On departing our train we decided that with 4 huge backpacks, daypacks and numerous bags of market purchases, we needed a cab rather than tackling the metro. After bargaining a big burling Russian down to a very reasonable price, he pimped out one of his drivers who walked us a few minutes away. The four of us looked hillarious walking like snails in a line, with our backpack homes on our backs. We were passing nice, big shiny new cars, Hummers and such, so we were all wondering when we were going to get to sit in our nice big cab. You can imagine our surprise when the driver walked straight over to some old, beaten up car that looked like something Mr Bean would drive, and definitely wouldn't fit 4 girls, 4 backpacks, daypacks and the rest. Well it did! The girls put their stuff in the boot and it took the driver about 7 attempts to get it closed, I was stuffed in the front seat with an makeshift airbag that was my back pack...and we were off. I had the job of making small talk with the taxi driver who barely spoke English (turns out this is usually my job) and within 20 minutes we pulled up at our hostel.
We had showers, stowed our bags and then we were off to realise what St Pete's had to offer. So far, Russia has totally impressed all of us and Moscow and St Petersburg have been our favourite cities. I would love to return some day to experience it in the winter under blankets of snow.
Today we walked around the city that is often called the 'Venice of the North' as it sprawls across the delta of the River Neva, crisscrossed by river channels and canals. We walked for hours and found the beauty in this grand city. St Petersburg is Russia's second largest city and is located about 700kms northwest of Moscow. It is Peter the Great's famous city and was capital of the Russian empire for 200 years before the capital city was taken back to Moscow for the second time in 1918.
We saw the amazing Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood which is a St Basil's Cathedral look alike, but possibly more impressive, although seems a little out of place amongst the Baroque and Classical splendour of St Pete's. But who's to question that, it's all deliciously fantastic scenery. We walked to the Summer Garden and sat for a while taking in all the beauty, then walked around looking at other sites and buildings.
We met up with a couple that had been on tour with us - English Jim and Usha - and ate lunch of salmon caviar pancakes. Delicious!
Later in the afternoon, we bought tickets to the ballet - Swan Lake. After a day of trudging the streets in our thongs (thongs = shoes for those non-Australians reading this) we raced home to change quickly for the ballet, as we were running late. We ran a comb through our hair and changed tops, but didn't get the time to change shoes, so ended up attending the ballet in rubber thongs. If you didn't look at our feet, we were elegant enough for the ballet. Except for when we were climbing the elegant stair case of the theatre and one of my thongs fell off to expose very dirty feet from the days walking. Luckily everyone kept ascending the stairs in haste, but i'm sure there were some sidewards glances that I missed.
We found our $60 seats, that weren't the best as a bit of the stage was out of view. The upper balcony of the theatre wasn't fully booked so as soon as the lights dimmed for the first act, all 6 of us were off to better seats - the $100 ones, which gave us a fantastic view. I'm not sure if I can detail the emotion I felt watching Swan Lake, other than to say it was one of the most beautiful events I have ever experienced, and to not only be watching such a famous ballet, but to be watching it in Russia had a profound effect on the soul. It was truely amazing. I laughed, I cried, I smiled, I clapped until my hands were sore, and I will never forget how fantastic it felt to be at the ballet in Russia.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Moscow - Thursday 17 May
Today was the most uneventful day of the trip, probably due to last nights celebrations. Three of us took the 25 minute walk from the hostel to the Red Square to use the internet and find food. As we were drained of all energy, we decided to take the Metro back to the hostel, which was a very bad move. We ended up lost in Moscow for over two hours. As the Metro is so badly signed, and what signage they do have is of course in Russian, and no english speaking people to help us, we got on and off the train so many times that in the end we decided to catch a cab back. We trudged out to the rain to hail a cab (again, any car is potentially a cab) but after 30 minutes we gave up. Unfortunately we were in a wealthy part of town and no-one was stopping for us.
Back to the Metro, and i'm not sure how, probably sheer willpower, we ended up finding our way. Dom and Kt were a little worried at this stage, as we'd been gone so long.
