Kathmandu Arriving at Kathmandu International Airport, it felt as though we had travelled interplanetally rather than internationally. The terminal was a far cry from the modern and sophisticated port that we had left behind in Dubai. Entering the immigration hall we noticed signs exclaiming that we would need to purchase a $40USD visa in order to enter Kathmandu. The visa fee could be paid in US dollars, Euro, British Pounds or Australian dollars. This wou...

Word of the day: إغلاق الأبواب - pron: Al-abua bu-du black - "doors closing". Heard twice at every single metro stop between origin and destination, it's catchy. Highlight: Seeing in the New Year, with a toast to the many adventures already had, and many more still to come. Lowlight: Sad camels Weather: 23 degrees celcius It's nice not to be wearing thermals, but the dress code doesn't seem to be as stringent as we were told. Rich thinks ...

St Petersburg Our final stop in Russia is St Petersburg. When planning our trip, this city was always at the top of both of our highlights list. An overnight train was a great way to get from Moscow to our destination. Boarding late in the night, sleep came easy and we woke eight hours later to find ourselves pulling into St Petersburg. Thanks to the generosity of my Uncle Paul, we were staying in a lovely hotel right in the middle of St Petersburg. The jux...

Moscow Word of the day: Космополитический (Cosmopolitan) Highlight: Magical snow flakes Lowlight: Hostel sleeping Weather: Snow, 1°C It's snowed almost every day and it's magical! The entire city is covered thick with it. I've decided the beauty is in the pureness of colour, and the ability to round sharp edges and perfect the blemishes of a concrete city which isn't perfect. Apologies for going on. The way it floats through the ...

Irkutsk to Moscow Four nights on a train; this part of our journey was always going to be a trial. Standing on the platform looking at our train, with a laugh our guide informed us "this is Russia's very old train, it is bad, and it is worst". Up until this point, the hospitality we had experienced in Russia was as warm as the surrounding, snow covered hills and valleys. However, this all looked to be changing as we were greeted enthusiastically by a young ...