Travel, Photography, Life and some other stuff…
Dredged out these old photographs I had stored on the website Panoramio. Panoramio is a cool Google Mashup which allows you to tag your photographs based on location in Google Maps and view them on a map of the world. However, since Flickr added geotagging functionality I have found myself visiting far less often.
Took this on a trip to Egypt in 2003. Taken with a Canon Ixus V3
Portimao, Portugal. 2004. Taken with a Canon Ixus v3
Limassol, Cyprus. 2004. Taken with a crappy camera-phone.
I think my body forgave me for my few days of excess because I woke up on the morning of the 2nd bright and early and raring to head off to Ayutthaya. First off though, we had to get in touch with Claudia, an old friend of both Samantha and myself, who was arriving in Bangkok to being a 4 month study period ina town south of Bangkok (the name escapes me now). Claudia was flying in from Holland with basically no idea of where she was going or when she was getting there and our planning for her arrival was just about as well planned. We had booked a room for Claudia but had no idea when she was arriving and had no means of getting in touch as our mobiles didn’t work and hers would obviously be off because she was flying. We had told reception that somebody may or may not be coming to take a room at some point during the day and our plan was to wait atthe hotel until about 10am at the latest and if there was no news, leave a sorry note at reception and head off. Besides, we couldn’t lose out last day in Thailand waiting for somebody who might not even make it, right? That was how I was justifying leaving our friend alone in a Bangkok hotel anyway. Luckily, it didn’t come to that and while we were getting ready to head down for breakfast, our room phone rang with Claudia on the other end so we grabbed some food while she got ready and headed off for a little adventure.
Getting there
There are several ways to get to Ayutthaya from your typical Bangkok hotel/guest house. Most hotels offer a car service that will drive you there and back. One shifty looking gent offered to drive us to Ayutthaya and wait for the day before driving us back to the tune of 2000 baht. We laughed and headed off because I knew we could get there for a fraction of that price (even though a driver for a day for 50 euros is hardly unreasonable…). We chose to travel by bus from Bangkok North/Northeastern bus station in the north of Bangkok and it set us back only 35baht each. The buses run from early morning through to around 7pm and are clean, air conditioned and fairly pleasant. Our bus even had a TV which was showing showing some strange show where a giant lizard fought with a huge millipede. It was brutal to say the least. Alternatively you can travel by train for even less (15 baht…thats right 25pence for a 2 hour train journey…) which turned out to be how we decied to come back. That is a story in itself, though. There are also boat tours that can take you up there but they were well out of our budget. I seem to remember prices being around the 6000 baht area for a full day cruise and tour guide etc but that sounded not only excessively expensive but also a bit dusty and boring.
A bit about Ayutthaya
Most people we mentioned this part of our trip to pretty much all responded the same way: “Where?”. Well, I am no historian but I figured I would write a little about why we would jump on a bus for 2 hours to some place nobody seems to have heard of instead of spending more time in the wonderful Bangkok. So here goes, Joe’s history of Ayutthaya:
The kingdom of Ayutthaya (Thai: ??????) was a Thai kingdom that existed from 1350 to 1767. King Ramathibodi I (Uthong) founded Ayutthaya as the capital of his kingdom in 1350 and absorbed Sukhothai, 640 km to the north, in 1376. Over the next four centuries the kingdom expanded to become the nation of Siam, whose borders were roughly those of modern Thailand, except for the north, the Kingdom of Lannathai. Ayutthaya was friendly towards foreign traders……………………..
Okay! Okay! I don’t know how much more I will bother to put here before you realise I am just copy and pasting this all from Wikipedia. Just go read the rest here if you really give a damn. On with my story.
What we did!
