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21-25 October '03
Pines and birch trees slide by, every now and then mirrored in a little lake. The sun stands low and the shadows are long.
When approaching the border, tension is increasing: what will happen when the customs come? Will we ever get in? The customs-officers finally settled for an immigration card. No opening up of bags, no declaration of goodies, nothing. So far the adrenaline.
Train, metro and foot brought us to the hostel at the banks of the Neva river. The metro is a lovely experience: cheap (seven roubles, which is about twenty-two eurocent), very deep because it passes beneath all kinds of Petersburger waterways, quick and loaded with people, offering you a nice view when on the 100-meter deep escalator.
Old babushkas sell knitted pullovers, soldiers walk in gracious outfits with long coats and a grey fur hats, ladies still wear hats with ornaments here.
The Hermitage and Winter palace were "done in a day", which is a bit like "doing Europe in a week". We cannot really tell much about it, you should see it for yourself. However, take cream for your feet afterwards: it was the most exhausting day for us since the start of the journey. So afterwards we had a good three course diner offered by Fabrice's grandmother.
After that very exhausting day in the museums, we walked around, and visited the fortress and the Peter and Paul church in which they have recently buried Peter the Great and the whole tsar family (Nicholas II) who were killed in Yekaterinburg after the Revolution. We also managed to book our first ticket in Russian for Moscow thanks to the Russian talents of Cornelia.
(Petersburg & Moscow) to index
Train no 23: the "Yunost" (St. Petersburg-Moscow) (about 600km)
25 October '03
Our first experience on a Russian long-distance train: only six-hundred kilometres, taking eight hours.
Those who are unlucky have a carriage at the far end of the train, which may be a few hundreds of meters. We were one of those. Fortunately, we were not very far from the restaurant carriage; the link between different carriages is quite scary: you will have to face the polar winds, snow and ice and practically jump from one carriage to the next. But the food was not too bad and at least they had adorned up the resto-car with fake flowers and blue curtains.
The toilets were less comfortable and smelled terrible, but these would be the worst toilets we would have up to Irkutsk.
(Petersburg & Moscow) to index
25-30 October '03
We arrived at night and took the metro to the Moskovitch outskirts where our youth hostel was located. We chose this place because it was next to a metro station to avoid too much walking; Petersburg had been too much for Cornelia's foot. Consequently the first two days she decided to stay "home" and enjoy the view of apartment flats: typically Russian.
Meanwhile, Fabrice had a guided tour from Svetlana, the Russian girlfriend of Bruno, another Belgian in Moscow. During the evenings, our Scouse friend Philip (from Liverpool) would join us in the hotel bar for a pint and a chat (and another pint).
Later in the week, the two Belgians joined forces and managed to drag Cornelia to the Pushkin museum and, at last, the Red Square.
Of course, the famous Rossiya Hotel was very tempting for a night or two, being located next to the Red Square. But their management was so terrific that they could not inform us whether they had still rooms available (of course they had: it is the biggest hotel in the world!), so finally we gave up.
But, we did manage to buy a ticket on the train to Yekaterinburg and on Thursday afternoon we boarded the "Ural" (Train No. 16). Cornelia will have to come back one day to Moscow one day so her right foot can touch Moskovitch ground as well.
(Petersburg & Moscow) to index
The "Trans-Siberian Express" and Siberia
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Train No. 16: the "Ural" (Moscow-Yekaterinburg) (about 1800km)
30-31 October'03
Finding the train was not a problem; finding the carriage took a bit longer, because again we had to walk past the train, which was a long stretch. Moreover, the platform was crowded with people of all sizes and colours and an enormous amount of luggage.
Once installed in our 4-berth cabin, we had the company of two Russian gentlemen. One slept all the time and the other one tried to talk to us, which made him desperate because one year of Russian lessons is not enough to have a proper conversation.
The birch landscape resembled what we had seen between Petersburg and Moscow, very nice, with a small snow cover. During the night, the provodnitsa (carriage attendant) heated the carriage so much that Cornelia couldn't sleep and Fabrice's backpack, that was stowed against a heating pipe, has now melting spots on it.
(Trans-Siberian & Siberia) to index
31 October - 03 November '03
We arrived in Asia (just across the border)!
Yekaterinburg has twice played a significant role in Russian history: the Romanovs were killed there after the revolution and consequently the city was renamed Sverdlovsk, after the man who ordered the assassinations, and in 1960, the famous American U2 spy-plane was shot down in the area.
Nonetheless, the city is not very exiting. We spend lots of time buying a new train ticket to Irkutsk in advance, but in vain. It took us at least an hour to understand we had to come back the next day and try again (the cashier was about to eat her hat). Usually this would be a bad sign, but somehow it worked!
