World Adventure

Dear All,

Woke up and looked out the window and the great view of the monastery then went down to breakfast and noticed that someone was sitting outside the area using a laptop so made a mental note and then headed in for a big buffet breakfast. I have to admit that it wasn't a good idea as I felt sick from eating too much again. Then wandered back down with the laptop, got a free connection, and downloaded our emails. Vanessa had opened the window of the room its latch  malfunctioned and she couldn't get it  closed. Not so good in -15 deg C. The cleaning lady had seen it before and rang the maintenance man who press a part on the window and tightened .something´with his trusty screwdriver  and had it closed in 2 seconds.All  I could was just laugh and he too also saw the funny side even if he was probably thinking stupid tourists have done it again.To my despair and horror Vanessa being Vanessa opened the window again soon after the maintenance man just to see whether she could close . It closed thankfully (Editor:just doing quality control)

We had to checkout of the hotel and  as we were not catching a train till later in the evening we needed to store our bags so I went and asked at reception whether they had luggage storage to which they said they didn´t I double  checked  that they had understood my question to which they said yes and  the answer remained the same no. When we checked out I noted that there were bags being stored behind the counter at reception which really irritated me.It seems that maybe they did have storage but maybe it required a sizeable donation to the receptionist  favourite charity....her wallet.

So it was down  the slippery track to the train station to hopefully store our bags. It was hard work on the way up and just as hard slowly and carefully placing each step to navigate our way down the slope but we made it without any problem. Then a snag. We walked around the train station and could not find anything that looked even remotely like a baggage storage area. Luckily there was a line in the language guide asking about luggage and I found a station staff person and tried my crappy Russian then just pointed at the line in the book which got us pointed to the downstairs area. Even with the help we still walked around the bottom level without finding it and in the end just guessed that it was the room with the door slightly open with a sign above it. Frustrating. Correct. We stored the bags, I made a note of the name, and then we headed off back up the hill into the old town. Later I looked up the word for baggage and it was one of the words on the sign. Steep learning curve.

It didn't take us long to decide that we just didn't want to look in Churches or Museums or people watch today so after just looking around the area we headed to a large shopping centre and warmed up. We still had 6hrs before the train left and we were under constant surveillance  from a security guard who was obviously curious and or bored and kept walking past us  as we sat around so decided, after wandering past most of the shops, that it was time to leave. We headed towards the old main gate and as luck would have it Vanessa found a cinema so we wandered in and watched 'Avator', a just released movie, in Russian but it didn't matter as it was a visual movie anyway. Great movie. It was just the change that we needed.

Next we wandered up to the old main gate for a look before heading back to the train station to wait for a couple of hours. Next problem. No seating. We sat with the drunks on uncomfortable ledges on the edge of the inside of the station and ate our cheese sandwiches while they dined heartily on something out of a can and routinely restisting being booted out by security who made half hearted efforts. It was uncomfortable so after another look around we found that there was seating upstairs but the sign said we needed to pay to enter. Fine we were ready to pay but it turned out that we didn't need to after we showed our train ticket so it was a much more comfortable wait. I also went downstairs  to pick up the big backpacks and was shocked to find that the area was locked but after about 10 minutes someone showed up and I got the bags and some relief.

I anxiously watched the train board until our train number was displayed. We had 20 minutes from the train arriving to when it left so we felt there was plenty of time. One of the train staff took us out to the train platform and then we started walking and walking and walking. There were no numbers that we could find on the carriages and the only information we got from the carriage attendants was pointing further down the train. So after multiple points we finally arrived with not much time to spare before the train left. We found that there were already 4 people in our 4 bed berth but the extras cleared out without a fuss and we settled in to the compartment with a young russian couple who spoke no english. Uncomfortable with us looking at them and them looking at us. A waitress who dressed like a hooker came around and tried to sell us an evening meal of 'good fish' but when the saw the other couples food we were  glad we declined.

It was a short 3hr trip and we arrived at Nizhny Novgorod. It is a really tight squeeze to get out of the compartment and along the hall with our packs on but for some reason some russian people felt the need to try and get past which of course was impossible.

