Chapter 1 - St Petersburg
First
impressions are usually influenced by insecurities and reservations, and this was certainly the case on our arrival in St
Petersburg, the first stop in our 'grand voyage'. On the road from the airport the cubic morass of soviet-style apartment
blocks eventually give way to a more European centre pleasing, to the eyes. Here you will find everything and more that is
great about European capitals: cathedrals, statues, canals, museums, theatres, chic cafes, fashionable people, bright lights
and fountains. But all that was to come later: first priority was to get to our accommodation pronto. After walking through
several dreary streets and marvelling at a hybrid between a bus and a tram weaving its way through an intersection we arrived
at the International Youth Hostel - first mission accomplished!
|
| St Petersburg - View of the Ermitage and St Isaac from the Neva |
St Petersburg gets its name from Peter the Great, Emperor of Russia. He built a fort on the Neva River and a
city to boot - all in 9 years! (1703 - 1712). St Petersburg hosts the world's largest collection of exquisite art in the Ermitage
(a former winter palace of the imperial family).
Laure and I toured this gargantuan feast of fine art in a blur of colour and mispronounced artists' names. One
thing I freely admit: my total lack of knowledge in art history! I can just recognise a Picasso and I know who Leonardo da
Vinci was (thank you Dan Brown), after that I'm lost. I've heard Matisse's name, Rubens - who was he? My shocking lack of
awareness was brought rudely to my attention by Laure: 'What? You don't know who he was?! You're joking! Don't they teach
you anything about culture in England?'
Central St Petersburg is a maze of grand boulevards, stately buildings, rivers and canals (it is called the
Venice of the North). It is not uncommon to see vodka and/or beer drinking Russians partying on a boat throughout the canal
network.
Another sight that gives one the sense of deja vu is the smiling wedding couple in front
of famous monuments posing for the official photographer. One couple even had a pair of white doves that flew in different
directions when released (a sign from above?!).
|
| St Petersburg - Leningrad siege memorial and Russian newly-weds (not us!) |
|
| St Petersburg - Captain Tom and lady Laure |
Chapter 2 - Moscow
Our brief cultural flirtation with Moscow was both interesting and tragic. The guidebook recommended a minimum
of 3 days and we spent 2 there - ultimately because the city is expensive and a huge urban sprawl. The approach into Moscow
is characterised by tower block after tower block, however the centre is much more interesting.
The best known cathedral lies outside the Kremlin's gates next to Red Square. This is the extremely photogenic
St Basil's Cathedral with highly colourful onion tops (cupolas). Built in 1561, Ivan the Terrible was so impressed that he
(allegedly) blinded the architect so that he could never build another to better it.
Moscow has been repeatedly invaded, destroyed and rebuilt throughout history. That probably
explains why the Kremlin Fortress is so huge and well fortified! Inside are a collection of beautiful cathedrals, Russia's
senate and parliament.
|
| Moscow - La place rouge etait vide... |
On the way from the Kremlin to our 'budget' hotel by the Moscow metro we experienced an emergency stop followed
by a lot of commotion as everyone realised several people had been ploughed into. By the time we got out of the train there
was still at least one person trapped under the carriage and another person in a bad way and struggling to stay alive as he
laid on the platform. We decided not to hang around as many other Russians were on the scene - but no policemen or emergency
services. Whilst drinking a beer in a local bar and recounting the experience, a dilapidated ambulance rolled into view. The
two emergency surgeons strolled in what couldn't be a more relaxed manner into the station. Soon afterwards a group of civilians
carried an unconscious man into the ambulance and off it went. There was no investigation, metro staff merely mopped up the
blood and services continued as normal immediately afterwards!
By the time we got back to Hotel Asia we were feeling knackered with all the constant sightseeing we'd done
(and the incident). After engorging ourselves on a cheap cooked chicken we headed back to our hotel room, heads throbbing,
feet, backs - and pockets - aching.
|
| Moscow - Kremlin |
Chapter 3 - The 'Golden Ring'
The Golden Ring is a geographical ring of important cathedral cities close to Moscow. The first on our
list was Sergiev Posad. This place founded by Russia's patron saint Sergius of Radonezh in 1340. Sergius lived as a pious
hermit in the forest; gradually as word spread monks and locals began to join him to share the life of devotion and simplicity.
