I had thought it was a hoax ?! What a lunatic, she must be stopped ! To Siberia with her !

>> ^SuperChikan:

>> ^SlipperyPete:
Having taken the Trans-Siberian, I was loving the memories that Part 2 evoked: cabin fever, vodka, and random locals wanting to drink with you. Contrary to their experience, everyone I met on the train was amazing, although the drudgery of days and days of unchanging landscape does make the journey less romantic than you might think.
As always with VICE, this is a fantastic documentary.

I always wanted to ride the Trans-Siberian, and even with the monotony and the drunks the experience looked not at all unpleasant.


Time of year is a big factor - Summers are hot, buggy, but the days are quite long; I arrived in St. Petersburg on or about Nov 15 and had made it to Beijing about Dec 15. Near-Winter in Siberia wasn't too fun, but I imagine early Autumn would be ideal (late Sept, early Oct).

It was definitely an amazing experience, and by far the cheapest way to travel per kilometer on the planet.

I just dug out a CDR of pics - will post one or two later as part of my trip down memory lane.

I dont understand what overthrowing Mongolian rule after over 2 centuries of rule has to do with it being European? If anything this would be a pre-requisite for being considered asian i.e. China,parts of India and the various 'stans etc (all of which kept their own unique cultures)........

Russia is as culturally distinct from the narrow minded stereotype of Asians (i.e. the Chi-panese Kung-fu people) as are the indians and 'stanis. Are the Kazakhistanis asian? Uzbeks? Tajiks? They were all part of the USSR until its collapse. Does this mean that they were European and are now Asian because they were dropped by Russia?

Russia is just as out of place in Europe as it is in Asia but saying that it is not Asian just as saying that it is not European is wrong and is essentially reinforcing the racist stereotype that all asians are chinese.

Asia is a big continent it holds much more than just chinese people and shaolin monks.


>> ^ghark:

>> ^Confucius:


>> ^Shepppard:
Asian channel description:
"This channel is dedicated to the ancient cultures and traditions of Eastern Asia, particularly China and Japan, that began thousands of years ago and continue to this very day only slightly if at all affected by the modern world. It covers everything from period Shaolin martial arts videos in China to wacky reality Japanese shows of today"
so, I'm going to say this one doesn't belong.
Nochannel
wtf
drugs
dance


I dunno, I mean they got beaten up pretty badly over the centuries by raiding armies from areas such as Mongolia, but they kept their own unique culture through all that, rather than being assimilated as happened in other countries that experienced similar defeats. Russia was just too big, vast and harsh to conquer permanently, so I think that it deserves to be considered as an entity outside what might be defined culturally as Asia, regardless of geographic location. To further confuse things, it was apparently pretty popular historically amongst Russians to consider Europe as extending to the Urals, and also part of Siberia is on the North American plate.

>> ^Confucius:

So what you're saying is, that the Asian channel is racially defined? Read up on Russian history and look at its geography. It belongs in Asia as much as it belongs in Europe
BTW this is a pretty bad way to describe Asia (i know you didnt write this)....i.e. how is it possible that someone can say that these "ancient cultures continue today only slightly affected by the modern world?"
Pretty ethno-centric too.....by modern world im assuming what is meant is the Western World...?

>> ^Shepppard:
Asian channel description:
"This channel is dedicated to the ancient cultures and traditions of Eastern Asia, particularly China and Japan, that began thousands of years ago and continue to this very day only slightly if at all affected by the modern world. It covers everything from period Shaolin martial arts videos in China to wacky reality Japanese shows of today"
so, I'm going to say this one doesn't belong.
Nochannel
wtf
drugs
dance



I dunno, I mean they got beaten up pretty badly over the centuries by raiding armies from areas such as Mongolia, but they kept their own unique culture through all that, rather than being assimilated as happened in other countries that experienced similar defeats. Russia was just too big, vast and harsh to conquer permanently, so I think that it deserves to be considered as an entity outside what might be defined culturally as Asia, regardless of geographic location. To further confuse things, it was apparently pretty popular historically amongst Russians to consider Europe as extending to the Urals, and also part of Siberia is on the North American plate.

dannym3141:

Claiming that people should stop burning fossil fuels would HEAVILY dent the income of just about every country because of how much tax they can charge from it. Britain's economy is almost based on fossil fuel tax. How can you possibly argue that they are a politically influenced source over fossil fuel use when they criticise such a money earner?