Our day in Ayutthaya was easily the cultural highlight of the trip (unless you call getting hammered on the Khaosan Road a cultural experience). The historical park area of Ayutthaya is incredible and there is so much to see you could never fit it all into one day so we thought it best to just hit the ‘must sees’ as highlighted by my Lonely Planet. On arriving we jumped into a Tuk Tuk so I could fulfil a little promise I made. One of my Christmas gifts to Samantha was an IOU note saying: “IOU one elephant ride around Ayutthaya” so it was off to the Ayutthaya elephant kraal with my fingers crossed that things were back up and running since the flooding of Ayutthaya a few months back. Before heading out I had sent several e-mails first to the elephant camp where the working elephants live and to Eleaid, a charity based in the UK, that are devoted to spreading awareness about Asian elephants and the many problems surrounding them. Instead of going into a long rant about the abusive treatment of many elephants in Thailand (and other parts of Asia) in the name of the tourism industry, I will simply provide a few Links (here, here, here) where you can find out more information. In the mean time rest assured that the kraal we travelled to was recommended by Eleaid and even the camp invited us to go and visit sometime. For 20 baht you can buy baskets of food for the elephants and feed them yourself. The younger elephants are walking freely around the place while the elephants ’saddled up’ are behind a barrier but seem to be pretty practiced at stealing food with their trunks while you are not looking. The ride itself was great fun and despite not being able to see much of the temples up close (the elephants can’t enter the temple grounds) it was a really enjoyable way to see the area. Besides, I was sitting on a massive elephant, I didn’t really care.
They say that when you have no plans then nothing can really go wrong, and that was definitely true of today. We set out to visit some of the larger temples in the area, browse a few markets and get some sun on our pasty limbs and we did just that. From the impressive ground of Wat Phra Si Sanphet to the famous buddha head wrapped in a Banyan tree at Wat Mahathat we strolled (or Tuk Tuk-ed) around Ayutthaya catching up with Claudia (I hadn’t seen her in over 5 years!) taking in the sights and sounds and generally having a great time. We had a really pleasant meal by the river and got the ferry over to the train station to head back to Bangkok as the sun set on a wonderful day. The train, however, was a different story. At first we thought we wouldn’t make it on as it was so overcrowded, and when we finally did, we realised that we would be spending the next 2 hours standing uncomfortably between other passengers, drink vendors and sacks of rice. It was worse than the Hong Kong MTR at rush hour, and a lot longer too. I apologised to the girls for bringing them back this way (of course the train was my idea…) but we made it eventually back to our hotel. I felt like one of the elephants back in Ayutthaya, tired from a long day of walking around in the sun and craving a good watering and a feed.
What I got was a VERY good feed and plenty of watering (i.e. more Thai whiskey…). We headed out to town at around 2am to see if anything was still open, but were greeted with nothing more than deserted streets. It was the first time we had truly registered the impact of the bombings and it made me feel almost guilty for having so much fun. A cab driver tried to convince us that the only place to party on a night like tonight was Patpong, Bangkok’s notorious sleaze street, and we fell for it. I have seen Patpong in full swing, and despite the sleaze and crust, it still holds a strange sort of charm in the same way the Red Light District of Amsterdam does. It is Bangkok institution and everybody goes at some point. However, tonight was a different story. I would seem since the bombing, the ’sensible’ tourists had returned home or stayed in (as we should have) and only the lowest of the low were out on the prowl. I mean transexuals are part and parcel of the Bangkok experience and really don’t weird me out or even make me turn up an eyebrow, but tonight the street was littered with the sort of Ladyboys that give Ladyboys a bad name. They in turn were surrounded with the sort of people that give people a bad name. In short, it was disgusting and one look at the road led us straight back to the cab and back to the hotel where we made the decision that sleeping is for losers. Instead, we drained out minibars and when sunlight came around felt very silly for doing so, because out flight home was in an hour or two. So we negotiated our way to Bangkok airport in a bleary eyed mess and somehow found our way back to Hong Kong.
I guess the story ends there.
Photo’s on my Flickr as Usual!
Ahhh my desk. My keyboard. My headset. My broken desk chair. All of these things I had forgotten about over the last few days are back once again. Maybe I have become accustomed to my holidays being at least a few weeks long during my life as a student, but 4 days will always be too short. Especially for Thailand!That said, we crammed a hell of a lot in, and therefore I have a hell of a lot to cram into this post! So let’s get going!
