Greeting from Central Russia

Since we left Moscow we spent one night on a train to Ekaterinburg. This was the first leg of our Trans-Mongolia adventure. After settling into our cabins and getting used to the confined space we decided to be a bit adventurous and look for the dinning car which we found about 4 carriages down the train. Nothing entertaining was going on so we walked back to our cabins, likely causing a stir along the way with our loud and excited chatter. We all settled down to one of many naps we would be taking. After waking up, Jeff, Greg, and Johainah decided to go back to the dining car to play some cards and have a beer. That was where they met a few local friends and initiated the night with their first shots of Russian vodka on the train. With a mixture of sign language, using Jeff's Iphone russian translator, and the basic english words the locals knew, they had our own party going. Since they weren't allowed to drink the vodka they brought with them in the dining car, and the vodka on the train left much to be desired, they quickly moved the party back to our carriage and hung out by the door. They polished off the second bottle along with the orange juice chaser and decided it was time to pack off to bed before things got too friendly.

The next evening we arrived in Ekaterinburg. Ekaterinburg is mainly a university town and lies close to the Euro Asia border. It is an interesting place because we really started to notice the locals are starting to look very mixed. I suspect from now on, the local people will start to look more Asian as we move east. We spent the next day on a guided walking tour of the city where we saw the Church of Blood, where Tsar Nicholas' family (4 daughters, 1 son, mother and father) was assassinated/murdered. We visited the local parliment, and went to a stone museum of a private collector. In the afternoon we took a trip out to visit Euro Asia border.

The next morning we prepped for the next leg of our journey, two nights on the train to Irkutsk, Siberia. The two day journey from Ekburg was quite an experience. We boarded the train and settled in. A little more experienced and a little more comfortable, we were ready for the next two days. Jeff and Joh had two cabin mates who had already been on the train for two days and had another 5 days to go. They even had a plant in the cabin to provide some greenery and watch something grow! With only two days ahead of us, there was not much to complain about. We passed the time chatting, looking out the window, reading, listening to music, playing Uno and other card games, and napping. It felt like a real vacation of rest and relaxation was starting. The first evening on board we spent the better half in the dinning car competing at Uno. Towards the end of our match we were invited to join a small Russian feast of smoked salmon with onion, borcsht, and pie which was to be eaten only after taking shots of Vodka. This time however, we were joined by the second captain of the train, a military officer who had a good living at 1000 dollars/rubles (???) a month and an Afgan Russian man who just had a baby. Russians were very friendly people, especially after some vodka, they all of sudden spoke more English and the universal language of hand gesturing. We closed the dinning cart and made it back to our cabin just before two in the morning. The next day moring, barely awake we received knocks on our cabin. It was the Russian guys from the night before. They came ready with another fresh bottle of Vodka and were ready to party at 0815 in the morning. We now can offically say Russians are crazy! We however, did turn them down…We spent the rest of the day doing the usual, napping, reading, cards, and such, and the next morning looked forward to disembarking later that day and get to some much needed showers. By this time we were all smelling pretty ripe. With the eagerness to get off, we almost did so at the wrong station but Joh's cabin mates stopped us. At the correct stop we got off, met our local guide and started our journey toward a resort town on Lake Baikal in Siberia.

Days in Moscow, Russia

We completed our overnight train to Moscow arriving extremely early in the morning. After checking into our hotel and a consult with the local tour representative we decided to maximize our free day by running into the Red Square district and having a look around. Red Square was bustling with activity from people walking around with blow horns blaring what I imagine was solicitation for tours, to a group walking around with old USSR flags having a demonstration, to a guy in a Homer Simpson costume offering photo opportunities for money. We lucked into an opportunity to visit Lenin's mausoleum during one of the few blocks of time it was open. I have to say he looked pretty plastic and tiny but nevertheless it was quite a cool experience to be able to actually see a historically significant person. St.Basil's Cathedral was absolutely picturesque from the outside! However, we were told that the inside was nothing special so we got a few pictures and bolted.

Next stop was to visit Sculpture Park which was filled with various artists sculptures. I was excited about visiting this because I remember seeing it on the Amazing Race. It actually had a few heads of Stalin and Lenin that were torn off of statues torn down after the fall of communism. I loved it and wished my father who is an artist was here.

The evening of our first night was saved for a visit to the Moscow Ballet to witness Swan Lake. After 4 long days of sight seeing, some left over jet lag, and the fact that it was . .well .. ballet, more then a few of us spent a portion of this catching up on some much needed shuteye. I am pretty sure I was the only one that stayed awake the entire time.

The second day we went on a guided tour of the Kremlin. The Kremlin is a fortress in the center of Moscow and is currently used as the official residence for the Russian President. We saw many different churches, historical buildings, and got a tonne of background on The Kremlin. The highlight was certainly the armory which now serves as a museum housing many different jewels, artifacts, weapons, clothing, and even carriages. Stunning!!

The rest of the day was spent wandering down Arbat Road where we had the opportunity to shop for souveniers and artwork followed by some shopping for snacks for tomorrows train and an early turn in. Tomorrow is the start of 30 hours on the train enroute to Ekaterinburg.

St. Petersburg, Russia

St. Petersburg is a beautiful city with a Western Europe feel. Very little of Russia’s communism past lives here. We started our day with a quick walking tour with our local guide Mike who is a St. Petersburg native with a strong English and Australia accent.