Furthermore we visited the memorial for the Romanovs. They died as martyrs and were declared holy. On the place of their assassination, a huge orthodox church has been built. The faithful come here to pray, which is quite impressive; the series of bowing, kneeling and crossing when approaching an icon of the saints is very complicated. The icon is kissed abundantly and retirement (don't let the holy ones out of sight) is again made with many crossings and bowings.
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Train No. 44: The "Trans-Siberian Express" (Yekaterinburg-Khabalorovsk) (3369km to Irkutsk)
03-05 November '03
At the station our train did not appear on the list of departing trains. Quite worried we asked for more information to find out that the train was one hour late. The lady from the information desk was so nice as to bring us to the train herself, once it had arrived.
This time we were really in the last carriage which is quite uncomfortable because it dances more on the rails than the other ones. During the trip the other travellers in our 4-berth cabin varied from a Swiss economist and a Russian lawyer to a professional ice-hockey player and a wrestler (the latter appropriately called "barbar" in Russian).
Cornelia did a lot better on the dialogues than before, but we still read a lot. Fabrice got addicted to the Russian noodle-soup ("Dochirac", equivalent to Aiki-noodles).
The landscapes were amazing: Taiga, farm-fields and little villages similar to the ones we had seen on the other train-rides. Every now and then we would cross a large river where the water would still flow; the small creeks were all frozen up. Along the railroad, swamps were often present. The combination of these swamps with the white birches in it and the white cover of snow, makes you think of the place where the famous Russian witch Baba Yaga should live, in her hut on chicken feet.
The stops of the train, even in the small villages, are nice; one can go outside and have a cigarette and buy supplies for the next few hours: blini's with cheese (kind of pancakes), drinks, or -for instance- local products. Once at night we saw the entire production line of Crystal-factory parading along the windows of the train, ranging from the most bizarre lamps to regular beer glasses.
The coldest air we breathed was at the stop at Nizhneudinsk early in the morning, where it was at least -15° (and too cold to smoke an entire cigarette on the platform)
After two days of "Dochirac" we explored the restaurant-carriage. There, we found out that in the evening nothing is left to eat, except for the famous "Dochirac" and eggs, but the two waitresses were terrific, very drunken and hilarious!
We arrived at 9 PM in Irkutsk on Wednesday the 5th of November.
(Trans-Siberian & Siberia) to index
05-15 November '03
Now this is Siberia!!
Once called the Paris of Siberia, Irkutsk is really worth a long stop. The centre of the city is still full of wooden houses and it is an animated city, even when the streets and pavements are paved with ice. Lots of time we spend just walking around town, enjoying the scenery and the beautiful sunsets over the Angara River.
One evening in a small bar we were invited by three Russians to drink vodka with them and they would not take no for an answer. And frankly, they do drink hard and fast! After two hours and almost three bottles of vodka, some ladies of a nearby table came to our rescue. They claimed to be militia and showed all kinds of ID-passes with impressive stamps on it. They insisted we left because they said the three guys wanted to rob us, and finally abducted us in a taxi and brought us home. After this glorious night we spend a less glorious day in bed, recovering.
On Sunday we went with a newly acquainted French friend, Arnaud, to the circus that had arrived. It was a feast for us and all the other visitors. At least fifteen different animals were starring, the leopards were jumping burning hoops (no cage) and there was a strongest man in the world. It looked all very authentic.
(Trans-Siberian & Siberia) to index
13-14 November '03
During our stay in Irkutsk we went for three days to a small village on the Baikal lake, called Listvyanka. We didn't know what to expect but a lady, by the name of Galya, approached us in the street and offered us the best accommodation we could have whished for: a log cabin without running water or central heating; only a fire place for heating and cooking in which we burned at least three entire birch-trees.
We spend three lovely nights there. During the day, we would walk in the Taiga (where Cornelia heard a bear behind every tree) and along the Baikal lake. We ate lots of omul, a typical Baikal fish, smoked on birch-wood. Now this was the winter in Siberia Cornelia had whished for!
The greatest highlight was the "banya". This is not merely a sauna as one might think, but the weekly bath for many a Russian. We would heat up in the sauna, splash around with soap and water to wash and then sit outside on the porch to cool off, at -10°. A pitcher of cooled fresh fruit juice was ready in a small room in the sauna where you could sit at your leisure, not too hot, not too cold. We've never been so clean!!!
After Listvyanka, we went back to Irkutsk and tonight, the 15th of November, we leave Russia behind and head for Ulan Bator.
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