Week 19, 4.July.09 - 10.July.09

I walked down to the restaurant car but decided to pass on the breakfast (R250, or about US$8.33 for 2 eggs & 1 sausage??), and kept walking to the end car - I think maybe 15 more cars from mine, so I'm guessing about 20 cars total on the train...

and all along the way when I'd glance into cabins, would see these Asians with big bags of merchandise - brand new jeans & towels, etc, still in shrinkwrap - there is a serious black-market operation going on! Since there's no way this stuff was made in Mongolia, my guess is these people have family/friends that work in the mfg plants (or work themselves) in China, & have smuggled the stuff through Mongolia to Russia (most of it, anyway, as a few towels and purses didn't make it!), to sell at black-markets. This was apparent at some of the stops we've made so far where the "passengers" hand over bags of merchandise to people waiting on platforms. Since I slept through the stop just over the border at Ulan Ude this morning (about 5 AM local time), I was still without Rubles not having hit an ATM yet. So when we stopped for 2 minutes at Slyudyanka, Alfred was nice enough to insist on buying for lunch some smoked fish (omul) from the "babushkas" selling on the platform - very tasty, despite all the bones you have to watch out for!

Also for lunch we started in on the 1.5 L bottles of beer (with a mere 8.0% alcohol content - yikes!).

The French couple got off at Irkutsk Stn., so the provodnitsa moved me down to Jenny's cabin, who was now also solo since the gold-teeth Russian woman got off at an earlier stop this morning. I think the provodnitsa wanted one less cabin to clean and/or look after? Not entirely sure, but I'm happier being paired up with a single English girl than potentially a family with crying kids or something. While stopped at Irkutsk, I got off for the ATM - since the provodnitsa said the stop was only 10 min, & the ATM across the tracks, through the station and about 300m down the road, I had just enough time to stop at the vendor kiosk to pick up 2 more 1.5L bottles of beer before running back... not seeing Alfred or Jenny, who were behind me a minute before, was really running to make sure I caught the train! Of course, the train in reality was stopped for about 20 min, making the run completely unnecessary. The group proceeded to finish off that beer while hanging out in Alfred & Anton's cabin (dubbed "the Party Cabin"), listening to Swedish reggae & appreciating the Siberian countryside views - just as I had imagined (minus the snow), rolling hills covered with pine trees & the occasional log cabin with indigo-blue window frames. The next stop at Zima, the provodnitsa told us it was a 20 min stop (which means 40), so we ventured out to the platform to restock supplies, namely, beer. I picked up 2 more 1.5L bottles (along with actual food), but was outdone by Alfred & Anton with their 2 ridiculous 5L jugs. At the stop I bumped into the 2 UK girls met in UB train station, who wished me "Happy Independence Day!"... it took me a minute to register what they were saying; I forgot it was the 4th of July! We invited them over to the Party Cabin, and once the train started up again, we went back to playing cards & drinking games (Fuzzy Duck, Ducky Fuzz, Does He?) - and it took its toll on me here at the end of the day. I calculated we went through a total of 16L of beer - ugh!

5.July.09
Near Novosibirsk, Russia
Its 16:30 on the train, which means its 19:30 here near Novosibirsk, capital of Western Siberia. All of the time-tables on the Trans-Siberian run on Moscow Time (MT). So in order to lessen the confusion of when the next scheduled stop is, as well as having some sense of stability as we will pass through 4 different time zones on this trip (5, actually - we backtrack at one point MT+4 to MT+5 then back to MT+4), I set my watch to MT as well. So when I went to bed last night at 22:00, it was really 02:00 the following morning (today). To add to the unclear time-check, the sun started coming up this morning at 24:00 (03:00) and was completely mid-day brightness at 04:00 (07:00), courtesy of the latitude position. So I've already had a lengthy day, but not much activity to speak of - read my Trans-Siberian guidebook a bit & listened to some tunes/napped to nurse my hangover. Of course the beer drinking started up again a couple hours ago. I taught the group Euchre & we played a round of Texas Hold 'Em. Novosibirsk stop was a major one for the smugglers to unload a bunch of crap,

and was 20 min, which was long enough for me to check out the huge Soviet-style station

& a bit of the surrounding area with very impressive architecture (& women as well!). Departing Novosibirsk, had an opportunity to see some nice views of Ob River, one of the world's longest flowing more than 400k from Altai mountains to the Artic Ocean.

Near Omsk, Russia
Now I'm getting ready for bed, its about midnight (MT). After the stop in Omsk, disappointing because of the rain and lack of kiosk stands, we played a few hours worth of Hearts. Now I hope to get a couple hours sleep before it starts getting light out - crazy!

6.July.09
Near Tyumen, Russia
07:00 (MT) stop here in Tyumen, Siberia's oldest town (founded 1586), gave me an opportunity to wake & stretch my legs down at the platform - alas, still no powdered milk for my crappy instant coffee at any kiosk stand. But I picked up the staple raman noodles for lunch/dinner.

