I arrived at St Petersburg airport for the second time this summer. I was quite tired after my flight from Kazakhstan but was ready for my Transiberian experience which was starting this evening. I took a local bus to the centre hoping that the main train station I needed was nearby. No such luck. After wandering around for 30 minutes I decided to try the Metro. I couldn’t quite fathom their maps and it was so busy. I saw an attendant and showed him my train ticket and he explained by pointing at the Metro map what I had to do. I had to get on the Metro and go 5 stops to the main train station. I followed his instructions and was shocked that my ride only cost 36 pence. Once I arrived at my stop I walked 5 minutes to the main train station. I put my belongings in the lockers provided and went exploring St Petersburg until my train that evening.
While wandering around this amazing city I was in awe of the beautiful architecture and how easy it was to get about. The streets were clearly marked and walking maps were easy to spot. They really cater for tourists in this city unlike Moscow. I even managed to stumble across the Harley Davidson Festival in one of the parks. After 6 hours of walking around I made my way to the station to board my only 1st class train of the whole journey. The Sapsan is quite a famous model of train, even the President has been on one. My first train ride was only just over 3 hours so not technically the Transiberian experience I was looking for. Also my carriage was full of loud Australians moaning about their seating arrangements.
Once I got to Moscow I had to cross over the road to the other station as Moscow has many stations and it is never easy. Obviously I had to go to another station to get on board another train to my main destination which was Kazan. The station I arrived into looked ok. It was quiet and well sign posted for English tourists. The station I had to walk to was the complete opposite. It was so busy and noisy and there was nothing in English not even the train information. The attendants were scarce and the ones I did see didn’t look friendly or helpful. There was no place to sit. After walking around for 30 minutes I finally found a closed in section almost like a pen to sit with fellow travellers. This area was full. It was dark and noisy and it just didn’t feel safe to me. During my walk I noticed a large quiet area which was cordoned off and had a security guard. I really wanted to be in there so I went for it. I approached the guard who let me in and a couple of ladies greeted me. The area I had entered was the business class lounge and that made me sigh in disappointment as I knew I wouldn’t want to waste a lot of money for a couple of hours. I had to do a double take when they told me the price and had to recheck the currency rate to make sure I wasn’t paying £40 to stay here for a few hours. I paid a princely sum of £4 to stay in the business class lounge for 3 hours before my overnight train to Kazan. It was bliss. I boarded my only 2nd class train of the journey feeling rested and stress free. The 2nd class Olympic train was lovely. It was a double decker sleeper train. There was a lady already in my section and 2 empty beds above me. It got filled up during the night but I didn’t know as I fell asleep straight away.
I arrived in Kazan just before midday. I booked a cheap room as my flight was the same night. It was very cheap but now I realise why. It was such a long way out of town even the taxi drivers didn’t know where it was. Any money I saved on the cheap room I wasted on the taxi fare. Luckily on the way into town and back I used the local bus which only cost me 20p each time. I loved Kazan. Their Kremlin area was so beautiful and pristine. The old Tartastan district was also wonderful. It is the old Muslim quarter but it is unlike any Muslim quarter I have ever visited. I thought it looked and felt like a Disneyland and it was so clean. It is definitely the nicest Muslim quarter I have ever visited.
That evening I tried to board the train to Ekaterinburg but for some reason that I could not understand, I was told to wait to one side. Luckily I found an English speaking girl. She said she also has to wait as our e-ticket must be authorised by someone else before we board. I was thankful for her explanation because I thought they wouldn’t let me on because my e-ticket was on my tablet and not printed out. It was also handy her being on the same carriage as me. This was my first time on the Platskarts, third class trains and what hit me first was the smell. Eventually I didn’t notice the smell. I was on the top bunk which was a pain to get up and down from but luckily it was only 1 night. I was sharing my section with a family and a bank manager. They were friendly and helpful too. They were very inquisitive and wanted to know about the UK and how we see Russia. The bank manager spoke English so was able to translate and the girl who helped me previously joined our section. I learned that Russians love Putin at least 65% which is very high. They like that he is strong and takes no nonsense from the EU. Every time he defies the EU and they sanction Russia, his people like him more.
