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Tallinn
- Estonia
We flew to
Tallinn in Estonia, where we spent one day looking around
the beutiful old town.
Raekoja Square
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The
painful sounding Kiek in de Kok
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Tallinn
from above
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Meeting
Fat Margaret
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Riga
- Latvia
We got a coach to Riga
in Latvia. Here we spent 2 days and I got drunk on Latvian
beer in a Taverna.
House
of The Blackheads
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The
Freedom Monument in Bastejkalns Park
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Frozen
Pilsetas Canal in Bastejkalns Park
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Moscow
- Russia
A 17 hour sleeper train
trip took us to Moscow, where we spent two days in a hostel
with too many staris for Debra.
I was not the only cuddly toy in red Square; there were
quite a few but they had all been won as prizes at Gorky
Park.
A
bear in Red Square
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The
State Historical Museum in Red Square
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Baz's
Gaff (St. Basil's Cathedral)
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The
Moscow Metro
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Outer
walls of The Kremlin
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Do
you also get the idea that this hole was made for
me to sit here!
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Cathedral
of Christ the Saviour
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Peter
The Great
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The
Red October Chocolate Factory
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Snow
plows at rest
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Evidence
of high water prices in Russia
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Trans-Mongolian
Train 4
From Moscow we took the Trans-Mongolian
train through snowclad Siberia to Ulaanbaatar, which is the
capital of Mongolia.
We were on the train
for 4 days and were the only Brits on it as far we knew. I
met lots of humans and got to sample various vodkas. It was
like a long Vodka fused picnic on rail but I was the only
teddy bear.
Trans-Mongolian
upper and lower berths
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Trans-Mongolian
train 4
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Babushka
and her wares
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Mongolia
We stayed with a lovely
family in Ulaanbaatar. Ulaanbaatar is said to be the coldest
capital in the world. The granny of the family made me a
beautiful Mongolian jacket. We stayed with another family
in the national park where we stayed in a ger. A ger is
a round tent. Interlocking trellises and bamboo structured
roofs are insulated with felt and canvass. These nomadic
dwellings are easy to erect and take down when the nomads
want to move on. They are very comfy and have lots of character.
The ger had pretty painted furniture and was high enough
to stand up in. The stove, which is in the centre of the
ger, must only be walked around in a clockwise direction.
I sat on the neck of a Mongolian horse when Debra and I
went horse riding. Mongolian food is certainly not fit for
a gourmet. I suspect the dried food we had was meant for
the horses! We did however like the fermented mare's milk,
which becomes alcoholic through fermentation; but I suspect
it is one of those acquired taste things as it tasted like
a mix of plain yoghurt, lemon juice and Andrew's Liver salts!
The sleeper train, which
passed through the Gobi dessert to Beijing, took 30 hours.
On this train I was not the only teddy bear; Yellow Teddy
was somewhat older than me and had been flatten by his adult
owner, who, like Debra, takes him everywhere.
Not
just a pile of rocks
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The
view was far better than this photo shows
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Our
ger
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Sukhbaatar
Square in Ulan Baatar
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Beijing
- China
We spent 4 days in Beijing
visiting the Great Wall of China, Summer Palace, The Forbidden
City and the Beijing Opera. Debra discovered she is allergic
to silkworm cocoons. After eating them she started to itch
madly and go red and botchy all over for hours and everything.
I looked after her though.
Me
at The Great Wall of China
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Resting
on a tattered Rickshaw
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A
tiny part Tian'anmen Square, the worlds biggest
Square
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Entrance
to The Forbidden City
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Meeting
Mao at The Forbidden City
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Entrance
to Summer Palace
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The
Marble Boat at Summer Palace
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Cherry
Blossom in Summer Palace Gardens
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A
very pretty bridge
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A
watchbull perhaps
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Back home in
Borehamwood Debra made me a del from a cushion cover the
same colour as the del she bought in Ulanbaatar.
Me
in my Debra made Del
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