Near Sverdlovsk, Russia
We're pulling away from Sverdlovsk (formerly Yekaterinburg) station, where after helping the Russian family next door off the train with their luggage, I took advantage of the 23 min stop to venture down the stairs & out of the station. In addition to picking up a back of apricots from a babushka, I got a good shot of a military-looking statue out in front of the station.

I'm not sure, but think it may have ties to the infamous 1960 USA "U2" spyplane shot down by the USSR at this site. Shortly after my "shower", which consisted of locking the bathroom, stripping down and splashing water (from the un-user-friendly faucet over the metal sink) and crap pink liquid soap over my body (luckily there is a drain on the floor), we had an unfortunate incident occur in car #3 where Jenny's unoccupied iPod charging in the passageway was stolen. Even though it was out of her sight for only a few minutes, I'm not surprised it was stolen, and even less surprised that neither the provodnitsa on the train nor the police at the station were any help. It is a really crappy situation, but at least I feel a bit better that I've taken extra care this trip with always locking up my bags, etc.

Near Perm, Russia
18:00 MT, and this day keeps getting more interesting. After spending the last few hours in the Party Cabin doing the usual - drinking, playing Hearts & occasionally breaking to take some shots of the countryside views just now past the Europe-Asia border,

and joined by the Brits later who were talking about meeting up in Moscow. As we approached the station (& getting elbowed by the Mongolians looking to get off the train first for their potential black-market sale on the platform), I looked at the sign in the car which said 20 min stop, but it was 17:35 when we pulled in, and distinctly recall saying, "You know guys, we're getting into the station late, we were supposed to arrive at 17:25." The famous last words... Despite having gone to the bathroom only 10 min earlier, since the train's bathroom door was now locked as always while at the station, Alfred & his small bladder decided they couldn't wait and needed to go to the station's bathroom, which was up the stairwell from the platform & across several sets of tracks. Well, the rest of us visited the lone babushka selling the usual crap on the platform & returned to the train after 10 min. As it started moving, I asked Anton, "Where's Alfred?". And when his response was only a blank stare like he didn't know what I was talking about, I added, "Because, the train's moving!". So we're starting to freak out, because the train's gaining speed and no Alfred. Anton tells the provodnitsa, who seems a bit concerned but basically giving us the sense there's no way she's stopping this train. About 5 minutes later, a huffing and puffing Alfred is heading toward us from the rear passageway door - turns out he found the bathroom, and sure enough had to run to catch the train, able to get on the last car. Wow - as we are now departing Perm rolling over the majestic Kama river, I am officially declaring, "OK, no more drama today, please!"

7.July.09
Moscow, Russia
I'm not sure why many people's opinion of Moscow are so negative - this place is amazing! The morning today started out (or I should say the last night on the train) with the Swedes and I taking a break from the usual Hearts with a stop at Kirov station at about 00:45 MT to appreciate the Russian White Nights...

After a few hours sleep, woke up near Gorky, Russia's fourth largest city & closed to foreigners until '91. A few hours from Gorky station, the train stopped at Vladimir stn long enough for the group to get out and stretch our legs, and to get a good view of an old Soviet-era locomotive engine.

At 14:28, on-schedule, we finally pulled into Moscow's Yaroslavsky station.

I navigated through the Komsomolskaya subway station - enormous & beautiful, and likely to give a person vertigo on the escalators that seem to be 100m high.

After I got to the crappy hostel to check-in, I made my way to the Red Square to meet up with the Swedes. Finally realizing I needed to go in the underground passageway to cross the streets, emerged facing the State History Museum,

which I thought was impressive until I entered into the Square and caught my first glimpse of St. Basil's Cathedral - quite possibly one of the most beautiful sites I have ever seen, and really had a difficult time taking my eyes off it...

While admiring the other sights in the Square, we were approached by a woman who asked us only, "American?" - of course I didn't respond (unlike a majority of the Russian women I've seen, this one wasn't particularly attractive anyway!). But as we wandered around the Square, noticed that she kept following us, asking, "American?" - we couldn't get rid of her! Our attention was diverted toward the sounds of church bells playing at a quaint cathedral on the north part of the square opposite St. Basil's, and soon realized the bells were being played manually by a man using his hands and feet up in the tower - so cool!

After ditching the would-be Russian mail-order bride, we visited a restaurant/bar - Mexican, of all things - for a beer. We later me up with Jenny and the 2 Brits for a nice dinner (sans-noodles, hooray!).

After dinner, the Swedes and I were not ready to turn in, so went back to the Mexican bar for some drinks. We met some pretty cool (and pretty drunk) locals, and after finishing some shots the Swedes took off, but I wasn't finished yet! As the bar was closing, one of the locals, Oxana, decided to show me some of the Russian underground scene. We went to an after-hours club, and it didn't take me long to realize that 9 out of 10 women there were drop-dead gorgeous... oh, and prostitutes. Actually, I would have said 10 out of 10 were hookers if Oxana wasn't there!

