20 Countries in 200 Days

Phuket, Thailand - Day 199 : Paradise for some

2009-10-25T08:41:00.000-07:00

We have been in Phuket for a little under 2 weeks and our little slice of paradise has come with its fair share of problems.

It's surprising that an island the size of Singapore has little to no public transportation of any kind. There is a taxi and tuk-tuk mafia that gets away with charging over $3 for a 1km ride.

Late one night our taxi driver refused to drop us at our villa, suggesting we walk the last 200 meters along an unlit dirt road. I stood firm, refusing to pay him the predetermined fare unless he kept his end of the bargain - to drop us at the villa. An argument ensued, which ended with the driver threatening to attack T. We paid the amount knowing fully well that going to the local police wouldn't have helped.

It's distressing to see 60 something Caucasian males with young Thai women. I just finished reading Sex Slaves - The Trafficking of Women in Asia and and I know better than to blindly judge both the men and these young women. Yet I can’t help but loathe the need for these septuagenarians to feel virile.

All the sex tourism and arrogant taxi drivers apart, Isaac and I have been at the beach everyday while T takes a diving course. Naiharn Beach is secluded little cove on the southern tip of Phuket island with none of the tacky banana boats and jet skis. But what makes it even more perfect is a little fresh water inlet that flows from a nearby abandoned quarry into the ocean - making a perfectly calm and shallow pool for children to splash around in.

On the approach road to Naiharn beach there is a spanking new and cheerful little children’s playground nestled under tall shady trees. Perfect spot to share "i scream" with Isaac in the afternoons when the sun is overhead and the heat gets unbearable.

Siam Reap, Cambodia - Day 172 : Delayed postings

2009-09-28T08:12:00.000-07:00

It's been almost 6 weeks since I posted my last blog. For those who check in regularly, I apologise for the infrequency. In the past 46 days, we have traveled across North Korea, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam and Thailand. Some might say we are "on holiday" but truth be told our waking hours are spent parenting and when Isaac does fall asleep we are racing to keep up with travel logistics or packing to catch our next train.

We made it safely to Cambodia after an 'interesting' border crossing at the Thai border and spent the last few days in Siam Reap taking in the sights of Angkor Wat. Tomorrow we have another early start, this time a 6 hour boat ride south along Tonle Sap lake to Phnom Penh.

Stay tuned, I hope to fill in the blanks soon.

The Bloomberg segment aired!

2009-09-11T08:01:00.000-07:00

Bloomberg TV ran this segment on our travels as part of a larger series marking the collapse of Lehman. This was recorded about 2 weeks ago during our stop in Hong Kong.We are amazed at how fast broadcast news can travel. T already has several enquiries in his LinkedIn account for possible meetings in Vietnam in the next few days. Hopefully this will translate into a job soon. I particularly like what T said - "Never waste a crisis." Of course we keep talking of how addictive this lifestyle has become and the possibility of extending our journey to the Pacific Islands. If we had a choice we would keep doing this and not settle into a job just yet :)

Copyright issues prevent me from posting the video directly on this blog. Jump to the Bloomberg page here.

Pyongyang, North Korea: Day 126 - Entering a time warp

2009-08-13T00:50:00.000-07:00

Everyone on the Air Koryo flight is a little on edge and there is barely any of the usual pre-boarding chaos that ensues before take-off. Clearly, everyone has taken the pre-tour orientation seriously.

Last evening, at the Koryo Tours office briefing in Beijing we have been instructed on dos and don'ts while in North Korea. Don't fold anything that may have the image of Kim Il Sung or Kim Jong-il; This includes in-flight magazines, brochures, books and posters. Don't take pictures of North Korean citizens or monuments without first asking permission from the official tour guides. Don't venture away from the tour group. North Korea is to be referred to as 'DPRK' - the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Do not question their version of history. "And above all", we are told, "show the greatest respect for the Dear Leader Kim Jong-il and the Eternal President Kim Il Sung". We are reminded over and over again that it isn't a free country.

At Pyongyang airport, we are greeted by the smiling portrait of Kim Il Sung perched atop a one storey structure, an image that will be ubiquitous for the next 4 days. We are asked to deposit our cell phones at immigration and laptops are subject to a great deal of scrutiny. Once outside, our group of 19 is assigned to 3 official guides - Ms. Song Sim, Mr.'O' and Mr. Kim who seem casual, eager to please and surprisingly very chatty.
En route to the hotel, we stop at the Arch of Triumph built to commemorate the Korean resistance to Japan that ended in 1945. They proudly claim that it is higher than the one in Paris. But everyone in the tour group seems more interested in getting a glimpse of street life - whatever little there is of it.

A lot of old trolley buses and perhaps 2 or 3 vans on the entire road. There is absolutely no visible signs of commerce - no neon signage, no advertisements and no billboards. There is a clinical emptiness to everything, as if the uniform gray buildings lining the streets are just a stage set.

We check into the 40 something storey Yanggakdo Hotel located on a little island in the middle of the city. We joke that it's like Alcatraz - virtually impossible to escape from. No kidding, tourists can roam the island but we aren't allowed to venture out of it. The city's premiere 5 star hotel is decorated like a 1960's motel but we love the vistas of the city at dusk.By evening the city looks straight out of a science fiction novel. The imposing Ryugyŏng Hotel pierces through the skyline dwarfing everything around it. The city stays lit till 10pm but then abruptly plunges into complete darkness for the rest of the night.

Beijing-Pyongyang - Day 125: Headed to the least understood country

2009-08-12T09:57:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow we leave for North Korea - an alien communist country that has fascinated my husband for years. It's a peculiar travel destination and perhaps a little dangerous, but a once in a lifetime opportunity at venturing into a secluded and secretive country that lets in only a handful of tourists every year.

US citizens are currently only permitted to travel to the DPRK (North Korea) when the mass games are held which is from August 10th until the end of September this year. The Mass Games involves over 100,000 performers and is the largest choreographed human spectacle.

We will be traveling with Koryo Tours - a UK based tour group that has been taking tourists in since 1982. They are considered experts on DPRK, have hosted friendship football matches and produced the first travel program on North Korea. The team at Koryo have been very supportive of letting us travel with Isaac and assuaged any fear that we had about his safety.

To prep for our trip, we watched 'A State of Mind' - a documentary that follows two North Korean schoolgirls and their families in the lead up to the Mass Games. Here's a clip of the trailer -

More when we come back.

Beijing, China- Day 119 : A place to call home

2009-08-06T08:51:00.000-07:00

Ever since we left India on May 6th, we haven't stayed in any one city for more than 5 nights. So it has been a welcome break to finally have an apartment in Beijing for 2 whole weeks. Its given us the opportunity to explore and appreciate this immense city without rushing ourselves. Immersing ourselves in Beijing has already helped Isaac pick up more Chinese than I have, and is constantly saying "Ni-hao"(Hello) and "Shaeshae"(Thank you).

Perhaps most disappointing has been the extent of urban pollution which Beijing got such a bad rap for during the Olympics. We haven't seen a blue sky and the city is always clouded under a gray smog. Pollution apart, Beijing has blown me away with not just its palatial temples and palaces but also its new urban identity. Anyone who visits will agree the metro and bus systems are among the best in the world and its futuristic skyscrapers are architectural marvels.

I will be posting more pictures on my FB album in a few days. In the meantime here's a video of Isaac at the Lama Temple -

Datong, China- Day 108-110: Dealing with excessive attention

2009-07-28T00:53:00.000-07:00

Since arriving at Datong - a north eastern town in China, we have been overwhelmed with the attention that Isaac gets. We thought Turkey was excessive but Datong hits the ball out of the park. T and I are trying our best to politely ask people to stop taking pictures of Isaac. On our last day in Datong we were stalked by a hotel guest who insisted on gifting Isaac 1000 RMB ($146) which eventually led to an intervention by the hotel staff.

The picture above was taken when we went to laundromat to enquire about laundry services. In a few minutes we were surrounded by 12 or 15 locals staring and running after Isaac.

Datong is a coal mining town that ranks as one of the most polluted cities in China. Our main incentive to stop in Datong (enroute to Beijing) was to see the Yungang Grottoes - a collection of shallow caves with over 50,000 carved images and statues of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas which are over a 1000 years old. Apparently they closely resemble the Buddha statues that have been destroyed in Iraq.

About a 2 hours drive away is the Hanging Temple built into a steep cliff face near Mount Heng which dates to the 4th century. They were built above groundlevel so as to avoid being washed away in floods common at the time. At first glance the monastery looks precarious but were told that the horizontal beams that support the structure have been inserted deep into the rocks and the vertical beams (that look like they are holding up the temple) are merely decorative.

Mongolia to China- Day 107

2009-07-25T13:43:00.000-07:00

The 23 hour train ride across Mongolia and into China was interesting for 3 reasons:

1. We were sharing a cabin with a man who was smuggling (or transporting) an entire bike disassembled into 10 different parts and tucked into various corners of our coupe.

2. It took us through the Gobi desert - a dramatic change from the lush valleys that we had seen for the better half of the morning.

3. The border control with China was painless but what had us fascinated was the gauge changing process. The train tracks in Mongolia and China differ, so the train was pulled into a shed, the train carriages were literally pulled apart like Lego pieces and lifted up while the gauges got switched. All of this while the passengers were still in the train!