Midnight - we boarded our last train of the trip, destination St Petersburg, Russia. As soon as we boarded we knew we were on a much classier train than the previous two we had exerienced. No dodgy Mongolians getting us to stow there loot, the berths were clean and there was room to move. Although this didn't mean too much to us as we slept the 8 hour trip, and woke up when we arrived in St Pete's the next morning at 8am.
Back to the Metro, and i'm not sure how, probably sheer willpower, we ended up finding our way. Dom and Kt were a little worried at this stage, as we'd been gone so long.
Midnight - we boarded our last train of the trip, destination St Petersburg, Russia. As soon as we boarded we knew we were on a much classier train than the previous two we had exerienced. No dodgy Mongolians getting us to stow there loot, the berths were clean and there was room to move. Although this didn't mean too much to us as we slept the 8 hour trip, and woke up when we arrived in St Pete's the next morning at 8am.
Moscow - Wednesday 16 May
Today we did a group tour of the following:
St Basil's Cathedral
The most famous sight in all of Russia. Originally called the Cathedral of the Virgin of Intercession, this architectual fantsia of multi-coloured onion domes was raised by Ivan the Terrible in 1555-1561 in thanks for his victory over the Tartars in 1552. Legend has it that Ivan put our the eyes of the architect, for fear that he might build a more beautiful church elsewhere. The eight chapels set around the central church contain colourful frescoes and an extra chapel was added in 1588 to house the remains of St Basil the Blessed - the holy fool - who's name soon became synonymous with the whole cathedral.
This was the most amazing experience for me, to be standing in front of such a well known and architecturally beautiful Cathedral. It blew me away, and I just had to stand and stare for a while before going inside.
Red Square
The giant parade-ground where, ever 1 May and 7 november, the massed military might of the Soviet Union marched beneath the inscrutable gaze of the Politburo. At the far end of the square, rising high above the cobblestones, are the improbable towers of St Basil's Cathedral.
Lenin Mausoleum
In a low stepped pyramid in red and black Ural granite, lies the embalmed body of the founder of the Soviet Union. When the Lenin Mausoleum is open, most of the Red Square is closed to the public. It was freezing in the Mausoleum and we walked in knowing that we would be viewing a dead body, but it put a frightful feeling in your stomach all the same and I quite frankly couldn't get out of there fast enough.
The Kremlin
An ancient fortress, the existing Kremlin walls and towers were built by Italian masters over the years from 1485 to 1495. There are now 20 Kremlin towers.
I visited a few of the amazing towers and cathedrals, then left the girls and strolled the grounds on my own. I found a bench to sit on, amongst the beds of gorgeous tulips and various flowers, where I sat for a while and soaked in the ambience of Moscow, the sunshine and the tranquility.
We also went to the Cathedral of Annunciation which was the private church of the tsars, where they were chistened and married. Just near the Cathedral was a bridge crossing the canal, and on the sides of the bridge padlocks were locked on everywhere. Apparently tradition means that newlyweds lock a padlock on when they are married, I suppose to signify the unity and joining of two lives that supposedly should never unlock.
After pounding the pavement for hours, we found some markets with miles and miles of the traditional Russian Matryoshka dolls (sets of nesting wooden dolls), plenty of military wares and furs galore. We did some bargaining, downed a cold beer then headed home to get ready for our last night together as a group. Most were leaving for home the next day.
The night was one of much champayne, vodka and tequila, which started at a funky underground bar (where yet again not everything on the menu was available), went on to an underground Moroccan bar then ended in the hostel at around 5am. Sore heads the next day but a great farewell to some really great people we'd spent the last 2 weeks with.
St Basil's Cathedral
The most famous sight in all of Russia. Originally called the Cathedral of the Virgin of Intercession, this architectual fantsia of multi-coloured onion domes was raised by Ivan the Terrible in 1555-1561 in thanks for his victory over the Tartars in 1552. Legend has it that Ivan put our the eyes of the architect, for fear that he might build a more beautiful church elsewhere. The eight chapels set around the central church contain colourful frescoes and an extra chapel was added in 1588 to house the remains of St Basil the Blessed - the holy fool - who's name soon became synonymous with the whole cathedral.
