Msi's Globetrooper News Feed

Todd Great to hear MSI. There are a lot of interconnecting railways, so there will be lots of hopping on and off. Plus Mark has previously talked about "wash-stops" in motels along the way. Lauren and I plan to stay for a little while afterwards too. No concrete plans yet, but we'd be crazy not to stay longer. That said, Mark_Lester is the go-to-guy for more info. You can visit his blog dedicated to the trip and the very long forum discussion over at IndiaMike.com (the exact link is on Mark's blog).

Mark_Lester Ahoy MSI. Yes, you get the picture.
I am currently working on sourcing deliveries of good stuff for the tiffin boxes so we can concentrate on washing when ever we are off the train. Most of our trains have food, but it's usually iffy at best, so I am going to make every effort to get the food sorted.
Two thirds of the trip can actually be done in first class, which apparently have showers!, but most of us will be in AC2, which is quite nice but no shower. Some of my more delicate mates will be doing it in first though, if they actually turn up that is.
Roughly half the party will be natives, which will aid the mission on several levels.
I'll be organising for a tiffin box salesman to turn up wherever it is we convene in Mumbai so you can get yours. it wil only cost a few bucks, I will be getting two!.

Mark_Lester oops. can you delete one of those tood :).

Mark_Lester And regarding booking the trains. We have a great guy here in London(Wembley) who can sort this all out for you, dont worry about that side of things. Of course if we get hit with some enormous delay then it will all go tits up as we wont get a whole gang of us on the next train. But I have been monitoring all our trains for the last 6 months. There is a web site that publishes the arrival times and I am a programmer so I wrote something to catch all those so I can see how reliable everything is. Things aren't anywhere near as bad as everyone,including most Indians, will have you believe, and we have very ample gaps between trains. But shit does happen.

Msi I think the overnight train I took in India was AC2, so pretty comparable to trains in China. Ok so I think I'm a bit dense - but where can I find your blog? Want to figure out train tix etc. since I know those have to be bought way in advance.

Mark_Lester blog is here http://gcirc.wordpress.com we will be using these guys to book stuff http://www.indiarail.co.uk/ make your mind up time will be end of september

Lauren Hey Mark, sorry just had to look up what a tiffin box is :) but now I get the pic. Can you tell me how it works? We buy them first in Mumbai before the trip then at each stop we clean them and get them re-filled?

Mark_Lester yeah thats the plan. two may be overkill but they are cheap, useful, and a great momento.

Todd Hi All. Mark's doing a roll call to get firmer numbers. If you're joining this trip, please confirm your attendance here and join the GCIRC Facebook event and confirm there too: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=371461612956

Jools Stone Wow, a lot of info here to digest! I'm pretty much sold on it now I think.

Mark_Lester Well, here's a thread on IndiaMike which is 1,000 posts long. It's largely nonsense about me monitoring the trains. There's a site that tells you when stuff turned up, so I wrote a program to monitor it. Turns out stuff isnt quite as chaotic as everyone thinks. But sure, it's no Switzerland. That thread has become a bit of a monologue though, with the odd heckler. All you need to know is what's on the route page, and to contact shankar. if you are Indian it's another story for the bookings..

ripleydavenport Yes, there will be a Doctor coming with us - and he's doing the walk and probably a Ambulance Paramedic from the UK. I was also a Paramedic for 7 years and served as a medic in the British Military. Full evacuation plans are in place but you will need medical insurance. Full details will be sent on that.

ripleydavenport You will be sent a full itinerary and full details on how to prep for such a jounrey. I will always be available to answer questions and we will have a talk - Skype - every week to talk over anything.

Todd Looking forward to hear more Ripley. Will you post the details here when they're ready? Especially interested in break down of costs, etc.

bruno77 Hey I' ve planned a trip in Tibet from 2nd to 17th august 2010. My travel include Lhasa, trekking from Ganden to Samye, Shoton and Nagchu Horse Racing Festival, and the most important monastery in U contry. I'm looking for travel mates if you are interested please drop a mail at: daibruno77@gmail.com Ciao Bruno

inthesky729 Hi Bruno, Unfortunately, my entry into Beijing is fixed for the 12th of September, as I've already booked a flight. Good luck finding people though, your trip sounds wonderful!

Msi @Nancy - my friend and I are planning a trip to China around the same time, altho thinking of going to Tibet near end of trip as we fly out of HK on 8/25 and will go there after Tibet. Have you settled your plans yet? Not sure which is better snowlion or windhorse.