Two and a half months gone and i am now in asia having crossed the Ural mountains on the 28 hour train from Moscow to Yekaterinburg. Im going to the monument that marks the border between the two continents tonight before my train leaves on the two day trip to Irkutsk and lake Baikal. I spoke to some guys in the hostel here doing a similar trip to me and we couldnt work out where the legend of the trans siberian came from as its so boring not like the Vodka train i had been led to expect. Its mainly families and dads going home from the army. The guy i shared a cabin with was pretty cool we had a few beers and he spoke a bit of english but there is only so far sign language and podcasts can take you.
Russia is really starting to grow on me as St Petersburg really was a non event in the end with most days consisiting of either the warm irish bar or the sofa for the football. I made it to the hermitage after standing in a queue in the rain for an hour and a half which was pretty amazing much like the louvre but on a smaller scale. Other than this a short walk round the centre of town took in the church of spilled blood which was pretty cool but it has got to the stage now and i hate to say it but youve seen one church you have seen them all. I also saw the peter and paul fortress which has a political prison which held many of the famous names of the various russian uprisings as well as the cathedral where many of the royal family where buried. Compared to the reviews i have heard about st petersburg i have no idea why everybody raves about it. Its ok at best nothing compared to what was to come in Moscow.
The Soul Kitchen hostel was pretty nice and i met some canadians there who i bumped into again in moscow. We had one night out in St Petersburg with Iliya and various other russians with loose associations to the hostel. We left at about 11pm after the Germany v Australia match. Iliya said if you dont come with us you will never find the bar and it was true as he also could not find it. Maybe an hour walking round and round before behind an anonymous door we found the bar. It was pretty nice but largely quiet so rounds of jagermeister was called for to fix the atmosphere. We ended up following some other people to another bar which again took ages to find despite the constant daylight as it just doesnt get dark. This one was completely dead and after having a russian stress his love for jenson button for what seemed like hours i left to get some sleep before the train to moscow.
I arrived in moscow pretty much as it was getting dark and straight away had to experience the metro. Im pretty sure this has to be the best metro in the world with huge stations of glittering marble and chandeliers as well as being easy to navigate and having a reliable service. I dont know why but this was the beginning of a major liking for moscow. The hostel turned out to be right in the posh area and a perfect base for exploring. The first two days involved major stress in aquiring a japan rail pass as i found the place on the edge of town but they didnt take cards and my withdrawl limit was 1/4 of what i needed per day. Everywhere you find this, russia is modern in some respects but back in the dark ages for everything else. In the end i had to use my emergency currency card and i have no idea how much this cost me in fees but i have the pass which is all that matters.
I also had to register my visa which i completely forgot to do in St Petersburg. Russia ends up being quite expensive with all the little burocratic things invites, visas, registration. It really is a pain. But Moscow itself was really great although more for the atmosphere than any sightseeing. The guidebook describes it as imposing and forbidding but i found it really enjoyable. Knowing cyrillic and a few words helps massively as i had a completely different excperience to some guys i met from leeds who hated it so much. There really is not alot to do apart from Red Square which has the Kremlin, St Basils Cathedral and Lenins Mausoleum. The kremlin is pretty cool and consists of a massive red wall surrounding five cathedrals with the actual government building a bit of a side show. St Basils is worth the trip alone and really is mesmeric as you first get a glimpse then see it get closer and more and more colourful. Lenins mausoleum take it or leave it really, it was a pain to get in as you cant take cameras, phones or anything else and the queue is pretty long for something that looks like a wax work.
