Brice was kind enough to post a map which shows all the possible routes of the Trans-Siberian railway. Pinched from a really good website http://www.seat61.com/. The Trans-Siberian is actually a name used for an amalgamation of many routes that cross the continents. We'll be heading from Osaka to Shanghai via ferry. After that, it's up to Beijing, on to Ulan Bator in Mongolia and from there we head to Moscow, possibly St. Petersburg too. In order to get to Poland we will be circumnavigating the not-so-traveller-friendly Belarus by going through Latvia and Lithuania. After Poland it's on to Germany, Netherlands and then France. Brice and I will part ways in France and I will continue on to Spain and hopefully Morocco. That's the plan as it stands now. Things may change due to weather, yetis, Mongolian camel rash or just laziness.

Depart moins 5

Bonjour, ceci est le blog commun de peter et Brice. Le depart est le vendredi 31 mars. Suivront donc bientot textes et photos du Japon, de la Chine, de la Mongolie, de la Russie, des pays Baltes, de la Pologne, de l Allemagne, de la Hollande et enfin de Marseille.

Brice.

The travels haven't started yet but I thought I would put something up as a sort of prologue to the actual journey. Preparations are pretty much in order as far as the travelling part goes but I still have a lot to do as I won't just be going on vacation, I will be leaving Japan. Moving is an awful experience. The nomadic life style is looking pretty good right now. I'm trying to shave away my packrat tendencies but its hard when everything has a memory attached to it. I wish I had selective amnesia sometimes. A lot of things will get left behind but I'm learning to be comfortable with the waxing and waning presence of things, people, places, memories. It's Sunday night (actually very early Monday morning) and I'm leaving on Friday morning. Not only me of course but Brice too, my Burgundy buddy will be leaving some words (most likely in French) on this blog. If you can read it, C'est bon! If you can't, like me, C'est ok, because you can still read the stuff I write and look at the pictures we will be putting up for your vicarious living pleasure. Not much will be put up by me in the next few days but check back around April 3rd, 4th or 5th to see what happens when we put two foreign men with manly beards on the streets of Shanghai and Beijing. Hilarity is sure to ensue! Peace of cake. P