Ulanbator, Mongolia- Day 103-106

2009-07-24T12:59:00.000-07:00

We have spent the last 3 nights at a Ger camp in Gorkhi-Terelj National Park about 50 kms from Ulanbator. It is vast, unspoiled and one of those places that you sincerely wish will never change because everything looks perfect just the way it is. We have been kicking back and enjoying the endless green valleys while Isaac amuses himself with the horses and yaks grazing the steppe.

Having been saturated with architecture and culture the past few months, this was exactly the break that I needed.

The Ger is layered with various insulating materials so as to retain heat and has a wood burning fireplace at the center. The tent has a colorful interior - red wood panels and painted folk designs but devoid of any furniture other than beds and a table, which isn't very different from traditional ger homes. Our guess is that Ger tents are circular to minimise resistance to winds.

UlanUde to Ulanbator - Day 102: Border nightmare

2009-07-20T12:35:00.000-07:00

The border control between China and Mongolia was a nightmare. We waited for nearly 5 hours at the Russian checkpoint although they did allow us to walk on the platform while our passports were being checked. Isaac wasn't feeling too well and we couldn't make him instant noodles because the hot water samovar (water dispenser) was switched off at the border. He was hungry, cranky and then cried non-stop. He eventually fell asleep but I was so upset with the guilt of not having fed my hungry child.

Then came the Mongolian border control which took another 2 hours while we waited in our stuffy cabins. I was so glad when we were finally got moving.

Ulan ude, Russia- Day 101: Buryat Republic

2009-07-19T11:51:00.000-07:00

Ulan Ude is the capital of the Buryat Republic - an autonomous region within the Russian federation. The Buryatis were a shamanistic people before adopting Buddhism and have clung on to their faith despite years of Communist repression. Ulan Ude is home to Ivolginsky Datsan considered the center of Buddhism in Russia. It is also home to to the largest Lenin head :) How's that for megalomania?

We are staying in the apartment of a young Buryati man whose mother took a liking to Isaac.

Irkutsk-Ulan Ude, Day 100 - Hitting the 100 day mark

2009-07-18T11:10:00.000-07:00

Hitting the 100 day mark should make us feel celebratory but on the contrary we are so sad that our trip is already half over. We have had so much of fun thus far and Isaac has done surprisingly well with all the travel.

Today we take the last train on our Trans Siberian journey, from Irkutsk to our last stop in Russia - Ulanude. Riding the Trans Siberian has given me a rare insight into the very heart of this country and I am glad that we chose to do this despite how uncomfortable it got at times. I wouldn't go as far as to say that it has changed my life, but Russia as a country has taught me more about myself than I ever knew before.

I was attempting to shoot a video but had to stop because T was giving Isaac a little nightcap before bedtime :)

Lake Baikal, Russia - Day 97 - 99

2009-07-17T05:03:00.000-07:00

We were woken up by our wagon attendant to see the most surreal sight outside our train window - soft mist covered fields with a floating purple haze hanging over it.

After pulling up at Irkutsk station, we had an eventful time getting to Listvyanka - a little fishing village on Lake Baikal. Isaac got a bit of motion sickness and threw up over me and himself while we were in a public bus which left him cranky and uncomfortable for the rest of the ride.

Lake Baikal is the most voluminous lake in the world, is home to over 1000 species of plants and animals and is a UNESCO World heritage site. Even if the facts mean little to me, I was immediately smitten by the serenity of the lake. The waters are crystal clear and the lake's waters gently lap up on pebble covered beaches.

There is surprisingly little tourist traffic given it is high-season but there are lots of locals going about their daily routine which consists of fishing, selling fish and eating fish. But not just any fish. Omul is a white salmon like fish that can only be found here and has spurred overfishing to the point that it is now an endangered species.
We are staying at a guesthouse on a street lined with traditional Siberian homes and its a real treat to witness the slow pace of everyday life - grazing cattle, men drawing water from the wells and firewood being hauled into homes.

A video of Isaac throwing pebbles which lasted for over an hour.

Krasnoyarsk-Irkutsk - Day 96: Rossiya No. 2

2009-07-14T04:52:00.000-07:00

About 8 different trains into the Trans-Siberian and we have figured that the trains with the lower numbers (e.g 1 or 2) are the more modern ones and the larger the train's number the more rickety and drab they get. Shortly after realising this pearl of wisdom which had eluded us thus far, we read it in black and white in our guidebook. I do wish we had figured this out earlier, although T argues that the older trains are a more authentic Trans Siberian experience.

Krasnoyarsk, Russia- Day 96

2009-07-14T04:20:00.000-07:00

Krasnoyarsk is city of 900,000 people in the center of Siberia and was a major center of the Stalin Gulag system housing several labor camps. Krasnoyarsk was closed to foreigners during the time of the Soviet Union and our host - Alex says he sees a tourist only about 4 times every year. Most tourists do not stop in cities like Krasnoyarsk simply because it lacks any cultural or architectural uniqueness.Nevertheless we spent a beautiful afternoon riding a cable car to the top of a ski mountain to take in the breathtaking views of the city.

Alex, Lydia and their lovely kids were our hosts for two nights and Isaac was so glad to have the company of children and toys for a change.

Novosibirsk, Russia - Day 92: Railway Museum

2009-07-10T04:04:00.000-07:00

Novosibirsk as a city owes its very existence to the Trans-Siberian rail network. It's first settlement was due to the construction of a bridge for the rail line. We explored the small but impressively curated railway museum where we were the only visitors that day. Isaac loved the little scaled down train models and T is a train enthusiast - so I had both boys happily occupied.

Omsk-Russia, Day 90: Look how far we have come!

2009-07-08T03:35:00.000-07:00

Before boarding our train from Omsk to Novosibirsk, we saw this map at the train station. It shows Russia's extensive rail network but also just how far we have come from Moscow (2716 kms) and the 3180kms we have before we get to Mongolia.

Omsk, Russia- Day 89: Olga's Russia

2009-07-07T06:47:00.000-07:00

Olga - our hostess in Omsk is an English professor at the Law faculty who has lived in Omsk all her life. As we sat at her small kitchen table late into the night, she explained the challenges of everyday life in Communists Russia and narrated stories of her personal losses and tragedies. As someone who was born in 1940's, she has witnessed the hardship of not only her parents and grandparents but also the lack of choices in present day Russia for her grandchildren. After the fall of Communism, she says the country has merely changed hands to another set of thugs and made little material difference to regular folks.

Her grandfather was branded an enemy of the state and executed shortly after the 1918 revolution. In the years that followed Olga recollects seeing her parents and grandmother live in a cramped apartment with little to eat and few job opportunities to earn a living wage other than at state owned factories with deplorable working conditions. Her mother was a pediatrician but even that didn't ensure a decent life. A few years back she lost her husband to cancer and her daughter to a car accident, yet she shows an amazing appetite for life and is full of questions about America and the countries that we have visited.

Like any grandmother she dotted on Isaac and insisted on making us elaborate meals even though it wasn't included in our lodging arrangement with the Home Stay association through which we found Olga.

Omsk is a pretty enough town and is known for having the most number of Lenin statues that any other city in Russia. The highlight was being invited by the church caretaker of Omsk Cathedral to view the city from the bell tower and to see the golden onion domes up close.

Boris - the caretaker said that I was the first Indian he has ever met. Since Moscow I have been a bit of a novelty; perhaps because Indians are not common in these parts or perhaps because I don't look anything like the Indian movie stars from the 70's and 80's that they are familiar with :)

Yekaterinburg-Omsk, Day 88

2009-07-05T03:57:00.000-07:00

We had 2 old women as coupe mates on the overnight train between Yekaterinburg to Omsk. Both of them looked and behaved like they were mentally disturbed and T who normally says only the nicest things admitted that they were "Borderline scary" :)

Of course, Isaac never has a dearth of friends to play with. We have discovered that Trans Siberian trains are filled with boisterous kids. Russian mothers are completely comfortable traveling with a portable kiddie potty which they place outside the car/wagon toilet when their kid wants to 'Go'. While I admire this kind of determination I don't think I could cope with all the cleaning that follows after the 'job' is done. Changing diapers seems so much more easier in comparison.

Yekaterinburg- Russia, Day 86-87 : Hitting a wall

2009-07-04T02:31:00.000-07:00

If there has been a low point so far, this has to be it. The apartment in Yekaterinburg was filthy and depressing. The bathroom didn't have a sink, the kitchen stove wasn't working and the fridge had mouldy stuff growing in it. We tried to spend most of the day outside and came back at 10:30pm to find the front door was jammed. By the time we had Isaac fed, showered and in bed, I was mentally and physically exhausted and ready to ask T to buy a ticket to get us out of Russia.

In many ways I feel like I have a "hit a wall" - a marathon terminology used to describe the onset of fatigue and the inability to run any further. In large part it has to do with how strenuous it has been to pack and board a train every second day and the dodgy accommodations that make me squirm. I am hoping that I can get past these'comfort'issues and enjoy Russia with all its eccentricities.

Yekaterinburg's most historic site is the the massive Byzantine-style Church of the Blood which now dominates the Romanov execution site. It baffles me that the entire family has now been elevated to the status of saints with altars and expensive icons erected for each member of the family. Apparently the canonisation has been the subject of much debate - one side arguing that their deaths had nothing to do with their religious beliefs while the other side saying they met their deaths with Christian humility.

