#104 My Trans-Siberian Journey (1) - By the Moscow River 🇷🇺 🚂

2018 Russia World Cup is in the air! So I'm going to blog about my epic trans-Siberian journey in the following days. In this post, I would start from my first stop of the long journey - Moscow. These photos you see were shot at sunset close to Gorky Park. On this lovely summer day, the locals are resting or dancing by the charming Moskva River snaking through the city. Warm season is not long here, so beautiful sunny days like this are so precious. The bridge you see is Pushkinsky Pedestrian Bridge completed in 2000, built around the old steel arch of the historical Andreyevsky Rail Bridge (1907-1998).

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Before I went to Russia, all my impressions about it were only from books, TV news, movies and a couple of Russian friends. Just like China or any other countries, foreigners can have misconceptions about Russia. I still remember when I was doing a master in Belgium, we had a Russian girl in the same major, and whenever she stopped drinking in a hangout, the rest would say: "Hey, you are from Russia! How can you drink so little? Don't you drink vodka like water?" Or things like:"What? You call this cold? Don't you have frozen lakes most time of the year there in Russia?" Haha... So travel is your best friend. Seeing is believing. Just go out there and see with your own eyes. :)

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So I hopped on the trans-Siberian train and started my 7-day journey through Russia? No no no, it's way more exciting! ;) First, I have to apply for the visa of course. Should it be a transit one then? When I checked the train routes, I found out that rather than taking the famous 7-day trans-Siberian train (see the red route in the map below), I should actually do the trans-Mongolian route to Beijing. Why? Because I'm going to East China and I'd love to visit Mongolia too!

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But if you take that popular trans-Siberian train for a week, you stay in one train for 7 days without getting out or taking showers, which is a bit gruesome to me on hot summer days. ;) At last, I opted for separate legs of train, so I could get out and see different places in Russia and Mongolia. Then I had to get a tourist visa instead of a transit visa. I also decided to do couchsurfing, which was as awesome as always. Like many travelers, I've loved this way of going local. All my hosts in Russia were amazing, and every one of them took me to meet their friends or other couchsurfing mates. We had so much fun!

So after the visa and the accommodation were sorted out, I first flew from Brussels to Moscow, and after a week in Moscow, I took a couple of trains all the way to Ulaanbaatar of Mongolia, and then to Beijing, China. It turned out to be such a wonderful journey full of great memories. When I'm now looking at the photos and videos filled with culture, nature and laughter, I just can't help smiling.

In my next post about this Trans-Siberian journey, join me in a boat tour down the Moscow River! Stay tuned and see you soon! =)

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All content by @itchyfeetdonica except for the map

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Thank you for reading. Please tell me what you think in the comments. Until next time! =)

感谢阅读！你的关注/点赞/留言/转发就是对我最好的支持~ 下次见！:)

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Here are some screenshots from my Instagram. Follow @ItchyfeetDonica for more adventures around the globe !

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!steemitworldmap 55.728770 lat 37.597300 long Moscow d3scr