Yesterday I went to visit Lake Baikal, 1637m (537ft for all you oldies) deep, and contains 20% of the worlds fresh water, (could supply the whole world for 40 years). Due to the many myths surrounding this lake, and the vast scale which causes storms and 2metre waves, the Russian call it 'The Holy Sea'. It is also believed that dipping various parts of your body into it, (no not that! Your hands, legs and head!) can add certain years to your life. Yesterday, however, it was frozen solid up to 3 metres thick! It was really cool working across it (like walking on water), looking through the clear ice at the stones on bed beneath us. One of the Russian girls kept asking if I was scared, well a little, I was walking over frozen water far from the edge, with giant cracks all around me.... We then went to buy some locally produced fish, (Omul), fresh from the lake, and barbecued. This went very nicely with the Blinis (Russian pancakes), and a bottle of wine. We then climbed up a giant ice sculpture which had a big slide made of ice, and all slid down together, collapsing in a heap in the snow. Great fun! :-) Today we returned to the lake, but walked higher up into the mountains and hired some ice skates. It was too difficult for me to ice skate over the snow, even after the many frustrated attempts of one of the Russian girls to show me how. :-) After this, we hired some inflatable tyres, and joined them together and flung ourselves down a bumpy path . The effect was a little like white water rafting, except that we got covered by the tons of snow which came up from both sides. At the bottom of the path, a man hooked the string fasten to our tyres to a pulley system, and we were hauled back up the mountainside. Now this should be a winter Olympic event! I returned back to Irkutsk and after some pointing at my phrase book, I managed to get some Russian pastries with a choice of fillings, - cabbage, chicken, or meat. I choose the non descript 'meat' filling, which with a beer came to about 1.20 pounds, not bad.
Tomorrow I am heading off to Ulan Ude, the Buddhist centre of Russia, hosting a few monasteries which have been rebuilt since the Revolution. The city does not appear to be famous for anything else other than a giant head of Uncle Lenin, (the world's biggest)!!! This will be a turning point in my trip as it is here that I leave the Trans Siberian railway, and join the Trans Mongolia. Basically the railway is made up of three parts; the Tran Siberian which continued to Vladivostok on the edge of Russia on the sea of Japan, The Trans Manchurian which caries on to Chita, then crosses the boarder into China and heads down the East side to Beijing. Then there's the Trans Mongolian, (my trip), which heads down through Mongolia across the Parries, then through the Chinese boarder into Beijing. Russia is actually a very big country, (the biggest in the world), and where I am right now is 6511 km, (or \n4045.8 miles) from London, 7 hours ahead. Geographically, Irkuskt is further East than Iran of Afghanistan, and I am already above the Eastern part of China!
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Zdravstvuite from Siberia!
I arrived in Irkutsk today, (former prison town of those who opposed the government, including Lenin). My journey started in Moscow, some 5000kms east of here, and has passed through three time zones. Shortly after leaving Moscow I met a Russian girl, Nastia who was studying in university at Ekaterinburg (my next stop). Her English was not strong, but we managed to communicate pretty well, and she invited me to stay in her house. On arrival at Ekaterinbug, we waited for a while for a tram to come before giving up and thumbing down a passing car. This is very common in Russia where every other car doubles as a taxi, and the driver will negotiate a price, (normally 1-2 pounds), and take you anywhere in the city. Her mother cooked us all some traditional Russia food, Zapikanka (meat potatoes etc) all baked together. I drank vodka with her brother, while Nastia translated the various toasts. Other dinner, I produced my own bottle of vodka which I had brought in Moscow, and the fun continued. In the morning, Nastia went to university, and her parents went to work, so her brother cooked us some borscht (beetroot soup). After that we drank a few beers while eating pistachios and dried fish?!? Then Nastia returned home and we went around the town to see the Church where the Romanov family were assassinated, (Russia likes killing people), then bowling followed by some pizza, (with more beers naturally). We then hitched a lift to the station where she found a Korean man who could speak both English and Russia, and help me on the right train. The Korean man was a lecturer and was with a group of students, taking the Trans Siberian to the end of Russia, to a place called Vladivostok, on the Sea of Japan. On the train we shared another bottle of vodka, and a bottle of champagne which I brought at one of the stations we passed (a little over 2 pound!) That night I had some strange dreams about running along the line after the train and getting electrocuted! :-) The next morning I arrived in Krasnoyarsk, where I spent the day looking around the town. There wasn't a lot to see here, except a literature museum (where Lenin once stayed), and the boat which he sailed to exile on, although this is now a bar, (what would he think?)
The following day I took the train from Krasnoyarsk to Irkutsk. On the train I met two people from Chita, (further along the line after Irkutsk). We got off the train at small stations to buy some food, (boiled potatoes, black bread, potato dumplings, and a roll with cabbage inside), and shared these and some beers with each other. They didn't speak any English at all, but one of them had a laptop with a program where he could type in Russia Cyrillic, and the reply would come back in English, and I could do the same! We managed to communicate just fine until the computer ran out of batteries, so we gave it to the attendant to charge while we headed off to the restaurant car for the obligatory bottle of vodka. They say in Russia that if you drink vodka you can speak any language, and they even see t-shirts with the Nokia symbol, and the slogan, 'Vodka. Connecting People'!
