Itinerary updated 2010 07 19

I have never been able to live my dream of travelling widely without plans. Visas are the main reason, particularly being able to get out on the weekly ferry from Vladivostok to Korea before my Russian visa expires. Every Russian train I have been on has been completely full so it must also be necessary to book ahead. Luckily I was able to change my Russian itinerary because I was invited by a Russian soldier (who I met between Yekaterinburg and Irkutsk) to visit Blagoveshchensk, which is 110km off the Trans Siberian route. This meant that I exchanged my Ulan-Ude to Vladivostok (three nights) ticket for Ulan-Ude to Blagoveshchensk... and Blagoveshchensk to Vladivostok, arriving in Vladivostok one night later. Anna is a cook in the Russian army and received a medal in Chechnya for saving some civilian lives. (I couldn’t understand any further details as she speaks even less English than my Russian.) It was well worth it as Blagoveshchensk is very interesting. Anna drove me to all the sights and we finished with a lovely dinner at an Armenian restaurant (she is half Armenian) before our farewell at Blagoveshchensk station.

I have also had to plan some of my onward details, largely to accommodate friends (although their details are not all fixed yet). It now looks as if I will be doing something the following – with all gaps flexible and the last parts least certain:

Wednesday July 21: Depart Vladivostok on ‘Eastern Dream’ ferry (if they have my reservation).
Thursday July 22: Arrive Dong Hai, South Korea. Train to Seoul.

Friday July 30: fly Seoul to Bangkok, Thailand
Saturday July 31: fly Bangkok to Yangon, Myanmar

Monday August 2: fly Yangon to Bagan

Thursday August 5: fly Bagan to Mandalay
Friday August 6: fly Mandalay to Yangan
Saturday August 7: fly Yangan to Bangkok

Saturday August 28??: fly Bangkok to Delhi???

Thursday September 9: fly Delhi to Dhaka, Bangladesh?

October 4 – 14: must be in London for exams...