Kazan-Yekaterinburg - Day 85: Crossing over to Asia

2009-07-03T21:15:00.000-07:00

This leg of the Trans Siberian journey cuts through the Ural mountains and puts us officially in Asia.

Yeketerinburg is situated on the border of Europe and Asia (on the Asian side) and is infamous as the sight for the execution of Tsar Nicholas II and his family in 1918. Rumours have it that after the cold war, Soviet nuclear arms were moved to Yeketerinbug as the Ural mountains formed a natural buffer in the event of an explosion.

In the cabin next to ours, we met little Amir and his mom who were headed to Yeketerinburg to undergo the first of 3 surgeries to repair his cleft lip. Understandably, Amir's mom was very nervous about the surgery. It's in moments like this that I wish I could speak more Russian and tell her that children are stronger than we give them credit for.

A video of our private'luxe'cabin -

Kazan, Russia - Day 83-84: Republic of Tartarstan

2009-07-02T10:32:00.000-07:00

Kazan is the capital of the Republic of Tartarstan, an autonomous republic within the Russian Federation that has it's own President, constitution and national flag. It's unclear to me how much of real 'autonomy' they have, but it seems in some judicial and executive respects they govern themselves while being delimited at a federal level.

I came to Kazan expecting it to be a 'one lane town' and was surprised to see a city with a modern waterfront dotted wit high-rise buildings, and a Kremlin which is a UNESCO World heritage site. Other parts of the old town are crumbling from neglect and entire swatches of the main street is filled with building debris.

Kazan has more in common with Central Asia than Russia due in large part to immigrant influx from former Russian regions such as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Sunni Islam is the state religion and many of the mosques destroyed during Communist rule have been restored.

A not so happy Isaac with the Uzbek staff of the restaurant 'Staroe Mesto', where we had Tatar salads and dumplings, then a conversation about how much these guys would love to go to New York and open a restaurant.

And a video of the beautiful Kul-Sharif mosque in Kazan named after the Imam who died defending the city from Ivan the Terrible.

Moscow to Kazan - Day 83 : First Trans-Siberian train

2009-07-01T10:16:00.000-07:00

Moscow to Kazan was the first of 7 trains we will be hopping on and off as we cross the length of Russia. The train that we rode from St.Petersburg to Russia does not count because the main Trans-Siberian route starts in Moscow and terminates in Vladivostok.

This was a "firm" train called "firmenny", which means that they are more comfortable (and more expensive). I was pleasantly surprised to find the train was absolutely spotless and thoroughly modern.

A video clip from the train which features Ivan - a little boy who Isaac became fast friends with.

Moscow, Russia - Day 78-82 : Beautiful yet broken

2009-06-30T09:05:00.000-07:00

Moscow has been such a mixed bag and in many ways reflects how beautiful yet broken Russia is.

For starters our high-rise apartment for 4 nights in Moscow turned out to be a dump. The hallways in the Soviet ear building smelled like a combination of stale dog urine and body odour exacerbated by the absence of any kind of ventilation or natural light.

We also had a frustrating time trying to sort out the Trans-Siberian train tickets. The Lonely Planet recommended travel agent (who we paid quite a premium to) hadn't added Isaac to our tickets. The agency was unapologetic and unwilling to help, which meant we had to queue up at the train station to get it sorted out ourselves. Russia's service industry - tourism, hospitality et al needs a major rehaul.

The irony is that Moscow ranks among the 3 most beautiful cities that I have ever visited. The beautiful birthday cake like Stalin-skyscrapers, the golden Church domes in the Kremlin, the polychromatic St.Basil's cathedral gives Moscow such a distinct and unique architectural identity.

We also met 2 friends of T's - Igor and Oleg, who graciously gave us the insider's tour of the city and pointed us to some beautiful parks and watering holes.

Here's a video at the Kremlin on our last day in Moscow -

St.Petersburg, Russia - Day 77 : Peterhof Palace

2009-06-25T08:37:00.000-07:00

Perhaps the highlight of St.Petersburg was Perterhof Palace - the summer residence of Peter the Great. Again given the time constraint, we opted out of entering the palace, instead just wandered around the beautiful Lower gardens which in itself took us nearly 4 hours. Our toddler was mesmerized with the Grand Cascade fountains (or "FON-TEN" as Isaac has begun to say).

A short video of the Grand Cascade at Peterhof -

St.Petersburg, Russia - Day 76

2009-06-24T07:45:00.000-07:00

With just 4 days in St.Petersburg we were constantly forcing ourselves to decide between the numerous sights to visit. Telling ourselves that we must return to St.Petersburg some day when we don't have a toddler on our hands, we grudgingly opted-out of visiting the famed 'Hermitage' and other museums.

Shortly after taking this picture outside the Hermitage, we sat at a restaurant that had this dated picture taken from about the same angle. Those beautiful tram tracks is now a congested road and there are hardly any trees in sight.

And this is the wholesome Borscht we had at lunch which Isaac didn't quite appreciate.

St.Petersburg, Russia - Day 74 : Easing into Russia

2009-06-22T08:25:00.000-07:00

The border control between Finland and Helsinki was surprisingly quick and efficient given the stories we had heard of tedious checks and immigration officers disappearing for hours.

We arrived in St.Petersburg a littler after noon and checked into our first Russian apartment which we booked through HOFA. It's basic and in need of some repair and refurnishing. For a bed, we have a small pull out sofa - a little larger than a twin bed for the 3 of us. As the guidebooks and every other source warned, good-value accommodation is hard to come by in Russia. I am not complaining just yet - at least we have a washing machine.

At first glance, St.Peterburg looks like a large sprawling version of any Western European city - which is exactly what Peter the Great had conceived it to be. But like our apartment, the city is in need of some care and bursting at the seams with cars (and car fumes). Historic pre-war buildings are topped with large commercial signs which seem both tacky and out of place. T has always loved St.Petersburg but it definitely isn't love at first sight for me. It doesn't help that I am still easing into Russia. I am constantly looking over my shoulder for Militsya (local civilian police) to stop and harass us for our papers. Perhaps I just to need to drop my guard and relax a little.

Helsinki, Finland - Day 73:Preparing for our Trans-Siberian journey

2009-06-21T01:44:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow we leave for St.Petersburg. We will be embarking on what may be my life's greatest travel experience - a journey that will take us from Europe to Asia on the world's longest railroad.

I am scrambling to make sure we have our accommodation sorted out in Russia. Train travel and finding short-term apartment rentals in Eastern Europe was rather painless. If Ukraine is any indication, I am fully expecting that language is going to be my biggest challenge in Russia and finding accommodation will require a lot more patience. As of now we have made home-stay bookings through HOFA, which arranges lodgings with English speaking Russian families. While this will give us the 'authentic' Russian experience, we are weary of what to expect.

I am also very anxious of the police harassment that Lonely Planet points out in Russia - especially Moscow and St. Petersburg. My biggest concerns are the numerous reports on racist attacks directed at non-Caucasians. Amnesty International has put out an alert on the situation and even President Medvedev has acknowledged the problem. While planning this trip in NYC, I had several inhibitions about bringing Isaac to Russia and I am still a little torn on whether I am doing the right thing.

The Trans-Siberian leg of the journey will be the most strenuous series of train rides we will be taking, making this segment almost like a marathon with scheduled pit stops along the way. Our visa is valid for only a month and we have to make it from St.Petersburg to UlanBator (Mongolia) in this very tight time frame. So as to keep the stress of traveling with our toddler to an absolute minimum, we have planned it as bite-size rides - each train will be less that 18 hours and by making them overnight rides, we will be able to have our son sleep through a better part of it. En route, we will be stopping at 9 Russian cities with a 2 day break in each city. The only exception will be St.Petersburg and Moscow where we will be spending 4 days each.

T says I am going into Russia with far too much pessimism and dread and it's true that in my mind, Russia is almost synonymous with the mafia and xenophobia. I am hoping to be proved wrong.

Frequently Asked Questions

2009-06-20T02:59:00.000-07:00

Studies show that traveling around the world is people's single most popular fantasy. Everyone I speak to say that we are living their dream. With a little planning, anyone can do what we are doing. Here's a list of questions that I get asked a lot and hopefully will help catalyse your dream trip -

1. How are you funding this trip?
My husband and I have known each other for 5 years now. We live a very 'basic' lifestyle by New York standards and have therefore been able to keep aside enough money to satisfy our yearning for adventure. We are debt-free, don't have money tied up in property (land or house), don't own a car and don't have any student loans.

2. How much will it cost?
Our daily budget while on this trip is $150 for 2 adults+1 child.
200 days of travel adds up to $30,000. Our daily budget of $150 includes the cost of accommodation, food and train tickets. This does not include visa costs, international medical insurance and other fixed costs (such as our rental storage unit and mail forwarding service) we will continue to incur in the U.S. when we are out of the country.
We estimate that given all contingencies and adding up our trip costs plus fixed costs in the U.S, our total cash outflow will be $40,000.

3. Isn't $30,000 a lot of money?
Yes it sure is and comes with sacrifices both before and long after this 200 day trip is over. But in the end we know it will be well worth it. We would rather be traveling and living our dream than sitting at work or standing in a grocery check-out line.

