Tsukiji Fish Market and the Rest of Japan

On our final day in Tokyo Chris, Carla, Stephanie, and I decided to wake up at 3am in order to grab a taxi to witness the very famous TUNA auctions at largest fish market in the world, Tsukiji Fish Market! You have to get to the market very early because not only does the TUNA auction start at 4am and end around 5am, but due to the large demand to witness this event and the very sincerely authentic nature of the business you must wait in a line in hopes of gaining entry! They only allow around 140 people in two groups to go in at two different periods, and you are confined to a very small viewing area. Understand this is honestly not a tourist sight, i mean tourist go, but this is professional market and you are considered quite an annoyance to everyone that works at Tsukiji (which by the way employs over 60,000 people). Lets just say it was a surreal experience, one because of how passionate they are for fresh tuna and how much they will pay to get it, but also because you soon realize they are selling very much endangered tuna. Japan, if you have ever watched the show, Whale Wars, is responsible for a lot of over fishing and does not obeyed by international standards in terms of what is considered inappropriate to catch. It was quite shocking, but nonetheless is a very important part of their culture. The videos below show you the crazy nature of the auction as well as the hilarious expressions of the auctioneers :)

Tsukiji fish market, as i already stated, is massive. So after the auction we decided to walk around and observe all the odd and very very fresh things you could buy. It was over whelming and often we were completely confused as to what we were even looking at. Before leaving the market we did the only sensible 4 starving people who have been up since 3 am could do at 7am, we ate some sushi! It was amazing (as you might imagine it was absurdly fresh) and very different from what we are accustomed to eating in the states! We finally decided to grab a train back to the hostel around 8am and each of us crashed right when we got back. We spent the rest of he day figuring out what to do. We had to wait for Chris's blood work results to come back so we knew he did not have a major infection, but we wanted to move on to Kyoto since we only had a few days left in Japan. We got the results, all good, and decided to walk to the train station to try another first in our world of transportation adventures - the Bullet Train! If you did not know, this is the fastest train in the world and it was great, but as expensive as our flight to Japan :)

We arrived in Kyoto, which is the old capital of Japan, pretty late at night and took it easy. As you might imagine Kyoto has hundreds of temples (Chris just informed me it has the most UNESCO world heritage sites in one area for anywhere in the world). Our first night in the hostel was quite funny as we had an encounter in our room that made me, for the first time in the trip, tell somebody off in our room. DO NOT SKYPE WITH YOUR FAMILY AT 1AM in an 8 bed dorm with other people sleeping or you will get an ear full from a raging Italian American :) .....the second night the guy typed instead of chatted.


SIDE NOTE: sleeping in these 6, 8, or 10 bed dorms is very interesting. Living with your best friends in different rooms can be challenging enough, but when you travel and have people from all over the world staying in one tiny area you really see how certain cultures behave, what they think is considered okay and in general the unique tendencies they each have. You also can never seem to catch up on sleep as everyone is on completely different schedules. People come in at 1am, rustle around and leave come back at 3am go to bed, while others have been trying to sleep since 10pm and wake up at 6am or 8am to go off and explore.  They are also a breeding ground for getting sick and staying that way! Needless to say, a month into our trip and now being in SE Asia where are dollar goes much further Chris and I are starting to opt for more expensive private rooms so we can actually get some rest.


The next day we met back up with Mark, who arrived that morning from Tokyo, and went exploring the temple system. Mark introduced us to SHAKI SHAKI chicken via the 100yen menu at McDonald's which we ended up eating quite a bit of during the rest of our stay in Japan in order to save money! We ended up departing Kyoto for Osaka, but decided to do a day trip in Nara. Nara is a very tourist place due to its amazing temples and the domesticated deer which wonder all over the town and allow you to pet and feed them. Here we saw the largest Buddha in the world and crawled through a whole in one of the columns that was the size of Buddha nostril! This is said to give you enlightenment if you are able to actually fit through it. (both Chris and I were surprisingly able to complete this task but it was far from easy). While we were in Nara i tried to turn on my camera and it would not power up or give any type of message. On top of that the lens shutter seemed to be completely loose and would not stay shut. As you can imagine panic hit me and my entire mission from then on out was to find a camera repair shop so we hopped back on the train and headed to Osaka!

Osaka was a place that many people said was not that cool, more of a port/shipping and industrial city, but if you know me then you know how much i love Anthony Bourdain! This is his favorite place in all of Japan, i mean the guy did an entire episode just in this city and talked about how strange the night life was and how amazing the food is. For this reason I really wanted to go and luckily enough we had to be there anyway to catch our ferry back to China. Bourdain could not have been more correct about this amazing city!

