St Petersburg Part 2

I thought that the last post was a little brief, and having some time to waste before my train, I decided to get back on the net and post some more, rather than go into some smokey bar.

First impressions of Russia was "Ivan is crazy" especially when he gets behind the wheel. Seeing how quickly you can accelerate between jams, changing lanes as often as possible, and cutting red lights as closely as you can seem normal here. Still the weather is nice, hot & sunny, although it soon cools down when the sun sets, which is late, 9:45 here and its still light outside.

Feeling very footsore, as apart from a couple of boat trips I've walked everywhere. This is definitely a city where knowing Russian would be an advantage, as English speakers are few and far between. The English commentary boat trip I took yesterday had me and two American architectural students, I think we were outnumbered by the boats crew :).

A tip if you like museums but are a cheapskate, come on the 18th of may, since its "International Museam Day" today and entry to all museums, including the Hermitage, is free. So yes I did go round the Hermitage, and also the Russian Naval museum. The park next to the naval museum is interesting, since it seems that every St. Petersburg Wedding has its photos taken there - brides were literally queing up for the best spots.

The Plan

For those that don't know me, welcome, please leave a comment, so that I know that at least someone reads this.
For those that know me - ditto.

Since this the first real post here, I thought I'd lay out a brief layout as to what I plan on doing for the next year:
Friday I leave work
A couple of weeks later I board a plane from Heathrow to St.Petersburg, then basically take a series of trains to Beijing.
From Beijing I fly to Hong Kong then hop over to Japan for a couple of weeks, before heading for Thailand. After a few days in the bustle of Bangkok I head north for the mountains, then south to the beaches. I then wend my way slowly south through Malasia, Singapore and Bali before hitting Australia.

Australia involves a couple of long train journeys - the India Pacific from Perth to Adelaide, then the Gahn to Darwin, stopping off in Alice Springs on the way. From Darwin I fly to Cairns, then down the coast to Sydney, then across to New Zealand in time for Christmas. Then its the homeward leg, via Hawii to San Fransisco, then train to the east cost (possibly stopping in Colarado for a bit of skiing) then home via Rio.