Russia – China – Russia – Japan
“Wait… You’re coming back from Vladivostok by car to return to Vladivostok by train????”
Such a question couldn’t be more natural when you have a look to the itinerary of
the first part of my project. Many people asked the same, and myself first! I’ll be quitting my job for this project, is it really worth just going back and forth?
Of course not! Abandon the safety of my job, leave my family and friends far beyond me, adopt a totally new lifestyle… Obviously, it would be a failure to drop so much to just dance a swing of 50.000 miles and more than 12 months long. And this is not my project.
Yes, I’m back in Russia once more. I’ll be back in
Saint-Petersburg, Moscow, Kazan, Irkutsk and Vladivostok less than a year after I’ll have then behind me. But there are so many differences…
First, the objective. I’m not targeting Russia, but China, Japan and Mongolia. These destinations speak to me for a long time already, and I have still a lot to
learn from Mongolia. I want to go there without taking the plane. Russia is thus the most efficient gate (a small gate of merely 11.000 km long).
I could have chosen simply go to China from Vladivostok. Of course I could. There are many reasons I didn’t do so, though. First, the administrative cost to enter China with a car (a deposit of 10.000 € and hire a guide for the whole trip). Driving the car never being alone is also very reassuring. But most importantly, the itinerary foreseen by Gérard (the group leader) is simply unbelievable… From Russia to France by the Silk Road! Finally, making this trip with a friend I trust is more than a bonus. In short, I’m not just bringing the car back to Belgium. It is an objective in itself.
Bringing the car back? Yup, transportation means is also different. I’m leaving the car in Belgium to take the train. And I know by experience than traveling by train in Russia is something special already, especially around the Baïkal lake.
Speaking about that lake… I’ll see it for the 4th time during this trip, and this one will be very different, as I plan to ice skate on it! A project I had for 2020, and I reported it to combine it with the rest of my trip.
But before that one of my main objectives: China. I want to experience this ambitious land conquering the world, meet its inhabitants, amaze before its landscapes, observe its infrastructures, taste its cuisine, discover its culture and learn its history. I’ll stay a bunch of days in a bunch of cities.
And finally Japan. People, landscapes, eating, culture… All of that is also in the plans. How to make it concrete is not yet clear, though. Will I stay in one place or will I also vary the cities? Future will tell me!