This was the most amazing experience for me, to be standing in front of such a well known and architecturally beautiful Cathedral. It blew me away, and I just had to stand and stare for a while before going inside.
Red Square
The giant parade-ground where, ever 1 May and 7 november, the massed military might of the Soviet Union marched beneath the inscrutable gaze of the Politburo. At the far end of the square, rising high above the cobblestones, are the improbable towers of St Basil's Cathedral.
Lenin Mausoleum
In a low stepped pyramid in red and black Ural granite, lies the embalmed body of the founder of the Soviet Union. When the Lenin Mausoleum is open, most of the Red Square is closed to the public. It was freezing in the Mausoleum and we walked in knowing that we would be viewing a dead body, but it put a frightful feeling in your stomach all the same and I quite frankly couldn't get out of there fast enough.
The Kremlin
An ancient fortress, the existing Kremlin walls and towers were built by Italian masters over the years from 1485 to 1495. There are now 20 Kremlin towers.
I visited a few of the amazing towers and cathedrals, then left the girls and strolled the grounds on my own. I found a bench to sit on, amongst the beds of gorgeous tulips and various flowers, where I sat for a while and soaked in the ambience of Moscow, the sunshine and the tranquility.
We also went to the Cathedral of Annunciation which was the private church of the tsars, where they were chistened and married. Just near the Cathedral was a bridge crossing the canal, and on the sides of the bridge padlocks were locked on everywhere. Apparently tradition means that newlyweds lock a padlock on when they are married, I suppose to signify the unity and joining of two lives that supposedly should never unlock.
After pounding the pavement for hours, we found some markets with miles and miles of the traditional Russian Matryoshka dolls (sets of nesting wooden dolls), plenty of military wares and furs galore. We did some bargaining, downed a cold beer then headed home to get ready for our last night together as a group. Most were leaving for home the next day.
The night was one of much champayne, vodka and tequila, which started at a funky underground bar (where yet again not everything on the menu was available), went on to an underground Moroccan bar then ended in the hostel at around 5am. Sore heads the next day but a great farewell to some really great people we'd spent the last 2 weeks with.
Moscow - Tuesday 15 May
Our tour guide (or Honcho as they are called) met us at the train station and we all piled into an awaiting mini van to take us to our hostel. The Honcho told us the trip would take us 15 minutes but it took us almost an hour - not sure if it was her accent that I didn't understand or she underestimated the Moscow traffic. It was bumper to bumper mayhem. Everyone rushed to the showers when we arrived, then settled in to our home for the next couple of days.
The girls and I had been invited to dinner by my Mum's cousin James and his wife Olga, who live in Moscow. We were told to catch a cab to a restaurant 45 minutes away, called Shinok, and pay the cab driver no more than $15. We agreed on a price of $7.50 before we jumped in the cab.
The 3 or so hours to follow were absolutely amazing and the best introduction to any city, especially Moscow. The restaurant had large viking style table and chairs, and in the middle of the room was a large area enclosed by big glass windows. Inside was a big cow (real cow), ducks and geese being fed by a rather large Russian woman. Strange but true! As soon as we arrived James ordered us one of the best wines on the menu and we were literally forced to eat everything that was ordered for us. After 4 days of eating dehydrated food, we weren't sure how we were going to handle all the food, especially rich food, but we made a fantastic effort. Under James's influence, we had no choice. James and Olga ordered starters and we ordered our own mains.
The food:
Starters - cow tongue, aubergine stuffed with the most delicious creamy sauce and fresh herbs, a plate of pig fat in different shapes, textures etc with a horseradish dipping sauce, pickled vegetables, large ripe tomatoes that burst with tingling flavour in your mouth (similar to vinegar pickling but we were assured it wasn't vinegar, a secret recipe), small pies of mushroom/potato, liver, apple or beef and a plate of pickle mushrooms.
