Traveling with the speed of a bullet

Posted on September 15, 2014 by admin

Next on the list was Xi’an with a stopover in the ancient town of Pingyao. To save some time and to see the region during daytime I decided to take one of the new trains. A bullet train. And those beasts are fast. It felt like flying through the rainy and foggy landscapes. No bumps, no vibrations nor any other distortion. Just smooth like a swiss train. The only loud source was the air conditioner and for sure the Chinese people. They shout into the phones, watch movies without earplugs and kids run around. Nothing unusual!

At the time we arrived I was a bit shocked since the station was not as expected in the centre of Pingyao but somewhere in the middle of a corn field! Pingyao? The ‘new’ bullet trains are not yet on the map and the station were built somewhere out of the centre or in the middle of nowhere. When I entered the bus to the city my 50 yuan bill got refused and I had to find some change. While I was doing that some Chinese guy offered me to pay my ticket. Really? I was quite surprised but accepted it. Later on someone else had five tens and wanted to change with my 50, so much help at once I wouldn’t have expected. It took more than 10 minutes to get to the centre and another 20 minutes to walk to the hostel in the ancient part of the city.

Coming from Beijing which is more modern and touristy this place felt much more relaxed. Offering some historical looking buildings with wooden house fronts and traditional interior.

The city shall also have the best preserved city wall of China. Preserved might be the best word since most of it looked like it was recently reconstructed.

After just one night I was back on the high speed rail to keep traveling with the speed of a bullet. The trains and the stations are really modern but there was one thing which surprised me a bit. The Chinese really must love their squad toilets. The only western style bathroom was the one for handicapped passengers.

On the Train to Beijing

Posted on September 8, 2014 by admin

It was 5:30am when I got up this Sunday morning. Ready to catch my last train of the TransSiberia just to complete it. The hostel offered us a lift to the station at 6:20am supposed to cost each of us a 1000MNT. We were 5 backpackers plus a few staff squeezed into the car. When we wanted to pay the driver the hostel manager just meant ‘NO No its for free’. Once more someone wanted to make some extra pocket money in this country!
Shortly after our arrival at the station the train was showing up as well. According to the information I got from the web page we were supposed to be in a soft sleeper car. Expecting a full train I quickly realised it was a quite empty one compared to others I took before. At last our carriage. Instead of just the two of us in a compartment we ended up with four. Even if many of the compartments were empty. The staff refused to relocate people. Actually we not even got our compartment and the ladies with us neither. One of the – a CEO of a Mongolian company – was pregnant in the 7th month. Not even she and her assistant got relocated at least not for the moment. The two staff member were kind of unfriendly. The lady called up a former manager of the Mongolian railway and handed the phone over to the steward which was listening to but not really changing anything afterwards. Once I went down the floor I recognised what went on inside of the compartment I originally booked. The stewards were drying their laundry! Seriously. I was mentioning it to one of them that I booked one of those seats and the response was a simple ‘NO NOOO’. Lucky us, after a few hours they relocated people and we all got our two person compartments.

To spent some of the left over money I went to the dinning car which was amazing. Wooden craftwork all done in Mongolian style. The food was surprisingly good, better than on Russian restaurant cars but the service was worse. Only having one menu, playing card instead of serving you and to pay I had to get up and go to her. Back in my place paperwork was waiting on being filled out. Two were done easily but the third paper was in Mongolian only. After another ‘No NO’ to my question about an english one I stuck for a moment. Finally, the two ladies from earlier were helping us out and we could help them with an english Chinese form which they got in mandarin only.

Crossing the border took some time but was without any effort. They not even asked for a paper I was supposed to keep till I leave Mongolia. And getting into China was a thing of seconds. NO problems, no questions, no checkup of the backpack. Later on the train got pulled into a maintenance hall where our carriages including us got jacked. After just about 60 to 90 minutes the wheels were fitted to the Chinese gauge and the train was ready. Finally we could get some sleep.
To our surprise we got some vouchers for a free breakfast and lunch on the Chinese restaurant carriage. 6:30 the breakfast was waiting. Luckily the two eggs were still warm since the restaurant wagon was freezing cold. Beside the eggs some toast with jam was offered and a tea. Lunch time was just two hours later consisting of a bowl of rice with some meat and vegetables, it was actually quite ok. The ride till Beijing offered some great views to the mountains. Unfortunately we passed out after lunch and missed parts of the great wall. After 28h my longest trans siberian train journey was over and with it I also was at the end of the Trans Siberian.