8.July.09
After finding my way home from way the f- out in Western Moscow early this morning (not an easy task w/out rubles nor ATMs nor English-speakers to be found anywhere), I went and bought my train ticket to St. Petersburg for tomorrow night - and it was a good thing the girl working at my hostel wrote out my ticket request in Russian, b/c even with the note the people at the ticket counter were confused! Having already missed my rendevous with the Swedes, I headed directly to the Lenin Mausoleum. I was able to sneak in my camera, but the way the guards usher you forward and unable to pause more than 2 seconds for viewing, along with 2 guards inside the actual tomb, wasn't able to sneak the coveted photo of the well-preserved corpse (looks fake, really) and had to settle for a photo from outside.

Next stop was a visit inside St. Basil's, since last night it had already closed by the time we met up in front. This was one of the first times I can remember where the interior of the church, although very nice, couldn't hold a candle to the exterior.

Next stop was the long wait in line to get a ticket to The Kremlin (now reopened after the 2 day Barak Obama visit), where I saw impressive Squares & Cathedrals (although the Armoury Chamber, where they house the famous Faberge Eggs, was unfortunately closed and/or sold out of the special tickets).

After sightseeing, I went back to the Mexican bar to meet up with Oxana for a few drinks and live music (of course, I was solicited by a prostitute - elderly - while waiting for Oxana....)

9.July.09
I'm here at Leningradsky Stn getting ready to take the overnight train to St. Petersburg - I'm sharing my cabin with a Russian couple who don't speak English, & a Russian guy (Dmitry) my age who does speak English, and very cool. The couple was not very friendly at first, but lightened up after I offered some beer (although they refused, as did Dmitry, leaving me with the entire 1.5L bottle). I am really glad to get a chance to talk with Dmitry - having both grown up during the latter years of the Cold War, understanding Russia and its people was always mysterious so now to be able to share a train cabin exchanging stories about home life and traveling, has been a very cool experience.

It was another good sightseeing day, having checked out The State History Museum collections.

Wandered over to check out the former KGB Headquarters building. Then headed down to visit the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour - & even though remade only 10 years ago (to erase Stalin's big swimming pool debacle), still impressive nonetheless.

Next was wandering over the pedestrian bridge to see the Peter the Great Monument

and peek of Gorky Park (listening to the winds of change??) before visiting the impressive collection at the State Tretyakov Gallery. Finished the (long) day with a trip down to the campus of MSU (Moscow State University) - very nice!

10.July.09
St. Petersburg, Russia
Its about 1AM (on the 11th) and I've had plenty of sightseeing already on Day 1 in St. Petersburg - my back is killing me! After arriving this morning about 06:30, I made my way to the hostel to drop off the pack and have a quick shower before heading out for a long day. First stop was the Admiralty (former Soviet Naval HQ)

followed by a visit to Palace Square for a glance at the Winter Palace.

Next I headed down the famous "Nevsky Prospekt", Russia's version of 5th Ave or Champs Ellysees, stopping along the way to check out the famous landmarks at their respective addresses; such as no. 14 which still displays a sign dating from the WWII Siege of Leningrad (advising pedestrians to walk on the other side of the street during shelling),

the Kazan Cathedral from 1811 (where the Soviets converted to an atheist museum),

Church of the Resurrection (close, but no cigar to St. Basil's in Moscow), Statue of Catherine the Great & finishing at Anichkov bridge crossing Fontank Canal for a glimpse of the equestrian statues. Next I hightailed it over to the Troitsky bridge to the Peter and Paul Fortress,

just in time (12:00) for the firing of the canon from Naryshkin Bastion. While on the island fort I also visited the SS Peter and Paul Cathedral to check out all of the Russian Tsar tombs, followed by a tour through the Trubetskoy Bastion prison (pretty cool), the printing workshop, engineers house & neva curtain wall (all very lame), finishing off at the cosmonaut museum (also lame until coming to the display of rocket/satellite engines with the very futuristic noises playing from the speakers - reminded me of "Lost in Space").

After leaving the island fort, had to go have a look at the impressive mosque nearby before visiting Peter the Great's log cabin (the first building in St. Petersburg - 1703 - and later converted to a museum, Russia's first).

Next, I headed to the Hermitage Museum (Winter Palace) for a nice 1 hr queue for ticket. While the museum displays some amazing works of art, the Winter Palace rooms themselves were equally as, if not more, impressive... it became almost comical going from one room to the next, each time expressing an open-mouthed "wow", followed by a "wow" when passing to the next room.

I thought the 3 hours I budgeted for the museum before closing was too much, but as it turned out I barely scratched the surface! Afterwards I headed back to the hostel to check-in and shower, and even though my body was resisting me taking 1 more step, I did venture out to the train station to buy a ticket for the overnight train on the 12th to Riga, Latvia. But for some reason I decided I needed to head out again (maybe it was to get some fresh air after eating that horrible gyro from the street vendor), and wandered to the Neva river where the city was still very much lively and bright at midnight...