Also note that $30,000 is what we are willing to spend to travel in 'relative' comfort - this means apartment/hotels with private showers and toilets, 4 berth coupes and a restaurant meal every other day. If you are willing to rough it out a bit - stay in backpacker hostels or 1-star hotels, travel in 6 berth train cars, and limit yourself to self-cooked meals, you could do this trip for well under $20,000 or even less. When we did the math at the end of 80 days, we found that our monthly cost of living in the U.S - paying for medical insurance, taxes, NYC apartment rent, daycare costs, groceries and utilities would be comparable to the cost of this trip.

4. Why now?
Shortly after Thanksgiving 2008, the financial meltdown dominating the headlines became a personal reality when my husband was let go by his firm. With 2009 being a wash-out year, the timing was perfect to travel on a shoe string budget rather than getting frustrated looking for a job. As for me, I resigned my job and opted to do this trip instead. I am hopeful that my travels and 8 years of work experience will open up other career possibilities.

Secondly, our toddler was 20 months at the start of this trip. While some may say he is far too young, we see 2 benefits -
a) He isn't in school. Even if he was, I would have home-schooled him for a year. Children learn more about finance, history and language when they travel.
b) A 20 month old adds relatively little incremental cost to this trip. Hotels/apartments, trains, museums and buses do not charge extra for a child under 2.

Thirdly, we are in our 30s and healthy and can replenish our funds by saving wisely after we are done with this trip. We are both averse to the idea of waiting till we are 60 to live our dream.

5. What did you do with your apartment?
We were renting our NYC apartment and decided to give it up. We moved all our stuff into a rental storage unit, and terminated our rental agreement by finding tenants to take over our lease. Would we do this trip if we we owned our own house/apartment? Yes, we would have simply rented out our furnished house/apartment to fully or partially cover our mortgage cost. I have read of several other 'Round the world' travelers who have done exactly that.

6. Why do this by train?
Because of our toddler, we wanted to make this experience as comfortable as possible. We would have to pace ourselves to preserve our own sanity and to ward off travel fatigue. We quickly ruled out driving by car or hopping on flights, as both would mean strapping our son to a seat. We both love the slow and easy romance of train travel and it would allow our toddler the freedom to run the length of the train car. Besides, the economy of doing this journey by train was far too enticing to turn down. The longest continuous train journey is from Portugal to Vietnam covering a total of 17,852 kms and most of it included the countries we had on our wish-list. With a bit of creativity and lots of research, we knew it was possible.

7. Why did you choose this itinerary?
Apart from safety and steering clear of countries with civil unrest, our primary criteria was to pick countries that needed more than 2 weeks to explore. The logic being that a 2 weeks vacation is what we could spare while still holding onto our jobs. Given their vastness, both Russia and China fell into that category. We then added bordering countries to the wish-list.

Our second criteria was to have a common thread to our itinerary - most of the countries we added to our itinerary had a Communist past (or present in the case of China) or totalitarian regimes that have failed in recent history.

The third criteria was cost - we chose emerging economies and countries that wouldn't stretch our budget. This would also serve the purpose for T's research which he is documenting on his blog - The road less traded.

8. Isn't traveling with a toddler hard? How is your son handling the travel?
Yes, we find it challenging but only at times. For the most part, our experience has been that much more enhanced and enjoyable because of our toddler.

We have found surprising homogeneity in consumer goods. Department stores in the most obscure towns sell diapers, wipes, pasteurized milk and baby food. Apart from generic store brands, large consumer brands such as Johnson&Johnson and Proctor&Gamble are ubiquitous. Case in point - I have found Nestle's HoneyNut Cheerios and Pampers Size 4 diapers in every country I have visited thus far.

We interject trips to museums and other places of interest with trips to parks and playgrounds so that our son can gets his daily fix of outdoor play. We are also traveling with a few matchbox cars, 2 of his favorite books, some educational DVDs (that can be played on my laptop) and washable crayons. All of these provide endless hours of play.

Children make friends fast. They find play partners on trains, in playgrounds and in restaurants. Isaac has turned out to be the best ice-breaker in any situation. He gets everyone to loosen up and we have made several new friends and won many favors from station attendants, museum and church caretakers as a result of Isaac's charms.

9. Doesn't staying in hotels get tiring?
By our 2nd week into the trip, I was tired of over-priced restaurant food and washing clothes in the bathroom sink. Our solution: short term apartment rentals. With the exception of 3 cities, we have stayed at apartments in every city we have travelled to. These apartments are fully furnished (washing machine, equipped kitchen) and sometimes offer free wi-fi. Apartments also help us maintain some semblance of continuity for our son by cooking meals he is accustomed to. More about apartments at this link.

10. How far in advance have you booked your tickets and made reservations?
We limit making reservations or ticket purchases too far in advance. In the unfortunate event that we have a personal emergency and need to bail out of the trip, we can do so with the least amount of sunk cost.

For apartments/hotels, we make reservations about 7-10 days in advance. We check online if the trains are getting filled up and plan accordingly. Most Eastern European trains were booked only a day in advance as most trains run half-empty. In the case of the Russian trains, we booked some through an agent but the rest were bought about 2 weeks in advance directly from the Russian railways service counter.

11. What about medical insurance and pediatric care?
We have bought international medical insurance from Seven Corners. In the case of a dire medical emergency, we can ask to be evacuated and brought back to the U.S. They offer a variety of plans, but we opted for one with a high deductible that covers all the countries that we will be visiting on this trip.

We consulted with our pediatrician before we started on this trip. She made sure that Isaac was up-to-date with all his vaccinations. We are traveling with Isaac's medical records and immunization schedule as well as a medical kit to treat regular fevers, colds, coughs and bruises.

We have visited a pediatrician twice on this trip and during both occasions we found medical care to be perfectly on par with U.S standards. Lonely Planet guidebooks lists English speaking medical services in major towns.

Updated on July 01, 2009 (Day 83 of 200 days)

Helsinki, Finland - Day 71: Midsummer's Weekend

2009-06-19T01:36:00.000-07:00

Today is the summer solstice in Finland and the longest day with the sun not setting till almost midnight. Midsummer's weekend is the single most significant holiday in Finland - as celebrated as Thanksgiving in the U.S. Midsummer's was first celebrated as a pagan solstice ritual by the Nordic tribes and has evolved into a National holiday. Everything shuts down in the country and Helsinki felt almost like a ghost town as we arrived by the early ferry from Tallinn this morning.

T's old colleague - Mattias invited us over to celebrate Midsummer's with his family and friends and offered to pick us up from our apartment at noon. The Erickkson's have 4 beautiful children between ages 13 to 2 years and they make parenting seem decievingly simple and far too much fun!

Fins (and Swedes) toast their drinks by breaking into song and a few Aquavits later, everyone was drunk silly. I lost miserably at a game that was an amusing mix of croquet and bowling. Isaac and the youngest Erickkson child - Rufus tired themselves out jumping on the trampolene and fell asleep almost simultaneously.

It was a magical evening that I will think back to often for years to come. I remember looking out of the window around 11:30pm and seeing the midsummer sky awash in an iridescent purple-blue glow, and the enveloping warmth around the dinner table as great conversation flowed in the company of old and new friends.

Tallinn, Estonia - Day 70 : Baby travel fatigue

2009-06-18T01:22:00.000-07:00

In the past week we have had to take Isaac to the pediatrican twice. Over the weekend in Riga, we were worried about a bruise on his forehead that hadn't receded or changed its disturbing blue-black color from a fall 2 weeks ago. Yesterday we took him to the doctor because of a boil in his inner thigh that I felt needed to be examined. Thankfully in both cases, the doctors told us that Isaac was perfectly fine.

Yesterday he threw up his lunch, has lost his appetite and hasn't been himself ever since. Perhaps it's just a minor case of food poisoning that he needs to recover from but I have this unneasy guilt that he may be disoriented from all the travel.

Tallinn, Estonia - Day 70 : National Identity in the Baltic States

2009-06-18T00:09:00.000-07:00

I have often clubbed Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia as the 'Baltic states' and could barely tell them apart on a map. As I discovered on this trip, these countries hold fiercely independent identities forged together only in recent history by having been part of the Soviet Union.

The population composition differs vastly - Lithuania has a large Polish population, Latvia has a large number of citizens of Russian descent and Estonia holds more cultural similarity with its Scandinavian cousins across the Baltic Sea than it does with either Lithuania or Latvia.

To a visitor such as myself, the Lithuania and Estonia capitals - Vilnius and Tallinn seemed hip, vibrant and even compensating for its lost years of European kinship. In contrast, Latvia's communist past still holds sway over its' capital - Riga, evident in its ubiquitous Stalin-era architecture and a looming sense of misplaced identity.

Unlike Lithuania or Estonia, little Latvia is struggling with its new found political independence. Whilst part of the USSR, Riga served as a strategic seaport for the USSR with the Soviets establishing a large number of factories. Understandably it was Latvia that felt the pains of jump-starting its economy after the Soviet Union fell, unable to employ the thousands that were once gainfully employed in state run industries and beaureaucratic offices. As a Latvian acquaintance said, "Today Latvia is showing all the symptoms of the 'new country disease' ... excessive government control, corruption and fiscal mismanagement". Another young Latvian said that her parents feel a sense of nostalgia for the Communist days, "Back then atleast everyone was employed and there were no criminals on the street."

After years of mandatory Russian, the Baltic states are using their respective languages to assert their ethnic identity. In Lithuania 'language police' are tasked with the job of ensuring that street signs, books, menus and official documents are written only in Lithuanian, despite its large Polish population that would have a preferred a dual language system. In Latvia, hiring is unofficially dependent on your fluency in Latvian, very odd considering that present 30 year olds in the workforce studied Russian as their first language in public schools till the fall of the Soviet Union in the late 80s. And then there is the 50-60 set who have spoken Russian all their lives being forced to conduct all their legal and official affairs in Latvian.