We stayed in a tiny hostel, which was truly more of a guest house run by one very very nice and humbled man named MASA! The first thing we did was figure out where there was a repair shop and luckily about 1.5 miles away was a Sony repair shop (which is my brand of camera). We walked there and started talking to the ladies, and the first thing she did was tell me it would take at least 2 weeks to repair, because they first needed to figure out what was wrong. So the first thing I thought was OMG I am gonna have to buy a new camera :( .... She then asked if had tried changing the battery and I assured her that I had charged it the night before and it was fully charged. She took my battery out anyway and put a new one in. Guess what happened :) ... the camera turned on perfectly! Chris and I about died laughing and I felt so dumb. First major brain fart of the trip goes to The GRIZZ :)

Back to Osaka! So we end up walking around our district of town which is in the heart of the night life area that Bourdain loves so much. First thing I do is spot a street vendor selling "TAKA YAKI" balls, which is one thing Bourdain again explains as being so amazing! I instantly bought a batch and was overcome with joy! These things are like little buff pastries filled with squid, fresh vegies and spices and you use a tooth pick to pop them in your mouth. They grill them on these specially made cast iron type molds that form perfect balls and its incredible! Best thing we have eaten at this stage of our journey, IMO!

Next thing we did was walk around this area in complete awe. I am serious this city (or at least the part of town we were in) is everything you imagine when you think about Japan youth and crazy culture. More Neon lights then Vegas, massive (I'm talking the size of a mall) "Game" rooms, the oddest advertisements you have ever seen, strangest type of retail shops and offering you have ever seen, and just crazy people talking in really high voices trying to get people in the doors! Words do not even explain, but trust us it was insane! Hopefully the pictures do it some justice! After the night of wondering we decided to go back for a nice long night of sleeping!

The next day we did not do much in Osaka. We took it easy and tried to regain some energy after being on the move so much. That night MASA and another girl who had been studying in Japan for the past 2 years made all of us food, it was great for our budget :) ... The next day we got up super early and hopped on our 2 night / 3 day ferry to Shanghai!

Trouble in Tokyo

       We woke up at 2:45 am, took a taxi to the airport, and then after being completely baffled by the Chinese airport system, we made it on our flight to Tokyo. I was so bored I watched the Bounty Hunter. We got a great view of Mt. Fuji before landing in Tokyo . We immediately noticed the stark contrast between China and Japan. Everyone here was quiet and humble. Customs and immigration was a breeze and they even have a free clinic at the airport where arriving passengers can go if they have a fever or cold symptoms. There was minimal pollution and the city seemed very well maintained. After running all over trying to get money, we got checked into our hostel. It was hilarious because the only ATM's that foreigners can use in Japan are at 7/11. They also have their own brand of beer simply call The Brew, which tastes exactly how you'd expect beer brewed by a convenience store chain to taste.
          John and I walked down to a major river to relax and check out the scenery. We commented that the water looked very high as we waved at a big tour boat cruising past us. We were looking at the wakes coming towards us and both thought to ourselves "hmm... those are coming straight towards us. Hmm...those are huge waves." At the last minute, we both snapped into action and ran back as the water rushed over the embankment, barely missing us.

     We spent most of our time in Tokyo relaxing, cooking, and wandering in order to save money. We spent a lot of time with Stephanie, Mark, and Carla. Stephanie is a fashion designer from California, Mark is a teacher on sabbatical (or maybe permanent leave because traveling is so fun), and Carla is an actress and activist from Spain. We had a few mellow nights and then we went out with a big crew of people to explore Tokyo at night. We went to Shibuya Crossing which is the biggest crossing in the world. Traffic stops from all directions and people (around 2000 per walk signal) walk in all directions across the intersection.

       So... I got two mosquito bites in Beijing, one on each ankle. They were a bit red then but by the time I got to Tokyo, the color was starting to spread up my leg. One day I woke up and my ankles were both swollen up like balloons and bright red. I debated for half a day and then decided I needed to see a doctor. John and I went to St. Luke's International Hospital which turned into a crazy experience. I had to get x-rays taken and the technicians were cracking up as they gestured and watched me wiggle around into the proper position. Next, I had to have two blood samples taken. During the second one, the blood wasn't flowing very well so I watched as they pushed and pulled on the syringe for what seemed like an eternity. After waiting for awhile in the lobby, the doc came out and said my blood was too coagulated so they needed to take another sample using a "different method." I interpreted this as "we need a bigger needle." After 5 or 6 hours of waiting and being stuck with needles, the doctor diagnosed me with Cellulitis. He prescribed antibiotics but said I might have to be admitted to the hospital depending on the results of my blood work. John and I went to the pharmacy to get some antibiotics which was another struggle with the language barrier.Luckily, the following day a nice woman from our hospital called the hospital and informed me that I was good to go! The infection had spread to my blood or anywhere serious so I got the go ahead to leave Tokyo. Although I was out quite a bit of money, it was a massive relief.