We got off and then headed to the metro to get to our accommodation which was 3 stops away. Only one metro line so pretty easy as we had so much metro practice in Moscow. Popped out of the metro expecting to see the hotel but nothing. Ahhhh. Kept on looking and found that we had popped out at the wrong metro exit so just went down again and popped out again at the correct side. We found the metro exits a mystery during our stay and popped out in lots of different places having to backtrack.

Speaking of metros. They have really heavy swing doors on the entrance and exits and Russian people just power through them so you have to be careful to get into the swing of the doors or else you might get knocked off your feet. Some more advise. Hang on when on the metro as the drivers have a habit of  accelerating and decelerating just as rapidly.

So we found the hotel and it was late so were hoping for a quick check-in. Wrong. The desk matron  took a very long time to process the person in front of us and we found out why when we were served. She wanted all our details and registrations for the whole time we had been in Russia! Once that was  done we were both given cards with our room number and we were wondering if it was one of the magnetic key system. The hotel was like stepping back into a time warp and when we got to our floor we found another desk with a dezhurnaya (Floor lady)  and we gave her our cards and got the key to the room. The room was pretty crappy which I had already decided by the state of the reception and this was confirmed when I found that I was too long for the bed. One feature that I hadn't seen for years was the telephone which was an old rotary dial type. My mattress kept sliding off the bed and my pillow was as solid as a brick. The running toilet was the last straw for me. Vanessa told me to stop complaining.  It is Russia. A different country with different standards and priorities and she suggested that I shouldn't be so judgemental.Point taken....eventually. I turned the water off to the toilet and the room became  peaceful

Next day. Success. Figured out how to stop the toilet running. Push the button down hard after flushing.

We headed down to breakfast in a quiet room that looked like a bar dedicated to the local ice hockey team. The waitress came along and switched on the television so it was no longer quiet. It lets you watch the news I guess.

We caught the metro then couldn't find the tram stop to the old town. Actually we couldn't even find the tram tracks so decided to just walk towards the area and then found a tram stop. It didn't take long and we were in the old town but not quite sure about where to get off so just stayed on for a while until we saw a mall area for a look. It started snowing quite heavily as we walked along and we decided to look in a tourist shop. Good choice. We found lots of Russian tourists and lots of different babushka dolls. We purchased a few sets then I asked where the post office was located. Feeling lucky punk? Well do you? I had a language book and plenty of confidence.

The post office was not far. I wrote out in Russian that I wanted to send a package to Australia then went to a counter and they pointed out the door. Hmm. Not a good start. Maybe we needed to pack the box. We got in queue to a shop and when served asked for a box that was on the floor. Success. Next some newspaper for packing. Got in a queue. No one serving. Hmmm. Waiting, waiting, waiting. The shop attendant turned up and we purchased a couple of papers. Success. Next some packing tape. Vanessa spotted some tape in another store. Into the queue. When I got served the lady said she had no tape. I pointed out that she did but she said it was for herself. A little desperate look and she was taping up the box. Success. Then back to the counter where I was again pointed out of the shop. Hmm. Went out the shop and down the stairs and there was a package post centre. We got served and given paperwork in Russian and none of it was the language book. I found some of the words on the visa and registration papers and just made up the rest. She also asked what was in the box and I showed her a picture I had taken before packing. She seemed happy enough. We paid the amount which was about 20 Australian dollars but we will be surprised if the box actually reaches it's destination. It was interesting going through the process.

We walked down to the kremlin but the snow was heavy so returned soon after to catch the tram back to the metro station and just hang around in the hotel as we had a late checkout. We hopped on in the wrong direction but figured it didn't matter as we had plenty of time to spare. Then things started going slow. Very slow. There was a crash somewhere ahead and we were going nowhere fast. The locals just got out and walked but we didn't have a clue where we were so stayed on board. The tram moved slowly for about 1hr then got to another crash and stopped. The next set of locals got out and walked. We still had no idea of our location so were essentially committed. The local drunks at the side of the road were wobbling around and provided a bit of live entertainment having a punch up before the tram got going again. We eventually got going and realised we didn't know where the metro station was relative to the tram line so were relieved when we spotted a metro station. The tram ride had taken 2.5hrs to travel 2km. Luckily we still had a little time to relax before heading back onto the metro and to the train station.