I was more than happy when I saw my hotel as I got out of the train station that I did my little woo hoo dance. I was already sick of looking for hotels every time I left the train stations. I explored as soon as I checked in. I noticed many weddings during my travels. In fact while walking around Ekaterinburg I saw twelve weddings. I learned that the last Tsars of Russia were assassinated in Ekaterinburg. The whole family including the children were all killed. Their remains were never found as their bodies were chopped up and scattered around in the forest. This was a sad story. Walking around without a map is getting easier now. I’m getting used to the daily routine of getting off the train, checking in and then exploring. I enjoyed going to the local supermarket and finding weird and wonderful things to eat on my train journeys. I enjoy the prices much more. Everything is cheap in Russia and I hardly spent any money at all on this trip.
The next leg of the train journey was to Omsk. I had the bottom bunk and my mate was a stone faced old woman. She never smiled once. A younger girl joined our section and the first thing she did after getting comfortable was knit. During the early hours of the morning the stone faced old woman laid a thick woolly blanket over me. It got colder in the night and I didn’t realise that we all had a woolly blanket each. She was kind enough to get mine for me and cover me as well. What a lovely stoned faced old woman. She never did crack a smile.
When I arrived in Omsk I had to get a taxi to get to the hotel as the information from google maps was ridiculously untrue. There is no bus number 777 that takes me to the hotel. Lots of other numbers but not 777. I wasted 30 minutes waiting for a non-existent bus and eventually got a taxi. I hate taking taxis as it eats into my budget big time. So far this was only my second taxi. The hotel was very nice though and was close to Omsk River. It was to be my most expensive hotel at £23 but it provided free breakfast which was definitely the best on the trip, a free afternoon tea with lovely cakes and savouries and also a free minibar. I got a little excited but when I opened the minibar all I could see was a bag of nuts, chips, can of coke and a fruit juice. It did not matter as it was all free. I walked into the city and figured out what buses to take back to the train station. I saw a beautiful church and a lovely garden. Not much to see or maybe I didn’t explore far enough but I had had enough of Omsk.
The next leg was for 3 days. I made sure I stocked up on enough treats to last me the whole journey. There was a mixture of people in my section this time as it was such a long journey. I didn’t enjoy their company as much. I was happy when we arrived in Irkutsk.
I was disappointed in google maps again as I spent nearly an hour wondering around trying to find the local bus station. Their maps are truly unreliable. I walked back to the train station and hopped on one of the trams hoping I was heading in the right direction. I was happy to see another traveller of Asian dissent on the tram. He approached me and asked me where I was going. I told him and he said I was on the right tram and going the right direction. This was a relief. He said he would tell me when I arrived at the market and bus stop which was a big relief. He was from the Philippines and he has been travelling in Russia for months. Unfortunately he was mugged at the market of all his documents and passport. So he was heading to the embassy to sort things out. He was going to go home as you cannot travel in Russia without any documents. I suddenly felt a sense of anxiousness as I was heading for that same market. I am normally very cautious and sensible but I have been mugged before. He reassured me that I would be fine and that he was not paying attention when it happened. I waved goodbye to him as I got off at the market and found the bus I needed. It was a little minibus and it wouldn’t leave until it was full. The cost was £1.20 for a 60kms ride. As usual I got off 1 stop later than my stop. I went all the way to the centre instead of getting off at the museum. I had to get the bus back and walk around some houses to look for my hotel. It was up a hill and I asked directions twice and finally I found it. I had to walk through a small village and a small garden with wooden decking and steps up. I guess this was a short cut instead of walking by the road. The hotel was overlooking the centre and Lake Baikal. The views were great except for the slight fog which later on I found out was smoke from all the burning of the trees. My hotel was stuck in 60s old Russia all the way from décor to staff but charming. My room had a balcony with views of the lake so I was happy. It was 4 kms walk into town and I did that twice a day. It was good exercise and the view along that walk was of the beautiful Lake Baikal. This is the largest and deepest lake in the world. I decided to join a tour because I wanted to sail on the lake and visit the old Circum Baikal railway. Walking on the railway lines was fun. We met 3 people who were on their third day of their hike along the Circum Baikal Railway. I never understand why people do the long routes and hikes when there are easier options. The feeling of sense of achievement doesn’t do it for me. I would have taken the train. The lake was too cold to swim in so I sat on the stony and pebbly beach and watched the waves and waited for the boat to pick us up and take us back to Litsvanyanka. I had a relaxing 2 nights stay on Lake Baikal even enjoyed a bit of nude sunbathing on my balcony.
