Manchurian) rail journey, from Moscow to Beijing. Having experienced the Russian part of the trip, then the short bitContinue reading “Last Lap to Beijing”

…and into Mongolia

19th April – Next leg of the journey – to Ulaan Baator At 9pm we were off, back to the station, down the steps, up the steps and onto the train. This time we had lovely Mongolian attendants who were friendly and helpful. It made such a difference – as did the cool temperature onContinue reading “…and into Mongolia”