2009 06 - pre-departure
Initially I was thinking of the trans-Siberian but got distracted by the new 'Nomadistan' route offered by Vodkatrain
http://www.vodkatrain.com/journeys/trip.aspx?trip=JE
which took in some of the Northern branch of the ancient Silk Route - passing through Russia, Kazakhstan & Uzbekistan. This small group travel, supported rather than guided, seemed a good idea... until not enough people signed up! The maximum group size is 15 and the Nomadistan left once a month (some trans-Siberian options leave twice a week in peak season) & July was the only good departure time for me, so I signed up early.... But as the weeks passed and I didn't get any support documentation to facilitate visa application I discovered the minimum group size was 4 and I was the only one booked on for July! (apparently the min size was listed somewhere in the small print and I'd missed it). To cut a longer story shorter, I had to wait some more, then the July departure was cancelled and I considered my options before creating an almost identical solo travel itinerary through Sundowners Overland (Asian overland specialists and parent company of Vodkatrain) and as a solo itinerary it was a guaranteed departure! :)
I also managed to get myself a place on the Norwegian sail-training ship Sørlandet for the first leg of the Tall Ships Races, Baltic 2009, Sailing from Gdynia (Northern Poland) to St Petersburg and then to Tallinn. http://www.schoolship.no/
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