The Fast and The Furious – Krasnoyarsk

Posted on August 11, 2014 by admin

Krasnoyarsk its well known for the nearby national park ‘Stolby’ and for the Krasnoyarsk Dam.

The city itself is not that special. Quite small and not very heigh built. The best thing to do is to walk up the nearby hill and having a look down. Or to walk along the river but more about that later on.

Together with my french roommate ‘Laëtitia’ I went to Stolby natural park. A cloudy and foggy day but beside that everything started well. We found the bus bringing us there, some locals showing us the way to the entrance and even a car bringing us the last few hundred meters up the mountain. We only couldn’t do the big loop we wanted since the park ranger was telling us that there are too many bears at the moment! No bears but chipmunks and squirrels. At the end we got a free ride on the cable car and a free hitchhike back to the city.

Krasnoyarsk feels kind of dead as sun as the sun is gone. Empty streets, restaurants close early and nowhere to go. A weird place we found was on the river. On one end of the promenade is a big parking space where young people meet up in the evening. It looks like a scene out of the movie ‘The Fast and The Furious’. Young guys and girls with their cars listening to the music booming out of the cars speakers. One guy sitting in the back of his van smoking a hookah while his friend is driving the vehicle in a circle. Might be the busiest place in the whole city at night time.

Another night we ended up in a hookah bar getting into touch with some locals. ‘Yuliya’ a local freelancer in design and her friend took us later on to the irish pub. At the end of the evening they offered us to show us around the day after. Plan was to go to the Krasnoyarsk-Dam just matching my plan.

In the following morning they were already waiting for us on the street in the front of the hostel. First stop was at a look out point to oversee the river.

But the most interesting stop was for sure the one at the dam. Being built to create power for a nearby aluminium plant. One of the biggest hydroplanes in the world. To get by boat from one site to the other they constructed a huge elevator visible in the top right corner of the picture. Unfortunately it doesn’t work very often so it was parked on top of the slope.

One the way back from the artificial lake to the centre we recognised this funny scene. A Russian car is town away by another one and got stuck between the rails of the tram in the middle of a cross section. And for sure the town rope ripped so that all the cars had to wait till the problem was fixed. Yuliya mentioned that there are approximately 170 accidents each day in Krasnoyarsk!

Later on in this afternoon we climbed the hill and suddenly we became part of a wedding/reunion group on top of it. They showed up out of the blue, welcomed us and offered us some snacks and sparkling wine. And just a few minutes later they disappeared again. People here seems to be very welcoming to foreigners and happy to show them the nice sites of the region/Russia!
On the way to the station I got once more witness of an accident. Just happening in front of me and it was a really stupid one. Now I understand why they have their dashcams in the car!

Excursion to Peterhof

Posted on July 30, 2014 by admin

One of the nearby summer palaces of the former tsar is Peterhof. A popular place to go on sundays even for locals. The best way to cover the 30km there is by hydrofoil. Not the cheapest but for sure worth the experience.

14€ one way thats the price they ask for. What you get is a fast ride on a super dooper soviet vessel traveling with a speed of 60km/h. Powered by to engines each a 1000PS. Quite noisy 🙂
But finally I couldn’t really tell if we were already out of the water or still in the water it just felt fast for a boat.

Peterhof is famous for its park and gardens as well as the uncountable fountains. Many of them are golden. Every year there is a big celebration on the day they start the water play and on the day they stop it because of winters. In the early days this place was supposed to be the summer residence of Peter the great but unfortunately he died before it was finished.

They got us – the harbour!

Posted on May 20, 2014 by admin

Keep trying and you will succeed. Somehow you will! Tried to get into the harbour and dock area a few times but was either sent away by unemployed construction workers or afraid of all the soldiers hanging out there. Last night we managed to get into it.
No guard holding us back, also no dog in sight so we sneaked around the fence on the edge of the water. Actually, quite easy to get in there – too easy!

Kind of a playground of explorers and big kids. The cranes look like they could work but apart of that everything looks abandoned.