These measures may be seen as necessary to renew their national identity, but personally, I see it as totalitarian and contradictory to the very ideals of democracy that these countries are emulating.

Tallinn, Estonia - Day 69: White Nights

2009-06-17T15:07:00.000-07:00

Situated at a longitude of 59.417 degrees, Tallinn is the northern most point that I have ever traveled to. It is very disorienting to have the sun set only close to midnight. We took a walk out today at 9:30pm and that's how bright it was. There's a clock in the background to prove it :)

Tallinn, Estonia - Day 68 : 4000 kms from the Black sea to the Baltic sea

2009-06-16T14:52:00.000-07:00

View Road Less Traded in a larger map

We walked along the Tallinn harbor today and saw the Baltic Sea. It's a great feeling of accomplishment to have traversed 4000kms from the Black Sea (Odessa, Ukraine) in the south to the Baltic coast in the north. I would be the first to admit that it has sometimes felt exhausting but that doesn't take away from how much we have loved the romance and adventure of extended travel.

Riga, Latvia - Day 66 : Angry Riga rain Gods !

2009-06-14T14:45:00.000-07:00

It's been raining for 3 days now and we haven't been able to see the beautiful old town of Riga as much as we would have wanted to. We attempted venturing out in the rain but all it did was make me hungry for warm food!

Riga, Latvia - Day 64 : Communist era apartments

2009-06-12T13:45:00.000-07:00

We got to Riga yesterday and have been staying with our friend Sergey's aunt. Sergey's family has been warm, hospitable and the best hosts despite not speaking a word of English.

The apartment itself has every modern convenience imaginable, but from the outside these apartments tell a very different story. Rows of concrete apartments buildings stand tall and straight, devoid of any color, architectural style or embellishment. The windows are evenly spaced and shaped, every building has the same number of floors and looks exactly like the one next to it.

A young woman (a friend of the family's) - let's call her "M" told us these apartments were built by the communist government to serve as accommodation for factory workers. So for example, a Soviet electronics manufacturing plant would allocate apartments for its employees in these buildings based on their rank and tenure. Chaos followed the fall of USSR - factories got privatized often in fire-sale prices and apartments such as these became 'private' almost overnight. If you stayed in a state-owned apartment at the time of the fall, you became the default owner by virtue of being the residing tenant. Today, these buildings look dilapidated and in need of repair if not a complete facelift.

In recent years Latvia has seen a real estate boom fueled in part by families looking to upgrade to newer apartments but also by the U.S phenomena of 'easy' home loans for an individual of average means. The economic crisis has hit this little country hard, unemployment is at 14.5% and the real estate market has tanked. Here is a recent story by PBS which our Lithuanian friend Ivona helped translate/produce. The morning that we left Riga, a TV news report stated the government was about to pass a budget to avoid immediate bankruptcy.

Vilnius-Dauavpils - Day 62 : Meeting Daniel

2009-06-10T14:55:00.001-07:00

Today, we took a 2 hour commuter train from Vilnius to Daugavpils a border town in Latvia which is also the second biggest'city' after the capital Riga.

On the train we met Daniel, an 8 year old Russian boy who spoke conversational English. When asked how he had learned English, he said, "I watch English movies and music videos". In 2 short hours he engaged us with a game of cards, stamped us with temporary tattoos, wrote us our names in Cyrillic and tried his hand at portrait photography.

Vilnius, Lithuania - Day 62: Quirky city

2009-06-10T14:08:00.000-07:00

Vilnius is such a quirky little city. 2 things I absolutely loved about it:

1. Most shops in Vilnius have pictographic panels showing store timings. So a hair salon will have images of scissors next to their store hours or a shoe shop will have pictures of black stilletos alongside weekday hours and red stilletos alongside weekend hours. And this idea extends to bookshops, banks, restaurants and souvenir shops.
2. The district of Užupis, is a small patch of land that has declared itself a Republic. It's like NYC's Willamsburg, a small conclave of artists, hippies and by some accounts, 'a ghetto peopled by prostitutes, alcoholics and other miscellaneous misfits'. It has it's own flag, president and even a constitution that is nailed to a street wall that's full of idiosyncratic articles.

Vilnius, Lithuania - Day 61: Biking to the Green lakes

2009-06-09T11:54:00.000-07:00

Vilnius has a vast network of bike lanes and car-free parks that make it an ideal city to explore on a bicycle.

After having traveled through the better part of Eastern Europe, I now know that a city that has dedicated bike lanes and biker friendly roads speaks volumes of its respect for the environment. It is also indicative of a certain lifestyle - chances are that the locals do not suffer from obesity, spend a lot of time in the outdoors and live a simpler life. A biker for example will only buy provisions sufficient for tonight's meal which can fit in his bike basket. Compare this to an average American who needs all the space in his SUV to transport his monthly supply of groceries from COSTCO. I don't want to make this an essay about the benefits of non-polluting vehicles, but suffice to say that I hope this current global financial crisis gets people to rethink the cost efficiencies and health benefits of riding a bike to work, school or the local grocery store. We spent all of today biking nearly 40 kms around Vilnius' main park and then to the beautiful Green Lakes nestled in the thick forests of Verikai Regional Park.

There was a certain energy that filled the air as we approached the lakes - echoes of children laughing as they jumped into the water rang through the trees and suddenly the forest cleared up and the sun lit up the clearest green waters I have ever seen.

Vilnius, Lithuania - Day 60: Making new friends

2009-06-08T17:40:00.000-07:00

We met Ivona yesterday on the train from Sestokai to Vilnius. Isaac kept jumping up on his seat and peering over her shoulder prompting us to start a conversation. Perhaps the nicest part of a journey like this is the opportunity to make new friends.

Ivona invited us to her home for dinner in Vilnius this evening with no qualms of us being strangers that she had just met on a train.

We had a lovely dinner and the fantastic company of her husband and multi-lingual children. Ivona is one of those interesting people who can talk passionately on just about any subject under the sun - world music, Montessori education, travel destinations, languages....

I sincerely hope we get to meet and hang out again.

Warsaw-Sestokai-Vilnius - Day 59: Day trains

2009-06-07T17:14:00.000-07:00

If train schedules permit, we prefer overnight trains. It kills 2 birds with one stone (morbid expression, but I can't think of any other); We save on a night's accommodation AND sleeping is a better option than running behind a very active toddler!

Unfortunately, only day trains run between Warsaw and Vilnius with a switch of trains at Sestokai (a town that borders Poland and Lithuania). All in all, it took about 9 hours, and since there are no restaurant cars, we have to shop, pack and travel with enough food and milk to sustain our son. Thankfully, Eastern European trains seem to run half empty, so there is always lots of room to stretch out and catch up on some reading/writing.

That's Isaac amusing himself with some strange stuffed giraffe ritual.

Warsaw, Poland - Day 59: 20 years of freedom

2009-06-07T16:26:00.000-07:00

Before we arrived in Poland, T had warned me that Warsaw was perhaps the most polluted and dirty city he had seen when he visited as a boy in the early 90's after the fall of communism.

A CNN article once wrote - ...'there was a time in Poland when the economy was so maddeningly out of touch with the needs of its people that anyone lucky enough to own a car would remove their windshield wipers at night and take them inside. In their command economy -- oblivious to the laws of supply and demand -- some official forgot to order wipers and consequently, they weren't for sale anywhere. Inspired by a hungry black market, thieves would work late into the night snapping them up.'

20 years later, Warsaw has little trace of the city my husband and the article said it once was. It has clean modern buildings, a beautiful preserved old town and very few reminders of the decades of Soviet neglect.

The timing of our visit couldn't have been better - Warsaw is full of infectious energy - street art, concerts and exhibits celebrating 20 years of the transition from communism to capitalism and the 'Autumn of Nations' . For 3 days, we walked through an open air exhibit near the old town - an inspiring reminder of the sequence of events that led to the breakaway from Soviet domination.

Warsaw, Poland - Day 56-58: Perogis and 'Milk bars'

2009-06-06T15:54:00.000-07:00

Last night, we had dinner at Zgoda Grill bar - a Polish restaurant that served up heavenly perogis and warm red wine. Polish perogis are very similar to Tibetian Momos or Chinese dumplings - just lighter and way more tastier! T's best friend - Robert is of Polish descent has always waxed eloquent about the comfort of warm homemade perogis. We loved it so much, we went back twice.

Today we had lunch at a Polish "milk bar" that I chanced to read about online. The food itself was plain and watery, but the experience was priceless - trying to decipher a huge Polish menu list tacked to a wall and watching matronly women serve up large portions from steaming vessels. Milk Bars are one of the few remnants of the Communist era - basically a cafeteria style restaurant that provided subsidised food to Polish factory workers much like a company canteen.

Prague - Warsaw, Day 55 : Polish train safety

2009-06-04T15:30:00.000-07:00

When planning our train travels through Eastern Europe, we had come across several warnings about Polish overnight trains. What had me most nervous were 'gassing incidents' - passengers in coupes who were gassed before being robbed of their belongings. We checked with several sources and everyone said it was safe now and that the incidents were more of an urban myth.