Politics aside, fossil fuels remain the cheapest, most abundant source of energy, and new supplies of it are being discovered all the time. I never said people should stop burning them.

I hesitate to even mention that "science" as a global community is above reproach in ways that hardly anything else can be due to the method of a scientist. If you are not performing science for truth and discovery, you are not a scientist, so you're not part of the community anymore. That's why it's above reproach. I'm sure you'll argue with me about that, but i know that you'd argue about the time of day if you were proven to be wrong.

I'm not arguing, but I am astonished you would believe scientists are above politics (and reproach), not because the scientific method is flawed, but because scientists are fallible humans with their own beliefs and interests. As W. Pennypacker said in so many words, governments reward scientists which confirm a pre-determined outcome (like secondhand smoke killing 100 billion people a year). Junk science is real; it may not be everywhere, but it's out there. And not just "the oil companies" which have "scientitians" in their corner.

Another thing, gang. Over the last few years, global warming hysteria has been relentless. It's the alarmists who declared, "The debate is over." There was even one smug a-hole who compared "climate deniers" to Holocaust deniers. Classy! There was the faked data scandal. These are not the actions of scientists confident in their conclusions. Yet the lazy media continues to back the alarmists without question.

100 storylines blaming climate change as the problem:

1. The deaths of Aspen trees in the West
2. Incredible shrinking sheep
3. Caribbean coral deaths
4. Eskimos forced to leave their village
5. Disappearing lake in Chile
6. Early heat wave in Vietnam
7. Malaria and water-borne diseases in Africa
8. Invasion of jellyfish in the Mediterranean
9. Break in the Arctic Ice Shelf
10. Monsoons in India
11. Birds laying their eggs early
12. 160,000 deaths a year
13. 315,000 deaths a year
14. 300,000 deaths a year
15. Decline in snowpack in the West
16. Deaths of walruses in Alaska
17. Hunger in Nepal
18. The appearance of oxygen-starved dead zones in the oceans
19. Surge in fatal shark attacks
20. Increasing number of typhoid cases in the Philippines
21. Boy Scout tornado deaths
22. Rise in asthma and hayfever
23. Duller fall foliage in 2007
24. Floods in Jakarta
25. Radical ecological shift in the North Sea
26. Snowfall in Baghdad
27. Western tree deaths
28. Diminishing desert resources
29. Pine beetles
30. Swedish beetles
31. Severe acne
32. Global conflict
33. Crash of Air France 447
34. Black Hawk Down incident
35. Amphibians breeding earlier
36. Flesh-eating disease
37. Global cooling
38. Bird strikes on US Airways 1549
39. Beer tastes different
40. Cougar attacks in Alberta
41. Suicide of farmers in Australia
42. Squirrels reproduce earlier
43. Monkeys moving to Great Rift Valley in Kenya
44. Confusion of migrating birds
45. Bigger tuna fish
46. Water shortages in Las Vegas
47. Worldwide hunger
48. Longer days
49. Earth spinning faster
50. Gender balance of crocodiles
51. Skin cancer deaths in UK
52. Increase in kidney stones in India
53. Penguin chicks frozen by global warming
54. Deaths of Minnesota moose
55. Increased threat of HIV/AIDS in developing countries
56. Increase of wasps in Alaska
57. Killer stingrays off British coasts
58. All societal collapses since the beginning of time
59. Bigger spiders
60. Increase in size of giant squid
61. Increase of orchids in UK
62. Collapse of gingerbread houses in Sweden
63. Cow infertility
64. Conflict in Darfur
65. Bluetongue outbreak in UK cows
66. Worldwide wars
67. Insomnia of children worried about global warming
68. Anxiety problems for people worried about climate change
69. Migration of cockroaches
70. Taller mountains due to melting glaciers
71. Drowning of four polar bears
72. UFO sightings in the UK
73. Hurricane Katrina
74. Greener mountains in Sweden
75. Decreased maple in maple trees
76. Cold wave in India
77. Worse traffic in LA because immigrants moving north
78. Increase in heart attacks and strokes
79. Rise in insurance premiums
80. Invasion of European species of earthworm in UK
81. Cold spells in Australia
82. Increase in crime
83. Boiling oceans
84. Grizzly deaths
85. Dengue fever
86. Lack of monsoons
87. Caterpillars devouring 45 towns in Liberia
88. Acid rain recovery
89. Global wheat shortage; food price hikes
90. Extinction of 13 species in Bangladesh
91. Changes in swan migration patterns in Siberia
92. The early arrival of Turkey’s endangered caretta carettas
93. Radical North Sea shift
94. Heroin addiction
95. Plant species climbing up mountains
96. Deadly fires in Australia
97. Droughts in Australia
98. The demise of California’s agriculture by the end of the century
99. Tsunami in South East Asia
100. Fashion victim: the death of the winter wardrobe