Getting checked in

Third time's a charm

Sick and sicker in Beijing

Beijing was a very bittersweet experience. We took a subway to the stop near our hostel. We knew the hostel's address so we figured it couldn't be that hard to get there. WRONG! We ended up walking in every direction except for the right one. Nobody spoke a word of understandable english and everyone that tried to help us pointed us in a different direction. We couldn't read any of the street signs because most were written only in chinese. We couldn't even figure out where we were on a map. We had exhausted all of our resources and were exhausted from walking around with our packs on. Finally, a traveler we had talked to earlier rode up on his bike and said he had found the alley that our hostel was on. We checked into our place which turned out to be a posh, traditional style garden hostel with a/c and beds that felt like sleeping on a cloud. It was a huge relief after being on a train for a week.

Our first meal after the train: EPIC!

John and I with Rafael, Lee, and the owner

After much needed showers (John actually cried while in the shower because the feeling was so immense after smelling and feeling so ripe for 7 days on a train) , our first order of business was to find a restaurant and devour a meal that didn't involve bread or instant noodles. We decided to avoid the main streets and ended up at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant in the middle of a random alley. We couldn't read the menu so we asked a Chinese man who spoke a few words of English to order us whatever he liked. We ended up with orange chicken, beets, soup noodles, rice, spicy celery, shredded beans and peppers, and soup with potato, ginger, and pork. The lady who ran the place was super friendly and we ended up taking photos with her. After the food and a few beers, we each paid around $5. For the rest of our trip we resorted to places where we could point at items on a menu.

Your guess is as good as mine...

        John had a page with phrases for common food, so we also tried pointing at items on the list to order. This led to some successful meals as well as some funny disasters. One morning we were a bit hungover (the reason for this will be explained later and involves a very amazing cultural experience) and in serious need of food. We ended up with dumplings filled with garlic, a massive noodle plate, and chicken leg with some funky sauce. We could hardly look at the chicken leg, let alone eat it. All of a sudden, our waitress came over and sat down to watch us eat. We had to get our game faces on, ignore any gross thoughts, and finish the food in front of us. Luckily we were able to explain that we were so full from over ordering and she gave us takeaway boxes!

Tower of Bhuddist Incense by Longevity Hill and Garden of Perfection and Brightness

(John Writing now)  The second day in Beijing, Chris, Lee and I decided to go check out Summer Palace which is where the emperor and his various servants spent their summers away from the Forbidden City. This place was incredible. In terms of size it was about 4x bigger than forbidden city and was a completely gated/wall divided estate that revolved around a massive lake. Their were so many temples and shrines within the palace that it became a very tiring task trying to see everything. We only walked about half the estate and it still took us about 4+ hours and made all of us keel over by the end. We also made the dumb decision to use the train station on the east end of the palace which meant we had to climb up the main mountain that the central temple rested atop, it was much easier said then done :)

Buying beer across from our hostel

Once we returned to our hostel we sat outside and had few casual drinks before dinner from a guy who lived across the alley and sold beers out of his living room for 2yen (50 cents). It was amazing just sitting in this alley and watching the hustle and bustle of daily life of big city China. It was also hilarious because  a young boy took quite an interest in us and was showing off his martial arts skills with  a wooden spear he was carrying. It could not have been funnier. Our next move was to find another hole in the wall to have another epic meal! This would turn out to be one hell of a cultural encounter :)

SIDE NOTE (Random Thoughts about China) - Beijing is so dirty and polluted it is hard to even describe. Our last night in the hostel we were looking at the outside security camera and I asked if it was snowing? Of course it was not, but the amount of pollution in the air kicks up so much debris that it truly looks like a blizzard is occurring :) ... Also cars and automobiles will not stop for you, they also do not obey or have any type of understandable road system. Even when the the cars have a red light and pedestrians have a green walk sign cars will drive and honk as they attempt to hit you! It is truly remarkable and makes for some funny road crossing moments. Did I forget to mention it is completely acceptable while in a restaurant to hack up a lugy and spit it anywhere on the restaurant floor, or light a cigarette and ash anywhere you feel, spit bones or food you do not like on the floor and you pretty much eat in your knickers if you fancy. Hell one night i went to dinner shirtless. Also kids have giant slits in their pants and will take a poo or pee anywhere at anytime, seriously anywhere anytime. They just squat or are picked up by the parent who will spread their legs in the air and the kid will just go for it - street, stairs, subway, lobby, you name it, its likely feasible. Getting in line or waiting your turn is also not a concept here, its a free for all.

