Crossing continents

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