Rusty pipes everywhere. Some of them are already so badly corroded that they broke. The big repair hall is everything else than maintained. Only the ladder to the rooftop is kind of new for some reason.

On our plan was to climb one of the cranes, get inside of the hall and perhaps on the boat. But we didn’t get further than that. At once a security guy came around the corner and was taking us with him. No more pictures but instead a tour through the rest of the dock. Such a pity. He was making some jokes in Ukrainian about communist times and this place. He also pointed out that we were caught by the cameras – damn we weren’t thinking about that.
Finally he dropped us at an office at the main entrance. I guess thats how soviet offices looked like. While waiting I was taking one of the memory cards out of the camera and put it away. Just in case. Later on we were brought to another office where my local friend Dima had to write a letter of excuse – hand written. And so did the officer. While he was sitting in front of a flat screen he was writing down the report by hand. He mentioned its a place of the regime and that things have do be done properly. I was just wondering which regime! I had to show the pictures I took and finally he asked me to delete them. I followed the order and formatted the card. But not the one I took out;)
Finally he looked at me – knowing that I don’t talk Ukrainian nor Russian – and said ‘Welcome to Ukraine‘.
Seems like that those guys are doing a correct job and treat intruders with respect. No insulting nor incorrect situation. Just friendly and straight. Perhaps even a bit bothered by what they have to do.

It was kind of a successful evening but not finished yet. We met another friend of Dima and went for dinner with him. Just as we entered the place it started to rain. After two thunderstorms the nights before a third one just started.

Milan – the Switzerland of Italy

Posted on April 23, 2014 by admin

The reason going back to Milan was rather because I was missing the people from Vilnius than catching a cheap flight back to Kiev. Although, I had the great opportunity to stay at a friends place I knew from Vilnius. At that time we were working together in Jimmy Jumps where she now works at one of the world best rated hostels in Milan – Hostel Bello. Anyway, I could enjoy a couch in a private home. A great place well located near the center next to ‘Porta Romana’ just a quick walk to all the things around.

At the moment Milan is kind of a mess. Preparing itself for the international Expo’15 which soon takes place all around the center. The Expo Gate in Piazza Castello is almost finished but beside that many more construction places have to be done. Fixing a piece of broken street here, build a exhibition house there, renovate a public building over there and so on …

Around all the construction places are for sure also many places to see. Some of them well visible others are hidden like this one inside of a Basilica. Couple of nice skulls and there were many more.

But Milan is also a popular place for international exhibition. Kristina was sending me to this one which was really worth to see it. It was about design. From random sculptures to a gigantic 3D-display, from an abstract endless stairway to functional interior designs and also some solutions for the future rooftop farming. To my surprise was Panasonic around with a couple of solutions. Lightning which makes sense but also some kitchen furniture which was pretty cool.

Allover, my second Milan visit was more than just getting lost like at the first time. Its worth to spend more than just two hours in this city 😉

Quick look at Bulgaria

Posted on March 27, 2013 by admin

As so often, the only impression about the next place I got was based on travelers stories and travelwiki. This time it was kind of controversy! Some people I met didn’t like it at all, others just Sofia or Plovdiv so the party places. But non of them was in Veliko Tarnovo the place I went to.

And it was a good decision to go here. A medium sized city with a population of about 80k in the hills of the north of Bulgaria. The whole city is placed on the slopes of three hills. In the old town are plenty of nice old houses where are new town is a mix of pre war and post war construction. So you will find some soviet style buildings.

In the second Bulgarian Empire it used to be the capital so there are many historical sights to explorer. One of the main sights – the castle – is from those times.

One of many, lazy dog enjoying the warm day.

Same picture as on many places, old factory from communist times. Abandoned and taken apart, the only thing which is left are basically the raw construction and paintings like this.
Good place to explorer historical sights as well as for hiking and day trips into the surrounding of Veliko Tarnovo. Such a peaceful and quite place, perfect for holiday 🙂

Didn’t want spending to much time in Bulgaria but a I also wanted to see a second place. So Varna was chosen even if it was off season for this place. Another black sea resort which comes to alive during summers when all the party crowd comes here. Typically communist place for holiday. Pretty much dead during low season and actually not that much to do. Ok there would be some hot springs and roman ruins …

and for sure a harbour. Which looks more like a recycling place than a harbour. Kind of old fashioned but some interesting things to see such as this hydrofoil.