Back to our amazing restaurant experience! We ended walking around the Hutongs (alleys) near our hostel until we found a restaurant that had a good amount of Chinese people eating in it and decided to go for it. They had a picture menu so we just pointed to a few items, the meal honestly was just okay but what happened during the meal was priceless! As we are sitting there waiting for the food we look over at two young Chinese guys (20 years old) who had obviously been at the restaurant for a while. They had about 5 beers each stacked in front of them, a bunch of different food plates laying everywhere, cigarette buts scattered all over the floor around their chairs and one of them had his shirt hanging on the chair next to him.They were quite intrigued by our presence and kept staring at us, until finally the small guy with no shirt yelled at us and held up his current beer to toast!

So i obliged, only to realize he was challenging me to a chugging contest. As he started drinking i finished my gulp but looked over at him as he gestured to me to continue drinking so i did until he stopped and did a little choking cough.Then his friend looked at Chris and did the same thing, but this guy was a pro and finished his entire beer. Soon another much much older guy looked at us from across the restaurant and did the same thing to both of us. At this point the entire restaurant including the staff was stopping whatever they were doing and watched all of this with great amusement. The younger guys even went up the counter a brought us more beer. Finally after going back and fourth with this i pulled up a few chairs to our table and gestured for them to come over and join us. We sat with each other and tried talking, gesturing, and doing my cheersing with each other. Keep in mind they did not speak English except for about 3 phrases.The kept ordering more and more beers for the table and ordered pig intestine which was actually the best thing we had all night :) (please keep in mind that we did not truly want or need to drink all night long like we did, but it would have been extremely rude for us not to take anything they offered us, so we embraced the moment with out a lick of understandable English being spoken). We ended up being the last table in the whole restaurant at 12:30am (we sat down at 8ish), even the whole staff was already cleaned up, eating dinner together by the point we were finishing up. The small shirtless guy was hilarious and kept making the strangest martial arts noises we had ever heard and kept hugging me while saying "I love you guys" it was amazing. When we finally got the check which was 120 Yuan (about 15 bucks for 5 dishes, and who knows how many beers), we told the lady to include everything our fellow locals had eating and drinking at their table and with us. The total came out to about 200 Yuan (about 20+ bucks split between 3 of us). This meal is still one of the funniest encounters we have had during the entire journey! The remainder of the night we headed out on the town and linked up with other travelers from Germany, but nothing compared to our experience earlier in the night :)

          We woke up after a long night out on the town and had a very questionable breakfast. We felt awful but decided to rally and head to Tienanmen Square. It was absolutely massive and there were people and vendors everywhere. It is one of the largest public squares in the world and it seemed to go on forever. We had to go through a security check just to enter the square and once we were in, there were guards and security cameras everywhere. Not a good place to make a scene! We went across the whole square and then turned around once we came to a massive gated tower which used to guard the entrance to Old Beijing City.

Tienanmen Square

Gate to Old Beijing

        As we were walking back, a guy and girl walked up to us and started chatting with us. They said they were brother and sister and were visiting from Shanghai. They walked with us towards the Forbidden City and kept asking us rapid fire questions so we hardly had time to think about what was going on. They walked super fast and we were getting annoyed by how antsy and in a hurry they seemed to be. I was talking to the guy and he made up an elaborate story about his work in Shanghai and all the places they had visited in Beijing. He even had a bracelet that he claimed he had just bought while visiting the Lama Temple. We mentioned something about getting a quick bite to eat from a street vendor and they said they wanted to eat too. He started walking towards where the restaurants were. It was odd because he was taking a random route and kept passing a number of cool scenic spots and good restaurants. John even said questioningly to the sister, "Your brother seems to have a good idea where hes going for being a tourist." After walking all over, we finally came to a cafe/ tea house and the guy started walking in. John and I looked at each other, realized they were trying to scam us, and told them bluntly that we didn't want to eat there and were going to find our own place. Unsurprisingly, they lost all interest in talking with us and kept walking down the street. They were very skilled con artists but luckily were weren't fooled!
       We walked into the massive complex outside the Forbidden City and started walking towards the official entrance. We discovered that the ticket booth had just closed for the day. It quickly sunk it that we had just missed the most popular attraction in Beijing because some scammers wasted our time on a b.s. search for a restaurant. Oh well, another strange travel experience.

Ouch! Bumpy road ahead

       On our last day we decided to go to the great wall of china! This is still one of the highlights of my trip and likely will remain one of the coolest things I have ever done. We ended up getting picked up by a shuttle in which Lee, Chris and I were forced to sit in these tiny fold down chairs with no back support while everyone else was sitting in plush bucket seats. The trip up to the remote area of the wall we chose to see took close to 3 hours. Trust me not a fun drive in these seats :) But the wall was incredible and made up for any shaky travel experience. We were given 3+ hours to walk about 4 miles to a pick up point. This was an awesome work out as there were parts that were completely vertical like climbing a mountain, parts that plummeted straight down and others that were just a nice stroll. This took all day and the pictures are really the only way to truly depict what it was like!

