Russia: First contact

(HIM)

Our first impressions of Russia were at the airport Moscow-Sheremteyevo.
Of course like most airports with their uniformity, it didn't reveal too much of the specific location where it resided. Therefore the first impressions still followed some time later in a specific train line called "Aeroexpress" which serves passengers from the airport to the city. Before our eyes piled uniform building blocks, exactly the same as may be encountered in our region too, dating back from the period of socialism, yet of course all in Russian scale, which usually means the same as with us only this time on the n-th degree. In the case of Moscow that n is quite large.

Few hours to go :)

And here it is! The day has finally arrived :) We are leaving in few hours!
The excitement is now palpable and the euphoria is rising :) I just cannot stop smiling :)))

We hardly slept at all these few days (6 hours tot in the last few days), and judging from our schedule we will hardly sleep till tomorrow evening :D But I'm fully awake and running with energy :)

So, here's our last post before the big trip.


SUMUP:
- 2 Hiking backpacks:  45L and 55L, each 14kg
- 2 Daypack: 15L and 7,5L , each 4,5 kg
- 1 Camera pack

So...each of us 20kg and let's go!

Read more if you wish to see what we're taking with us and our schedule ;)

How to plan a transibirian trip on your own # 1 - DECISION

Whenever our big plan was mentioned the most common reaction was a single question: "How did you decide to do such a journey?".
The answer to that question is anything but simple. There's no way to even tell when it began forming as an idea. But one thing is for sure - if you fall in love with it, all you have left to do is decide: "I'M DOING IT". :)
At least that's simple! :)

Once you say that to yourself and you feel the excitement at the bare thought, all the rest will just fall into place. Sooner or later you will find the resources, time and company to do it. In my case, that process lasted 5 years. And here I am, at the verge of doing it. :)

Before we leave, I'd like to leave our fresh impressions of how it was all planed. Hoping it will be of help to all those that wish to take up such a journey.

Two weeks ahead

Dear all,

here we are, merely two and a half week ahead. Time is surely speeding up, and with all the remaining planning ahead we have rarely a minute to breathe. Not that we are complaining though :D. Just stating a mere fact.

The trip we are about to take will last over five weeks and cover half of the world. This journey trhough Russia, Mongolia, China and Japan was a long awaited trip for us, and now that it's just around the corner I still cannot believe it. We will start our journey from Croatia (where we live), fly to Moscow and then take the transmongolian train all the way down to China. Fly across the chinese sea to Japan, zig-zag across its' many islands and then fly back home.

We've been planning and preparing for it for over a year now. Searching over the internet, reading travel books, talking to those who were already there and preparing financially. Trust me it wasn't an easy task.But it was worth it every minute and penny.

We are a couple, traveling alone with just backpacks and a rather ambitious plan ahead - over 33 cities/places in 38 days and nearly 15.000km. When you start to think of such a journey, your first challenge is the journeys flexibility. This one...not so much. So, your most crucial part: accurate and up to date information. As you probably already know, the Internet is full of information, but to sort out the most accurate one...it's a completely different story.

So here we are, not only to share our experience with friends and family, but also to share all the knowledge and useful info one needs to prepare for such a trip!

Hope you'll enjoy it!

Cheers
N&M