Made our way via Metro to the Yaraslov station to catch the
Trans-Siberian. Planned our journey noting the different station names
and wrote out the Cyrillic characters so made it unaided without
stuff-ups. While I can remember the Cyrillic alphabet and make out the
words, it takes me a little time, not for the rush of a Metro station.
If you translate the characters, you get the pronunciation and many
words are the same in English. We waited in an outdoor beer tent for our
23:45 train until the smoke almost choked us. All excitement as we left
Moscow on the Trans-Siberian, wahooo!
Unable to sleep, let alone eat the meal that we were entitled to, it
being officially day one of the journey. Everything is in Russian, not a
skerrig of any other language so it is rather a hit and miss affair. We
do discover the samovar (not a great copper thing with a fire under it
but a mass of plumbing with a tap sticking out) but is only at 50C at
the moment. Luckily there is a French couple on board and she speaks
Russian quite well so there is hope. Asleep at last to the rocking and
rolling, creaking and clanking that is train travel. The whole place is
pervaded by the smell of burning coal as each carriage has its own
little coal-fired boiler and chimney.
Awoke to small towns and 5 stops of varying duration throughout the day.
Luckily Marg had found the itinerary on the net so we at least knew how
long we were to be stopped, some were only 2 minutes, some 30. The
longer stops have people selling stuff, food and warm socks and at times
vendors are on the train.
Marg, feeling that she would like a shower is told that she is third in
line and to wait 15-20 minutes between people for it to reheat. Finally
gets a shower to find almost no water and that erratic. The provodnika
(concierge) also demands R150 but Marg refuses because it was so crappy.
Train boss later apologises and tells us that it is fixed and that he
will demonstrate how to connect the pipe...pardon? We are on a shower
strike now (which is no great sacrifice for me) so no washing for 5 days.
Ask about food (which we have paid for). Apparently only 5 meals
supplied in the price, no breakfast, lunch (bortsch, rice & meat,
salad), dinner in the dining car. We have muesli, 2-minute noodles,
coffee, tea, powdered milk, chocolate (lots of chocolate), instant
mashed potato and a large sausage to see us through. We had been unable
to buy a gas canister (we flew to Munich so left those behind) so the
noodles will be no-minute noodles. Plenty of hot water in the samovar
although no reliable place to wash utensils because the sink room is
often locked.
Asked the provodnika about locking our compartment when we got off the
train so he locked it with the general-purpose triangular panel key.
When we got back on the train, a different provodnika unlocked our
compartment AND gave us the electronic swipe card for our compartment!
Too easy. Actually a triangular panel key would be handy (it is the
normal one that we get in NZ) because on some trains they lock the
toilets half an hour before the stop. Everything surrenders to the
triangular panel key, even the provodnika's compartment. You could most
probably hijack the train with one ("Take me to Cuba or I will..."
Actually what mischief can you do with a train?). Our train is the
Russia No. 2, the flagship so has aircraft-style sucky toilets with a
holding tank so can be used in the station. Higher-numbered trains just
dump on the track. Actually the suction is mighty powerful and sounds
like a fog horn when it operates. I wouldn't like to accidentally press
the button (conveniently placed at elbow height) while seated, your
entrails could be spread all over Siberia!
Crossed the Urals in the night so we are now officially in Asia (Trivial
Pursuits, science and nature question).
Watched a begillion episodes of Scarlett, the sequel to Gone with the
Wind. Luckily most of the original English soundtrack was identifiable
so we got most of the dialogue. Finally got to the end so could enjoy
our home-away-from-home-cooked meal of instant mashed potato with diced
sausage.
Woke today to SNOW! -5C outside and light snow falling, sooo cool. Got
out at the earliest opportunity, threw a snowball, licked the air and
blew condensation rings, all the goofy things that inhabitants of
temperate climates do. Russians on the other hand indicating by gesture
and demeanour "Shit, more bloody snow".
The train runs on Moscow time, even though we are 4 time zones away now.
So despite waking up when it was light at 5:30 Moscow time, lunch is not
served until 12:00 Moscow time (16:00 local time). Expecting dinner at
midnight local time, there will be a few drunk people in the dining car
by then. Actually there is only so much train food you can eat
especially when you have no idea what you are ordering. I was sure I was
ordering salmon but got beef with buckwheat (not the most appetising
colour combo brown on brown but made delightful by the artistic
drizzling of tomato sauce, Jamie Oliver eat your heart out!). Marg's
chicken was fresh appearing to have been recently run over by a Kamaz truck.
