Founded: 1639 as a nomadic Buddhist center, 1778 in permanent location. Pop: 1,000,000 Ahh Mongolia. Well, what can we say. It was a fascinating experience – we have never seen a country with so many jarring contrasts all coexisting, intertwining so peacefully. We learned a lot, in a short time period, and overall really glad…
stats Days on the road: 184 Distance traveled: nobody cares 🙂 Number of beds: 14 Countries visited: Thailand, India — we did about 2 weeks of chilling in Thailand, one week on the beach and another in Chiang Mai (with a stopover in Trang). Then we really kicked it into high gear with our trip…
We weren’t planning on India in January — but sometimes it happens, eh? We had a couple of routes in mind for SE Asia and India, and chose this one because of budget and convenience. We will be back in Bangkok on 25 February to start our adventure in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. In the…
Getting our lilies on at Ogre Island, Myanmar stats Days on the road: 152 Distance traveled: 2009.45 miles / 3233.9 km by plane – 358.4 miles / 576.9 km by train – 655.5 miles / 1055 km by bus – 746.8 miles / 1202 km by boat – 110.6 miles / 178 km by car…
Dragon is going to bite Sergey so hard! in Kunming, China. STATS Days on the road: 121 Distance traveled: 3135.2 miles / 5045.62 km by plane – 756.1 miles / 1216.9 km by train – 2060.1 miles / 3315.44 km by bus – 197.4 miles / 317.8 km by boat – 81.3 miles / 131…
Welcome to Mongolia, the land of vast empty, hilly landscapes with barely any people… It was the first time we discovered that what might work for majority travelers, and by work I mean most loved it, will not work for us. Picture time outside of the temple walls in ancient capital of Karakorum, Mongolia. Let…
Founded: 1735 Pop: 404,000 Other names: Udinskoye, Verkhniy Udinsk Our last stop in Russia was in Ulan Ude, the capital of Buryat Republic. Ulan Ude is famous for two things: the largest head of Lenin is the world and being the center of Buddhism in Russia. Giant Lenin head in downtown Ulan Ude, Russia. Apparently,…
Rolling hills of the Olkhon Island on Lake Baikal, Russia. How many times can you say beautiful, stunning, amazing, vast, breathtaking etc, etc? Doesn’t matter, because it won’t capture the feeling of it all. Island of Olkhon is the largest island in Lake Baikal, and it – along with the Lake (or Sea, as most…
Founded: 1652 Population: 588,000 House Museum of Volkonsky noble family exiled to Siberia after a failed Decembrist revolution. Irkutsk, Russia. Irkutsk was the most anticipated stop on the whole journey for us because of the much celebrated Russian lake Baikal – the world’s largest reserve of fresh water, as well as, the deepest lake in…
All set for the land where all 12 months are composed of 28 days, each week features 8 days (two of them being just 12 hours long), and time is off the GMT zones by a half hour. And then, there are issues with the internet. Sergey expects to be able to connect – so…
Baby pandas learning to crawl. Panda Research Base in Chengdu, China. STATS Days on the road: 91 Distance traveled: 4528.58 miles / 7288.04 km by plane – 1092.49 miles / 1758.19 km by train – 2532.3 miles / 4075.34 km by bus – 734.39 miles / 1181.8 km by boat – 2.2 miles / 3.54 km by car – 167.2 miles /…
Getting close with the camels in the steppes of Mongolia Stats Days on the road: 61 Distance traveled: 3622.13 miles by plane – 0 miles / 0 km by train – 2363.7 miles / 3804 km by bus – 302 miles / 486 km by boat – 502.23 miles / 808.26 km by car – 454.2 miles / 730.9 km Number of beds: 13…