We got safely (and uneventfully) from Prague to Warsaw. Interestingly, we were told at the ticket counter that the only available tickets were 2 upper berths in a 4 passenger couchette. We bought it grudgingly with visions of being pushed off the upper berth by my toddler who I would have to share it with.

The coupe turned out to be 6 berth couchette and completely empty! So much for the Polish train reservation system!

Prague, Chech Republic - Day 52-55 : Wrestling tourist mobs!

2009-06-02T14:47:00.000-07:00

It took us 4 hours and 3 different trains to get us from the lil' town of Velke Mezirci (where Lucia and Matt had their reception) to Prague. There are buses that ply that route in less than 2 hours but getting Isaac to actually sit on a bus seat seemed highly improbable, so we opted for the train(s).

Prague is pretty without a doubt but what overwhelmed me was the quantum of tourists (even in this cold damp weather!). At times I was elbow wrestling just to get them from stepping on my toes. T had to fly to London for a potential job interview, so Isaac and I had about a day to ourselves. With T gone, I stuck to simple domesticity - walked through town, took Isaac to a park beneath Charles Bridge and cooked a Kerala fish curry paired with some chilled Chech beer. Large departments stores (such as TESCO) are so homogenised, even in Prague I can pick up the fish, coconut milk and spices to make such a peculiarly regional dish!

Trebic, Chech Republic - Day 51: Lucia & Matt's wedding

2009-05-30T15:34:00.000-07:00

It was pouring outside when Lucia and Matt exchanged rings. I know because I was standing outside to muffle my toddler's tantrum. The wedding was a warm and personal event and we had so much of fun hanging out with Lucia & Matt's family.

Lucia was our son's babysitter/nanny for 6 months and Isaac was so attached to her. In New York, he ran down the hall every morning to greet her. He was elated to see Lucia again after all these weeks. He has a problem with Matt - the other man in her life now, but they seem to be making progress.

I love this video of the reception - all the musicians in the band are Lucia's cousins. Isaac was a bit confounded at first, but rocked the dance floor later in the evening.

Pictures from the wedding on our FB album.

Trebic, Chech Republic - Day 50: The kindness of strangers

2009-05-30T15:02:00.000-07:00

Last night, we arrived at Trebic, a small town in the south of the Chech Republic. We changed 4 trains to get from Budapest and by the time the 2 wagon suburban train pulled into town, it was 11pm and all of us were hungry, tired and in need of a shower.

We are in Trebic for Lucia's wedding - our babysitter and friend who we know from New York. Lucia had booked us a room at Pension Eliska - a family run guesthouse. At the deserted station (not counting the homeless person), we asked the station attendant for directions. Perhaps because she felt sorry for us (or our son), she proceeded to lock up the station and escorted us to the pension. On getting there, we found the main door locked and the lights turned off. I began to panic, considering the bleak prospect of finding alternative lodging at midnight.

The station attendant persisted with the door bell and used her cell phone to dial the number listed on the signage. And all this while it was cold, dark and drizzling!

10 minutes later, a tenant in the building peered out of a window. A conversation ensued between the station attendant and the man, and a few phone calls later we were let in by a receptionist who must have been knocking back a few beers at the local pub.

This morning, it all felt so surreal. T and I are amazed at the kindness of strangers. If it weren't for the station attendant and the man in the window, we would have had little choice but to sleep at the station last night.

Bratislava, Slovakia - Day 50 : Europe's youngest capital

2009-05-29T15:51:00.000-07:00

Bratislava may be Europe's youngest capital but it has a long and myriad history, having served as the capital of the Habsburg Monarchy. The old town is packed with Baroque churches and medieval towers - but we didn't get to see it all because of the torrential downpour on the ONE day that we had in Bratislava!

When we walked through the old town, it was getting a major face-lift. All the buildings are being repainted in pastels (!) and there is a definite push to make the city more attractive to visitors (large and swanky tourist information centers). Perhaps Bratislava is trying to attract at least a sliver of the tourists that overrun Prague every day and rightfully so. It has an interesting mixture of Soviet architecture and 16th century buildings, and is just 60 kms from Vienna. If you are ever in the vicinity, it's definitely worth a visit.

We wanted to make it to the Novy Most - a futuristic UFO bridge over the Danube built by the Soviets but never did because of the weather. So we did what anyone does when it rains - found a warm place to sit down and dig into food. T got this delicious plate of 'Makovegulky' - warm gooey poppy seed dumplings.

Budapest, Hungary - Day 49 : Inviting Waters

2009-05-28T14:06:00.000-07:00

The Buda castle, the Parliment building and the beautiful bridges over the Danube light up like a Christmas tree in the evenings, making it perhaps the most romantic city I have visited after Paris. Thus far (and I type this nearly 2 weeks after I have left Budapest) it is the one city I would love to live and work in some day.

And if the waters of the Danube aren't enough, Budapest's 100 thermal springs (more than any other world capital) are reason enough to bring me back. We spent an evening at the Gellert Spa - soaking in the healing thermal baths and cooling pools surrounded by a melange of mosaic tiles, Roman columns and domed glass roofs that streams light in like the fingers of God. And all of this for a mere 3100 Forint (15 $)!!

Pictures of beautiful Budapest (and Gellert Spa) on my FB album.

*Travel Tips for Parents*:

The Gellert Spa is perfect for a toddler. There are 3 children's pools but children are welcome in other pools as well. We took turns splashing with our son at an outdoor heated pool (one of the more lukewarm ones) while we explored the sex-segregated saunas, massages and baths. They also have a convenient family changing room that can be rented as part of the entrance fee.

We stayed at Town Hall Apartments - a very child friendly apartment rental company which provided a baby cot at no extra charge. There is a DM pharmacy (for diapers & wipes) and a large playground right outside the building.

Image Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Budapest_from_Gellert_Hill_MC.jpg

Budapest, Hungary - Day 47: Biking

2009-05-27T15:49:00.000-07:00

The past 2 days we rented bikes and rode around Budapest, the perfect way to cover such a sprawling city and all the beautiful bridges over the Danube. Isaac loved the wind in his face, was in peels of laughter and kept saying, "More, More, More". Budapest is especially beautiful at dusk - when the rays of the setting sun lights up Pest.

Budapest has bike lanes, but when there isn't one, you are 'permitted' to ride on the sidewalks or on the road - both are precarious and unsafe. Still, Budapest is extremely bike friendly and cars always give bikers the right of way. It isn't Amsterdam or Paris, but it's getting there. After riding along the Danube on the Buda side, we rode to Margaret Island - a green oasis splat in the middle of the river. The idea of a pedestrain only recreational island is just so refreshing - If I lived here, I would jog on this island everyday.

The bike shop - Budapest Bike had this cute 'Critical Mass' poster. Critical Mass is a movement promoting cycling as a convenient and clean means of urban transportation. Apparently Budapest has one of the largest Critical Mass Bike rides in the world - last year's attracted nearly 80000 riders. In contrast, Critical Mass in NYC is fraught with controversy, with frequent confrontations between the NYPD and the riders.

A cool video on the last Critical Mass event in Budapest.

Bringázás a Föld Napján - Biking on Earth Day - www.spejz.hu from Tapsi Hapsi on Vimeo.

Budapest, Hungary - Day 46 : Apartments vs. Hotels

2009-05-25T11:51:00.000-07:00

We are in Budapest for 5 days and we have checked into a fabulous 1 BR apartment in the heart of the city. I was feeling fatigued, so it was a perfect excuse to skip any sightseeing and just sit back with a cup of coffee and relax while Isaac ran around the apartment and T stepped out for some informational meetings.

Which brings me to the case for renting apartments when traveling. Before Issac, T and I always scoped out boutique bed'n'breakfasts which gave us the best flavor of the country that we were visiting. But when traveling with a toddler, laundry piles up fast and washing milk bottles in a bathroom sink gets tiring. Besides even $100/night hotel rooms are cramped and tight.

We first rented a apartment in Kyiv, Ukraine purely by chance because none of the other accommodations worked out. After that it has been'apartment fever' all the way. It has alleviated all my travel issues thus far - mainly washing clothes in a bathroom sink and constantly eating overpriced restaurant food.

I have stayed in 4 apartments thus far, and all of them came with well equipped kitchens and all (with the exception of 1) have had washing machines. And they are *SO* much more affordable than 2/3 star hotels, almost always less than $85-$90 a night. We have found apartments for just 1 or 2 nights, at short notice and there are tons of online reservation websites. The apartments are often located in the suburbs but for about $10 more, you could find one pretty close to the city center.

We have thoroughly enjoyed the novelty of buying local produce and wine, and cooking meals in the apartment. And the biggest advantage - it is almost always located in a historic district or building, making the travel experience so much more authentic than a cookie cutter hotel room. And yes, our toddler gets to run around and wear himself out.

I feel I have stumbled on a priceless piece of travel wisdom that I wish someone had pointed out to me earlier. While traveling with a toddler or even otherwise, renting an apartment is definitely far more value for money.

L'viv, Ukraine - Day 43 : Someone's happy!

2009-05-22T13:46:00.000-07:00

This video was taken at the rental apartment in L'viv, Ukraine. Needless to say, Isaac has been a happy camper all through this trip and has been adjusting better than we imagined.

L'viv, Ukraine - Day 42 : Toddler Menace

2009-05-21T15:56:00.000-07:00

We are in the historic city of L'viv in Ukraine. The primary attraction is the old town dating to the 13th century - which has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site. This is Ukraine's bible belt, choc-full of churches and cathedrals. After the 5th church we stopped counting.