Luckily the temperature control in our carriage (Lucky No. 7) works
because the internet reports 30C for most of the journey. Tales of
Russian men wandering around in just shorts! I think some carriages are
nevertheless hot because we have seen people getting out of the train in
jandals and T-shirts in the snow.
We get off this train at Ulan-Ude and stop for 3 days before catching the bus for a 12 hour journey to Ulaan Baatar where we have 8 days at the Oasis Guesthouse.
See some sights taken on the way....
Trans Siberian Railway : Moscow to Ulan Ude Oct 2012 from Marg Meyle on Vimeo.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Monday, 29 October 2012
Saturday, 27 October 2012
Friday, 26 October 2012
Moscow
After flying out of Munich we spent 3 days in Moscow, the commercial hub of Russia, where we stayed in the uniquely named Chocolate Hostel. Ian said it was typical of Russian accommodation! All I can say is the outside was so NOT an hotel ....no number or sign on the outside ......you guess it was no more than a small apartment block......and upon entering you would believe that the building was derelict!
But no......keep walking in and up the dark concrete stairs to the next floor, through two more doors and turn right..... You will be in what all I can describe as a tiny entrance leading to a communal kitchen and eating place, ( the tv on with Russian thriller playing) on up the hall past a shared bathroom and toilet. We had our own room with two single beds and a set of bunks and a set of metal cupboards but most of the other rooms had people sharing.The heating was on FULL and it was soooooo hot. Outside the temp was 0 and inside 30 +? so every time you came back in it was get all the coats etc off fast! And the reason it had its name was on the kitchen table was always a jug of hot chocolate!
We spent 3 very interesting days in Moscow walking walking walking.
St Basils.
Red square
The Kremlin.
Lenin's Tomb was under renovation so no go there could only see from the outside and we spotted Stalins grave as one of the chosen along the wall.
Divenchy cemetery where lots of poets, actors and people that were not in favour with the communist regime are buried.
Gorky Park, ( where Ian was seen waiting for the drop off! )
And where we were entranced by the little red squirrels. (Next post I have the cutest movie of a squirrel burying a nut )
Church of Christ the Saviour
and several museums.
On one walk we came across the modern Art Museum that out in a courtyard in a rather a jumble were some very interesting statues that appeared to have at one time to have been in public then removed and " stored" somewhere.
We had got rather confused on the first day with the underground as each exit for each station is named a different name! So we did not travel much on it until we translated the alphabet... Now that made it easier. 12 million people in Moscow and rush hour certainly lasts a long time.
The city is full of designer everything and glitz is everywhere. The cars are mostly European and big and expensive. Living there is very expensive, in fact it is more expensive to live in Moscow than Paris or London. A cup of coffee was commonly over NZ $8 and eating out after day 1 was relegated to MacDonalds! Yes even Ian had to admit it was the right thing to do! The only thing is with Maccas it goes down so fast!
We saw some amazing department stores one called GUM that faces Red Square has been there since the early 1900's and is full of little trendy stores. One was a store that had all the stuff for the winter Olympics that will be in So in 2014.... Even down to clothes for your pooches and kitties!
On Moscow’s Tverskaya Street, is one of Moscow’s oldest grocery stores. It is an old food store with glittering rock crystal in the shop windows, gilded arches, columns and chandeliers. They have everything for you... smoked fish, caviar, chocolates and even jars of peanut butter!
After 3 days we had to pack up and made our way to the railway station to catch the train to Ulan Ude.
Five days in a train! Oh soooo excited
But no......keep walking in and up the dark concrete stairs to the next floor, through two more doors and turn right..... You will be in what all I can describe as a tiny entrance leading to a communal kitchen and eating place, ( the tv on with Russian thriller playing) on up the hall past a shared bathroom and toilet. We had our own room with two single beds and a set of bunks and a set of metal cupboards but most of the other rooms had people sharing.The heating was on FULL and it was soooooo hot. Outside the temp was 0 and inside 30 +? so every time you came back in it was get all the coats etc off fast! And the reason it had its name was on the kitchen table was always a jug of hot chocolate!