In four hours we were educated in numerous interesting facts from a brief history about the city to where to buy good Georgian smoked cheese. The city is

surrounded by canals and connected many little bridges which all but one go up between 1:20AM and 05:00AM often strand people from their destination. They say if you see a bridge go up, it is suppose to bring you good luck. Unfortunately, the gang was way to tired to get up in the middle of the night to catch a glimpse of this fine attraction. Instead, we started with the vast Hermitage where we caught many masterpiece artworks. The gang particularly loved going through the abstract art gallery, we all took turns sitting crossed legged in the middle of the rooms and

tried to guess what the artists were painting. We were not very good, but managed get a few right and even did our own interpretation on one we really liked.

The next day we hit the Peter and Paul Fortress. Located by the Neva River, the fortress can be spotted from miles away largely because the gold tipped Peter and Paul Cathed

ral located within the grounds. By the time Peter the Great finished build

ing this grand fortress, the war it was meant for was over. It was never used again as a fortress, but later become a political prison. After the fortress, the gang wanted to a view from the top, so we headed over the St. Issac's Cathedral. Merely 262 steps, we were up high and enjoyed a panoramic view of the city. After walking around for hours, a rel

ax boating cruise was totally in order. We hopped on a boat cruise up and down the canals. Perhaps the cruise was a little too relaxing, most of us was still very jetlegged fell asleep to the gentle rocking motion of the boat in no time! For those who stayed

awake saw the city full of bright coloured castles and palaces. The boat guide explained St. Petersburg is only sunny about 30 days out of year, so the bright colours were used on the palaces to make the place less gloomy.

After the nap in the boat, it was time for us the hit the town! We headed down to an alternative bar just two blocks down from our hotel hoping we can catch a local band. But by the time we arrived, the band was done and gone. We sat for a drink (or two, three...) anyways and chatted up the locals. Despite the stereotype, Russians were very friendly people. They were even funny! Joke of the day: A St. Petersburgerians asks another St. Petersburgerians what he did last summer, he replied "I was working that day..."

Our third day, we had an early morning despite the late night at the local bar. Tired, but excited to visit the Church of Spilled Blood, very gory name (Alexander II was assassinated here) for a colourful church modelled after the St. Basil in Moscow. The interior of this church was incredible! After a quick stroll at the flea market across from the church which included an encounter with a baby bear that someone kept as a pet, we hopped on the hydrofoil toward the gulf of Finland. More napping on the hydrofoil... then we arrived at the Peterhof which is described as the Versailles of Russia. Its grounds were massive with over 140 water fountains! All this for one dude named Peter the Great. Since it was a gorgeous and warm day, the gang took some time to sunbathed on the grass area overlooking the Gulf of Finland before catching the hydrofoil back to St. Petersburg.

Our short stay in St. Petersburg ended with us catching our first train ride on this trip! Moscow here we come!

First day in Mother Russia

Day one of our four week journey started with a bang aside from the jetlag of course! After our two hour flight from Frankfurt, we got off the plane to be picked up by two Russian gentlemen from the local travel agency who drove us to our hotel (with no visible front lobby). The hotel is in the City Center, as we were corrected by our driver, it's not downtown.

We spent the evening walking around and found a little bar that can only be described as Russian kitch at its best. We dined on our first borsch and straganoff while listening to nostalgic 80's music (which one member of our group enjoyed very much) played/karaoked by a one man band sitting next to a stripper pole. Despite the jet lag and strange lone dancing bar star (also a patron though) we enjoyed every minute of it.

After dinner the gang walked back and hit the pillow pretty hard.

Eastern Europe is brand new to me as well as to the group. It's a great feeling. New air, new people, and new sites. Day's are longer here, it's about 10pm before the sun goes down. It's also a little chilly. Getting to know the streets has been an adventure on its own but fortunately no one has gotten thoroughly lost. Russian can be a challenging language, especially since at first it looks like english until you get to the backward Rs.

We've got the rest of our stay in St. Petersburg all planned out with a boat tour, church visits and more walking around. So, stay tuned for more to come! Paka for now!

(Blog Contribution also by Joh. C.)

Trans-Mongolia Train Trip Here We Come!!

The Trans-Mongolia Train trip is for lovers of travel and lovers of railways alike! This is an incredible adventure through vast and dramatic landscapes. Travelling across the breadth of Russia, Mongolia and China on board the Trans Mongolian or Trans Siberian railways is a must. For sheer distance, intrigue and on completion, the tremendous sense of personal satisfaction, no other train journey comes anywhere near it!

I have been planning for this 29 day trip for this group of 5 for the past three months. Our journey will start in Russia and end in China.

Aug 19 - 22: St. Petersburg, Russia
Agu 23 - 26: Moscow, Russia
Aug 27 - 28: Ekaterinburg, Russia
Aug 29 - Sept 2: Lake Baikal & Irukusk, Russia
Sept 3 - 5: Ulan Butaar, Mongolia
Sept 6 - 10: Beijing, China
Sept 11 - 12: Shanghai, China
Sept 13 - 16: Yellow Mountain, China
Sept 17: Shanghai, China for flight home

In merely 8 days, we will cross two continents, experience 3 (maybe more, fingers crossed) distinctive cultures and endure over 130 hours of railway living. The group and I are more than excited to begin their journey.