Getting ready for the off . . .

Because i bang on about my green credentials i now find that i have talked myself into not being able to take the easy way, by air, doing so would mean a loss of face, and force me to keep my big mouth closed.

I have a rough outline of the route, largely dependant on finding a freighter across the ocean.

It is preferable for me to not plan too much about where i might sleep, eat, etc each day. From previous wanderings, over the past 40 odd years, the unknown and the unexpected things that happen on journeys themselves are the way: the interesting people one meets, the tips and advice one receives, the helloing and goodbyes.

Sheer serendipity . . . .

My rucksack is going to be half full of medical consumables, the other quarter will be travel guides and reading material. It is four years since i lugged a rucksack, shopping is about the only yoke i carry regularly.

Not yet sure what currency to carry, Euro or dollar? i've not yet been able to discover which is most suitable.

I have a train ticket from Uckfield to Victoria, a bus ticket from Victoria to Warsaw, (by National Express) and a change to a Polish bus, which is a fraction of the cost of the Eurostar and other trains, £59. The train from Warsaw to Moscow through Belarus, "the last outpost of tyranny in Europe", via Minsk and a rail ticket on the Trans-Siberian route through Mongolia, via Ulan Bator, to Beijing. There are two other routes across Siberia the northern route to Vladivostok, the central route through Manchuria, which enters into Harbin before Beijing. Also i have accommodation booked in Moscow at "Lenin's Hostel" in an 8-berth room and also a bed at a guest house in Beijing. Then the journey starts into the unknown . . .

Now got, the four visas, at last! Belorus, Russian Federation, Mongolia and China. This was was quite a traumatic experience, changes are not allowed, very strict adherence is required to all demands. Not many people know that registration is required, and a lot of cities and areas are still closed to visitors.