Starting the trans-Siberian

lizandbillos — Sat, 8 Sep 2007 21:41:00 GMT

Still having a blast on the trans-Siberian leg! I think the last time I wrote we had been in the Latvian countryside.

Since then we headed north to Tallin. An increadably beautiful preserved medieval cityhough it did have a hugely touristed feel to it. From Tallin we got a bus to St Petersburg. Getting out of the metro and onto the street for the first time in a long time of travelling I felt pretty freaked out. Everything is in Cyrillic which has completely different characters so very difficult to find our way around. Also, being in Belgium we had forgotten what a really big city is like. Both St Petersburg and Moscow were huge and really busy. Once we started to learn the alphabet thought and got used to the metro system things were heaps easier. The metro in Moscow is increadable. Trains whip through the stations every minute and the underground stations themselves resemble art galaries or cathedrals (huge chandeliers, murals, heaps of awsome soviet statues and mosaics). More than 9 million people ride the metro in Moscow every day (more than New York and London combined!!) We went to Red Square and saw embalmed Lennin (really weird, looked like something from Madam Toussaud's!). Although Moscow is hugely expensive if you're not careful we got by fine on eating baked potatoes etc. from the food vans that line the streets.

From Moscow we embarked on the real 'Trans-Siberian' part of our route. First stop was Nizhny Novgorod, a cool city with nice Kremlin. The thing that has really struck us the most so far about Russia is just how friendly and awsome the people are. When we arrived in Nizhny it was night and we were a little disoriented trying to find our hotel (which it turns out was over a massive river then up a huge cliff!) We asked a young couple on the street who spoke about 3 words of English. They looked at the map and then beckoned us to follow them. They actually took us to the bus stop, got on the bus with us and took us (carrying my pack despite my objections) to the door of the hotel then helped us check in! We have had many experiences since where the Russian people have taken us places (a lot of which we would not have a chance of finding on our own), told us where to get off buses and generally been fascinated that we are Australian and in their town. Communication is challenging but using a combination of their bad English, our attrocious Russian and huge motioning gestures we seem to get there in the end!!

On the train from Nizhny to Kazan we shared our 4-berth sleeper with 2 engineers on their way home from a business assignment. They were really happy to talk with us (as described above!!) and bought us beers and made us try their dried salted fish snack (foul!!).

Sleeping on the train is an interesting experience. In a 4-berth compartment there is a bunk of each side, a table that sticks out from the window and not enough room for 4 people! When it is time to sleep you unroll a mattress onto the seat, the carriage attendant (provodnitsa) gives you a little with two sheets and a pillow case and you make up the bed with that and get in. Being on such intimate sleeping terms with 2 people you just met is quite strange. The quiet rocking of the train is oddly soothing until the provodnitsa bangs on the door at the stop to wake you up at the stop.

The other way of travelling overnight is in an open sleeper carrigae which is like a 52 bed dorm. For our next overnight trip the only tickets we could get are near the toilet so not sure how restful that will be, as there are huge queues in the morning.

Some people have asked why we were dodging cops! Everywhere in Russia (although more so in Moscow and St Petersburg) there are HEAPS of cops. On every street corner there are groups of at least 4 and they are absolutely everywhere. It gives you a constantly uneasy feeling and is worst for us as foreigners as they can ask to see our papers at any time. Fine because our papers are in order (you're supposed to 'register' yourself if you stay at one place 3 working days or more). But apparently there are heaps of crooked cops who will try to find any small thing wrong with your papers to 'fine' you so they can suplement their own measly salary. They're also been known to take passports for ransom. So rather than have one of these run-ins so far we have been very good at dodging cops and have not had our papers checked once.

Next we are off to Tobolsk. Internet access is becoming a luxury (as is hot water!) so next update might be from Ulaanbaatar.

Hope everyone is doing well, send some emails!

Krakow - Riga

lizandbillos — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 20:31:00 GMT

It's been a while since I last sent an update, but as we have travelled further through the Baltics internet access has been problematic!

I think in my last note we had just arrived in Krakow. Krakow was quite a nice city, but nothing to rock our socks off. Better were the 2 day trips we did from there. The first was to a salt mine just out of town. We managed to hail down a mini bus heading in the right direction and made the very hot and sweaty trip out to the mine. The mine itself is awsome though, as the miners were digging out the salt rock they also left behind an array of sculptures out of the salt, also a full-size underground cathedral where everything was made of - you guessed it - salt!! Even amazing chandeliers made of salt crystal.
The other day trip from Krakow was to the Auchwitz concentration camp. The experience was actually a lot more disturbing that I thought it would be. The sickos that were the Nazis actually sent the hair cut from all the exterminated prisoners to textile mills and made cloth out of it which was used as well as socks for the soldiers etc. There were also piles and piles of glasses, prosthetics and shoes (the worst being all the childrens') that were recovered by the Soviets when the took the camp and what was on display was just a small demonstration of all the people that lost their lives there. I lost it a little bit when we went into the gas chamber as the feeling of loss in there was indescribable.

Next was Warsaw which was - well.... nothing much. More of a business city which we only spent a day in on our way to Vilnius in Lithuania. Vilnius is an amazing city, with many perfect baroque buildings. We found an awsome bar/restaurant on a hill in the bush overlooking the city and watched as the sun went down on a hot day with a cold beer - bliss!! Also took a day trip to the lakeside town of Trakai with a farytale castle set on the lake.

From Vilnius we headed West to the Klaipeda and the Coronian Spit national park. We met our friends from Belgium Simon and Annelien who were also travelling around the Baltics on summer holiday but were heading from north to south. Annelien and Simon had a car which proved great to get to some of the out of the way spots. We went onto the spit and visited the Hill of Witches with amazing and spooky creatures of the night carved out of trees and logs. Also did a spot of dune walking. We also went to a disused Soviet bunker which used to hold 20m nuclear warheads which were strategically pointed at various major European cities during the cold war. The Hill of Crosses was another highlight (can best describe in photos which we will try to post asap).
Spend lots of time lazing on the beach, although the weather took a small turn for the worse which meant a night at our cabin playing poker! Bill and I ran onto the beach during a huge thunderstorm in the pouring rain and watched it light up the beach to nearly daylight and lightning zigzag to the earth. Awsome!!

Now in Riga, Latvia. We both feel like a small break from the big cities so next stop will be Sigulda in the Latvian countryside which has many nice walks, caves, forest etc. After that to Estonia, Helskini and then finally St Petersburg on the 28th Aug.

Liz and Bill xx

Bill and Liz's Excellent Adventure

Starting the trans-Siberian

Krakow - Riga