More pictures to follow, when I can get a computer which will let me upload them.
The following day I took the train from Krasnoyarsk to Irkutsk. On the train I met two people from Chita, (further along the line after Irkutsk). We got off the train at small stations to buy some food, (boiled potatoes, black bread, potato dumplings, and a roll with cabbage inside), and shared these and some beers with each other. They didn't speak any English at all, but one of them had a laptop with a program where he could type in Russia Cyrillic, and the reply would come back in English, and I could do the same! We managed to communicate just fine until the computer ran out of batteries, so we gave it to the attendant to charge while we headed off to the restaurant car for the obligatory bottle of vodka. They say in Russia that if you drink vodka you can speak any language, and they even see t-shirts with the Nokia symbol, and the slogan, 'Vodka. Connecting People'!
Now I have arrived in Irkutsk where I will spend three days, including a side trip to Lake Balkai which is the worlds most deepest, widest, coldest, oldest, oxygenous, and loads more other 'mosts'. After that I have one day in Ulan Ude, (the Buddhist capital of Russia), before crossing the boarder into Mongolia.
More pictures to follow, when I can get a computer which will let me upload them.
Guddy vaj Ingush
Phil :-)
The following day I took the train from Krasnoyarsk to Irkutsk. On the train I met two people from Chita, (further along the line after Irkutsk). We got off the train at small stations to buy some food, (boiled potatoes, black bread, potato dumplings, and a roll with cabbage inside), and shared these and some beers with each other. They didn't speak any English at all, but one of them had a laptop with a program where he could type in Russia Cyrillic, and the reply would come back in English, and I could do the same! We managed to communicate just fine until the computer ran out of batteries, so we gave it to the attendant to charge while we headed off to the restaurant car for the obligatory bottle of vodka. They say in Russia that if you drink vodka you can speak any language, and they even see t-shirts with the Nokia symbol, and the slogan, 'Vodka. Connecting People'!
More pictures to follow, when I can get a computer which will let me upload them.
The following day I took the train from Krasnoyarsk to Irkutsk. On the train I met two people from Chita, (further along the line after Irkutsk). We got off the train at small stations to buy some food, (boiled potatoes, black bread, potato dumplings, and a roll with cabbage inside), and shared these and some beers with each other. They didn't speak any English at all, but one of them had a laptop with a program where he could type in Russia Cyrillic, and the reply would come back in English, and I could do the same! We managed to communicate just fine until the computer ran out of batteries, so we gave it to the attendant to charge while we headed off to the restaurant car for the obligatory bottle of vodka. They say in Russia that if you drink vodka you can speak any language, and they even see t-shirts with the Nokia symbol, and the slogan, 'Vodka. Connecting People'!
Now I have arrived in Irkutsk where I will spend three days, including a side trip to Lake Balkai which is the worlds most deepest, widest, coldest, oldest, oxygenous, and loads more other 'mosts'. After that I have one day in Ulan Ude, (the Buddhist capital of Russia), before crossing the boarder into Mongolia.
More pictures to follow, when I can get a computer which will let me upload them.
Guddy vaj Ingush
Phil :-)
Greetings Comrades!
On my first day in St Petersburg I decided to take a taxi from the train station to the hostel where I was going to stay. However, I made the mistake of not asking the price before hand, and when we reached the hostel he asked for 2000 roubles. Thinking this sounded pretty high, but not knowing the value of things in Russia I paid the driver, but later worked out that I had paid him 40pounds, (about 8-10 times what the journey should have cost) - I wont make that mistake again! Then I set out to explore the city and find the Church of Spilt Blood . I could see this church from a distance so I walked down some side streets until I had almost reached it, I cut through a car park at the back of some buildings. However there wasn't any way to get through so I turned round to head back the way I had come. Suddenly a big black dog came running towards me barking fiercely. I edged around it trying to keep it calm, but it kept coming closer and barking even more. I noticed a man standing watching, so I motioned for hi to call his dog but he just stood there staring at me. Then the dog jumped up and bit me, sinking his teeth into my leg, I shouted "help!" at the man and he eventually called the dog back. I carried on walking and said to him "he bite!" pointing at the dog and making teeth biting motions with the other hand. The man just shrugged nonchalantly shouted a string of Russian, so I escaped as quickly as I could. Now I know why its called the Church of Spilt Blood! Welcome to Russia!
