Nik lives in Essex, UK and works in London as the editor of MacUser magazine. The posts and comments on this site do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions of values of his employers.
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I thought I was getting rather a lot of pages to read and sign off yesterday afternoon. It hadn’t struck me that it was the end of the production cycle and the September issue goes off to be printed today.
Should have guessed, really - I’ve only been doing it month in, month out for the last six years.
So, perhaps staying up so late last night to get the tax done wasn’t such a good idea after all, as it left me dozy all day today - the last day of the issue when there were more pages to read then ever.
I necked some Lucozade, three lattes and a tea in an attempt to stay awake, and walked up and down Tottenhan Court Road with Mark at lunchtime in a vain attempt to stave off unconsciousness. It just about worked. Now I feel burnt out.
In the spare moments between pages arriving on my desk, I’ve been reading about the Trans-Siberian Railway, which I’ve always wanted to ride. It’s all turning out to be far more involved than I’d expected, though, and I’ve learnt a few… erm… ‘interesting’ facts over the last couple of days.
First and foremost is the fact that there are no showers on the train. Second, the Guardian journalist whose experiences I read about online only ever dared use the restaurant car once. Third, it is only used by tourists and black-market criminals.
On the plus side, though, it is the world’s last great rail journey. The scenery looks extraordinary. It can be done in just six days. It links two of the cities I most want to visit: Moscow and Beijing (or Vladivostok, depending on your preference).
On balance, it has given me the bug. I’m reckoning it could be done in two weeks, flying in to Moscow, training across to Lake Baikal then doing a loop through Mongolia and China and back up into Siberia.
Only trouble is, it needs to be done soon. It shuts down again in September and won’t run again until next May.
I need to do some careful thinking about when and how.
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One Response to “Bye bye September, Hello October”
Oh wow, that sounds exciting! Take a few towel cloths with you so you can do without the showers. Oh, and be sure to have plenty of vodka. My parents have twice been to Russia and the last time they went, the only person in their group who got food poisoning didn’t down a shot of vodka with her meals. But vodka shouldn’t be so hard to get in Russia…
• Posted at 11:21 pm on July 8th, 2003 by Krist.