So I think you will all be pleased to hear that the European flash-packing has certainly stopped, and we've gone from Swan Lake to swampy…shower-less for 4 nights on the Trans-Mongolian railway, 5 nights in the Gobi desert, sleeping on yurt floors with nomadic Mongolia families…yes it has most definitely sunk in now! We are now in Beijing so I am a bit behind with my blog updates - as Simon keeps pointing out - but our blog address is not accessible on every...

"Woo hoo the first blog post" I hear you cry…or maybe not as to be fair we haven't even been away a week yet, and writing a blog post about our time in Riga and St Petersburg feels like we are cheating somewhat as it has all been terribly civilised so far, and we have to keep reminding ourselves that we are at the start of a larger, backpacking adventure, as opposed to an extended European mini-break. As such will try and keep this first post short and sweet s...