The final night in moscow everyone in my dorm went on one mad night out as they were going to japan the next day and i was starting the trans siberian. Starting off with 9% vodka red bull from a several cans and then being bought a constant stream of huge shots by russians in the club means i cant really describe anything else as i have no clue as to what happened apart from a good time was had by all!! Cant wait for the rest of Russia now
Tuesday 22 June 2010
Monday 14 June 2010
Into the north
The dreaded has actually happened and im ill. A severe case of man flu is all i need with the trans siberian five days away. Stupidly i had left Kiev in t shirt and shorts as for the fourth day in a row it was over 30 degrees. I think more in hope than anything else i believed St Petersburg to be at least similar. Arriving i was severely disappointed it was like winter, dark sky, heavy clouds and torrents of rain. Perfect for walking round for hours on end. To be honest though St Petersburg really isnt that amazing a few things were ok like the hermitage museum which is like a mini louvre but apart from that i dont see what the fuss is about.
The whole of ukraine was baking hot perfect for seeing the amazing sights it has to offer but not quite so good for long journeys. Sevastopol to Lviv - 25 hours and officially my longest journey so far. Unfortunately the only tickets remaining were for 3rd class, essentially a vodka fuelled 50 person free for all. I had pretty much the worst bed right at the top in the corridor, no where to sit upright, nowhere to put my stuff and about three people to climb over everytime i needed to get up. The ipod and pot noodles were rationed as essentials to stave off madness. Unlike most other trains the ones in eastern europe only have two windows per carriage that open and at points it is unbearably hot which is why lots of people sit unabashedly half naked.
The train wasnt in truth that bad and lviv really was worth it. As i have said to people here if Lviv was anywhere in western europe it would easily be the most visited attraction. As it was there were a few tourists but essentially authentic. The city itself has hundreds of amazing churches which on a sunday were all packed to overflowing. Most days were just spent wandering around enjoying the weather and cafe culture but before my night train to kiev i got to go shooting with the guy from the hostel. Five different soviet era weapons with five bullets for each. They ranged from the rubbish pistol, to an ak-47, a sniper rifle that nearly took my shoulder off and a semi-automatic shotgun with solid slug. In most countries the ammunition and guns are all banned but you can shoot here with no training. I love eastern europe.
From Lviv to Kiev it is only 8 hours so on board the train sleep and your there. The hostel i was staying was very highly rated and i can see why. The polish owner cooked amazing food, it was a great location and was packed. As soon as i arrived i received a full day tour of the city from this ukrainian guy who was staying there. I think we did pretty much everthing including the cave monastery with the mumified monks. This is the number one thing to do but a minutes worth of cadavers is really a highlight for me. The rest of the time i spent looking through the flea markets. Its amazing what you can find. The stuff you were looking at in the museum you can buy out in the street. I have so far managed to get a Heroes of Stalingrad Medal and one from Sevastopol as well. The australians and i at the hostel also found out the secret to ukrainian drinking as well as there low life expectancy. Pig fat. All shots are quickly followed by a slice of fat that suprisingly tastes amazing as well as leaving no traces of a hangover. Somehow i dont think this will take off in the UK.
Anyway train to moscow leaves in two hours so have to get my stuff ready.
The whole of ukraine was baking hot perfect for seeing the amazing sights it has to offer but not quite so good for long journeys. Sevastopol to Lviv - 25 hours and officially my longest journey so far. Unfortunately the only tickets remaining were for 3rd class, essentially a vodka fuelled 50 person free for all. I had pretty much the worst bed right at the top in the corridor, no where to sit upright, nowhere to put my stuff and about three people to climb over everytime i needed to get up. The ipod and pot noodles were rationed as essentials to stave off madness. Unlike most other trains the ones in eastern europe only have two windows per carriage that open and at points it is unbearably hot which is why lots of people sit unabashedly half naked.
The train wasnt in truth that bad and lviv really was worth it. As i have said to people here if Lviv was anywhere in western europe it would easily be the most visited attraction. As it was there were a few tourists but essentially authentic. The city itself has hundreds of amazing churches which on a sunday were all packed to overflowing. Most days were just spent wandering around enjoying the weather and cafe culture but before my night train to kiev i got to go shooting with the guy from the hostel. Five different soviet era weapons with five bullets for each. They ranged from the rubbish pistol, to an ak-47, a sniper rifle that nearly took my shoulder off and a semi-automatic shotgun with solid slug. In most countries the ammunition and guns are all banned but you can shoot here with no training. I love eastern europe.