The train from Nizhny Novgorod to Kazan. This was a 9hr overnight trip. I had been watching the board and understood most of it and the last piece of the puzzle became clear when we got to the platform. We were first into the 4  bed compartment and found that the storage space was slightly less that the previous overnight train and my pack did not  fit in the space above the door. So we had to partially put it under the table. The next person was a woman who spoke little english but was friendly and then the last person turned up. Rasheed. He and his sailing friends had been working in Nizhny Novgorod and had been drinking vodka so were a little tipsy. He spoke english and was a tartar. Tatar? Kazan has 52 percent tatar people who have Turkish origins. He had the charm of the Turkish as well and was very friendly. He and his friends were government officials administering the vulgar waterways. I decided to decline an offer to drink russian vodka and even got the finger flick sign from under his chin. That is the sign that he would like to drink with you. He was in an out of the compartment heading off for cigarettes and we decided later that it was time to make our beds and turn in. The woman was on a top bunk and after making her bed was climbing up, slipped and fell but I managed to catch her on the way down so she escaped with just a bruised shin. Rasheed had warned us that he might snore and he did when he went to bed with plenty of volume until leaving the train at 3am. The train reached Kazan at 6am so we didn't really get much unbroken sleep but were met by our transfer. We could see the Kremlin which was well lit and dominated by a large mosque which was an impressive view but our ride took us about 3km away from the centre of town.

Merry Christmas!!!

A few taps on the hotel window and we were met by staff who spoke reasonably good english. Well that was nice and soon after we were checked in without the excessive paperwork that seemed necessary in the previous hotel. The front desk girl was helpful and told us how to get into town on the bus and then onto the metro to the Kremlin. We had a map with details and had breakfast in a grand room more suited for knights before heading out. We caught the bus and but missed our stop and when the bus terminated it seemed we would have to catch the bus back and start again but luckily the bus conductor pointed out that there was a metro stop only 50m away and we finally got to the Kremlin.

The station was full of super slippery tiles which I call death tiles as it is like walking around on  an ice skating rink. When inside the kremlin we also encountered them near the mosque.

We looked around for a while and then went into a hermitage museum which had a collection borrowed from the st petersburg hermitage. It was quite small and we probably should have gone to the tatar museum instead. Oh well.

It was time for christmas lunch and we found a restuarant called bachelors corner which also had wifi and checked our emails before setting for a couple of wines and a meal. The atmosphere and setting was nice.

We worked out that it was just as easy to walk to the train station to catch the bus back to the hotel. We weren't sure about the bus stop but the gathering of local people was a clue that turned out to be correct. We found our stop and got back to the hotel for a bit of relaxation and a bottle of Russian champagne which thanks to Vanessa not liking I managed too consume most of  myself

I have been a little off colour since Nizhy Novgorod and have been struggling with an upset stomach.

Next day.

We were reading about Kazan on a wiki page and saw a remarkable photo of a church but couldn't find it on the map. The reception knew the location and wrote a note for us to give to the bus driver (bus 2 opposite direction to town 20min). The church was called 'all religions church'. We didn't need the help as it could be seen from the bus so we just hopped off. It was an impressive sight and there were even a couple snowmen built near the entrance. Equally impressive was the frozen lake on the other size of the road and the shear number of fishermen sitting over drilled holes. We wandered out to have a look - we both can walk on water - as long as it is frozen. It stands to reason that the size of the hole dictates the size of fish that can be pulled through it and the holes were about 5cm in diameter. The fish we saw caught were about 8cm long and about 2cm thick. It had started snowing quite heavily so we headed back to shore and caught a bus into town.

The local Mcdonalds provided internet for us and we sat there for a while. I still had an upset stomach and was feeling off colour so it was quite convenient.

We wandered around the main shopping street and then went to a large supermarket to purchase our food for the next train trip before heading back to the hotel to repack, charge batteries and change the music on our mp3 players.

Next day.

Train leaves at 225am so we have just stayed another night at the hotel for our convenience. The train trip duration is expected to be 68hrs!

Bye,
David and Vanessa