We spent 3 very interesting days in Moscow walking walking walking.
St Basils.
Red square
The Kremlin.
Lenin's Tomb was under renovation so no go there could only see from the outside and we spotted Stalins grave as one of the chosen along the wall.
Divenchy cemetery where lots of poets, actors and people that were not in favour with the communist regime are buried.
Gorky Park, ( where Ian was seen waiting for the drop off! )
And where we were entranced by the little red squirrels. (Next post I have the cutest movie of a squirrel burying a nut )
Church of Christ the Saviour
and several museums.
On one walk we came across the modern Art Museum that out in a courtyard in a rather a jumble were some very interesting statues that appeared to have at one time to have been in public then removed and " stored" somewhere.
We had got rather confused on the first day with the underground as each exit for each station is named a different name! So we did not travel much on it until we translated the alphabet... Now that made it easier. 12 million people in Moscow and rush hour certainly lasts a long time.
The city is full of designer everything and glitz is everywhere. The cars are mostly European and big and expensive. Living there is very expensive, in fact it is more expensive to live in Moscow than Paris or London. A cup of coffee was commonly over NZ $8 and eating out after day 1 was relegated to MacDonalds! Yes even Ian had to admit it was the right thing to do! The only thing is with Maccas it goes down so fast!
We saw some amazing department stores one called GUM that faces Red Square has been there since the early 1900's and is full of little trendy stores. One was a store that had all the stuff for the winter Olympics that will be in So in 2014.... Even down to clothes for your pooches and kitties!
On Moscow’s Tverskaya Street, is one of Moscow’s oldest grocery stores. It is an old food store with glittering rock crystal in the shop windows, gilded arches, columns and chandeliers. They have everything for you... smoked fish, caviar, chocolates and even jars of peanut butter!
After 3 days we had to pack up and made our way to the railway station to catch the train to Ulan Ude.
Five days in a train! Oh soooo excited
Prague.... Not just the tourist route.
The John Lennon wall in Prague
After his murder on 8 December 1980 John Lennon became a pacifist hero for many young Czechs. An image of Lennon was painted on a wall in a secluded square opposite the French Embassy (there is a niche on the wall that looks like a tombstone), along with political graffiti and Beatles lyrics.
Despite repeated coats of whitewash, the secret police never managed to keep it clean for long, and the Lennon Wall became a political focus for Prague youth (most Western pop music was banned by the communists, and some Czech musicians were even jailed for playing it).
Post-1989 weathering and lightweight graffiti ate away at the political messages and images, until little remained of Lennon but his eyes, but visiting tourists began making their own contributions.
A living piece of art.
Love Locks Bridge
A symbol of love throughout Europe, Prague is no exception with the love locks along the canal near the Charles Bridge in Prague’s Mala Strana.
I take it that the meaning behind the lock is everlasting love. Lovers fix their locks on fences or gates, often throwing away the key in a romantic gesture of their love, locked together through time. We have seen this in many places including France and England. We did come across a bridge in Munich where they had taken to them with bolt cutters citing the weight was too great for the bridge!?........... Take that as you will.
After his murder on 8 December 1980 John Lennon became a pacifist hero for many young Czechs. An image of Lennon was painted on a wall in a secluded square opposite the French Embassy (there is a niche on the wall that looks like a tombstone), along with political graffiti and Beatles lyrics.
Despite repeated coats of whitewash, the secret police never managed to keep it clean for long, and the Lennon Wall became a political focus for Prague youth (most Western pop music was banned by the communists, and some Czech musicians were even jailed for playing it).
Post-1989 weathering and lightweight graffiti ate away at the political messages and images, until little remained of Lennon but his eyes, but visiting tourists began making their own contributions.
A living piece of art.
Love Locks Bridge
A symbol of love throughout Europe, Prague is no exception with the love locks along the canal near the Charles Bridge in Prague’s Mala Strana.
I take it that the meaning behind the lock is everlasting love. Lovers fix their locks on fences or gates, often throwing away the key in a romantic gesture of their love, locked together through time. We have seen this in many places including France and England. We did come across a bridge in Munich where they had taken to them with bolt cutters citing the weight was too great for the bridge!?........... Take that as you will.
Tuesday, 9 October 2012
Monday, 8 October 2012
ISDE - International Six Day Enduro
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