Andorable

The other day my family (including my brother and his friend, who have dropped by to visit for a few days) took a couple of cars up to Andora for a day trip.

Andora is a small independent principality snuggled in the Pyrenees between France and Spain. It is very remarkable for a couple of reasons.

1. There was snow

Which was of great amusement to us all. There was a good covering on the slopes, and there was lots of snowball throwing action. My brother also decided that 3 degrees celsius was the perfect temperature to walk around bare chested. He was lucky that no one tried to capture him and claim him as the Andoran Yeti.

2. Cheep cheep liquor

Andora is a tax haven, and they don't have any duty on their alcohol. This means that it is basically a giant airport duty free lounge for their neighbours in Spain and France. The streets in the two or three main towns were brim full of electronics boutiques, perfumeries, jewellers, tobacconists and supermarkets selling alcohol, chocolate, confectionary and cheese.

The alcohol wasn't just cheep, it was astonishingly cheep; 10 Euro (~ 20 AUD) for a liter of Absolute flavored vodka, and around 8 Euro for a liter of your standard bourbons.

The down side of this is that the French will try and charge you duty on whatever you take out of the country, and will do thorough searches on random vehicles as your re-enter their country. They also have search posts about an hour down the mountains, just in case you think you got away.

So while all of this was of great amusement, the windy roads up the mountains to get there left me with the worst car sickness I ever had. Perhaps I should have partaken in the affordable booze for medicinal purposes...

3762 Things To Do On Trains

Having completed the 78 hour train journey from Irkutsk in Siberia to Moscow, I have decided to publish a book with the above name. Below is an excerpt:

Idea 2456: Eat
We decided to use our time and money creatively and instigated a cooking challenge. The group divided the nights up among us and 2-3 people cooked for all 8. This is especially challenging given the tiny preparation area and the fact that the only cooking process you have is access to boiled water. My group made a trifle for dessert, it was awesome

Idea 2457: Get Crafty
Claire did general repairs, Meg sewed flag patches on her backpack from different countries. I found some wool for sale at one stop and decided to knit a scarf using my chopsticks. It's bright green (the scarf, that is).

Idea 2458: Discuss All Bodily Functions
Spending all day and night with the same people in a tiny box brings a new level of intimacy, discussing toilet events is a topic that everyone has something to say about.

Idea 2459: Befriend The Cabin Guard
Even if you don't speak the same language. Then you can find out all about how he's dating the other cabin guard, but also seeing his boss, who as a boyfriend at the next stop. Who knew trains were so exciting.

Idea 2460: Get Sick
Claire, Bella and Jules all did this. It gives the others something to talk about. Works especially well with idea 2458, but not idea 2456.

Under The (Mongolian) Weather

We're spent the last couple of nights living in a traditional Mongolian ger (tent-like structure) - the scenery was breath-taking, and the air was breath-able, which is a nice change after smoggy China.

While at the ger we went horse riding, visited a nomad family at their ger, ate some interesting dairy products and made the most of the lovely views.

Unfortunately I'm feeling a bit crook today - early diagnosis was a hangover, but I think it may be a bit more lingering. We have an overnight train to Russia this evening so hopefully a good sleep will make me a bit more lucid and descriptive for my first blog from Russia.

Curse of the Cankle

After three days of walking around in my sneakers in the oppressive heat, my ankles have turned bright red and swollen so that from calf to foot is one straight line. It's rather sensitive to touch and looks like scars from stepping into a deepfrier as a child.

To alleviate the pain, Claire and I took bikes around Tianjin today. Tianjin is East of Beijing, but equally flat. Riding here is a pleasure, even on the clunky pink single speeder that I christened Lui-Xi for the day. Bike helmets are non-existent and road rules are much the same -The jaywalking policeman was a particular highlight. Bikes have their own lane completely separated from cars, so all together it was a delight to peddle around.

We rode out to the Olympics stadium, where soccer finals have been held. We also visited some temples and old streets around town to do some shopping. Claire is a demon bargainer - she's so ruthless that when we went to the supermarket I was afraid she was even going to haggle with the register attendant...

The swelling and redness has started to go down on my ankles, but they still look rather nasty. Nothing a few quiet days can't fix.