The Trip - Hong Kong to Exmouth
Summer 1998

During the Spring of 1994 we travelled from Moscow to Irkutsk by train. This journey prompted us to wonder what the rest of the route was like to, say, Beijing. We subsequently discovered that a fast overnight train service between Hong Kong and Beijing had been inaugurated in the Summer of 1997. This, together with the Eurostar link from Brussels to London, was the final spur which made us decide to travel by train from Hong Kong to Exmouth, G.B. over a period of 27 days during June/July 1998. Why this way? It seemed to us that it would have been somewhat of an anticlimax to travel eastwards and then fly home! We are glad we made this decision. It seemed 'right' as soon as we arrived in Hong Kong. More pictures of China can be found here.
 
Thanks to the efficiency of Monkey Business, at both Hong Kong and Beijing, who made the rail and accommodation bookings for us from Hong Kong through to Moscow, the whole trip ran incredibly smoothly. At the planning stages they were always 'just at the end of an email' and promptly replied to the many queries that we had.
 
Many thanks also to our friend Fran (alias 'Dial a Fare Travel') who organised our flight to Hong Kong and rail travel onwards from Moscow to London. At Waterloo we actually bought our own tickets to Exmouth!

Click on a picture to see it full-sized and use the 'back button' to return.
Hong Kong Couple Draughts
Oooh! Glad to get
those shoes off!		 Hong Kong at dusk
- a mini-Manhattan		 Chinese Draughts
 
Great Wall Great Wall Ceiling
The Great Wall...
...where else but!		 ...and higher up still Ceiling decoration in one
of the temples within
the Forbidden City
 
Beijing Shopping Silks
Within the
'Forbidden City'		 "Where's the next
fabric shop, Li?"		 So much choice!
Which shall it be?
 
Beijing Baikal Museum
An impromptu sing-song
at the Beihai Park, Beijing		 'Blue Baikal' from the
lakeside path		 Choosing a present
at the Museum near
Lystvyanka
 
Baikal Homestay Zagorsk
A paddle in Baikal
with guitar accompaniment!		 Our 'homestay' at
Lystvyanka by Lake Baikal		 The complex of churches
within the fortifications
at Zagorsk
 
Zagorsk Map reading Train
The onion domes of one of
the churches at Zagorsk		 Travelling in style!
Checking where we are
on the map		 The 'Baikal' train
Irkutsk to Moscow


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