Stories from the Train

We arrived at the proper train station (Moscow has about 8 major train stations) for the Trans-Mongolian railway about 3-4 hours prior to departure in order to make sure we knew where we needed to be. This would turn out to be a smart decision as again in Moscow no one spoke english and the system was not clearly marked. After walking around trying to figure out what to do, Chris and me finally ran into 3 Swedish guys who were traveling on the Trans-Mongolian railway (it became a big joke, about finding new friends who were also travelling, because we stood out big time due to our massive backpacks and big bags of pot noodles and vodka). We talked and figured out the system was real easy. You just wait for your train number (004) to pop up on this big screen and then a platform number shows up next to it.

Finally at about 9pm our train number popped up and we began walking to the platform and found our carriage number. Turns out our new Swedish friends were only one door down from us in the same car. Chris and i lucked out and had no one else in our room designed for 4 people (it would remain like this for the entire 7 days). Once the train started moving i did the only sensible thing someone who will be on a train for 7 days could do - pulled out my bottle of vodka went next door to our Swedish mates cabin and said lets get to know each other :) ... This was an amazing experience as we (Per, Oliver and Joel) shared hilarious stories, told jokes, and talked about our travel plans. Turns out that Per and Joel will be coming to America by the time i return to road trip across the country. I really hope our paths cross while they are in our country so i can show them true American hospitality! During the night Joel kept saying he needed to go to bed because it was too late (3am), and Chris and I responded - "dude your on a train for 5 days and go through about 6 different time zones, time is relative and sleep is pointless". He finally agreed after his mates started ragging on him, needless to say he was the first person to retire later that night. Funny note about Joel, during the night he he went to the toilet but could not figure out how to flush the toilet, and ended up turning a lever he thought was the flusher, but it turned out to be a water valve that floods the bathroom for cleaning. From there on out that night, the bathroom was soaking wet :)

Oliver and Joel (sorry Per, we don't have a picture of you)

Soon a British guy named Lee walked up to our party and joined in. Lee would end up spending two nights in our cabin on the vacant bench we had, and would be our travel buddy through China! Let me say Lee is the man, and his company was always a hilarious exchange especially when i would get lost his British accent and slang phrases which we will talk about later! Finally one of the Chinese attendants told us we needed to be quiet and close the door. So one by one we each faded. Tally for the night was 4 bottles of vodka finished between 6 people!

Our buddy Lee

Sleepy time for Lee

 DAY 2:

Slept till the first stop and jumped out to grab more Vodka, and noodles. Spend most of the day just lounging, until we decided to wounder through the trains and run into LEE who was sitting a cabin with his neighbors from Australia. Their names are Luke and Casey, and they rocked! It would become apparent quiet early into the trip that Luke would act as the ring leader for every party we had, and by the end of the trip he had our entire group of travellers/friends (around 13 people) doing the SQUID hand shake! This is where one person balls their fist as if they are about to do a fist pump with some one and screams "Squid me" and then other person opens their hand and grabs the other persons hand like a squid and then visa versa! Thanks Luke, I'll be bringing that tradition back to the US! Back to the story. We ended up sitting with our new friends and Luke and began taking shots of Vodka at 6ish while telling stories and jokes. At this point Lee introduces us to his room mate, JOSE from Spain. He is around 58 years old and spoke no English and is travelling alone. He was a very funny man, and was extremely happy to find out Chris spoke very decent Spanish. From this point on Chris would become Jose`s translator. We took 4 vodka shots before dinner which set the tone for the rest of the evening. Then we decided to all go to the food car to grab a real hot meal, instead of pot noodles. This would turn out to be a hilarious and failed attempt at grabbing real food.

Luke, the crazy Australian

 Singalong!

Once we got to the car Chris, Lee and me sat down at the counter and a younger Russian lady came up to us and pointed at the bottle of vodka Lee was holding and said NO. Then she pointed to Lee and said why don't go have some fun in the back room. After trying to order and laughing at her crazy antics we soon realized the lady was either crazy or on something very strong. The guys next to informed us they have been waiting forever and that she kept trying to over charge them. They said that she must be high or something becuase every conversation they had with her made little sense. At this point we cut our losses and decided it was better to just make more cup noodles and go hungry once again!