Mains - us girls shared between each two - roasted rabbit with white sauce and vegetables, and Sturgeon fish with vegetables.
Dessert - fresh strawberries, raspberries, blackberries...the freshest i'd ever tasted.
We were made to eat and drink until we were almost blue in the face. Just about everything we ate was typically Russian, of the best quality and absolutely delicious (and extremely expensive). The company, service and food was fantastic and we had a brilliant night.
The girls and I had been invited to dinner by my Mum's cousin James and his wife Olga, who live in Moscow. We were told to catch a cab to a restaurant 45 minutes away, called Shinok, and pay the cab driver no more than $15. We agreed on a price of $7.50 before we jumped in the cab.
The 3 or so hours to follow were absolutely amazing and the best introduction to any city, especially Moscow. The restaurant had large viking style table and chairs, and in the middle of the room was a large area enclosed by big glass windows. Inside was a big cow (real cow), ducks and geese being fed by a rather large Russian woman. Strange but true! As soon as we arrived James ordered us one of the best wines on the menu and we were literally forced to eat everything that was ordered for us. After 4 days of eating dehydrated food, we weren't sure how we were going to handle all the food, especially rich food, but we made a fantastic effort. Under James's influence, we had no choice. James and Olga ordered starters and we ordered our own mains.
The food:
Starters - cow tongue, aubergine stuffed with the most delicious creamy sauce and fresh herbs, a plate of pig fat in different shapes, textures etc with a horseradish dipping sauce, pickled vegetables, large ripe tomatoes that burst with tingling flavour in your mouth (similar to vinegar pickling but we were assured it wasn't vinegar, a secret recipe), small pies of mushroom/potato, liver, apple or beef and a plate of pickle mushrooms.
Mains - us girls shared between each two - roasted rabbit with white sauce and vegetables, and Sturgeon fish with vegetables.
Dessert - fresh strawberries, raspberries, blackberries...the freshest i'd ever tasted.
We were made to eat and drink until we were almost blue in the face. Just about everything we ate was typically Russian, of the best quality and absolutely delicious (and extremely expensive). The company, service and food was fantastic and we had a brilliant night.
Mongolia - Moscow Friday 11 May - Tues 13 May
Friday we ate a quick lunch, but of course not without the usual debarcle of the restaurant not having the food we ordered, or being able to use Visa, MasterCard or American Express to pay. Got to love the Mongolians. Finally at 2pm we boarded our train destined for Moscow, Russia. Back into a carriage with a 4 bed berth and little room to move, to be called home for 4 days and 4 nights, 101 hours to be exact.
Luckily we were invited on board by much nicer train attendants who we laughed and joked with for the entire trip - Socka and Anna - who couldn't speak a word of English apart from 'thank you' which they giggled about each time they used it. They spent much of the trip looking in our travel guides for translations on things they wanted to tell us. They didn't expect us to pay for hot water this time, nor cake on their make up or wear long knee high black boots. They did however, expect us to help smuggle jeans across the border for them. This soon became common amongst the other Mongolian travellers, and we ended up being dumped with jeans, blankets and large dried sausages being stowed in our carriage or hanging from the roof. As soon as we crossed the border on Friday night into Russia, the woman who had helped herself to hanging dried meat from the roof of our berth, helped herself to standing on our food table while we were asleep to remove it and take it back to her cabin. The next day the blankets were removed, and the jeans were turned in the right way and returned to their plastic packaging. All the others on the tour were expected to hide the same things as us, and we realised a few days later that there was much other merchandise stowed in compartments in the floor of the train, which wasn't to be declared at the border crossing. For the next 3 days we witnessed Mongolians jumping off at each train stop to sell jeans, shoes, blankets, bags, food, shirts...the list went on. And the Russians were waiting at each stop to buy the products on offer. It was crazy.