The next morning it was an easy minibus ride into Irkutsk and into another hotel which was just around the corner from the market. I walked for a long time in Irkutsk and found an amazing church quite near the airport. Unfortunately it was closed and boarded up but I was still able to take some lovely photos. The surrounding area was poor where the social housing almost needed demolishing. I even found open sewers and mangy old dogs near a decrepit playground. The new part of the city was so much nicer near River Angara. All the tourists come here not like me walking for miles to search for churches and finding sewers. Again I saw several weddings.
The next morning I woke up to the biggest downpour of the whole trip. The roads were flooded. The pavements were under water. I knew I was going to get wet getting to the train station. I was worried about timings of the tram as I was cutting it a bit fine as I waited for my breakfast. Luckily the tram arrived at the time I needed it to and I hopped on dodging great big puddles. After a wet and soggy walk and tram ride to the station I got onto my carriage and had to change into something dry. The journey was only 9 hours to Ulan Ude and I was to be picked up at my destination. My original hotel cancelled on me so they offered a pick-up service and drop off to a new hotel. It was a little annoying that I had to pay £3 more but I was happy for the pick-up service.
I went exploring to find Lenin’s head. It is said to be the biggest statute of Lenin’s head in the world and I had to see it for myself. It was a long walk into town and as I reached the main square out of the corner of my eye I spotted him and he made me gasp. He was enormous and wonderful. I went for a quick city tour and grabbed a pizza for dinner.
This was to be my last train journey of my Transiberian experience and it was going to be a long one. It was going to be 3 nights and 4 days to Vladivostok. I hoped my buddy for this trip would be nice and she was. She was also going to Vladivostok and she was good company. She tried out her English on me and told me she was going to go to a music festival. The headline act was Rasmus who are a Scandinavian band. She was obsessed with them. We slept, we ate, we read but mostly we slept the 4 days away. She did invite me to venture off the train when we had long stops and I followed. I bought the odd fried food that was on sale, some were nice, some were not so edible. All in all it was a relaxing journey and I even liked that it was really long. There were no shower facilities and I didn’t change my clothes for the full four days. It was quite liberating.
As usual my guesthouse was hard to find as I truly cannot read a map. I eventually found it but it looked like a block of flats. The guesthouse was inside. Nobody spoke English but by now I was used to this. After settling in I went off to explore. Vladivostok is a naval town and I loved it. There are lots of sailors just going about their day in uniform. There are numerous great big war ships docked at the port. There was a huge flyover over the city to cross the sea and it was enormous. You had great views from the walkways connecting the station and the city. There is a full size submarine on show outside a park. Everything looked imposing but brilliant. I loved my last city stop.
I have heard people say how they wouldn’t choose third class because it is crowded and the toilets smell but I didn’t find that at all during the trip. I must admit when I first entered the first third class train, the smell of smoke did hit me. I think that was just a one off and besides when the train started moving the smell went away. I would also like to say how clean the toilets were on all my journeys more so on the third class trains. The ladies that look after each carriage did an amazing job. They would mop the floors every 2-3 hours and clean the toilets too. The toilets were always clean and shiny as it was all stainless steel. I just wished they had more charging points for all our gadgets.
I travelled nearly 11000 kms during my 17 days in Russia and I enjoyed every kilometre. Even when I was lost.