The church was in fact worth the hassle to reach it. It is the spot where Tsar Alexander was murdered, (hence the name - not the dog incident). Out of the many churches I saw in St Petersburg, it is my favourite. I will upload some pictures soon, (in the meantime you can see a picture here
The city is very beautiful with many bridges, cathedrals and grand buildings everywhere. However it is very cold, (you can not even take your gloves off for a few seconds without being unable to move your fingers). I toured all the other main sites, St Peter and Paul's Fortress, the Heritage/Winter Palace, Churches of St Nicolas, St Issac, etc, and I also found a museum about the siege of Leningrad (St Petersburg). The only problem with the churches and museums is they tend to charge much more to foreigners than locals. For example this museum was 40 roubles for Russians 100 roubles for English (plus an additonal 50 roubles to take photographs). Luckily student discounts apply and I had packed my old university card :-)
After touring the sites of St Petersburg for a couple of days I took a night train last night to Moscow and have arrived here about 2 hours ago, so am now heading out to explore this city, (being careful not to take any shortcuts through car parks....)
Thats all for now,
Cheers
Phil :-)
The church was in fact worth the hassle to reach it. It is the spot where Tsar Alexander was murdered, (hence the name - not the dog incident). Out of the many churches I saw in St Petersburg, it is my favourite. I will upload some pictures soon, (in the meantime you can see a picture here
The city is very beautiful with many bridges, cathedrals and grand buildings everywhere. However it is very cold, (you can not even take your gloves off for a few seconds without being unable to move your fingers). I toured all the other main sites, St Peter and Paul's Fortress, the Heritage/Winter Palace, Churches of St Nicolas, St Issac, etc, and I also found a museum about the siege of Leningrad (St Petersburg). The only problem with the churches and museums is they tend to charge much more to foreigners than locals. For example this museum was 40 roubles for Russians 100 roubles for English (plus an additonal 50 roubles to take photographs). Luckily student discounts apply and I had packed my old university card :-)
After touring the sites of St Petersburg for a couple of days I took a night train last night to Moscow and have arrived here about 2 hours ago, so am now heading out to explore this city, (being careful not to take any shortcuts through car parks....)
Thats all for now,
Cheers
Phil :-)
From Russia With Love
Moscow is great, I like it even better than St Petersburg (although for many its the other way round). By far the best place to visit here is St Basil's Cathedral. I have also been to some interesting museums, and a very weird modern art museum. The underground here is amazing with stations having their own artwork, mosaics, statues, canderliers, etc etc, aa far cry from London's underground!!! However, there is about as many people as in London with people fighting to get on the trtains, only here they actually DO fight, pushing each other out of the way with their elbows etc!!! Today I was sure I heard "Mind The Gap" - maybe I am becoming homesick for London (although this wasnt said with a Jamacian accent!) I have yet to buy the famous furry hat that many people where, I did however, get a set of Russian Dolls. I got one with the presidents of Russia, starting with Putin, and the smallest one being Peter the Great. These 'matroskytas' come in all different types, football teams, (David Beckham), politicians (Bush, Blair), even cartoons, (Homer Simpson, Spider man), loads of famous people fictional or real are personified in the Russian markets. They even have one with Osama Bin Laden, which when opened, reveals Arafat, Hitler, etc). The man told me these where all the famous terroirsits of recent years and I asked where Vladmir Putin was, and we laughed at this before looking around checking their wasn't a KGB officer hiding in the background, (although they don't 'officially' operate anymore). -Only in London! I went to the Kremlin today and saw lots of old churches. I am leaving tomorrow for Etkinaberg tomorrow, (about 20 hours away by train). This is the city in which the Tsar Nicolas II and his family (Romanov's) where murdered a while back. This town is situated in the Ural Mountains which divide Europe from Asia, (maybe I'll see some bears?) Actually they have T-shirts here in Moscow saying "I have been to Moscow - there way no bears!", aswell as other amusing ones such as "Eat at Mc Lenin's!" There is even one with Lenin himself holding a finger up to the revolution. I am going to pay a visit to Uncle Lenny tomorrow before I go, his mausoleum is in Red Square but only open to the public on certain days.
So this is me signing off here in Moscow, about to embark on my Trans Siberian adventure, across Russia, into Mongolia, and along the Great Wall, into China. Keep me updated on your news.
P.s. Don't forget 'Loose Lips = Sunken Ships!!!
So this is me signing off here in Moscow, about to embark on my Trans Siberian adventure, across Russia, into Mongolia, and along the Great Wall, into China. Keep me updated on your news.
P.s. Don't forget 'Loose Lips = Sunken Ships!!!
Mind The Gap
My journey has officially started, and I have now travelled from London-Brussells-Koln-Poznan-Wroclaw and am currently hear in Poland staying with my friends. Tomorrow I leave for St Petersbrug, stopping for a day and night in Vilnius en route.
I am in the pocess of making a website so will let you know when I have got it up and running with some photos etc. in the meantime, this is the email address for my trip, (just hope my emails get passed the censors in once I get to china).
I am in the pocess of making a website so will let you know when I have got it up and running with some photos etc. in the meantime, this is the email address for my trip, (just hope my emails get passed the censors in once I get to china).
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