We spent the morning shopping at the local market for basic provisions - a fascinating old-world experience that reminded us of what grocery shopping was like before the emergence of supermarkets. I will be uploading pictures to our Ukraine FB album.

We checked into our rental apartment - a lovingly renovated unit in a historic building.

An hour after settling into the apartment, we found our toddler scribbling on the wall with a permanent marker....which led to a rather embarrassing call to the owner.

And this after having dealt with another situation yesterday. During checkout from our Kyiv apartment, we were told that we had run up a 88 Grivna bill ($11)for a call to Stockholm. We denied the charge but T suspects that our son may have something to do with it :)

Odessa to Kyiv, Ukraine - Day 38 : Ukrainian Trains

2009-05-18T14:49:00.000-07:00

I am finding out that trains in Ukraine can be very 'third world'. The toilets are unsanitary and cramped, I could smell second hand smoke through the air vents and they didn't have a restaurant car or meal services on an overnight train. At least on an Indian train, you will never be wanting for food or water.

We paid for a private'luxe' coupe but all there was to show for it were plastic plants (lots of them), formica coupe walls and depressing seat fabric. All night the train kept halting abruptly and then jerking forward. The only saving grace - Ukrainian trains run on time.

Black Sea - Day 35-37 : UKR Ferry from Istanbul to Odesa

2009-05-16T14:09:00.000-07:00

I was expecting the worst of the 36 hr ferry ride from Istanbul to Odessa. Pictures of the 4 berth cabin on the UKR Ferry website didn't look very promising. And, I wasn't too thrilled that it was priced like a Carnival cruise ship but looked more like a freighter.

Much to our surprise, we got the entire cabin to ourselves which made the trip so much more bearable.

The furniture isn't the only thing that has not had a makeover sine the 1970s - the wait staff still have their Soviet-era steeliness. One morning T got scolded for arriving late for breakfast!

Turkey - Day 27-34

2009-05-13T16:32:00.000-07:00

Turkey is by far the most child friendly country I have visited. Strangers pile my toddler with far too much attention to the unfortunate point that he now squeals when he sees someone approaching him. On trains, he has been handed cookies and fruits . At restaurants, the waiters play with him, while T & I have our meals. And at a ferry office, they let us use their office to change his diaper. Everywhere we go, my son gets his cheeks pulled, pecked and outright kissed. We'd like to think that our son is cute, but I am convinced Turks love children as much as their kebabs.

Our pictures from Turkey posted on our Facebook page.

*Travel Tips for Parents*:

Since our toddler has limited patience when strapped in a plane seat and can't move around in a bus, we planned to visit only places that were accessible by trains. Seat 61 is a great source. We traveled from Istanbul to Izmir (with a ferry connection at Bandirma), took a day train from Izmir - Ephesus, an overnight sleeper train from Izmir-Ankara and the Super express train from Ankara-Istanbul. We would highly recommend the trains in Turkey - for both comfort as well as cleanliness. Infact, I would implore you to try them out; it's perhaps the best way to travel if you have young children.

Much to my son's delight, we found lots of children's parks in Istanbul - I particularly liked a small secluded park at Taksim Square tucked into the center of the busy intersection. Hotel Alaaddin that we stayed at provided a baby cot/crib. Only a few restaurants provide high-chairs but they make up for it by holding your baby! The ferry from Istanbul - Bandirma had a cozy childrens play area - pretty impressive for an 80 minute ferry ride. Supermarkets have a variety of fruit yogurts, cheerios, cheese snacks, and milk in tetra packs that don't require refrigeration. In Istanbul, we suggest heading to 'Dia Super market' in Karakoy ( it's the 4th stop on the tram line from Sultanahmet) because everything is overpriced in uber-touristy Istanbul.

What I do find surprisingly little of in Turkey are vegetables on the menu other than an occasional eggplant or a tomato and lettuce salad. In Izmir we came across Kumpir- a baked potato dish that you can ask for with vegetables, a perfect break to all the meat that we had to feed our toddler. Most public restrooms don't have changing tables, so we have perfected the 'standing' diaper change - which requires 2 pairs of hands - one to hold him straight while the other changes his diapers. Of course this is immodest, but necessity forces creativity.

Cataloging fear

2009-05-04T07:40:00.001-07:00

With less that 12 hours to the trip, I am panic stricken about all that can happen to us, more so to my 18 month old son than T or myself.

As I was packing today and putting together our first aid kit, T's friend - Robert who is with us in Kerala right now and has traveled extensively around the world said, "A First aid kit is like an African talisman - you hope that by packing one, you ward away any potential hazard and never have to use it."

By cataloging my fears now, I hope to look back at the end of the trip and examine if my fears were baseless or within reason.

1. Either one of us will break a leg or arm
2. T or I being jailed or imprisoned without fault
3. Being unable to find lodging for a night in a strange city
4. My son getting lost or kidnapped
5. T or I being victims of a racist attack or being physically attacked or mugged
6. My son falling sick and requiring hospitalisation
7. Being cashless and being unable to access an ATM or use our credit cards
8. Physical and mental exhaustion from living out of a backpack for over 12 weeks ( somehow I guess 12 weeks will be a turning point for me - by then I will know if I will love this trip or hate it!)

India - Lost and Found

2009-05-02T14:20:00.000-07:00

We have been having a great time in India so far - decamping from all the physical stress and emotional upheaval of leaving NY. Since getting here, we have been getting our pending affairs in order - filing our U.S taxes, making sure our credit cards have the updated address, and researching budget friendly hotels in the various cities we will be traveling through.

I love coming back home, but every time I do, I find myself comparing India to every other place that I have ever lived or visited. I come away frustrated at how my time gets wasted and how inefficient the 'system' can be. That being said, I did also find some very heartening changes...

* We arrived in Cochin on May 13th with a 1 day layover in Chennai. Tariq spent an interesting day trying to buy a hard drive - an errand that took him most of the day and inspired this humorous post. If running an errand outside home takes so long, it's no surprise that we need all the domestic help we can get.

* The level of professionalism and enthusiasm across the service industry leaves much to be desired. I went to a local "highly recommended" salon to get my hair trimmed - a rather unpleasant experience which came close to sheep shearing. The person cutting my hair was uninterested and lacked any of the courtesies that I have come to expect of a hair stylist. Unlike the West, in India a large percentage of salon attendants come from a socio-economic background that leaves them with limited professional options - in stark contrast to the stylists I have met in NY who think of themselves as artists and love what they do. It doesn't help matters that waiters and hair stylists in India earn negligible tips - further exacerbating the quality of service being rendered.

* Civic sense seems just as bad if not worse. Now that there is more 'packaged goods', I find that streets (and even rural trails) are even more littered than 6 years ago. On a train ride from Mumbai to Pune, I sat across a man who threw 2 plastic bottles out of the window.

* Perhaps the most promising change I have seen during my visit is an almost feverish motivation among the urban youth to make a difference in the current elections. A friend pointed me to the 'Jaago Re' (loosely translated to 'Awaken' ) campaign started less than 2 years ago by a U.S returned couple who took it upon themselves to simplify the process of registering to vote.

* Delhi's Metro system is a shining example of how public transportation and infrastructure can transform a city for locals and tourists alike. We loved riding the train and for the first time I got a glimmer of what life in India ought to be - clean, efficient and modern.

Day 15 - 18: Delhi, Mumbai & Pune - India

2009-04-28T16:30:00.000-07:00

Having flown from Cochin to Leh via Delhi, we wanted to do the rest of the trip by train. Our itinerary was Delhi to Mumbai (Mumbai Rajdhani), Mumbai to Pune (Deccan Queen) and Panvel to Ernakulam (Trivandrum Rajdhani). Having spent many uncomfortable nights aboard Indian trains during my college days, I was less than enthused about these 3 trains we would be taking. Of all the international train travels I have done thus far, Indian trains rank the lowest for unsanitary conditions and discomfort. However, I was pleasantly surprised with the fully air-conditoned Rajdhani trains and the level of service. Each car had a service attendant providing fresh sheets, meals, snacks, tea at regular intervals, towels and bottled water. My only gripe is the toilets continue to be unsanitary, subjecting me to pretty much fasting through the train ride. The train windows had accumulated some kind of muck, so we could barely see the scenic Konkan landscape as we sped by the coastline.

Talking about trains, T attracted curious onlookers at the stations despite his wheatish complexion which I thought would make him less conspicuous. When we stepped out of the station, auto rickshaw drivers and touts swarmed around us - till the crowd became more like a mad mob. I wish I had pictures to prove it. I admit that there is some curiosity that comes from being a mixed race couple - so I wasn't too taken aback when a cloak room attendant asked me in Hindi, "What are you doing with a white man?". There seems to be so many people just hanging around without much purpose outside these stations - odd considering that there are rarely any foreigners that ride the Indian railways.

Leh, Ladakh (India) - Day 10 -14

2009-04-24T17:21:00.000-07:00

When in India, we had shortlisted Hampi, Pondicherry and Leh(Ladakh) as possible places to visit. We finally zeroed in on Leh (a place I have long dreamed of visiting) because it was 'adventurous' enough to justify leaving our toddler with my parents for the 10 days that we would be away. At 3500m, it gave our lungs a workout and I am only too glad that we had the good sense to leave my son in Kerala.