Chornobyl – Prypiat

Posted on March 7, 2013 by admin

Maybe that was my initial kick to go to Ukraine – Chernobyl. A place I wanted to visit since ages. Now I am here. Not really cheap to go there but an unique place to visit. Didn’t book my trip in advance and so I had to wait in Kiev for a whole week till I could go.
You can book a day trip or trips which last for two to four days. I went for the day trip. The tours are booked through agencies but guided by a governmental guide. So they are supposed to be the same. It takes about 2 hours to the first checkpoint where you enter the 30km zone. And another 30min to the former power plant Chernobyl. So a lot of transportation …

You are not really supposed to take pictures of any officer in duty or checkpoints. But … I had to take this at least this. Sorry for that :p

The first place of the trip is the city of Chernobyl. Its still home for all the maintenance crew and the rangers. They all work for 15 days before they have another 15days off. Its also the place where you get a quick overview over the region.
The above pictures shows all the names of those towns which were evacuated after the catastrophe in the block 4 of the power plant. This place is one of a few where people can stay. But half of the town is abandoned since 1986 and mostly taken back by nature.

While driving to the plant you could recognize a lot of hazard warnings. The geiger counter will show you surprisingly high levels 🙂

Our next stop was at one of the Kindergarden inside of the restricted area. We had some time to discover the abandoned building which is somehow in really bad shape (more pics on picasa).

The tour is pretty much straight forward. Not much time to wander around and explore the area. So we soon ended up at the block 4 of the power plant. Right, the place where once many liquidator fought against the radioactivity and to save others life. Many of them died in the hours, weeks and months after the catastrophe. Nowadays stupid tourists like me can stand next to it and have a look at the gigantic sarcophagus. Its fine to expose yourself the radiation for a couple of minutes but then you should move on and leave this place…

… and enter the ghost town of Prypiat. Once home to all the power plant workers. As all the nuclear power plant cities in the UDSSR it was a place with a high living standard where people enjoyed their wealthy life. These days its a abandoned place with fascinating ruins.

The only hotel in the place used to be a top hotel which is now a empty ruin. Emptied by ukrainians in the 90’s after UDSSR collapsed and poor people took what they could. Unfortunately there was no time to enter every place beside that its officially prohibited since some buildings collapsed a few years ago.

The luxury playground which was never opened. Through out UDSSR there were many similar play grounds like this. But this one became famous after the catastrophe of chernobyl

Some art work most likely done by some artists during the 90’s.

Prypiat had everything a proper city needs. The theater looks for its time quite modern. There are even some requisites around from which you can see in what time this place was used the last time.

As everything else also the river harbour is a abandoned place. Rusty boats which are partially under water are the left overs of the old good days.

Nowadays, the area around Chernobyl is an abandoned place with a few places where people settled down again in the 90’s. First illegally and later legally. On the way from Kiev to Chernobyl the street became empty. Only visitors, the settlers and some workers come to this place. Either for sight seeing, living or work.

I really like to see how nature takes back places. Places which were left behind for different reason and became what they are now. Prypiat its special because it was evacuated in just 3 hours. Unfortunately people returned later to take get everything with a certain value. But there is still a lot to see and to discover. A great place for everyone who is interested in abandoned cities, soviet history and nature.

mega construction – windmill vessel

Posted on October 27, 2012 by admin

Ooooooo – accidentally walked into this baby! A brand new vessel to put up those huge off shore windmills. Just delivered from asia to denmark and ready doing the job it was designed for. But first there is an open day for the public 😀

The six legs are each 100m long and reaching high up into the sky. The legs will be lowered at the construction place. The hull is then lifted out of the water. Takes loads of power!
Each leg is driven by 3×6 electrical drives each of consumes 70-80kW. So mean would be 108*75kW=8.1MW!

Isn’t it huge?

Everything is a bit bigger as normal. A 1200 ton crane or 2×600 ton depending on the configuration. There is also an auxiliary 500 ton hook and some smaller cranes!

And another try from the side … damn too big for my camera.

More information about the vessel under following link: http://www.swireblueocean.com/

bike counter + pump station

Posted on October 24, 2012 by admin

Something else zurich is missing. Public bike pump stations and bicycle counters. Seen in Luxembourg City and Copenhagen.

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