To Russia with love

There's a special feeling before the trip, everything is new, nothing has gone wrong (well, nothing *on* the trip, see below), it's all possibilities and anticipation.

I am utterly, joyfully, movingly excited about going to Romania. A little bit scared - for some reason the fact I have to get a visa to visit makes it seem even further away, more foreign, slighly spooky... oh, and the Dracula stuff.

Latest Itinerary:

Sydney
plane
Japan - Tokyo, then Toyama/Fushiki
ferry
Russia - Vladivostok
trans-Siberian railway
Russia - Lake Baikal, Ekaterinberg, Moscow, St Petersberg
bus
Estonia - Taillin
bus
Latvia - Riga
train
Lithuania - Vilnus
train
Poland - Warsaw, Kracov
train
Hungary - Budapest
train
Romania - Oradea, Sigisoara (this town sounds fantastic, described as 'floating in the Carpathian mountains' with castles and gothic churches), Brasov, Bucharest

To be continued...

Everything breaks...

Someone warned me that everything would break just before I left.

OK so the bathroom light that's too high to reach and replace going kaput was one thing, but seriously...

Definitely time to pack up and get out of here...

Not that I won't miss the mess of Marrickville,

Or will I?

Itinerary

Only out there in my mind for the moment...

Departure: 9th October
Japan
Russia - Vladivostok - Listvyanka/Lake Baikal - Ekaterinberg - Moscow - St Petersburg
Estonia
Poland
Romania
... to be continued ...

United Kingdom