Travel | Russian backpacker impressed with city’s character

Tatiana Fedoseeva

A Russian traveler recently stopped in Macau as part of an epic journey spanning thousands of miles and lasting three years. Tatiana Fedoseeva, 20, told the Times about her journey, which began in her hometown of Perm near the Ural Mountains, and which has so far brought her through Mongolia and China to Macau.
After traveling throughout China, Tatiana remarked that “Macau is very different, like another country. The money, the architecture, the character of the people, and the fact that locals understand English, makes it very different.”
She continued, “Macau is wealthy, like Hong Kong, but here there are also poorer neighborhoods [in contrast to the wealth]. I don’t know how everyone can live here as it’s so expensive.”
Tatiana’s journey began five months ago when she traveled through southern Siberia, visiting cities such as Omsk and Irkutsk, and hiking more than 70 kilometers along the historic  Circum-Baikal Railway in Eastern Russia.
She then headed south towards the town of Mondy, known for being the last Russian town before the Mongolian border. There she met with two friends, and the three of them set off on a nine-day hike around Khovsgol Lake in Mongolia, of which they completed a half circuit.
Along the way, they met the local Yurt people. “They were surprised [that] we were hiking on foot and they warned us to be careful of wolves and bears in the area. We were pretty scared,” Tatiana recalled, “but in the end we didn’t see any [wolves or bears].”

Tatiana’s journey to Macau (in red)

Tatiana and her friends then traveled to the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar, and took a train to the Chinese-Mongolian border town of Zamiin-
Üüd located in Inner Mongolia. From there they took buses, walked, and hitchhiked all the way to Beijing. In addition to the Chinese capital, Tatiana said that she also visited Xi’an and several mountain ranges in China, before leaving for the next leg of her journey to Vietnam.
“I like the Chinese language [Mandarin] more than English. I know about 50 words and can write about 10 characters [in Mandarin]. I also like the Chinese people; they are very friendly,” said Tatiana. The Russian traveler admitted that she was less keen on Chinese food, however, adding that she preferred Vietnamese cuisine.
She said that her future travel plans include visiting more of China, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. “After those countries I want to go to Myanmar and India, and then I might take a flight to South America and explore the region. The whole trip could last two or three years.”
“I want to see the world: the countries, the culture, the lifestyles and lives of ordinary people. I also want to try different types of work,” said Tatiana, before adding that she would like to work on coffee or rice plantations.
Tatiana finished her university education in Russia and decided to embark on a journey spanning several continents around five months ago. She said that she wants to be a travel journalist when she returns. “I will know a lot about the world when I have finished, and I will be able to talk [and write] about my journey.”
She carries a notebook in which she often writes. Some of her entries record the sights of her trip, but most entries are useful phrases and translations written in Russian and Mandarin Chinese.
“My advice to fellow travelers from Russia is to visit China but to make sure that you have phrases or a phrasebook to hand, because many Chinese people don’t know English,” said Tatiana. She recommends tourists visit the Chinese mountain ranges. Staff Reporter