And so it begins. And in the beginning there was the word. Or perhaps more accurately there were one and a half words. Or is it two words? Is a prefix a word? What's a conjunction? Anyway, the word(s) was (were) Trans-Siberian. I had the idea over a year ago, whilst doing nights (when all good ideas occur) and somehow convinced Kathryn to come along. And today we begin. A flight to Shanghai and then a series of trains to London.
Things at the airport were to be expected. Gavin's parents fare-welling an adult son in enough time to pay minimum parking. Kathyn's mother seeing her youngest child & only daughter being taken away to the third world. Add to that that the padlocks we had cunningly acquired at 50% off showed their worth by either falling off or failing to open at all. After the requisite photos we had just enough time to rush aboard the Qantas flight which, to be honest, was quite unremarkable. I don't know why people complain so much about the Q missing a U. It had the 'Inbetweeners' movie. And that's awesome.
At Shanghai airport we boarded our very first train of the whole lot. The fastest train in the world that FLOATS IN THE AIR ON MAGNETS. The Maglev Train. Capital awesome. However on the day we got it, it chose not to reach its maximum speed of over 400km/h, instead doing the 35km stretch at just 301km/h. Our disappointment was as poorly hidden as a monkey hiding an erection. At our destination in Shanghai Pudong we hailed a taxi and were greeted by a sudden and complete lack of understanding of the road rules & lack thereof. In China it is quite normal and appropriate, despite adequate lane marking, signage and traffic lights, to drift in and out of lanes, slow down and speed up without reason and basically display all those delightful driving idiosyncrasies.
Now a quick word about American Express Traveller's Cheques. We had chosen these as our currency of choice to avoid conversion and ATM fees. The purchasing of said cheques in Australia was not without difficulty - both the CBA and Post Office were unable to supply them. Then the American Express counter at Westpac would not accept an AMERICAN EXPRESS CARD as payment! No doubt something about missing out on chargeable fees. A CBA debit card, a MasterCard and a Westpac Visa were all also subject to nasty fees. Having procured said travellers cheques by means of a bank cheque they were made out into Australian dollars, in consultation with the AMEX staff, in order to avoid double conversion fees. Great. But, and this is an important one, no one in China will change Australian dollar cheques. Brilliant. And what do you think about Mongolia and Siberia? We have been Expressly screwed by America.
But finally we were overseas. The centre of Shanghai, where we were staying, is a quintessential neon canyon. We wandered up and down Nanjing Road, a pedestrianised shopping street in the glow of flashing advertising that puts Piccadilly to shame. We were approached, as we were each day, by hawkers offering t-shirts, watches and iPhones - I was quite obviously sporting one each. Why would I need another? Silly hawkers.
Our first day ended like our first in Japan, another place where the language, and more particularly the script, made the simplest of things initially very difficult - we had beer and pot noodles from a convenience store. Kathryn enjoyed a flavour that Steph may be familiar with - Darren Soup. But you can't complain in country where you can feed and drink for less than $10. China is good.
Things at the airport were to be expected. Gavin's parents fare-welling an adult son in enough time to pay minimum parking. Kathyn's mother seeing her youngest child & only daughter being taken away to the third world. Add to that that the padlocks we had cunningly acquired at 50% off showed their worth by either falling off or failing to open at all. After the requisite photos we had just enough time to rush aboard the Qantas flight which, to be honest, was quite unremarkable. I don't know why people complain so much about the Q missing a U. It had the 'Inbetweeners' movie. And that's awesome.
At Shanghai airport we boarded our very first train of the whole lot. The fastest train in the world that FLOATS IN THE AIR ON MAGNETS. The Maglev Train. Capital awesome. However on the day we got it, it chose not to reach its maximum speed of over 400km/h, instead doing the 35km stretch at just 301km/h. Our disappointment was as poorly hidden as a monkey hiding an erection. At our destination in Shanghai Pudong we hailed a taxi and were greeted by a sudden and complete lack of understanding of the road rules & lack thereof. In China it is quite normal and appropriate, despite adequate lane marking, signage and traffic lights, to drift in and out of lanes, slow down and speed up without reason and basically display all those delightful driving idiosyncrasies.
Now a quick word about American Express Traveller's Cheques. We had chosen these as our currency of choice to avoid conversion and ATM fees. The purchasing of said cheques in Australia was not without difficulty - both the CBA and Post Office were unable to supply them. Then the American Express counter at Westpac would not accept an AMERICAN EXPRESS CARD as payment! No doubt something about missing out on chargeable fees. A CBA debit card, a MasterCard and a Westpac Visa were all also subject to nasty fees. Having procured said travellers cheques by means of a bank cheque they were made out into Australian dollars, in consultation with the AMEX staff, in order to avoid double conversion fees. Great. But, and this is an important one, no one in China will change Australian dollar cheques. Brilliant. And what do you think about Mongolia and Siberia? We have been Expressly screwed by America.
But finally we were overseas. The centre of Shanghai, where we were staying, is a quintessential neon canyon. We wandered up and down Nanjing Road, a pedestrianised shopping street in the glow of flashing advertising that puts Piccadilly to shame. We were approached, as we were each day, by hawkers offering t-shirts, watches and iPhones - I was quite obviously sporting one each. Why would I need another? Silly hawkers.
Our first day ended like our first in Japan, another place where the language, and more particularly the script, made the simplest of things initially very difficult - we had beer and pot noodles from a convenience store. Kathryn enjoyed a flavour that Steph may be familiar with - Darren Soup. But you can't complain in country where you can feed and drink for less than $10. China is good.