From Lviv to Kiev it is only 8 hours so on board the train sleep and your there. The hostel i was staying was very highly rated and i can see why. The polish owner cooked amazing food, it was a great location and was packed. As soon as i arrived i received a full day tour of the city from this ukrainian guy who was staying there. I think we did pretty much everthing including the cave monastery with the mumified monks. This is the number one thing to do but a minutes worth of cadavers is really a highlight for me. The rest of the time i spent looking through the flea markets. Its amazing what you can find. The stuff you were looking at in the museum you can buy out in the street. I have so far managed to get a Heroes of Stalingrad Medal and one from Sevastopol as well. The australians and i at the hostel also found out the secret to ukrainian drinking as well as there low life expectancy. Pig fat. All shots are quickly followed by a slice of fat that suprisingly tastes amazing as well as leaving no traces of a hangover. Somehow i dont think this will take off in the UK.
Anyway train to moscow leaves in two hours so have to get my stuff ready.
Saturday 5 June 2010
A monkey on my back
Absolutely shattered after getting off a direct 25 hour night train to Lvov. Honestly it was one of the worst things i have done not only because in third class you are in close confines in a hot carriage with 49 other people but unlike hopefully the trans siberian there is nothing to do apart from listen to my ipod and no one to talk to. Hey ho thats what you get for coming to places like this.
After chisinau i had taken the 4 hour bus to Odessa the party capital of Ukraine on the black sea. I arrived at the time i hate most 2.30 in the morning. Its too early too stay up and not pay for a night in a hostel but too late to make good use of a bed. Anyway i found the hostel after collecting about 20 helpers on the way from the station and after waking Luba the manager up crashed until midday. The last couple of weeks haven't been that great weather wise but when i woke up it was already 33 degrees. A stroll around was all i could muster after an attempt to send some post home. Take 1 ended with me trying out the classic english tactic of speaking english louder, take 2 i tried in my incredibly limited russian no good. Take 3 i walked back to the hostel and got Luba to write it down in Ukranian. Literally nobody speaks even a word of english here its a nightmare and to make it worse everything is written in cyrillic but all the maps are in english, impossible to compare.
By the time i had got back to the hostel some Kazakhs had arrived and were already into there second bottle of vodka. After much persuading lol they agreed to go out after the Klitschko fight at midnight. After a couple of bars we all headed out to Arcadia beach where there are lots of clubs on the sea front. We were there till about 5am before going back to the hostel to continue the party. Im not entirely sure but i think i went to bed at around 8am as the sun was already quite warm.
Not surprisingly the rest of the day for me was a complete write off although despite having drunk maybe half of what the others had i was by far the worst. By around 4pm i managed a walk to the beach before the second night out began. The kazakhs sergei, sergei, oleg and andrei were already at the vodka and had cooked pimini for everyone which was amazing. Another english guy josh also arrived and we went out for a second time this time just around the local Odessa bars. It was another late one, the thing about drinking till the next day you wake up more drunk than when you went to bed, its a bit of a shock to the system.
The beach was again the best option and despite the port nearby i took a swim in the clean but absolutely freezing black sea. That night i took the 12 hour night train to Sevastopol in the Crimea. Ukraine really isn't the best place for rushing around or trying to squeeze in an extra place or two as everything is a night train or a full day from everywhere else. Sevastopol is the home of the Russian fleet and is covered in ornamental parks and statues. Again everything was in Cyrillic but by now i have managed to work out not how to speak it but at least to read it. I was at the hostel with Chris (ozzie) and Adam (kiwi) who were a good laugh with the national rivalry banter. We headed out on a day trip to Object 221 which took 15 years to build and was due to be the command center for the black sea fleet. Unfortunately the USSR collapsed a year after it was finished and it was never used. The place is well off the beaten track and consists of four story building inside a mountain with ramps you could drive a truck up. It was pitch black inside so we had to use head torches to explore. This was followed by the submarine base in balaklava. Until 1996 Sevastopol was a closed city and balaklava was completely off limits. All this ex soviet stuff once the most secret places on earth you can now just wander round.