All the way to Thailand, Samantha and I had been arranging mock schedules for the evening which would allow us to fit in a swim in the hotel pool, a nice dinner as well as a few drinks before getting an early night, ready to be fresh faced for my friend’s arrival from Singapore on the morning of the 31st. Like most of these plans nothing happened the way it should have and the night went more like this: We got to the hotel, faffed around in the room for too long, had a delicious Thai meal before doing a bit of shopping on the Khaosan road. After that, there was nothing else to do but get our party hat on and have a corker of a night out dancing to an amazing ska band and hitting the Thai whiskey with reckless abandon. We even managed to fit a swim in but it was at around 2AM, in our underpants, well after the hotel pool had closed. I don’t mean to gush, but I guess there is nothing else to say about the night other than it was the sort of night out that you dream about having with a girl.
We woke up far from fresh-faced the next morning, but refused to let it get the better of us and after an awful hotel breakfast we headed meet my friends Julien and Cecile at their hotel on the other side of town. We toyed with getting a Tuk Tuk over to the hotel but after haggling it down from 200 to 150 baht we figured we would get a meter taxi to see the price difference. The cab cost us just under 60 baht (that’s about 1GBP). When we met them and decided to get going on our day tour of Bangkok we stopped worrying about these small sums of money and jumped into a Tuk Tuk to see as much as we could. The day was great and we traveled to several of the more impressive temples of Bangkok, saw the Grand Palace and the largest markets in the city before heading on a longboat cruise down the canals. There are lots of photos of the day (as well as the rest of my trip) on my Flickr.
The Bangkok canal system was an unexpected surprise and a great experience. I never realised the number and length of the canals around Bangkok, nor did I realise the lifestyle of the people who live along them. Bangkok its self is a city as busy and metropolitan as any of the big Asian capitals. Skyscrapers, traffic, pollution and everything else unremarkable about any city in the world. However, a short boat ride transports you to a different world of canals, floating house and bank side monasteries. Watching the families starting their New Years celebrations on the canals while their children swam and fed the fish I felt like we had either gone back in time or I had fallen asleep for a while and the Longboat driver was taking the piss a little and had whisked us off to a distance fishing village for the afternoon. After an hour or so of wide eyed gazing, though, it was back to the smog.
As the sun set over the Chao Phraya River our thoughts turned to the night and the New Year eve party ahead. We had already draining the best part of two bottles of Sang Som (Thai whiskey) between the four of us during the day, so it wasn’t going to take much to put us into 100% party mode… We headed back to our hotels with the promise of meeting at our hotel bar later that night to begin our celebration. I’m not even going to bother describing the night in detail. It was the best New Years I have ever had, and that is saying something considering the scale of some NYE parties I have had. I guess it wasn’t the scale of the party that defined it though. In Julien, Cecile and Samantha I had the best company imaginable and we made an awesome party unit together, but was more than that. The vibe was electric regardless of the bombings that took place earlier that night. The Khaosan road was packed solid with hundreds of partygoers and the bars and clubs were heaving. People were singing and dancing in the street and the land of smiles cast its spell over all present. There are a thousand and one little stories about what happened at what bar, who sprayed silly strings in whose eyes and who was dumb enough to buy a bunch of knockout buckets (me) but to put it short it was a perfect New Years.
Of course, it finished up with us in the pool in our underpants again…
We woke up the next day feeling like utter crap. Horrible. After ensuring all our loved ones knew we hadn’t been blown to bits we set off to see what we could see. Basically, everything we wanted to do went wrong in some way, so we resolved to just wander down to the market area of the Chinatown district of Bangkok. It was all pretty nice, but very crowded and we were all feeling a bit sorry for ourselves. As such, the day was fairly uneventful and most of it was spent reminiscing on the zanier moments of the night before and stopping every 10 minutes to drink water. In the evening we thought it safest not to hit the town as further bomb threats had been made and most international governments has requested tourists avoid crowded spaces in case more bombs went off. They didn’t, but if I had gone out the strain of drinking more Thai whiskey would probably have killed me anyway. So we said goodbye to Julien and Cecile who shot off to resume their lives and got an early night ready for our daytrip to Ayutthaya the next day.
Which will be in my next post!!
