Today Tokyo, tomorrow Beijing, and then finally... Siberia.
Friday 2001-08-31
I'm in Tokyo now. I've been here for 2 days. Tomorrow afternoon I leave for Beijing. I'll be in Beijing for 3 days and then I'll board the trans-siberian train for Siberia and Lake Baikal.

Lake Baikal is one of the natural wonders of the world. It's the oldest, deepest and largest (by volume) lake in the world. It contains something like 20% of the fresh water on the earth. It has a highly self-contained eco-system and a large number of the plants and animals there are unique to Lake Baikal. The waters of the lake are supposed to be incredibly clear. I'll find out first hand because one of the things I'll be doing is scuba diving in the lake!

Lake Baikal is near the Siberian city of Irkutsk. The train will take me from Beijing to Irkutsk, via Mongolia. I'm going to stop for two days in Ulaan-Baator, which is the capital of Mongolia. If all goes well I'll spend a night in a ger, which is a traditional Mongolian dwelling - something like a very nice tent. And hopefully I'll be able to ride a Mongolian horse.

I'll be in the Irkutsk / Lake Baikal area for a total of 6 days. Then I'll board the trans-siberian train again and go straight back to Beijing. I'll spend 3 more days in Beijing before leaving for home.

My two days in Tokyo have been very busy. A co-worker of mine arranged for two of her Japanese girlfriends to show me around Tokyo. We spent all day yesterday sightseeing, eating, talking and in general having a great time. Today I was on my own and spent most of the day in the Shinjuku area, shopping and drinking a lot of Starbucks coffee!

That's all for now. More details as I make my way to Baikal...