Flying into Leh is spectacular - 20 minutes prior to landing all we saw were endless stretches snow capped Himalayas. Driving to the hotel, it almost felt like Iraq or Afganistan - swirls of dust thrown up by camoflauge military vehicles, army men walking the streets, and little shops with tin roofs. The town/market were without character or charm and there were surprisingly few restaurants serving anything authentically Ladakhi. Most of what we found was the typical Indian street fare (samosas, bhel) which caters to the army men who make the bulk of the customer base. Thick sweet Ladakhi tea (part tea, part condensed milk) can be found everywhere - and it almost feels like a regional pass-time, much like cafes elsewhere in the world.

Leh is beautifully desolate - a harsh desert spared only by the Indus river. As we drove along the Leh-Manali and the Leh-Srinagar highway, all I could think of was the sheer endless expanse of this land. Sometimes we saw no vehicle, no tree, no life for as far as the eye could see. We visited 4 monasteries in all and in T's words, we were 'Buddha'd out" by the end of it all.

Our plans to visit the highest motorable point in the world (Khardong-la) was canceled because of weather conditions. Instead. we made an impulse decision to drive to Rizong monastery - known locally for it's strict monastic practice. The road took us for through Likir Maidan, an seemingly endless orange colored desert flanked by mountains on either side. The last stretch of the road to Rizong was washed away in last year's summer floods, so we had to drive the SUV over rocks and streams till a huge fallen tree forced us to walk the rest of the distance. The last 35 minutes felt like the valley of death - steep and narrow slate cliffs devoid of any trees or shrubs. At one point during the trek we were joined by 2 young monks (10 & 14 respectively) who sprung through the terrain while we struggled to navigate it. Visitors are uncommon at Rizong which explained the welcoming party of young monks who had skipped class to see us.

I am sure Leh is beautiful year round, but I am glad I got to see pink lush apricot blossoms that dot the valley in spring. As everyone else has told me, Leh is best enjoyed driving around. If I ever come back here, it will be by car from Delhi via Manali.

Travel Product and Services

2009-04-06T12:33:00.000-07:00

I am not big on endorsing products, but if you are ever in my position (moving, relocating, traveling), I am sure you will find these useful -

Relocation
1. Used cardboard boxes is green and cheaper alternative to the other moving boxes out there. Mine arrived in exactly 48 hours and the 'Average Joe' package was perfect for all our stuff.
2. Moving companies are notorious for poor service, overriding their initial quote and shoddy packing. The crew from Hi-Touch moving was courteous, gave us a reasonable $90 an hour quote and were even fun! It was raining the day of our move and the apartment was on a busy intersection, but they got everything out of the door and into the truck in 2 hours flat.
3. Extra Space Storage has the cleanest spaces of all the long-term storage facilities we went to. I was greatly disappointed in the 'extras' that other companies throw in - moldy walls, renter's insurance, uneven floors and spaces that look like a prison cell.
4. Earth Class Mail rocks! Our mail is getting forwarded to ECM. They send us email alerts with full scanned copies of mail that we can read online. They even provide the option of shreding, recycling or archiving your mail. It is also used by active duty army officers and American expats living abroad.
5. Catalog Choice is fantastic way to reduce your catalog clutter.

Traveling
1. Steripen - is a great alternative to iodine tablets, especially since the pediatrician said that Isaac shouldn't be drinking iodine purified water continuously. We are using it to sterilize hotel tap water, saving us a lot of money on bottled water.
2. Pac Safe is an expensive travel accessory but hopefully will be worth the investment for the many overnight train journeys we will be making along this trip.

Hope this helps!

Preparing for travel

2009-03-19T13:35:00.001-07:00

Traveling with an 18 month old has its share of challenges. Foremost on my mind - my son isn't toilet trained, which means traveling with the bulk of diapers and wipes and also shopping for them as we travel through these countries. He still drinks from a bottle, so I will have to make arrangements to sterilize bottles before each feed. And my next big concern is keeping him occupied on long train journeys.

And ofcourse I am worried that my toddler will catch some bug/flu/virus that will make him horribly sick....

Here is the list I am working on -

1. Buy cloth diapers (for times that disposables may not be available)
2. Assemble medical kit (different from first-aid kit)
3. Buy comprehensive medical insurance for emergency evacuation
4. Schedule appointment with a pediatric travel specialist
5. Select light weight board books, coloring books and sticker books for long train journeys
6. Buy outfits that can be used for the next 6 months
7. Try and break the bottle habit before we travel
8. Assemble my son`s favorite CDs into a light carrier case
9. Research alternative baby carrier options to upgrade to(we have used ERGO for the last 18 months and love it.)
10. Buy durable walking shoes for my toddler

Arriving at "20 Countries in 200 Days"

2009-02-02T06:44:00.000-08:00

Many that I have spoken to have asked how the idea to travel through 20 countries in 200 days came about - mainly, had we been planning this for a while?

The truth is that like most things in life, we didn't see this coming. In November 2008 T was let go by JP Morgan - ironically after having survived the collapse @ Bear Stearns where a lay-off seemed more likely. A day after the lay-off we left for a pre-scheduled vacation to St.Marten where we sailed on a catamaran for 7 nights. Rocked to sleep by the waves, anchored on idyllic beaches at night and lying under the stars, we felt happy and content. We had literally sailed away from all the chaos in NY. We pondered about life lessons thus far, and how we wanted to live the rest of our lives ...'working' or 'living'. We asked ourselves, "All things considered (time, sufficient funds, re-employment opportunities), is traveling extensively an option we can consider at this point in our lives?"

After returning from St. Marten, T spent a few days looking at real estate investment options as I went about working my regular 9-6 job. Around Christmas, T started talking about traveling through China. I proposed we temporarily relocate to my parent's home in Cochin and use it as a hub to travel to other South East Asian countries.

Shortly after, our nanny said she would be getting married in the Chech Republic in May, which got us thinking about traveling via Turkey to the former Soviet bloc. T had always talked of traveling on the Trans Siberian rail across Russia, so we added that to the wish list as well.

Initially we thought of breaking the trip into 3 separate geographical loops - 1) The Eastern Bloc 2) Russia 3) China & South East Asia starting and ending in Cochin giving us the R&R that would be needed between each trip especially when traveling with a toddler.

Some research and we found the economies of flying back to Cochin didn't make sense, so as an alternative, we looked into the cost of doing the entire itinerary by train. After some research and perusing train timetables, we mapped an itinerary that started in Istanbul and ended in Singapore, which would take us approximately 208 days and take us through 20 countries.

So to clarify, we didn't try to arrive at the magical number of 20 or push ourselves to do this in 200 days - rather, it has come from practical considerations of train travel and the time we would like to spend in each country. Whether we will indeed be in Singapore by November 8th is yet to be seen, but currently we have 2 definitive 'pegs' that will keep us on schedule - our Russia visa that expires by July 21st, and the Arirang games in North Korea that we hope to attend on August 10th. That would leave us with roughly 2 months to travel through South East Asia.

The itineray thus far

2009-01-02T07:27:00.000-08:00

9 April: Fly from JFK to India

11 April: Layover in Chennai (Madras)

11-18 April: Cochin/Ernakulam, India.

18-23 April: Leh, India via Delhi

23-27 April: Pune, India via Mumbai

28 April - 4 May: Cochin/Ernakulam, India

5 May: Fly to Istanbul - Plan is for this to be the last flight until at least China, perhaps even Singapore or Indonesia.

9-13 May: Perhaps an excursion out of Istanbul to either the western (Aegean) coast, or down to Capadocia.

14-16 May: Take a 37-hour ferry from Istanbul to Odessa, Ukraine

17 May: Take an overnight train to Kiev, Ukraine

20 May: Take an overnight train to Lvov, Ukraine

23 May: Take an overnight train to Budapest, Hungary

29 May: Arrive in Brno, and then Trebic, Czech Republic

31 May: Take the 3-hour train from Brno to Prague, Czech Republic

1-22 June: From Prague, take trains up to Krakow, Warsaw (Poland), Vilnius (Lithuania), Riga (Latvia), Tallinn (Estonia), and eventually the fast boat to Helsinki, Finland, spending 1-4 nights in each.

22 June: Take the 6-hour train from Helsinki into St. Petersburg, Russia

25 June: Take the overnight train to Moscow

30 June: Begin the Trans-siberian railway with an overnight train to Kazan.

1-21 July: From Kazan, take mostly overnight trains to Ekaterinburg, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, maybe Irkutsk, and definitely Ulan-Ude, spending 1-2 nights in each. From Irkutsk or Ulan-Ude we would need to plan any excursions to lake Baikal and get the Mongolian visa.

Late July: pass through Mongolia, most likely with a few days in Ulaanbaatar or a nearby Ger

Early August - Late September: Travel through China for about two months or as long as our visas allow. Most likely we would start in Datong, then go to Beijing and perhaps Shanyang, and from there down into the Shandong province, perhaps into Shanghai, and then down to Guilin.

October - November: Hopefully cross from China into Laos (otherwise cut straight to Vietnam). After the hopeful few days in Laos, cross into Vietnam and see Dien Bien Phu, then head to Hanoi. From Hanoi, take the reunification express down to Hue and then Saigon. From Saigon, cross Cambodia somehow, and once in Thailand, start again by train from Bangkok down the peninsula, through peninsular Malaysia, to hopefully arrive in Singapore by November.