After eating we decide to continue drinking some more in Luke and Casey cabin. Soon a group of other various travellers from different parts of the world wander our way and i go grab our Swedish neighbors and before we know it there is full blown party going down! The video we posted earlier depicts this scenario better than any words can describe, but it involved a lot of singing, card games, drinking songs and us being yelled at by the Chinese attendant even though there was no one else on this carriage with Casey, Luke, Lee and Jose! At this point the Chinese attendant tells us that we need to be inside the cabin our we must leave, so we say cool and one by one we figure out how to cram close to 14 people into a cabin made for 4 people and we succeed (again the picture posted earlier of the aerial view, portrays our success at this the best). Luke was on fire this night as he was every night, and Casey kept trying to tell him to calm down which provided me with great amusement because it was like telling an un-trained wolf to sit down and stay ahahaha. Needless to say i am confident these two will make a perfect married couple as of 11/11/11! Our friend Lee licked a girls ear and ended up getting tackled by her and having his pants ripped. We all lost it laughing at that point. Later on around 3-4 am we are all kicked out of the cabin by the Chinese attendant and all go our separate ways for sleep after figuring out no where will let us continue the socializing. Lee once again fell asleep in our cabin.

DAY 3
Late wake up call and lots of lounging take place until our first stop in which we all rush off to grab food. Nobody had any luck finding new goods so we ended up having more bread and noodles. We also have all run out of vodka, but no one could find any on the next few stops so well all load up on beer for the nights festivities. This time the night begins slow with Luke, Lee, Chris, Kacey and me playing some casual card games, that soon turn into some deadly drinking games like ASS HOLE and F*$K the dealer! Also Chris instigates the "Beer for life" game to everyone. This, if you didn't know, is where each person drinking a beer must do something to their can of beer that identifies it as their own, so i kinda crush/dent my can, Chris turns his tap up, LEE rips his top off, and so on. If you say - "hey john do you play beer for life" and the other person has not done anything to their can then that person must chug/skull the beer. Lets just say i lost this game about 3 times with a full (tall boy) beer each time. No one else was ever caught! Soon our new group of travelling friends (Aubrey, Maria, Martin, Flip, Ghaz, James) join us in the games which due to the sake of not having enough cards for 14ish people turns into the game NUMBERS. This is where, again for those of you that don`t know, involves everyone saying one or two numbers from 1-10 with out repeating numbers and depending on which number you say it changes the direction. It is so simple even a cave man could do it, but i literally had to drop out of the game because i lost every round and it became such an ordeal that the entire cabin had their video cameras out filming how utterly stupid i was. We spent the end of the night trying to stump Luke. No matter how obscure of an actor or actress we named, he was able to link them to Kevin Bacon through six degrees of separation. This night ended like the others with us getting hushed and everyone moving to various places on the train through out the night. By this time we all felt like a real family!

Martin

Aubrey

James

Maria

DAY 4
We go through a major time change during the night and it turns out to be 2am in the morning but fully light out! It messes with me and Chris and we try to sleep it off, except i am as sick as a dog. I m up all night with out one single moment of rest. I am hacking up a lung every 10 seconds, can not breathe through my nose at all, and my throat feels like sand paper. This continues for hours until Chris finally just gets up because i am so loud he could not sleep (sorry man, your a great buddy to travel with). I end up spending most of the day in bed. (Chris writing now)We had a long stop just before the Mongolian border because they had to separate the train and put in a new restaurant car. They also took our passports which was very disconcerting for awhile. We took advantage of the stop to load up on beer and vodka. Casey was furious at Luke because they were getting off the train at 6am the following morning and Luke was buying wine and champagne! We also found a great little cafe where we ate goulash and some unknown dishes which was our first real food on the trip. With great relief, we got our passports back and then got moving. A short time later, we had a customs inspection where a very stern military man came in and rummaged through all our stuff and then two police dogs walked by our room. We had to declare all of our printed materials. I wrote down "Siddhartha" and the customs official got angry and through gestures he made it clear he wanted to see my bag. I'm not sure what he was expecting but when he saw it was just a book he rolled his eyes and started laughing. After we were allowed to leave our cabins, we went to the restaurant car and had a huge party with everyone we had been hanging out with the past few days. We all exchanged information and had shared five or six bottles of vodka. It was a crazy night because most people didn't go to bed till 4 or 5 am. I ended up getting my hair cut in the bathroom and then heading to a car where we took shots of espresso chased with sprite. We went back to the restaurant where we played drinking games and Lee ended up falling asleep on the table. I watched the sunrise and said bye to all the people getting off. We had all spent so much time together that we were all very close. John and I were cursing ourselves for not booking a stop in Ulan-Bator. Thanks for all the laughs and good times everyone!


