June 22, 2002

mother russia

for once! a well designed, organised travel website.

waytorussia

this link is unfortunately a month or so too late for aidan, but maybe he can use this site the next time he goes?

hint: only us$200 to get from beijing to moscow by train. wicked.

[31_08_2002]

backpacker essentials has an article on travelling by the trans-mongolian express.

Posted by pipstar at 03:29 AM | Comments:

 

June 21, 2002

News From Tartary

One of my favourite travel stories is News From Tartary by Peter Fleming. It was written in 1935 and follows the journey he made with Ella Maillart from Beijing to Kashmir.

It's weird reading about China and Tibet before the Communist Revolution and the Chinese invasion of Tibet. Fleming describes Tibet as an untouched place, unlikely to ever be forced to change (how depressingly wrong). And the Communists are just rumours which they hear of on their travels.

One day I want to make this trip, though probably not with Voyages Jules Verne (nb: tour no longer offered) [too pricey]. I think that I'll be waiting a few years.

I highly recommend this book.

Posted by pipstar at 04:00 PM | Comments:

 

June 14, 2002

i'm not afraid of flying. i'm afraid of dying.

am i going down? (site no longer exists) offers some travel tips.

Personalised mortality statistics for Pippa [Adelaide to Madrid].

We estimate that your chances of dying on this trip are:

1 in 60612218

That's really quite good for this route.

Posted by pipstar at 12:20 AM | Comments: