Saturday, September 26, 2009
china crack down
It took my alot of work to get to the site and get this post up, china is really cracking down for their big 60th anniversary week, i'll hope to have new posts about mongolia within a week, but no pics can be uploaded on the site! i'll be in china for the next 3 to 4 weeks, as soon as i get to my next destination (vietnam), i'll have more access....
Monday, September 7, 2009
train to ulan ude
Jonas and I headed out around 6:30am to catch the tram to the train station, it would have been a 15 minute walk, but because the tram cost only 40 cents, it seemed the ideal alternative. We picked up some supplies, noodles, cookies, bottled water...just enough for the 8 hour ride to Ulan Ude in the Buratiya province of Russia. Buratiya is a semi-autononous region that is predominantely buddhist, buratyans have a distinctively asian look to them, easily differentiated from the ethnic russians who have european features. The region is split more or less 50-50 between the two groups. Jonas however was heading to Vladivostok, on the pacific ocean and the russian terminus of the trans-siberian railroad, he had about 3 days of travel ahead of him. We spent most of the time chatting and playing different card games that we taught to eachother. After about two hours we hit the highlight of the ride, and the reason why i was travelling by day instead of overnight...The train hugs along the southern coast of Lake Baikal for about 100 kilometers, giving perhaps the most incredible view I've ever had from a train (and i've been on too many trains to count)! The lake at this point seems it's clearest and gives the most gorgeous reflection of the hills and sky that lie above it. Hopefully I'll be able to post some pics of this soon, as I've found some glitches to using proxy servers in China. We were lucky enough to have the train stop at one point which afforded me the oppurtunity to take some photos without the blurriness that comes with the train's movement. Jonas and I stood at the window for some time and just soaked in the panorama.
The train ride was pretty fun as we also had some interaction with our russian carriage mates. Across from us was a man, his wife and infant daughter. They were travelling with many large damp boxes and crates, Jonas and I were wondering what could be their contents, and after striking up a (limited) conversation with the man (who knew about 10 words of english:), we soon found out. He sensed our curiosity and opened the lid on one of the boxes to reveal....thousands of strawberries!!! Occasionally his little girl would reach in, take one out, and hand it to either Jonas or I. We obviously accepted the gifts with pleasure, and without hesitation took some bites...without any doubt the sweetest and most flavorful berries I've ever eaten in my life...and without doubt freshly picked from the forest. Now you can easily understand why I regret not buying them back in Irkutsk,
Later on, three boys, aged between 7 and 9, came to watch us play cards. They had been studying English in school and were very eager to show off what they had learned. They told us their names (forgotten) and where they were from, they counted for us...vun, too, tree...and tried out other small phrases. They were quite interested in America, and knew of Obama, George W, and when i showed them a one-dollar bill, they easily recognized 'George Washington, first American president' a piece of knowledge, i'm afraid to say, is probably lacking from more than a few American kids of their age. Suffice it to say, I was impressed. The kids basically hung around us for the majority of the ride, and even taught us a few russian phrases...the unforunate thing in all this was that the super-hot russian chick sitting next to us didn't speak a word of english, and because of this was not social at all... but at least she presented us with a nice view (to compliment the lake ;).
As we approched Ulan Ude I began to think about how I would find accomodation. You see, the night before I had called a hostel trying to book a bed, but the man on the line didn't speak any english, although it was clear I had reached the right number. I decided to write an email to the place to inform them of my arrival time and inquire about their free train station pick-up, but as of my departure from Irkutsk, i had received no reply, and had been unable, for obvious reasons, to check my mail again. However my concern turned to surprise...after deboarding the train, I stood on the platform for a minute to say goodbye to Jonas and the russian kids, and as i did this a woman came up to me and inquired 'matthew?', i guess once agian my backpack gave me away! She was the administrator from the hostel, she had received (and replied to) my email, and was there to pick me up! These little unexpected pleasures are the certainly some of the best reasons to venture around the world....
The train ride was pretty fun as we also had some interaction with our russian carriage mates. Across from us was a man, his wife and infant daughter. They were travelling with many large damp boxes and crates, Jonas and I were wondering what could be their contents, and after striking up a (limited) conversation with the man (who knew about 10 words of english:), we soon found out. He sensed our curiosity and opened the lid on one of the boxes to reveal....thousands of strawberries!!! Occasionally his little girl would reach in, take one out, and hand it to either Jonas or I. We obviously accepted the gifts with pleasure, and without hesitation took some bites...without any doubt the sweetest and most flavorful berries I've ever eaten in my life...and without doubt freshly picked from the forest. Now you can easily understand why I regret not buying them back in Irkutsk,
Later on, three boys, aged between 7 and 9, came to watch us play cards. They had been studying English in school and were very eager to show off what they had learned. They told us their names (forgotten) and where they were from, they counted for us...vun, too, tree...and tried out other small phrases. They were quite interested in America, and knew of Obama, George W, and when i showed them a one-dollar bill, they easily recognized 'George Washington, first American president' a piece of knowledge, i'm afraid to say, is probably lacking from more than a few American kids of their age. Suffice it to say, I was impressed. The kids basically hung around us for the majority of the ride, and even taught us a few russian phrases...the unforunate thing in all this was that the super-hot russian chick sitting next to us didn't speak a word of english, and because of this was not social at all... but at least she presented us with a nice view (to compliment the lake ;).
As we approched Ulan Ude I began to think about how I would find accomodation. You see, the night before I had called a hostel trying to book a bed, but the man on the line didn't speak any english, although it was clear I had reached the right number. I decided to write an email to the place to inform them of my arrival time and inquire about their free train station pick-up, but as of my departure from Irkutsk, i had received no reply, and had been unable, for obvious reasons, to check my mail again. However my concern turned to surprise...after deboarding the train, I stood on the platform for a minute to say goodbye to Jonas and the russian kids, and as i did this a woman came up to me and inquired 'matthew?', i guess once agian my backpack gave me away! She was the administrator from the hostel, she had received (and replied to) my email, and was there to pick me up! These little unexpected pleasures are the certainly some of the best reasons to venture around the world....
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Irkutsk-Listvyanka(Lake Baikal)
July 23rd, 2009...The 31 hour train ride to Irkutsk (and lake Baikal!!!!) was mostly uneventful, there weren't any english speaking people in my vicinity, so i passed the time doing crossword puzzles and listening to my ipod. During one of the stops I deboarded for a bit to stretch my legs and loaded up on some home made russian treats from the babushkas on the platform. A bag of Vareninkis, some russian meatballs, a liter of water and a 1/2 liter of beer...paid about 4 dollars. Spent a lot of time looking out the windows at the endless forests of trees, mostly birch, which are a source of pride (and
important resource) for the siberians. While i was in Novosibirsk i had set up a homestay in irkutsk, because the hostel i wanted was fully booked, But when i arrived in the city (at 7 am) i decided to head to another hostel near the station to
check their availablity, and sure enough they had a bed for me. I felt bad ditching the homestay, but i'm sure they could find someone else, and i wanted to meet other travellers anyway. The hostel had the basic anemities, a clean-ish bathroom, kitchen with free coffee and tea, and a 6-bed dorm room. I had breakfast with some brits, got some info about the city and lake from them, then headed out solo to see irkutsk. I walked for a few hours along the riverside, then through some backstreets which were filled with old wooden mansions that now seemed mostly delapidated on the outside, but certainly kept some of the charm and elegance from days past. I walked past the main church, and up a steep hill to try to get a look at the city, but the view was mostly blocked by trees. I then headed to the city centre, which is dominated by 3 huge markets...the outdoor chinese market, the huge (indoor and outdoor) food market and the indoor shopping center. The chinese market, as expected, was chaotic and full of clothes and knick-knacks. The indoor food market was excellent. A massive supply of meats, cheeses and desserts...i grabbed a russian style kabab from one vendor and headed outside. Siberia, having a great supply of forests, also has a great supply of forest fruits...BERRIES, BERRIES and more BERRIES. It seemed that every stand at the outdoor market was selling huge cups of little strawberries and blue berries! Stupidly, I didn't buy any...something i now totally regret! I called it an early night, having arrived so early on the train, and planned to go to Lake Baikal the next morning.
I had contacted a girl named Marina through couchsurfing, and we were supposed to visit the lake together. But about 15 minutes before our scheduled meeting time, she bailed on me because of a toothache. So I boarded a minibus for the 1-hour ride to Listvyanka, a small touristy town on Lake Baikal. At about 10 am i got my first glimpse of Lake Baikal...a seemingly endless, glass like surface of some of the world's freshest water. In fact, Baikal is the world's deepest lake reaching a mile down at it's center, imagine the grand canyon completely filled with water...and it holds 20 percent, yes 20, of the world's non-permanently frozen fresh water. Unfortunately i found myself at baikal on a cool, cloudy day. Swimming in it would have to wait. I walked along the coast for about half an hour to a point where the wooded hills met the water, passing the camp grounds where russian families paid 2 dollars to pitch their tents and along a narrow dirt path that hugs a 30-or-so foot drop to the lake below. I decided to have a hike up into the forest to get a better view of the lake, and because my fear of heights was getting the better of me on the cliff. At one point the trees clear to an open patch of land
containing an observatory (2 silo-like structures used, presumably, to watch the skies). I tried to open the steel doors, as a climb to the top would afford me a grand view of Baikal, but unfortunately they were closed. The great thing, though, about this clearing was the amazing amount of buttterflies swarming around. It felt like being in the bronx zoo butterfly exhibit, but without the huge net keeping the butterflies inside. The absolute best part...i was completely alone...A short while later i ventured back down to the lakeside, and as i walked along i noticed a group of russians singing folk
songs, accompanied by a man on guitar. I gave them a small applause at the end of the tune, and they, taking notice of me, shouted something in russian. I explained that i didn't speak russian, which seemed to be the magic words, as the next thing i knew they enthusiastically called me over to join in the fun. They first offered me a sip of 'juice' or so the box read...but i came to find out it was filled with wine! Not expecting this, i let a few drops dribble down my chin, which caused the group to laugh and a woman to shove a half-eaten nectarine in my mouth!! When in Russia....
Actually during my 26 days in russia i did see quite a few stereotypical drunks in the streets, but as this was saturday, and they seemed like working class people, i figured they were just unwinding on the lakeside. I stayed with them for a few hours, sipping wine, eating amazing smoked omul (a lake-dwellling cousin of the salmon, and a delicacy of baikal), and listening to their songs. At one point they even made me sing some beatles tunes. When they decided to switch from wine to vodka, i decided i had had enough (after doing one shot...can't offend the hosts in russia!) and we bid goodbye with strong
russian bear hugs. I completed my walk along the lake, about 15 kilometers total, and caught the minibus back to Irkutsk around 5pm.
I spent the evening cooking pelmini (russian meat dumplings) at the hostel and chatting with teddy (english) and jonas (german). I found out that jonas was leaving on the same train as me in the morning...I to Ulan Ude and He to Vladivostok. So
we planned to go to the station together...at 7am...an early start.
important resource) for the siberians. While i was in Novosibirsk i had set up a homestay in irkutsk, because the hostel i wanted was fully booked, But when i arrived in the city (at 7 am) i decided to head to another hostel near the station to
check their availablity, and sure enough they had a bed for me. I felt bad ditching the homestay, but i'm sure they could find someone else, and i wanted to meet other travellers anyway. The hostel had the basic anemities, a clean-ish bathroom, kitchen with free coffee and tea, and a 6-bed dorm room. I had breakfast with some brits, got some info about the city and lake from them, then headed out solo to see irkutsk. I walked for a few hours along the riverside, then through some backstreets which were filled with old wooden mansions that now seemed mostly delapidated on the outside, but certainly kept some of the charm and elegance from days past. I walked past the main church, and up a steep hill to try to get a look at the city, but the view was mostly blocked by trees. I then headed to the city centre, which is dominated by 3 huge markets...the outdoor chinese market, the huge (indoor and outdoor) food market and the indoor shopping center. The chinese market, as expected, was chaotic and full of clothes and knick-knacks. The indoor food market was excellent. A massive supply of meats, cheeses and desserts...i grabbed a russian style kabab from one vendor and headed outside. Siberia, having a great supply of forests, also has a great supply of forest fruits...BERRIES, BERRIES and more BERRIES. It seemed that every stand at the outdoor market was selling huge cups of little strawberries and blue berries! Stupidly, I didn't buy any...something i now totally regret! I called it an early night, having arrived so early on the train, and planned to go to Lake Baikal the next morning.
I had contacted a girl named Marina through couchsurfing, and we were supposed to visit the lake together. But about 15 minutes before our scheduled meeting time, she bailed on me because of a toothache. So I boarded a minibus for the 1-hour ride to Listvyanka, a small touristy town on Lake Baikal. At about 10 am i got my first glimpse of Lake Baikal...a seemingly endless, glass like surface of some of the world's freshest water. In fact, Baikal is the world's deepest lake reaching a mile down at it's center, imagine the grand canyon completely filled with water...and it holds 20 percent, yes 20, of the world's non-permanently frozen fresh water. Unfortunately i found myself at baikal on a cool, cloudy day. Swimming in it would have to wait. I walked along the coast for about half an hour to a point where the wooded hills met the water, passing the camp grounds where russian families paid 2 dollars to pitch their tents and along a narrow dirt path that hugs a 30-or-so foot drop to the lake below. I decided to have a hike up into the forest to get a better view of the lake, and because my fear of heights was getting the better of me on the cliff. At one point the trees clear to an open patch of land
containing an observatory (2 silo-like structures used, presumably, to watch the skies). I tried to open the steel doors, as a climb to the top would afford me a grand view of Baikal, but unfortunately they were closed. The great thing, though, about this clearing was the amazing amount of buttterflies swarming around. It felt like being in the bronx zoo butterfly exhibit, but without the huge net keeping the butterflies inside. The absolute best part...i was completely alone...A short while later i ventured back down to the lakeside, and as i walked along i noticed a group of russians singing folk
songs, accompanied by a man on guitar. I gave them a small applause at the end of the tune, and they, taking notice of me, shouted something in russian. I explained that i didn't speak russian, which seemed to be the magic words, as the next thing i knew they enthusiastically called me over to join in the fun. They first offered me a sip of 'juice' or so the box read...but i came to find out it was filled with wine! Not expecting this, i let a few drops dribble down my chin, which caused the group to laugh and a woman to shove a half-eaten nectarine in my mouth!! When in Russia....
Actually during my 26 days in russia i did see quite a few stereotypical drunks in the streets, but as this was saturday, and they seemed like working class people, i figured they were just unwinding on the lakeside. I stayed with them for a few hours, sipping wine, eating amazing smoked omul (a lake-dwellling cousin of the salmon, and a delicacy of baikal), and listening to their songs. At one point they even made me sing some beatles tunes. When they decided to switch from wine to vodka, i decided i had had enough (after doing one shot...can't offend the hosts in russia!) and we bid goodbye with strong
russian bear hugs. I completed my walk along the lake, about 15 kilometers total, and caught the minibus back to Irkutsk around 5pm.
I spent the evening cooking pelmini (russian meat dumplings) at the hostel and chatting with teddy (english) and jonas (german). I found out that jonas was leaving on the same train as me in the morning...I to Ulan Ude and He to Vladivostok. So
we planned to go to the station together...at 7am...an early start.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
map update
i'm having some technical difficulties, please copy the link below and paste it as web address above...
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&gl=us&ptab=2&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=110087376724794924774.00046d83e27421193854b
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&gl=us&ptab=2&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=110087376724794924774.00046d83e27421193854b
Sunday, August 30, 2009
update
blogspot is one of the sites blocked by the chinese government, but i have just figured out how to get around the 'great wall'. so i will be updating the site soon. by the way Beijing is frickin awesome!
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Yuri and Alya (novosibirsk)
So, in the last post i had just got off the train in Novosibirsk, siberia. My intention was to arrive in Tomsk, about three hours away by bus, to visit some old wooden mansions. But during the train ride, i met Yuri, who got off with me, and lived about a half-hour outside Novosibirsk. He didn't speak more than a few words of english, but with the help of Alex, convinced me to come visit his home town of Birdsk, which he said was just as nice, and he even knew a cheap hotel for me to stay in. Not wanting to think too much, nor arrive in a strange city at midnight, i followed him out of the train station. He kept trying to explain something to me and i kept on not understanding, and we kept on smiling, and so our commmunication progressed in this manner. Then out of nowhere it started to torrentially downpour, a hard cold siberian rain! He ran, I followed, as we reached an underpass he told me stay still, so i stayed still as he ran off somewhere to find a taxi. When he came back, he said to me in english 'go?', and i replied with a shrug, and he smiled and so our communication progressed. The wind had picked up and was blowing the rain sideways into my bags, so i decided to pause a moment to cover up my important articles. At that moment, Yuri turned to the first person he saw and asked if they spoke english. It was a girl named Alya, and just our luck, she did and very well indeed! Infact she was heading home from work to birdsk! So we decided to take the taxi together. After an hour in traffic caused by a fallen tree, and some nice conversation with Alya, we arrived in birdsk, Yuri payed for the taxi (no arguing with siberians!) and invited us to have dinner in a nearby restaurant (his treat again, i as his guest, Alya as his translator).
After dinner, Alya went home, but agreed to meet with us the next day, again to serve as Yuri's translator. Yuri brought me to a hotel, which I paid 22 Euro for a deluxe sweet, complete with bedroom, lounge and private bath. The only catch was that it had to be done in Yuri's name, because the hotel (like many in the area i later found out) refuses to book foreigners who don't use a booking agent. Thank goodness for Yuri!
The next morning Yuri showed up at my room at 8.30, beer in hand...a pattern set for the next 4 hours(for him only, water was my drink of choice), and we began a walking tour of his town. Alya, having to work, couldn't make it, but promised to meet me later in the afternoon in Novosibirsk. Yuri showed me the town center, some old wooden houses typical of siberia, the new orthodox cathedral, an interesting ww2 memorial and the beach (actually on a man made lake that covered the old town of birdsk, the current town was built by the soviets in the 20's). By the end of the morning, our communication had improved, i had learned a bit of russian, and he had remembered, possibly with the help of the beer, the little english that he had learned at school. At noon, he explained that his wife (yes he was married, and even had a newborn baby) needed him at home, and he sent me off on a train back to Novosibirsk.
Upon arrival, i bought my next train ticket, leaving that night at 11pm for a 31 hour ride to Irkutsk, stored my bags, and although it was drizzling in the city and since i had not much else to do, i set off, umbrella in hand, to see the sights. Unfortunately, in Novosibirsk, apart from a beautiful opera house(bigger and more impressive than the bolshoy in Moscow), and a giant statue of Lenin, there are no sights. So I sat down for a cup of tea, and waited for news from Alya.
Finally around 6pm she was free from work and we met for dinner at a nice sushi restaurant. Alya is a really friendly, intelligent and interesting girl. Very easy to communicate with, as we spent hours in frank conversation. After dinner, glad that the rain had subsided, we took a stroll through the city center. We stopped briefly for coffee and desert, her treat. (amazing how generous these siberians are) We took the subway together until out lines split, and said our goodbyes, hoping to keep in touch. I was sorry to have spent such little time with Alya, as i really would have liked more time to get to know her. We exchanged messages for a week or so after, but i haven´t heard from her since...so Alya, if your reading this, make yourself heard!
After dinner, Alya went home, but agreed to meet with us the next day, again to serve as Yuri's translator. Yuri brought me to a hotel, which I paid 22 Euro for a deluxe sweet, complete with bedroom, lounge and private bath. The only catch was that it had to be done in Yuri's name, because the hotel (like many in the area i later found out) refuses to book foreigners who don't use a booking agent. Thank goodness for Yuri!
The next morning Yuri showed up at my room at 8.30, beer in hand...a pattern set for the next 4 hours(for him only, water was my drink of choice), and we began a walking tour of his town. Alya, having to work, couldn't make it, but promised to meet me later in the afternoon in Novosibirsk. Yuri showed me the town center, some old wooden houses typical of siberia, the new orthodox cathedral, an interesting ww2 memorial and the beach (actually on a man made lake that covered the old town of birdsk, the current town was built by the soviets in the 20's). By the end of the morning, our communication had improved, i had learned a bit of russian, and he had remembered, possibly with the help of the beer, the little english that he had learned at school. At noon, he explained that his wife (yes he was married, and even had a newborn baby) needed him at home, and he sent me off on a train back to Novosibirsk.
Upon arrival, i bought my next train ticket, leaving that night at 11pm for a 31 hour ride to Irkutsk, stored my bags, and although it was drizzling in the city and since i had not much else to do, i set off, umbrella in hand, to see the sights. Unfortunately, in Novosibirsk, apart from a beautiful opera house(bigger and more impressive than the bolshoy in Moscow), and a giant statue of Lenin, there are no sights. So I sat down for a cup of tea, and waited for news from Alya.
Finally around 6pm she was free from work and we met for dinner at a nice sushi restaurant. Alya is a really friendly, intelligent and interesting girl. Very easy to communicate with, as we spent hours in frank conversation. After dinner, glad that the rain had subsided, we took a stroll through the city center. We stopped briefly for coffee and desert, her treat. (amazing how generous these siberians are) We took the subway together until out lines split, and said our goodbyes, hoping to keep in touch. I was sorry to have spent such little time with Alya, as i really would have liked more time to get to know her. We exchanged messages for a week or so after, but i haven´t heard from her since...so Alya, if your reading this, make yourself heard!
new poll.
so, i didn´t take your advice on the last poll, and have stayed 26 mostly wonderful days in mongolia (which i'll be blogging about soon enough, if google isn't blocked in china), tomorrow i'm leaving for china (if my visa application is accepted, i´ll find out tomorrow)..so i expect to stay one month in china, visiting beijing, shanghai, xian(terracotta soldiers), and chongqing(where guy's cousin lives) and one other place...what should it be?
Saturday, August 22, 2009
38 hours on the trans-siberian
2.30 am, july 20th....Ravil, being ever helpful, accompanied me all the way to the train platform. My destination would be Novosibirsk, a 38 hour ride past Ekaterinaburg, through the Ural mountains and into the Asian continent. I 'checked in' with the carraige matron, carried my bags on board, then joined ravil outside for a final chat and goodbye. The train was coming from Moscow, and the stop in Kazan was for about 45 minutes, so many of the weary travellers came out onto the platform for their various reasons; to have a smoke, to get some fresh air, to pick up some fresh food or just to stretch their legs. Two of these, upon hearing my english, approached me with a friendly greeting. Their names were Eugene and Alex. They were from eastern Ukraine, and on their way to Siberia with two other friends (sleeping inside the train), to do some extreme hiking. Alex spoke very good english, and Eugene's was sufficient to carry a good conversation. Their beds were in the same carriage as mine, a few compartments down. As the train prepared to leave they invited me to join them for a chat and and a drink, not being very sleepy, I accepted. At around 4am, i headed to my bed assignment and bid them goodnight, agreeing to meet them again for breakfast.
I had had some mental images of the train-siberian railroad, i expected to see alot of old russian men, half drunk on vodka, painstakingly making a 5000 mile journey across a depressing landscape for god knows what reason. What I found, though, could not have been more different. First of all, all beds are assigned, and all passengers ticketed by name and passport numbers. This made it impossible for non ticketed people to board our carriage, as every person was allowed entry only after a screening by the matron. The matron is the (usually) woman who takes care of an individual carriage. She gives the sheets, opens and closes the bathrooms, gives tea mugs, snacks or whatever a passenger needs. She also protects the carriage from intruders (with the help of onboard police, if the situation warrants) and scolds ignorant foreigners when they don't understand what to do. They are often mean looking, and meaner sounding (but as i don´t speak much russian, how would i know what they are saying), unless you`re lucky enough to find a young one. All this makes for an extremely safe, somewhat comfortable setting.
I was travelling 3rd class, which meant each compartment was open (no door-no privacy) and contained 6 beds during the night, room for 6 seats during the day. But the train had a wonderful communal feeiling to it, and was filled mostly with families, older women, and young backpackers. Even the ones who knew no english, attempted to reach out to you, showing at least some interest in your life story, where you came from, and how you ended up sitting next to them. Being from New York helped, as it is a place everyone knows and seems to have great admiration and respect for.
My sleep was comfortable, and i woke up around 11am the next morning. I washed my face in the bathroom sink and went down to find the Ukrainians just preparing breakfast. There i met the others travelling with Eugene and Alex. There was Tatiana, who spoke no english, and Olga, who pretended not to, but i could tell she could understand almost everything i said. The other two people in their compartment were sisters Olga and Olona on their way home from Moscow to Omsk. They didn´t speak english either, but through Eugene I expressed how upset I was that Jaromir Jagr had left the NY Rangers to play hockey in Omsk, and they told me how he had become almost a god there. They shared with me a cucumber and tomato salad, some ukrainian meats and cheeses, and I offered some tatar cookies and fruit. Sharing seems to be an important theme when travelling the trans-siberian.
For the next 12 hours or so we ate, drank, chatted, listened to music (i had my ipod with small speakers to enjoy in the compartment) and they taught me a Russian card game called 'Durak' that helped pass the time. The train would stop at each major city along the way, alowing us to go down to the platform, where old russian ladies were selling fresh homemade delights, such as vereniki, pelmeni, meat cutlets, smoked fish, fruits veggies and drinks.
One of the the stops was Ekaterinaburg, the first big city after the Urals, which marked my arrival in Asia!! You can see a photo of me on the platform in my pics link.
That evening we dined together and passed around the cliche bottle of vodka, toasting things such as Russian cuisine, railroad travel, rain clouds and human beings. Around midnight I settled in to my second night´s sleep.
Early the next morning, we bid goodbye to Olga and Olona at Omsk, and greeted the new compartment mate, Yuri, of whom I will write in the next blog.
The train then passed through the endless green forest that is Siberia, until we stopped at a small siberian town called Barabinsk, where (ukrainian) Olga's grandmother lives. They had a short yet joyous reunion, and Olga was given a huge bag of homemade russian delicacies. We had a hearty lunch of meatballs and bliny (cheese filled crepes).
We played some more cards, shared some more stories, and shortly after 7 pm we arrived in Novosibirsk. We bid eachother goodbye, and because they had to keep the weight of their packs down, Olga packed me a large bag of her grandma's home cooking...lucky me!
I had had some mental images of the train-siberian railroad, i expected to see alot of old russian men, half drunk on vodka, painstakingly making a 5000 mile journey across a depressing landscape for god knows what reason. What I found, though, could not have been more different. First of all, all beds are assigned, and all passengers ticketed by name and passport numbers. This made it impossible for non ticketed people to board our carriage, as every person was allowed entry only after a screening by the matron. The matron is the (usually) woman who takes care of an individual carriage. She gives the sheets, opens and closes the bathrooms, gives tea mugs, snacks or whatever a passenger needs. She also protects the carriage from intruders (with the help of onboard police, if the situation warrants) and scolds ignorant foreigners when they don't understand what to do. They are often mean looking, and meaner sounding (but as i don´t speak much russian, how would i know what they are saying), unless you`re lucky enough to find a young one. All this makes for an extremely safe, somewhat comfortable setting.