Do you really expect free people to surrender to THIS?

Not at all.

It is Ewan MacGregor and his friend going around the world on motorbikes. Of course there is a camera crew so they aren't all alone, but it is rough and tumble. Sleeping outdoors in Siberia, if memory serves. Getting miffed at each other, for real, since they are such good pals. Meeting extraordinary people. Then hopping on their bikes and heading out!

In reply to this comment by Yogi:
>> ^bareboards2:

I've watched the whole series. Great.


Is it anything like Michael Palin's specials?

Well put @JesseoftheNorth.

@Mcboinkens and others, asking why people live there is like asking why people live in "tornado alley" or Siberia or Afghanistan or any number of places. Most of the people have no real choice about it (not being able to afford anything but just carrying on with their lives), some just love the area and would never leave, and the remaining few are making a better living there than they would elsewhere.

The prices definitely suck from the perspective of someone who doesn't live there, but thanks to lack of competition and the income disparity, the prices suck even worse for many living in these communities.

@robdot & @shuac

In Canada and Greenland[1][14][17][20] the term Eskimo is widely held to be pejorative[20][11] and has fallen out of favour, largely supplanted by the term Inuit. However, while Inuit describes all of the Eskimo peoples in Canada and Greenland, that is not true in Alaska and Siberia. In Alaska the term Eskimo is commonly used, because it includes both Yupik and Inupiat, while Inuit is not accepted as a collective term or even specifically used for Inupiat (who technically are Inuit). No universal replacement term for Eskimo, inclusive of all Inuit and Yupik people, is accepted across the geographical area inhabited by the Inuit and Yupik peoples.[1]

Since the 1970s in Canada and Greenland Eskimo has widely been considered offensive, as mentioned above. In 1977, the Inuit Circumpolar Conference meeting in Barrow, Alaska, officially adopted Inuit as a designation for all circumpolar native peoples, regardless of their local view on an appropriate term. As a result the Canadian government usage has replaced the (locally) defunct term Eskimo with Inuit (Inuk in singular). The preferred term in Canada's Central Arctic is Inuinnaq,[21] and in the eastern Canadian Arctic Inuit. The language is often called Inuktitut, though other local designations are also used.

While I agree that certain terms (Indian, Midget, etc) are stupid to take offense to, but when they actually have a conference and agree upon something they prefer to be called, I can respect that, and respect their wishes.

They did not just say "No, you can't say that anymore, that's our word" or "I find this term offensive" they made a name for their race as a whole.

It's not smoke, guys. This is like Siberia or something, and it's cold as fuck. Notice how you can see the people's breath? At first I thought one of the guys was smoking a cigarette or something, but it's just cold.

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>> ^lucky760:
So if someone's coming in the opposite direction, who has to back up?
in soviet russia you don't back up

Hey, dude? You uh... You DID realize there is a perfectly good bridge right over there ---> to the right a ways, right? Why don't you go drive on that one instead? It looks like it was made for it...

edit - Oh, and uh... In Soviet Russia, bridge crosses YOU...! ...no? Okay. Sorry.

edit 2 -
>> ^atara:
There was a perfectly good bridge to the right!

SHIIIT!! You already said it. God damn you! Oh well.

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>> ^brycewi19:
Seriously, what the heck is so great on the other side of that river that would make you think it's a good idea to cross that bridge?


A change of underwear.