Posts filed under 'Russia'
Moscow, Russia
After three long days and four nights, our train trip from Asia to Europe on the trans-Siberian railway is complete. It was our longest trip, however we kept ourselves entertained with the rest of our group through playing cards, reading books, getting off at stations for a wander around and a few bottles of vodka. We never realised – firstly how big Russia really is, and, secondly, how much snow there is in the world – the whole of the journey and all of Russia is covered in a snug white blanket. We obviously got a little bit of cabin fever a long the way, but looking back it was a pretty awesome journey!
Now we’re in Moscow and have been seeing as much of the city as is possible. It’s still fairly cold here at about -18C and the snow was falling for most of yesterday. We started at a little church to give us a taste of local Muscovite life and then onto the main attraction – Red Square. Unfortunately it was closed, we think due to the heavy snowfall, but we don’t really know since they’re so secretive! So we went to a lovely old shopping centre where we had food at a canteen that served old style Soviet food, which was actually really nice and was so fresh compared to the pot noodles we’d been eating on the train for the last 3 days.
After lunch we were glad to walk around the edge of Red Square and saw the famous St Basil’s Cathedral. We had a bit of spare time so we played a random chase game out the back of St Basil’s before heading down to the river. The game warmed us up a lot and was great fun – playing in the snow with such a great backdrop. Along the river was the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, the main church of Russia. It was demolished during the Communist era, but rebuilt in the 90s to the same design inside and out. It was impressive to see how they had rebuilt such a magnificent building in the 1990s.
Our honcho twins gave us a brief chat about the sights overlooking the completely frozen river before we headed back to try and get into Red Square. This time we were successful! Walking around the square is quite impressive, with Lenin’s mausoleum in the middle and the massive walls of the Kremlin running along one side. We were also lucky enough to go ice skating in Red Square! It was a bit of a laugh, but also really cool as we were in Red Square, surrounded by snow and the Christmas tree was up 
.
After such a long day we’ve taken it a little bit slower today, just walking around some of the old streets (they have some amazing architecture and lots of cultural sights all over the place) and visiting the Kremlin Armoury. The armoury is a bit like the crown jewels in London, showcasing some of the gems, arms, clothing and royal carriages of times gone by. Some interesting pieces in there, especially the collection of old horse-drawn carriages / sleds!
Moscow is a really interesting place with lots to do and see. The Metro (Underground) system is good for getting around, but difficult to understand as everything is generally written in Cyrillic. It’s been so good seeing Moscow in the snow, it seems to have added something a little to the place, making it even more impressive.
1 day to go!
1 comment Tue 22 December 2009
Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russia
We arrived in Irkutsk after an interesting two night train ride from Ulaanbaatar. The border crossing took about 8 hours as our carriage (uncoupled to anything else) was left on one side of the border for immigration and customs, then shunted across the border, for yet more immigration and customs from the Russians. To add to the ridiculousness of the crossing we watched Mongolian smugglers hiding all their wares in hiding places all over the train, so the Russians didn’t find them. Some of it was fairly obvious and it soon appeared that the train staff may have been paid to turn a blind eye. It also transpired later in the trip that, potentially, the carriage stewardess may have been in on the whole scam! It was interesting to watch anyway.
After spotting our first Lada, we were shuttled off on a quick transfer to our home for three nights – a beautiful wooden chalet near Baikal Lake. We were fortunate enough this time to get our own room and ensuite, so this cheered us up no end.
The lake itself is huge (about 5th biggest in the world) and the deepest fresh water lake in the world (about 1600m). It also freezes over completely in January / February, but now it simply steams all day – as the air is so cold compared to the lake. The temperature at the moment seems to be averaging about -25C during the day and about five or so less at night. Can’t complain though, as this is what we signed up for!
So far we’ve been on a couple of hikes in the snow around parts of the lake to view-points. We have been dog-sledding (amazing fun both driving and as a passenger!) and skidooing. We’ve had so much fun in the snow it’s great! It’s also been really relaxing, as we’ve managed to have late breakfasts, sun doesn’t rise until about 9:30, and enjoy drinks by a warm fire.
We’re starting to see more European themes coming through, even though we’re 4 days train ride away from Moscow. Things like the food and traffic have all begun to become more normal! Not long now and we’ll be back where we started!
2 comments Thu 17 December 2009
Dave
Carly