What started as a few wooden huts grew into a monastery, now crammed with cathedrals, churches and other holy sites such as
the Chapel above the Well (this shelters a spring of holy water - we tried it out!). We spent the afternoon wandering in and
out of churches and admiring the Orthodox Russian icons and the priests instantly recognisable by their long beard, black
robes and 'klobuki' hats.
|
| Sergiev Posad - Reflective little Russian boy paying his respects in front of war memorial |
|
| Sergiev Posad - Shawl compulsory in monasteries |
We walked up the creaking stairs and into the dusty reception to be booked into our rooms and registered by
a silent lady sat with a loudly ticking clock next to her. Our room was grand and spacious, and did have plenty of large blood-suckers
in the form of mosquitoes! And yes, they literally ate me alive (they weren't too fussed about Laure). Several hours later
and many claps of the hand, the score was 4-3 to me in numbers of mozzies killed. By the morning we could clap a mosquito
only to find our hands smeared with blood - they hand certainly feasted well that night.
The next day our illusion was shattered as group after group of tourists were bused in from Moscow to view
the ancient churches and frescoes. Oh well, we still enjoyed viewing the old churches and frescoes.
|
| Rostov Yaroslav - Inside the Kremlin (where our hotel was too!) |
|
| Rostov Yaroslav - View of St Jacob monastery |
Chapter 4 - The Trans-Siberian
We were well stocked up for the journey. We had pot-noodles, powdered mash potato in a pot, Russian chocolate,
dried fruit, mini-bananas, bread and the most essential bottle of Russian vodka!!
On entering our cabin we met our co-travellers. Fearing the worst (i.e. 2 chain smoking
alcoholics - plenty of them here!), we were pleasantly surprised to meet a Russian called Ilya and his German girlfriend,
Sandra. Ilya was very chatty and we got to know them pretty well over the next 3 days and nights.
|
| Trans-Siberian - Our carriage in train 'Baikal' to Irkutsk |
When we finally arrived in Irkutsk we discovered a big change of atmosphere - friendlier people and a lot more smiles
all round!
Chapter 5 - Lake Baikal
What can we say? The 'Blue Eye of Siberia' as it's known has statistics that can knock you off your chair! It
is the world's deepest lake at 1637m deep; it holds 20,000 km2 of water (roughly 20 percent of the world's fresh water); it's
the world's oldest lake (formed 50 million years ago); the water is really clear and bloody cold!
The local theory says that if you put your feet in the lake you get 5 years added to your
life, if you dip the hands in it goes up to 10; and if you dip the whole body in you get 25. I was greedy and went for the
full 25! Laure got the same by dipping her feet in 5 times!
|
| Baikal - The Blue Eye of Siberia |
Listvyanka hugs the shore and is a very chilled out place. Russians have spotted its tourism potential and it
seems to be developing quite quickly. We took a boat to another nearby village called Bolshie Koty, which is still very much
underdeveloped in the domain of tourism. We spent our time there chatting with Sue and Tim met in the Trans-Siberian train
and who are making their way (overland!) to New Zealand to live there (lucky them).
There are plenty of other tourists and backpackers around Lake Baikal (Russian and foreign).
We also met a Belgian couple, 2 French guys (for business, no more information) and a woman called Elke.
|
| Bolshie Koty - Near Listvyanka with Tim and Sue (the other ex-Londoners) |
|
 |
|
|
| St Petersburg - Church of the Resurrection |
|
| St Petersburg - Sea cadets admiring the Alexander Column (one must) in front of the Ermitage |
|
| St Petersburg - Peter and Paul Fortress |
My most memorable day was when we went on a WWII/Siege of Leningrad tour. Leningrad was
the name given to St Petersburg by the Soviets. During the Second World War (or Great Patriotic War as it is known here) Leningrad
was under siege for 900 days. The Germans wanted to destroy the city (entering it was not on the cards since the Red Army
had primed every major building ready to blow at the light of a match - naturally the civilians didn't know this!) of a population
of 3 million approximately 1 million died of disease, starvation and being blown to pieces by shells. It was shocking
to see a 125g piece of bread that consisted of a day's ration during the siege.