I was travelling 3rd class, which meant each compartment was open (no door-no privacy) and contained 6 beds during the night, room for 6 seats during the day. But the train had a wonderful communal feeiling to it, and was filled mostly with families, older women, and young backpackers. Even the ones who knew no english, attempted to reach out to you, showing at least some interest in your life story, where you came from, and how you ended up sitting next to them. Being from New York helped, as it is a place everyone knows and seems to have great admiration and respect for.
My sleep was comfortable, and i woke up around 11am the next morning. I washed my face in the bathroom sink and went down to find the Ukrainians just preparing breakfast. There i met the others travelling with Eugene and Alex. There was Tatiana, who spoke no english, and Olga, who pretended not to, but i could tell she could understand almost everything i said. The other two people in their compartment were sisters Olga and Olona on their way home from Moscow to Omsk. They didn´t speak english either, but through Eugene I expressed how upset I was that Jaromir Jagr had left the NY Rangers to play hockey in Omsk, and they told me how he had become almost a god there. They shared with me a cucumber and tomato salad, some ukrainian meats and cheeses, and I offered some tatar cookies and fruit. Sharing seems to be an important theme when travelling the trans-siberian.
For the next 12 hours or so we ate, drank, chatted, listened to music (i had my ipod with small speakers to enjoy in the compartment) and they taught me a Russian card game called 'Durak' that helped pass the time. The train would stop at each major city along the way, alowing us to go down to the platform, where old russian ladies were selling fresh homemade delights, such as vereniki, pelmeni, meat cutlets, smoked fish, fruits veggies and drinks.
One of the the stops was Ekaterinaburg, the first big city after the Urals, which marked my arrival in Asia!! You can see a photo of me on the platform in my pics link.
That evening we dined together and passed around the cliche bottle of vodka, toasting things such as Russian cuisine, railroad travel, rain clouds and human beings. Around midnight I settled in to my second night´s sleep.
Early the next morning, we bid goodbye to Olga and Olona at Omsk, and greeted the new compartment mate, Yuri, of whom I will write in the next blog.
The train then passed through the endless green forest that is Siberia, until we stopped at a small siberian town called Barabinsk, where (ukrainian) Olga's grandmother lives. They had a short yet joyous reunion, and Olga was given a huge bag of homemade russian delicacies. We had a hearty lunch of meatballs and bliny (cheese filled crepes).
We played some more cards, shared some more stories, and shortly after 7 pm we arrived in Novosibirsk. We bid eachother goodbye, and because they had to keep the weight of their packs down, Olga packed me a large bag of her grandma's home cooking...lucky me!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Kazan
I left Moscow at midnight on Saturday, July 19th, heading for Kazan in the Tatar region of Russia. Tatars are a moderate muslim people. I had contacted a Tatar man named Ravil, through couchsurfing, who had agreed to host me for one night in his city, and met me enthusiastically at the station platform around 1 pm on sunday. Rival was extremely pro-west and anti-russian, probably stemming from the fact that his father served 5 years in a KGB prison for 'unknown' reasons. Ravil had been to America 3 times, and had had such great experiences and received such warm welcomes there, that he tried his best to make my stay the best possible. However it ended up being a short one. I discovered that the train the following night was already sold out, and was forced to take the train to Novosibirsk at 2:30 am, only 13 hours after my arrival. Ravil is an active man, and had planned to go windsurfing in the lake near kazan, i refused the invitation to join him, and he dropped me off outside the Kazan kremlin after a brief stop for a traditional tatar lunch of 'triangles'. Basically, they were pastry dough filled with meat and potatoes and very delicious.
The Kremlin of Kazan has white walls, as opposed to the red ones in Moscow, making it look very beautiful in contrast to the clear blue skies. The highlight of the kremlin is the newly built azzure Mosque. It rose high above the kremlin walls, with it's 4 minarets and large dome. It was the first time i had entered a mosque, i covered my feet with plastic baggies, and had a walk around. Unfortunately, photos are forbidden. I continued on, next visiting the orthodox church, and finally the tower of ...? I guess i can check my guide book for the name. It was built by Ivan the terrible, supposedly, for his future wife, who upon it's completion, leapt from it, choosing death instead of a life with Ivan. After leaving the Kremlin, i walked past the beautiful St. Peter and Paul cathedral, then down the main pedestrian steet where i witnessed a large hari-krishna street celebration. Lots of singing and dancing in traditional krishna garb. At 7 pm, Ravil picked me up, and showed me his home. It was basically a wooden shack built by his great-grand father in the late 19th century. It had an outhouse! He raccounted that the local government had been trying to buy him out in order to use the land for development. But the offer had been to low, and was not equal to the value of the land, let alone the value of his family's history. He also told me that mysterious fires are often set to homes and businesses like his, and even that one of his neighbours had been killed in this fashion.
We then picked up a friend of his, sasha, and took a late night drive to famous monastery 3o km out of town. It was closed at the time, but the night guard was nice enough to let me have a quick look around. Next to the monastery is a beautiful lake and nature preserve. We then drove to a supermarket, so that i could get some supplies for my 38 hour train ride. One of which was a tatar snack called chak-chak, kind of like what cheez-doodles would taste like when the cheese is replaced by honey.
