Lights out on Russia!

Good night, Moscow!
Originally uploaded by camandkristin

We've been on the road for 96 days, and are now closing the book on the second stage of the adventure. Today we fly to Kathmandu, the first time we’ll be returning to a country we’ve already visited, from where we’ll travel overland north to Tibet, and then south into India for a total of 9 weeks before flying out from Mumbai on Christmas Eve. It sounds pretty daunting at the moment but I expect Christmas will be upon us before we know it…

Our Trans-Mongolian journey finished with the Irkutsk-Moscow leg, completing the 7800km, 144 hour epic rail trip from Beijing. A further 5 hour trip north to St. Petersburg isn’t technically a part of the Trans-Siberian route, and is so short and inconsequential its hardly worth mentioning (except for the fact that we were on a gorgeous express train that reached speeds of 220km/h and offered the smoothest and most quiet ride we’ve ever had).

The long leg from Irkutsk started at 2:30am when we boarded what we thought would be our best train yet. Since the journey was so long, we’d paid extra to be on what we thought would be a “Firmenny” train- slightly higher class and faster. It turns out not to have been the case- the carriage was older and less appealing than even the third class train from Beijing (and, over the next 4 days, it became clear it wasn‘t any faster either…). We found our cabin already occupied with sleeping roommates, and had to squeak in and get our beds made with minimal fuss, trying to ignore the fact that we had 4 days ahead of us in the tiny compartment. As usual, however, all our companions (a total of 4 cycled through over the whole trip) were great and it was easy to pass the time with exciting activities like making tea, staring out the window, attempting to decipher the Cyrillic time table, strategizing bathroom breaks, and popping off the train for 5 or 6 minutes at a time at each stop.

Early in the trip Cam expressed his fear of the “providnitsii” (male steward) who, I’ll admit, did look to be a stern Russian with his military hair cut and well pressed uniform. However, it wasn’t long until he introduced himself to us- his name was Serge, and he was anything but fearful. On one trip to the bathroom I heard my name being called down the length of the car- I was being beckoned into Serge’s cabin to look at hundreds of photos of his “favourite daughter” in classic Russian poses (if you’ve ever seen a Russian pose for a photo, you know what I mean) in her new home city of Honolulu. Later on Cam went to fill our tea mugs with water and, when he didn’t return for a while, I knew he’d been kidnapped by Serge. He returned eventually saying “I just saw pictures of Serge in his speedos” and then proceeded to demonstrate the pose. Serge continued to be a real source of entertainment for us- he’d show up at our cabin, announce some random information about our next stop, and then walk away. On our final night on the train, our food supplies were exhausted, so we decided to give the dining car a shot. We told Serge where we were headed, planning to request his company (if for no other reason than to get his assistance in translating the menu). He announced he would join us, helped us custom order our meals, and then we proceeded to shoot vodka with him to really solidify the Russian train experience. That meal ended with Serge professing his love for me (which is odd, as I really thought it would have been for Cam…) and offering me a cone of pumpkin and sunflower seeds. So many odd things happen on these trains…

As if Serge wasn’t enough, another couple from two cabins down heard our English and, after learning we were from Canada (they had family in Calgary), developed quite an attachment to us. They called us “friends” and kept calling us into their cabin for broken conversations. At one point they produced three memory cards for their camera, and asked us to download to our computer all their holiday photos from their trip to Europe a year ago. Cam spent the next hour going through all 900 photos with them… They ended up presenting us with a pack of postcards from their home town (“Present”), as well as 10 ruble coin as a token of our friendship. We both exited the train in Moscow and they snapped a few photos of us at the station as though we were their children setting off on a journey. We all then headed to the metro, and they bought our metro tickets and helped us find our way to the proper station. Just another of the many relationships that develop on these trains!

Anyway, once off the train, we spent 4 days exploring Moscow which was a great city with lots to see. The Russian people who live there are very modern and fashion forward- they could easily fall into step in Vancouver. Our first destination was the infamous Red Square- one of those places you always hear about but never think you’ll actually see. The square is lined on all sides with something impressive- the Kremlin, St. Basil’s Cathedral, a huge 19th century impressive building that now houses a chic department store, the Russian State History museum and, for good measure, a marble mausoleum holding Lenin. St. Basil’s is really quite something- all the best of Russian Orthodox :) We managed to hit all the main sights, as well as some of the less notorious ones like the Gulag History Museum, Statue Park (housing many of the Soviet statues that used to line the streets), Arbat street, a handful of cathedrals, and a sweet shopping mall with a Gap and H&M (finally some denim to add to our travel wear)! We also spent one night at the Bolshoi Ballet- a nice introduction for ballet rookies like us.

After our tour of Moscow it was off to St. Petersburg, or Leningrad if you prefer. This city is well known as one of the worlds most beautiful, and although we saw it much in the rain and gray, we do agree to an extent. The problem is, we’ve seen many of the worlds “most beautiful” so its up against some stiff competition… We spent our time here visiting many of the cathedrals, parks and gardens, the fort that was the original center of the city, and the Hermitage Museum (which warrants about a week in itself, so we had to move fast for our 6 hour window…). One of the cathedrals here, the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood, easily tops my personal list of all churches I have ever seen (and that list is long and distinguished). The outside resembles St. Basils (but better), and the inside boasts 7000 sq meters of mosaic wall coverings. It is absolutely unbelievable and, for me, single-handedly worth the trip to St. Petersburg.

Anyway, time is running out- off to catch our Aeroflot flight. That should be interesting… If we can survive the 3 flights, and manage to get out of Dehli (for which we do not have a visa permitting us to enter), then we have 30 degree temperatures to look forward to in Kathmandu which will be about a 35 degree shift for our bodies…

Until next time,
K and C.