Stir Crazy Train Travel Begins

The Trans-Siberian begins with a bus...

The Trans-Siberian train starts from Moscow and heads East to either Vladivostock, through Manchuria, or through Mongolia. My Trans-Siberian journey started with a BUS, not a train, because I missed the silly train. I left Moscow on a Sunday, and didn’t realise there were no trains to Vladimir (and Suzdal) early in the morning. And I’d missed listening to a Hawks game over the radio for this??? 

I was annoyed and frustrated, and feeling a bit helpless – with little Russian, I could only handle yes/no answers to my questions – so when things got complicated, I got bamboozled. But, I don’t give up too easily, so I hunted down a pair of young Russians, and they helped me find the bus. This was no mean feat – there is so little signage in Russia, it is ridiculous! They had to top up their mobile phones, use the internet, and search for where the bus left from - no-one at the train station knew where it was. Gees, I had no hope by myself! And, to make it even harder, the bus did not say where it was going – it was just pulled up to the side of the road, no sign of a bus stop. How the heck was I meant to know where it was going? 

This is not a rare occurrence though – in the Moscow metro, there is only one tiny sign on the wall telling you what station you’re at – good luck if you miss it (like I did on numerous occasions). While I’m talking about the metro system, you should see how deep these metro stations are in the ground – it’s like descending into hell, especially if the escalators break down!!!

 

Suzdal

Anyway, I made it to Suzdal eventually, and it was worth all the effort. It was probably my favourite place in Russia, and there was a great hostel there called Godzillas. Very relaxing – much different to the rest of Russia! Suzdal is part of the Golden Circle of Russia, a ring of cities around Moscow of significant cultural heritage. It is a holy city and is full of churches and monasteries, and development was limited here to preserve the atmosphere. It’s set in a beautiful location by a river with rolling green hills and swampland nearby. The town is dotted with these pretty churches, each more beautiful than the next.

Nizhny Novgorod

Next town was Nizhny Novgorod. Historically, this is where Russia finished and Siberia began – demarcated by the Volga River. All the Russia I had seen so far was very European – I could have been in Germany, for all I knew. I was reading Russian history, and it astounded me that Great Mother Russia is quite a recent phenonmenon. If Russia hadn’t expanded east, it would just be another European nation like Germany or France, not the Superpower I’m familiar with. But it did expand, and Stalin did a good job of getting rid of all the indigenous people, so that Europe extends just that little bit further East.

Anyway, Nizhny Novgorod... not my favourite city, expecially considering that all the hotels were full. I had to sleep in the train station one night! Not happy! To kill time, I went to see the Hangover 2 in the cinemas, in Russian. Fortunately, the comedy and storyline was so low-brow, I had no trouble following it. But I stayed up all night in the end, typing my journal, because I didn’t quite trust falling asleep in a train station in Russia – I could have been sold into slavery!

Trans-Siberian Part I

Well, I was on the train for 2 days, chatting with Russians. When I say chatting, I mean hand-signals and gestures, and offerring of food. I met one couple who were going to Kamchatka Peninsula – lots of credit for going to that far flung destination. And I met another old guy who had been a street-sweeper in London, and rued the fall of the Soviet Union, and all the moral principles that fell with it. Not being the biggest advocate of Capitalism, I answered with vigorous nodding!

 

Tomsk

Again, there was a dearth of cheap hotels in my next destination, Tomsk. Not many people stop in Siberia, so there are no hostels, and very few foreigners. I’d have to slug it out by myself. With no alternative, I checked into an expensive business hotel, about 90AUD a night, but enjoyed it after 2 days on the train! And I still had another 1.5 days to go on the train! Tomsk is famous for its wooden lace architecture – though it didn’t really impress me too much and was more just a break from the train for me.

Not so Red Russia

St Petersburg

It was with much trepidation that I decided to head back to Australia via the Trans-Siberian railway. I’d heard bad stories about Russia – that the people are cold and racist, costs prohibitive and the culture boring. Well, I quite liked Russia, and it confirms my belief that you have to find out some things for yourself. Everyone is different in the end and will always have different likes and dislikes, and hence experiences.

I flew into St Petersburg around 8pm, after a hectic 4 days in the UK, trying to replace all the things I’d lost after my bag was snatched. It would cost me about 450AUD to replace everything – so, a little more than a pretty penny!

It was early June, and nearing the Summer Solstice. St Petersburg is at a really high latitude – higher than most Scandanavian capitals – and has White Nights. I think it would get dark after midnight when I was there, but I never stayed up to find out. It is also a very European feeling city, and a beautiful one to boot. I came at a good time of year, with flowers blooming and clear blue skies.

I was astounded by the architecture of Russia, because I had never seen it before. Well, only on TV. The Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood was most impressive, inside and out. It had the stereotypical onion domes in fanciful colours and a beautifully painted interior. When you are the biggest land empire in the world, you have some serious coin for monuments.

And St Petersburg does not lack for monuments. I visited Petrodvorets (Peterhof), the palace that Peter the Great built, famous for its fountains and gardens. It is meant to rival Versailles and I can see why. Stunning place. But it’s actually nicer outside than inside. It’s set on the coast, and gets a lovely breeze.

And of course, there is the Hermitage. I visited the Hermitage twice, as it is so big. It’s an amazing place, with rooms full of Rafael, Rubens, Renoir, Rembrandt. I guess they seized all this stuff in WWII. It was hard work trying to see all the famous stuff, so in the end, I just wandered the beautiful rooms and hallways, and had an absolute ball.

Moscow

After an overnight train I pulled into Moscow at 6.30am. I bought my tickets for my onward journey as soon as I arrived, to avoid the long queues. It was a bit of an ordeal with my basic Russian and the reputation of the ladies behind the windows at the train station – most unhelpful. My heart was pumping when I got to the counter, because suddenly a long queue of impatient Muscovites formed behind me, adding to the pressure. And damn, my train was full. So, I had to make a split second decision, and add Nizhny Novgorod to my itinerary. Boy, sweat was pouring from my brow after the ordeal, which in reality, was not too bad. All in my head!

 

I wandered down to the (in)famous Red Square next, and along the way, some cheeky devils tried to pick pocket me. Not this time – no way Jose! One guy dropped a wad of USD in front of me while a guy at the back was following. Not to be outdone, I sidestepped and stared at them. And boy, did they act guilty! They were ducking into shops, looking back at me, coming out again.

That hurdle cleared, I just had to find my way down to the Red Square. And with my sense of direction, it was quite an ordeal. I was half distracted watching out for pickpockets, and three quarters clueless, but eventually I made it. I might have been thrown off track by the Armani and Luis Vuitton stores in the huge department store looking onto the Red Square. I couldn’t believe it – Luis Vuitton next to the Red Square and Lenin’s Mausoleum? Lenin must be turning in his grave. So, I left the not-so-Red Square to head into the Kremlin, and it was an awe-inspiring sight. Huge, oppulent churches and more onion domes. Wow! I was told Moscow is boring, but I sure enjoyed it – with captivating galleries, and Soviet Park with Lenin.