Monthly Archives: July 2013

In Which You get to Spend 30 of the 48 Hours on the Train With Me

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12 and 13 June. It was late on the afternoon of 12 June as we lugged our belongings onto the train and shuffled down the narrow corridor to our cabins. Because we’d decided to keep the same groups in each …

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The visit to Hobbiton

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12 June part dva. At the outset, I promised a story but it requires a touch more history to provide some context particularly regarding the three complications that arose on this day. Notice that the date for this entry is …

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Touring Irkutsk, History Lessons and a Visit to Hobbiton

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12 June. Today is a day for history and storytelling and I’ll start with the former. We checked out of the B & B at 09:00 as scheduled no doubt much to Nikolai’s pleasure and relief. We boarded our bus …

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In Which the Visit Turns Chilling for Some and Celebratory for All

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11 June. It’s about 22:30 and I’m looking out the window of my room in our B & B in Listvyanka a small town on the edge of Lake Baikal. Listvyanka is about 70 kilometers east of Irkutsk. It sits …

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More Adventures in Border Crossing and A Complication in Time

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10 June. The train we boarded in UB was similar but not identical to the train from Beijing. It was, perhaps, a tad newer and it carried an air of shabby elegance. It’s possible that I boarded with altered expectations …

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