Ravil was nice enough to take me to my train, although it was past 2am, all the time telling me that i must come back someday to spend time hiking, camping and rafting with him. I hope i do.
The Kremlin of Kazan has white walls, as opposed to the red ones in Moscow, making it look very beautiful in contrast to the clear blue skies. The highlight of the kremlin is the newly built azzure Mosque. It rose high above the kremlin walls, with it's 4 minarets and large dome. It was the first time i had entered a mosque, i covered my feet with plastic baggies, and had a walk around. Unfortunately, photos are forbidden. I continued on, next visiting the orthodox church, and finally the tower of ...? I guess i can check my guide book for the name. It was built by Ivan the terrible, supposedly, for his future wife, who upon it's completion, leapt from it, choosing death instead of a life with Ivan. After leaving the Kremlin, i walked past the beautiful St. Peter and Paul cathedral, then down the main pedestrian steet where i witnessed a large hari-krishna street celebration. Lots of singing and dancing in traditional krishna garb. At 7 pm, Ravil picked me up, and showed me his home. It was basically a wooden shack built by his great-grand father in the late 19th century. It had an outhouse! He raccounted that the local government had been trying to buy him out in order to use the land for development. But the offer had been to low, and was not equal to the value of the land, let alone the value of his family's history. He also told me that mysterious fires are often set to homes and businesses like his, and even that one of his neighbours had been killed in this fashion.
We then picked up a friend of his, sasha, and took a late night drive to famous monastery 3o km out of town. It was closed at the time, but the night guard was nice enough to let me have a quick look around. Next to the monastery is a beautiful lake and nature preserve. We then drove to a supermarket, so that i could get some supplies for my 38 hour train ride. One of which was a tatar snack called chak-chak, kind of like what cheez-doodles would taste like when the cheese is replaced by honey.
Ravil was nice enough to take me to my train, although it was past 2am, all the time telling me that i must come back someday to spend time hiking, camping and rafting with him. I hope i do.
moscow!
What can i say about moscow...hmm, seems so long ago that i was there. I stayed a week, which looking back may be too long for somebody not really interested in the city itself. However the stay was quite relaxing because my cousin (from calabria) rocco, is currently living and working there. He let me stay at his apartment, which is about a 20 minute walk to the red square and kremlin. My train pulled into the station at 4:30 am, right on time (get the hint italy!) and rocco was there to greet me after a night of clubbing russian style. He took me back to his pad, where i slept off the train ride. We got up around 1 pm and took a stroll down to red square. I've always loved the iconic picture of st. basil's church and it's onion domes...and to be greeted in the square by it was wonderful. If i recall, it was a cloudy day, and i kept doing 360 turns, st. basil's, the kremlin walls, the history museum, red square gate, GUM shopping center...fantastic sites surrounded me. Later on we took a walk to the main cathedral of moscow and met up on the riverside with natalya, a russian friend of rocco's who speaks italian. She was a really nice girl, who proposed an hour and a half cruise down the moscow river, a wonderful introduction to the city. The clouds broke and the trip was very relaxing as we went past the famous monuments. One of the more interesting was a tall monument of Peter the great standing over the river on 4 caravels. This made little sense as he was not a sailor, but the reason ws explained to me by natalya. It seems the original structure was to be topped by Columbus, not Peter, and was meant as a gift to the city of New York! The city however refused the gift, as they could not find a 'suitable' location for it. At the end of the trip we stopped to have some dinner at 'MuMu, and i was able to have my favorite Ukrainian dish...Vareniki! YUMM YUMM.
The next day was monday July 13 and Rocco was working, so i ventured alone to visit the kremlin. The cost to enter and visit the churches inside is about $10, but if you want to include a visit to the armoury, it came to $30!! Would it be worth it, i asked myself. After consulting the book, i decided yes, then kicked myself for not getting a 'student card', which i believe would have been possible even if i was no longer one, and would have given me a 50% discount. Upon entering the armoury, i hapily discovered that an audio guide came free with the entry ticket! It gave a 'quick' 90 minute explanation of the most beautiful objects in th museum. I should use a stronger adjective than beautiful however. This place was frickin' amazing! The crown jewels of england would gather dust here, i have never seen so many jewels in my life, infact i hadn't even believed this many jewels existed in the world. As i passed object after object, the audio guide kept informing me about ' the only...remaining in the world' or ' the only...ever made'. Crowns, clothing, thrones, etc. completely covered in diamonds, rubies, eneralds, etc. The most elaborate and gorgeous Faberge eggs ever made. Silver dining sets with elaborate designs of dragons, lions, etc. Original 17th century royal carriages of every design. My favorite piece was an silver incense burner in the form of a castle in a mountain, with the smoke from delicious oil emanating from towers and caves that would be used a centerpiece before and after dinner. Let's just say that I quickly felt the $20 fee was worth it! After 2 hours in the armoury, i stepped into the Kremlin 'courtyard' and a powerful sun shining down on me. I hopped from church to church, there are seven in all, admiring the iconostasis and frescoe paintings covering the inside walls. Although they had stopped functioning as churches during the communist period, and used for other purposes, they had retained their beauty.