The Crimea is at the cross roads of many civilizations so we visited Bakchasaray which used to be the old Tatar capital when they ruled the area. The city has a completely intact Tatar palace which was well worth a vist as well as a cave monastery in an nearby cliff and a cave city right on the summit of an escarpment that we had to hike up to. Despite being well out of the way the crimea was well worth a trip although for the entire 25 hour train journey to lvov i was cussing the unplanned detour.
After chisinau i had taken the 4 hour bus to Odessa the party capital of Ukraine on the black sea. I arrived at the time i hate most 2.30 in the morning. Its too early too stay up and not pay for a night in a hostel but too late to make good use of a bed. Anyway i found the hostel after collecting about 20 helpers on the way from the station and after waking Luba the manager up crashed until midday. The last couple of weeks haven't been that great weather wise but when i woke up it was already 33 degrees. A stroll around was all i could muster after an attempt to send some post home. Take 1 ended with me trying out the classic english tactic of speaking english louder, take 2 i tried in my incredibly limited russian no good. Take 3 i walked back to the hostel and got Luba to write it down in Ukranian. Literally nobody speaks even a word of english here its a nightmare and to make it worse everything is written in cyrillic but all the maps are in english, impossible to compare.
By the time i had got back to the hostel some Kazakhs had arrived and were already into there second bottle of vodka. After much persuading lol they agreed to go out after the Klitschko fight at midnight. After a couple of bars we all headed out to Arcadia beach where there are lots of clubs on the sea front. We were there till about 5am before going back to the hostel to continue the party. Im not entirely sure but i think i went to bed at around 8am as the sun was already quite warm.
Not surprisingly the rest of the day for me was a complete write off although despite having drunk maybe half of what the others had i was by far the worst. By around 4pm i managed a walk to the beach before the second night out began. The kazakhs sergei, sergei, oleg and andrei were already at the vodka and had cooked pimini for everyone which was amazing. Another english guy josh also arrived and we went out for a second time this time just around the local Odessa bars. It was another late one, the thing about drinking till the next day you wake up more drunk than when you went to bed, its a bit of a shock to the system.
The beach was again the best option and despite the port nearby i took a swim in the clean but absolutely freezing black sea. That night i took the 12 hour night train to Sevastopol in the Crimea. Ukraine really isn't the best place for rushing around or trying to squeeze in an extra place or two as everything is a night train or a full day from everywhere else. Sevastopol is the home of the Russian fleet and is covered in ornamental parks and statues. Again everything was in Cyrillic but by now i have managed to work out not how to speak it but at least to read it. I was at the hostel with Chris (ozzie) and Adam (kiwi) who were a good laugh with the national rivalry banter. We headed out on a day trip to Object 221 which took 15 years to build and was due to be the command center for the black sea fleet. Unfortunately the USSR collapsed a year after it was finished and it was never used. The place is well off the beaten track and consists of four story building inside a mountain with ramps you could drive a truck up. It was pitch black inside so we had to use head torches to explore. This was followed by the submarine base in balaklava. Until 1996 Sevastopol was a closed city and balaklava was completely off limits. All this ex soviet stuff once the most secret places on earth you can now just wander round.
The Crimea is at the cross roads of many civilizations so we visited Bakchasaray which used to be the old Tatar capital when they ruled the area. The city has a completely intact Tatar palace which was well worth a vist as well as a cave monastery in an nearby cliff and a cave city right on the summit of an escarpment that we had to hike up to. Despite being well out of the way the crimea was well worth a trip although for the entire 25 hour train journey to lvov i was cussing the unplanned detour.
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