The Rest of the Train
We spent the rest of our time relaxing and enjoying the downtime now that most of our friends had left. We were all starting to get sick and the heat was oppressive. We watched the cool scenery pass and endured a number of customs and immigration checks. There was a night where I slept with earplugs in because they lifted the train up on hydraulics and were banging around until 1 am. Our last day, they gave us free meal tickets so we got some solid food for breakfast and lunch. We were still sick of bread and completely malnourished.

Burning up in the Gobi Desert

The Value of Travel

         John and I have been having a hard time figuring out what to write. There are so many little details and cultural differences that we find amusing. We are constantly meeting people and every day we pass scenery and buildings that fascinate and amaze. We also spend plenty of time perplexed by things we can neither comprehend nor imagine happening in the west. There are also those "you had to be there" moments that we could try to write about but would likely be boring or make us sound like five year olds. Its daunting trying to convey all the amazing and also all the absurd and challenging things that happen each place we go. On the plus side, we've been forced to look at what the value of travel is for us. It often doesn't involve any epic achievments or adventures. The most interesting things are the daily occurences that are hilarious, tragic, that make us feel connected to others, or that make us feel a million miles from home. We form strong bonds with friendly locals and with fellow wide-eyed travelers. Quickly, we move on to see what's around the next bend or in the next city. It makes me feel accepted, free, and in solidarity with others. It also makes me feel foreign, uncomfortable, and alone. This is the value of travel to me. We learn equally from the good and bad and while pollution, poverty, and suffering remain as troubling memories, most negative experiences are very comical or petty in retrospect.

Vodka, Noodles, Sleep, Repeat...

At one of our stops in Mongolia

Heading through the mountains in China

The trans-mongolian train was one of the coolest things I've ever done. It was uncomforatable at times but the people and scenery made it such a positive experience. We were on the train for a total of 7 days and went across 7 time zones. Our route took us from Moscow, just north of Kazakhstan, across siberia, through the Gobi Desert and ended in Bejing. John and I lucked out. We were the only people in our 4 bed cabin so we had extra space to lounge and store our stuff. The beds were wood with a thin layer of padding. My feet hung of the bed a few inches and if I was laying on my back, my feet pressed so hard against the wall that they would go numb. There were constant banging, creaking, and splashing noises coming from the train but it became a dull background noise after a few days and the ride was fairly smooth. Food on the train was pricey and the one time we went to the restaraunt car, the waitress was too drunk to take our order. As a result, we used the boiling water in our train car and ate noodles for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We also got bread, beer, and sausage from vendors at train stations. We generally had a few stops each day which lasted anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes. Water became a prized commodity because we often went for a long time without being able to buy any. There were no showers so we used cleansing wipes and washed our hair in the sinks. We also ended up doing laundry in the sinks and hanging clothes to dry in our room. The toilets have a pedal that opens the bottom of the bowl and dumps everything straight onto the tracks. For this reason, they lock the bathroom doors during all stops. This led to some painful waits while drinking at night, and on occasion empty water bottles had to be utilized.

          We met so many amazing people on the train. There were lots of families and older couples but also a big contingent of backpackers from all over the world. There were people from Britain, Holland, Spain, Sweeden, Australia, and Austria. We passed the time by drinking copious amounts of vodka (which was cheaper than water in many spots), playing mafia, crazy eights, drinking games, learning songs from other countries, reading, and seeing how many people we could cram into one cabin while singing Bohemian Rhapsody. 

Party time! Looking down from the top bunk

         The scenery was varied and stunning along the way. At first, we passed through dense forrest and large stretches of uninhabited land. Our sense of time was completely thrown off after a few days on the train. One night, we woke up at 2:30 am and the sun was already up. We looked out the window and we were just getting to Lake Baikal which is the largest fresh water lake in the world. The water is potable and it is supposedly so clear that snorkelers and divers often get vertigo when they look straight down in the water. Mongolia had small nomadic villages dotting a dry and harsh landscape. We then passed through a stretch of cool, rolling hills that looked like northern Colorado. 

Panorama at a quick stop in Mongolia

      The Gobi Desert was harsh and the temperature quickly became unbearable. It was 90 degrees on the train and much warmer outside. We spent our time there holding water bottles to our necks, chugging water, and then wishing to god we could get more water. The train ride through China took us through rural, shade farming areas, dramatic mountains, and finally through the high-rise apartments, crumbling houses, and ultra-modern megastructures of Beijing. Most of our fellow travelers got off at Ulan-Bator so the last two days of the trip we got packed up and researched for the rest of our trip. Pulling into the station and stepping of the train was a great feeling. The time had gone by quickly but we were ready for a shower and a normal meal.