We were expecting a 12 hour border crossing into Russia, without use of toilets, but it only ended up being a 6 hour stop where again we had to fill out numerous offical documents, hand over our passport to be returned hours later. The Russian official that collected and checked our visa's asked me to stand up and pull up the bottom beds to show him what was in the compartments underneath. Being 2am I was rather sleepy and as I got out of bed I bumped my head quite hard on the top bunk and fell back. The Russian, who definitely smelled of booze, was trying his hardest not to laugh, took one look at the compartment then moved on to the next carriage before he burst out laughing. He wasn't as kind to our fellow travel mates - he made them remove the contents of their packs and compartments which took ages. I'll have to remember the bumping of the head trick. There was a large woman official who walked past the cabin a few times who worried us as she was wearing leather gloves and carrying a rather large metal probe! No idea what she was using that for!
The next day we woke up to heavy snow outside the window. The mountains were covered in snow, the cattle were covered and the sheets were being laid thick and fast. It was an amazing sight and the 5 Aussies were glued to the window in utter awe. Our travelling companions didn't have our excitement, being from Holland, Denmark, Scotland and England. After 20 minutes of this, it stopped and we were back to blue skies and sun. What an experience!
The following morning we were well and truely in Russia (although had been since early hours of Saturday morning) when the train attendant came into our berth to pull up our blind to show us a beautiful view of a massive lake. It turned out we were looking at Lake Baikal which is the deepest lake in the world. After much time we passed the lake to a landscape of tall dense forest, much different to the vast plains with distant mountains we were used to.
Monday 14 May was my birthday. One peice of bread and jam for breakfast as I couldn't possibly stomach any more bread or dehydrated food. Yuk! The girls surprised me with a bottle of French wine (which we drank out of our thermos cups) and a lunch in the train dining cart. That was an experience in itself with a cart filled with smoking, smelly Mongolians (the cart had 2 No Smoking signs clearly visible)and a Russian waiter that couldn't handle taking more than 2 orders at the one time. Again we had to order about 4 times before we found something that was actually available on the menu, and ended up with crepes and meat that tasted like homemade sausage rolls and were fairly palatable and fried potatoes that were more like an oil/potato soup. That was my birthday lunch.
On returning to our carriage, I opened the door to our berth, to be suprised by our 10 tour companions crammed on the bunk beds. They had decorated the berth with streamers and link chains made from plastic shopping bags, balloons (condoms) and Happy Birthday signs made from various bits of paper. The little table was filled with chocolates, lollies and a birthday cake which was actually a large jam tart. I was blown away it was so thoughtful. They had apparently been glad of a birthday and spent the previous day busying themselves with making the decorations. Everyone sang Happy Birthday while I blew out the two lit matchsticks that were candles. I received presents of: a small pot of Tiger Balm, a She-pee (don't ask), a travel toothbrush from one of the guys and he'd realised he was almost at the end of the trip and hadn't had any luck on the girl front so chucked in his last two condoms, a packet of 2 minute noodles, a box of chocolates and a homemade card. The two train attendants had also made me a card with a cutout motif of a man and woman embracing face to face, on the front. They wrote a message in Mongolian (which I think meant Happy Birthday) on the back. There was plenty of Vodka to go around but seeing we'd all had a big night the previous night, no one was really interested. Another birthday comes and goes, but i'll never forget the one on a train travelling through Russia.
Tuesday 2.30pm, after 101 hours on the train, we finally reach Moscow and jump for joy when we depart. Showers, real beds and the end of dehydrated food. Yippee!
Luckily we were invited on board by much nicer train attendants who we laughed and joked with for the entire trip - Socka and Anna - who couldn't speak a word of English apart from 'thank you' which they giggled about each time they used it. They spent much of the trip looking in our travel guides for translations on things they wanted to tell us. They didn't expect us to pay for hot water this time, nor cake on their make up or wear long knee high black boots. They did however, expect us to help smuggle jeans across the border for them. This soon became common amongst the other Mongolian travellers, and we ended up being dumped with jeans, blankets and large dried sausages being stowed in our carriage or hanging from the roof. As soon as we crossed the border on Friday night into Russia, the woman who had helped herself to hanging dried meat from the roof of our berth, helped herself to standing on our food table while we were asleep to remove it and take it back to her cabin. The next day the blankets were removed, and the jeans were turned in the right way and returned to their plastic packaging. All the others on the tour were expected to hide the same things as us, and we realised a few days later that there was much other merchandise stowed in compartments in the floor of the train, which wasn't to be declared at the border crossing. For the next 3 days we witnessed Mongolians jumping off at each train stop to sell jeans, shoes, blankets, bags, food, shirts...the list went on. And the Russians were waiting at each stop to buy the products on offer. It was crazy.