The rest of my days were spent walking different areas of Moscow. Before arriving, i had written on the Moscow couchsurfing forum about my visit, asking if anyone was free to show me around. I happily got seven responses within 2 days, so was often in the company of a private city 'guide'. A few evenings i had the pleasure of a girl named diana, who not only brought me on beautiful evening walks, but also gave me interesting conversation, and invited me along to a couple of couchsurfing meetings. Rocco also came along to these meetings and was able to find some italian speakers, as he is reluclant (without a few beers) to use his english. Here i met many other people, mostly russians, but also a few Americans teaching english in moscow. They told me how easy it would be to find good employment there, which has not left my mind as a possible next phase to my life. :)
All in all, i enjoyed my week in Moscow, and left hoping to return one day
Extra anecdote: One afternoon, diana, her friend ilya, rocco and i had a picnic in the park below the kremlin walls, and just a bit of advice for sarah palin....if you really want to see Putin rear his head, you have a much better chance of doing it from there!
The next day was monday July 13 and Rocco was working, so i ventured alone to visit the kremlin. The cost to enter and visit the churches inside is about $10, but if you want to include a visit to the armoury, it came to $30!! Would it be worth it, i asked myself. After consulting the book, i decided yes, then kicked myself for not getting a 'student card', which i believe would have been possible even if i was no longer one, and would have given me a 50% discount. Upon entering the armoury, i hapily discovered that an audio guide came free with the entry ticket! It gave a 'quick' 90 minute explanation of the most beautiful objects in th museum. I should use a stronger adjective than beautiful however. This place was frickin' amazing! The crown jewels of england would gather dust here, i have never seen so many jewels in my life, infact i hadn't even believed this many jewels existed in the world. As i passed object after object, the audio guide kept informing me about ' the only...remaining in the world' or ' the only...ever made'. Crowns, clothing, thrones, etc. completely covered in diamonds, rubies, eneralds, etc. The most elaborate and gorgeous Faberge eggs ever made. Silver dining sets with elaborate designs of dragons, lions, etc. Original 17th century royal carriages of every design. My favorite piece was an silver incense burner in the form of a castle in a mountain, with the smoke from delicious oil emanating from towers and caves that would be used a centerpiece before and after dinner. Let's just say that I quickly felt the $20 fee was worth it! After 2 hours in the armoury, i stepped into the Kremlin 'courtyard' and a powerful sun shining down on me. I hopped from church to church, there are seven in all, admiring the iconostasis and frescoe paintings covering the inside walls. Although they had stopped functioning as churches during the communist period, and used for other purposes, they had retained their beauty.
The rest of my days were spent walking different areas of Moscow. Before arriving, i had written on the Moscow couchsurfing forum about my visit, asking if anyone was free to show me around. I happily got seven responses within 2 days, so was often in the company of a private city 'guide'. A few evenings i had the pleasure of a girl named diana, who not only brought me on beautiful evening walks, but also gave me interesting conversation, and invited me along to a couple of couchsurfing meetings. Rocco also came along to these meetings and was able to find some italian speakers, as he is reluclant (without a few beers) to use his english. Here i met many other people, mostly russians, but also a few Americans teaching english in moscow. They told me how easy it would be to find good employment there, which has not left my mind as a possible next phase to my life. :)
All in all, i enjoyed my week in Moscow, and left hoping to return one day
Extra anecdote: One afternoon, diana, her friend ilya, rocco and i had a picnic in the park below the kremlin walls, and just a bit of advice for sarah palin....if you really want to see Putin rear his head, you have a much better chance of doing it from there!
Friday, July 31, 2009
new photos..
Actually got the photos up...more from moscow, kazan, the train rides, and novosibirsk...enjoy!
click the link below:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mattdeleo76
click the link below:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mattdeleo76
Quick update...
Hi! I wanted to put up new photos, but the hostel computer can't support my flash. I can't stay on long, so i'm not writing any more details, only wanted to tell you that for the next 10 days i will be going on a jeep tour in northern mongolia. Jeep rental and gas, driver, sleeping in ger tent and eating with nomadic families, horse and camel riding, lake fishing, visiting mountain, desert, archaelogial sites and beautiful nature...all for 250 dollars(180 euro)!!!! I'll write again soon!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Train ride, St. Petersburg-Moscow
On July 11th, I boarded an over night train for Moscow...Because of the lack of darkness, it was difficult to sleep, so i put pearl jam on the ipod, and stared out the window from my bed...the others in the compartment didn't sleep either, but seemed not to speak a conversationable english...so i kept to myself. From the window, throughout the trip, I saw trees. Trees, trees and trees. But every so often the trees broke to reveal tiny villages hugging the rail lines. An isolated group of 5 to 20 small wooden homes, led to by faded dirt roads. I wondered, what do these people do?...I saw very few cars, so they probably don't get out of town often...I saw neither animals nor fields, so they weren't farmers...only small gardens beside the house. Hmmm? I wanted to get off the train to ask them, but there were no stations...
Later on, as I dozed in and out of a light sleep, I felt a tap on my arm. Waking to find my ipod had long since stopped playing, I looked down from my top bunk at my Asian-looking 'room mate', probably Siberian, holding out an ice-cream cone. Welcome relief for the overly-warm train car..I gave him my best 'spasibo' (thank you in Russian), chomped it down, and returned to 'Benaroya hall' and the acoustic ballads of vedder....
Later on, as I dozed in and out of a light sleep, I felt a tap on my arm. Waking to find my ipod had long since stopped playing, I looked down from my top bunk at my Asian-looking 'room mate', probably Siberian, holding out an ice-cream cone. Welcome relief for the overly-warm train car..I gave him my best 'spasibo' (thank you in Russian), chomped it down, and returned to 'Benaroya hall' and the acoustic ballads of vedder....
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