Train station in Mongolia

Countryside near Beijing

-CG

Moscow

Red Square

Kremlin

St. Basil's

 After waiting for literally 2+ hours in the immigration line in Domodavo (not sure that is completely right) International airport, Chris and I finally entered Moscow! The first thing we needed to figure out was how to get to our hostel which was    located in the center of the city. Since the airport was really far from our hostel Chris and I agreed that taking the trains would be the cheapest option. Let me first say that if it was not for Chris's amazing navigation skills we would have been doomed :)

 For those of you that did not know, Russia has its own alphabet which is extremely confusing because everything is pronounced completely different then how it truly looks. On top of this pretty much no one speaks English. All of this made taking the train system a pretty amusing time. We had to take three separate routes which involved a lot of transferring between the various train lines. Our planed had landed at 1:30pm, but we did not make it to our accommodation until around 6:30pm. After checking into the hostel Chris and I did the only sensible thing any exhausted and hungry travel can do - DRINK!

Our goal was to have a few beers and try to stay up till some reasonable hour in the night and then go to bed so that we could acclimate to our new time zone. So we found a a real neat bar a block from our hostel and ordered a round. This bar gave you a variety of size options and we decided to split the biggest option available for our second as was a lot cheaper then ordering two individual beers. As you can see by the picture below it presented Chris and me with great amusement :)

3.5 Liter beer in Moscow!

We finished our beers at 8ish and began waling to back to the hostel, when we spotted a very tall and well lit building a few miles down the road. I said to Chris that I believe that is STALIN's TOWER, which is famous piece of Russian architecture. As you might imagine we decided to check to take a nice walk and investigate my hunch. Finally arriving at the building I approached two guys outside and asked if they spoke English in order to figure out what we were looking at. One of them did speak English and it turns out i was correct!

As we began walking away the guy who spoke English started laughing and said "very nice mustache" so inevitably we walked over and started a conversation with him. This decision would turn out to be the best thing we could have ever done. Soon another one of his friends arrived and we began talking about our two cultures and the next thing we know the second friend is telling us to come with him to go get some beers from the corner market. Next thing we know me and Chris are up inside this historical building, which is now an swanky apartment building, drinking and sharing stories with these guys. One thing leads to another and they introduce us to the tradition of Russian VODKA and it becomes 4am quite quickly!

 Stalin's Tower

 Our amazing Russian friends

 John with another of our great hosts

Handstand on horseback

 

Mosaic on St. Basil's

After two of our new friends walk with us back to the hostel, we arrange to meet them the next night for dinner and drinks. Let me say meeting these guys was amazing. We opened up to each other about how our two cultures behave, what type of music we like, social traditions, and shared hilarious stories. They we some of the best hosts i have ever met. Going out of their way to show us their city, and buying our drinks and meal! Simply put these guys are some of the kindest people i have ever met and i really hope our paths cross again! Thank you Pascha, Daniel, Oleg, and Alex for making our time in Russia so memorable!

The Itinerary:

We thought everyone might like to see what our goal is while traveling through the east. We are attempting a very ambitious style of traveling on this journey. To be exact we want to hit 13 countries in 70 days! Needless to say Chris and I will constantly be on the move, and will inevitably experience some very intense jet lag. Chris and I talked extensively with friends and other acquaintances who have travelled through ASIA about our itinerary and the response is always the same - WAY TOO FAST! We had to make a decision, see as many countries as possible or spend longer periods in less places, we obviously choose the more hectic route. As much as we would love to take 8 months to post up in each country for an extended period, it just didn't work out. I think it will be very interesting to see how much we stick or deviate from this plan. We will with out a doubt have a lot of speed bumps along the way which will make us improvise, but if we succeed in conquering this insane itinerary it will be one hell of an accomplishment.

Either way this is the trip of a lifetime which will surely change us in various ways. We are extremely excited to have the opportunity to take on this epic adventure and look forward to sharing our crazy stories with all of you :)


THE ITINERARY:

Flight from Denver to Moscow (1 day)

Russia (2 days)
Moscow

Trans-Mongolian Railway (7 days)

China (4 days)
Beijing

(Flight from Beijing to Tokyo)

Japan (6 days)
Tokyo
Kyoto / Nara
Osaka

Ferry from Osaka to Shanghai (2 days)

China (2 days)
Shanghai

Hong Kong (2 days)

Vietnam (9 days)
Hanoi
Hue
Ho Chi Mihn City

Cambodia (5 days)
Siem Reap / Temples of Angkor

Thailand (6 Days)
Bangkok
Chiang Mai

Laos (5 days)
Luang Prabang

Thailand (6 days)
Krabi
or
Koh Phi Phi

Malaysia (2 days)
Kuala Lumpur

Indonesia (8 days)
Bali

Singapore (2 days)


John Flies home and Chris moves on to Nepal!