We were expecting a 12 hour border crossing into Russia, without use of toilets, but it only ended up being a 6 hour stop where again we had to fill out numerous offical documents, hand over our passport to be returned hours later. The Russian official that collected and checked our visa's asked me to stand up and pull up the bottom beds to show him what was in the compartments underneath. Being 2am I was rather sleepy and as I got out of bed I bumped my head quite hard on the top bunk and fell back. The Russian, who definitely smelled of booze, was trying his hardest not to laugh, took one look at the compartment then moved on to the next carriage before he burst out laughing. He wasn't as kind to our fellow travel mates - he made them remove the contents of their packs and compartments which took ages. I'll have to remember the bumping of the head trick. There was a large woman official who walked past the cabin a few times who worried us as she was wearing leather gloves and carrying a rather large metal probe! No idea what she was using that for!
The next day we woke up to heavy snow outside the window. The mountains were covered in snow, the cattle were covered and the sheets were being laid thick and fast. It was an amazing sight and the 5 Aussies were glued to the window in utter awe. Our travelling companions didn't have our excitement, being from Holland, Denmark, Scotland and England. After 20 minutes of this, it stopped and we were back to blue skies and sun. What an experience!
The following morning we were well and truely in Russia (although had been since early hours of Saturday morning) when the train attendant came into our berth to pull up our blind to show us a beautiful view of a massive lake. It turned out we were looking at Lake Baikal which is the deepest lake in the world. After much time we passed the lake to a landscape of tall dense forest, much different to the vast plains with distant mountains we were used to.
Monday 14 May was my birthday. One peice of bread and jam for breakfast as I couldn't possibly stomach any more bread or dehydrated food. Yuk! The girls surprised me with a bottle of French wine (which we drank out of our thermos cups) and a lunch in the train dining cart. That was an experience in itself with a cart filled with smoking, smelly Mongolians (the cart had 2 No Smoking signs clearly visible)and a Russian waiter that couldn't handle taking more than 2 orders at the one time. Again we had to order about 4 times before we found something that was actually available on the menu, and ended up with crepes and meat that tasted like homemade sausage rolls and were fairly palatable and fried potatoes that were more like an oil/potato soup. That was my birthday lunch.
On returning to our carriage, I opened the door to our berth, to be suprised by our 10 tour companions crammed on the bunk beds. They had decorated the berth with streamers and link chains made from plastic shopping bags, balloons (condoms) and Happy Birthday signs made from various bits of paper. The little table was filled with chocolates, lollies and a birthday cake which was actually a large jam tart. I was blown away it was so thoughtful. They had apparently been glad of a birthday and spent the previous day busying themselves with making the decorations. Everyone sang Happy Birthday while I blew out the two lit matchsticks that were candles. I received presents of: a small pot of Tiger Balm, a She-pee (don't ask), a travel toothbrush from one of the guys and he'd realised he was almost at the end of the trip and hadn't had any luck on the girl front so chucked in his last two condoms, a packet of 2 minute noodles, a box of chocolates and a homemade card. The two train attendants had also made me a card with a cutout motif of a man and woman embracing face to face, on the front. They wrote a message in Mongolian (which I think meant Happy Birthday) on the back. There was plenty of Vodka to go around but seeing we'd all had a big night the previous night, no one was really interested. Another birthday comes and goes, but i'll never forget the one on a train travelling through Russia.
Tuesday 2.30pm, after 101 hours on the train, we finally reach Moscow and jump for joy when we depart. Showers, real beds and the end of dehydrated food. Yippee!
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