The Trans-Siberian Journey

10 Sep 13:50 to 14 Sep 13:50 (101 hours, 6266km)

Day 1 18:00

I have been spending 4 hours sitting on the train doing nothing but to watch the mongolian landscape. I could not take my eyes off the window.   After the Gobi it was nice to see the greener side of Mongolia. I enjoyed watching the tiny spots of cows, sheeps, horses and people wandering on the green hills and vast land, the colorful villages and trees shedding their yellow leaves. Everything is in such a slow pace. 

21:38

Before boarding I was expecting to meet people on trains. But now I seem to quite enjoy being alone in my room. Privacy is not easy to have while traveling, especially when sharing a ger with 5 men and women you can only change your pants in a sleeping bag.

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Officially unemployed

These days I have been experimenting a more dynamic lifestyle as I mentioned before, to the extent that I have almost forgotten it is just a week before I leave!

It was my last day at work few days ago (feels like weeks). It was the time when I got more attention from friends and colleagues than on my birthdays. I just saw it as a normal day but the people made it special.

Since then I am free to do whatever I want to do. It is such an amazing feeling that I have lost for a long long time. Days are never boring. I meet friends, play snookers, movies, cook, make delicious Chinese dumpling with grandma, water my plant, play ukulele, hiking, watch fireflies, enjoy the time with my funny family (and forget about packing). And it is the first time I would say I am living at present. Not worrying about the trip, jobs, houses, the future. I have a feeling that things would go on the right track no matter what and I am not wasting my time to worry about it.

As a result I have not booked or planned anything except the train tickets and nothing is fixed after Russia. (p.s. I am was one of those excel addict who would prepare a detailed spreadsheet for my previous trips)

So a little update of my plan:
19th August - a 24-hour sleeper train from Hong Kong to Beijing
27th August - a 30-hour sleeper train from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar
-----adventures in Gobi desert (no plan)-----
10th September - 5-day Trans-Siberian train from Ulaanbaatar to Moscow

Sounds like a good plan.

Trans-siberian must have: Dry Shampoo

Background: A trans-siberian train from Mongolia to Moscow takes 5 days...

seat61.com

Captured from Man in Seat 61, a very useful website for train information. I especially like the lines that read "Remember that the need to take a shower every single day is a relatively recent western social trend, not a human necessity". Okay! Sometimes we are trained to assume it a must.

So here is my way to keep my hair clean: the dry shampoo

click here for product information from Amazon.com

It is hard to find and the only brand available in the shop. From my research it is sometimes used by stylists to add a little bit of volumn to the hair. Spray a little on the hair and rub and blend until it absorbs all the oil and it is done! Looking forward to give it a try!

The Mongolian dream

picture from volmongol.org

My Mongolian dream stems from a book called Wolf Totem I read about 10 years ago. Though it was about inner Mongolia the picture of endless grass steppe and stand alone mongolian ger were deeply embedded in my mind. I have decided to go once at least in my lifetime and although not expected to be so soon, it is now.

And since it is a must go I do not mind postponing it til a perfect time (no idea when). The only travel friendly months are July and August and being so close to Hong Kong it would be a pretty good starting point of world travel. So why not now?

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