|
| St Petersburg - Les super Quebecoises! |
After enjoying a drink with Tacha and Anne-Heloise (above), we took a romantic canal boat trip around St Petersburg -
albeit with Russian rethoric blaring in our ears! Goodbye St Petersburg! A calm and efficient overnight train prepared us
for Russia's capital.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Moscow - Red square with Lenin mausoleum and St Basil cathedral |
I can easily imagine Moscow being a pilgrimage site for retro-socialists in 50 years time! Some of soviet architecture
really catches the eye, and of course there is Lenin's Mausoleum with his perfectly preserved corpse inside (first we had
to queue for 1h40 and pass scary looking dress-uniformed Russian guards with frowns chiseled onto their features!).
|
| Moscow - The (big big) tsar's canon |
|
| Sergiev Posad - View of the numerous churches |
The next day was to bring more new things and a break away from the big cities. We were off around the 'Golden Ring'
of cathedral outposts, and the first stop was Rostov-Yaroslavski.
|
| Sergiev Posad - Russian woman walking along the tracks (as they all do) |
At dusk we arrived at the train station of Rostov-Yaroslavski and started walking towards the centre where the
Kremlin and hostel within was to be found.
The houses we passed were typical of western Russia- built with elongated triangular and
curved roofs, wooden extensions leaning at bizarre angles. It felt like a kind of 'wild west' of Russia (and we
weren't really off the beaten track!). The town seemed deserted, but finally we reached the Kremlin. In the growing twilight
the dilapidated state of the Kremlin walls, and churches with rusty cupolas gave an entirely gothic feel to the place. One
could almost feel the presence of vampires waiting in the dark corners- or maybe it was our imaginations running wild! We
reached the huge dark arched wooden doors to the castle and rung the bell. A deep booming sound reached our ears. An ex-Red
Army veteran, who looked like a smaller version of Lurch from the Adamms Family, showed us in. By now I expected a detached
hand to run through the corridor on its five digits!
|
| Rostov Yaroslav - Inside one of the churches |
Due to bad weather our hopes to visit another cathedral city called Yaroslav were dashed. Instead we merely
passed through and shamefully stopped for a McDonalds on the way!
We passed through Vladimir and Suzdal very quickly on the way and finally bought our Trans-Siberian
tickets to Irkutsk. By now we were both sick of seeing the glum inhospitable faces of western Russia and were ready
to experience Asia.
|
| Suzdal - Man playing accordeon |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Trans-Siberian - 'Babouchkas' selling food and drinks(incl. beers!) on the platform |
The time passed surprisingly quickly. I'll attempt to summarise the journey: pines trees, more pine trees, traditional
villages, birch trees, Russian politics (or lack of it!), more pine trees, reading, solving the world's problems, stopping
approximately every 4-5 hours for 15 minute breaks on the platforms of various stations, stocking up on Russian beer, vodka
fuelled ‘meaning of life’ conversations and attempting to wash in a tiny sink.
|
| Listvyanka - Gorgeous smoked fish by the lake... |
We stayed
in a village called Listvyanka on the shore of Lake Baikal. It was a bit of an adventure to get there - after being dropped
off by a taxi at a boat terminal in Irkutsk, we managed to catch a lift from 2 Russian women to a point where we could catch
a bus. The only buses that passed were either full or going to a different place. After 45 minutes of hitchhiking we finally
got a ride to within 6km of Listvyanka, then we walked and caught a bus for the final stretch
|
| Listvyanka - In front of our lovely house with Elke |
The next day we went back to Irkutsk before catching a train to Mongolia!
|
| Lovely Elena in her great restaurant in Irkutsk (10, Souri-Batora ul.) |
|
|