I woke up a few hours later face first on the kitchen table to see a couple of oddly familiar looking girls. It soon dawned on me that I had seen them one night in the restaurant car during the last leg of the Trans-Siberian but never bothered going over to say hello. They started discussing their need to renew their VISAs, and it dawned on me that I needed to too. Fortunately I had picked up some good advice from a lost hippie who was hanging around the hostel earlier that the Hotel Angara in the city centre performed VISA registration for an unlimited period for a meager 200 rubles, whilst our hostel hostess was trying to charge us far more to only register it for the days I would be staying at the hostel. I saw this as the chance to make some friends and get something constructive done so I pounced and the next thing I was wandering the streets of Irkutsk trying to track down the hotel with Emily and Ellie. The three of us wandered from the hostel to get something to eat, having no idea that we had been snared into a strange web that had been spinning around me and everybody I met. A web which would eventually bring me back in contact with several groups of people I had met at completely unexpected points along the rest of my trip. We compared itineraries and it turned out we all had the same plan of seeing what we thought of Irkutsk before heading down to spend as much time as possible by Lake Baikal, it was clear we would be hanging out for a bit.
As for Irkutsk, well, I didn’t think much of it to be honest. Like so many historical cities worldwide, Irkutsk is now trying too hard to be a modern city and all the new construction and ubiquitous road works have placed a dusty, noisy mask over what is left of the true charm of the city. The highlight of Irkutsk has to be the wooden Decembrist houses scattered throughout the winding streets. The Decembrists (aside from being a rather good band) were a rebel group of Russian army officers who returned to Russia in the early 1800s, after extended periods in Western Europe, with drastically altered views on how their country should be run. Having experienced the more liberal forms of rule there which existed, and succeeded, with far less Monarchist influence they returned determined to make a change to the Tsarist regime which continued to reign supreme in Russia. When Tsar Alexander the 1st popped his clogs in 1825 they saw their chance to seize control, so in December they marched into Senate Square in St.Petersburg with hundreds of their troops and demanded change. Unfortunately, the powers that were weren’t too keen on crazy ideas like democracy, human rights and the elimination of serfdom and on top of those now known as the Decembrists didn’t manage the whole ordeal too well, and in the end 5 of the head honchos were eventually hung (in bizarre circumstances) and everybody else sent off to a lifetime of labour as far away from civilisation as possible. In Siberia. Anyway, to cut a long history lesson short, seeming they were stuck in places like Irkutsk for life, they made the most of it and erected some impressive wooden houses.
The houses have withstood a fair few harsh Siberian winters and many still stand (sometimes only just) today. For many of them the history of the buildings is more impressive than the structures themselves, whilst for others are equal in both appearance and substance. To be brutally honest though, despite my initial intrigue I became fairly numb to them fairly quickly. Maybe I missed the point, but Irkutsk just didn’t hold much more appeal to me after this. I was eager to get to Lake Baikal, a place I have dreamed about going to for years, so I got down to some research and decided that the best place on the banks of Baikal for me to visit would be Listvyanka, a small port town opposite Port Baikal on the southwest tip of the lake. Located just off of the Circum-Baikal railway, Listvyanka sounded just the way to experience Baikal and soak up the unique lakeside culture whilst not straying too far from Irkutsk where I would need to return to in a few days. Luck was on our side and we were offered some (supposedly) nice accommodation at a small art gallery right by the lake for next to nothing and we got an early night in order to get a bright an early minibus to Listvyanka the next day.
Okay, so we didn’t get such an early night and wound up at a horrible Russian Karaoke bar with some Irish lads we met belting back more than our share of Vodkas and I was a bit of a sorry sight at 8am the next day. We delayed our departure a bit and decided we would instead head over and get a group taxi from the Main bus station when we felt up to it. At around 11am we finally set off for Baikal in style; crammed into the back of a minivan laden with backpacks, suitcases and fishermen, nursing the slightest Vodka induced headache. I realized the driver was clearly insane as we hurtled through the busy streets weaving in and out of trams and humans at break-neck speeds and off into the countryside. Once out of the city the road to Listvyanka is as straight as an arrow and lined with beautiful pine forest which I could just about make out as it flew past our window. The ride is about an hour and a half long (whilst traveling at these speeds) and fairly uninteresting unless you REALLY like pine trees. However, as we skidded, tilting around a corner at 1000mph the trees dropped off into the sea to reveal Lake Baikal in all its glory. I was lost for words. For the first time in my trip I wasn’t thinking about what country was next on the list, when my next train left or where I would sleep tonight, I could only stare in wonder at the sheer size and beauty of this lake in the blistering midday Siberian sun. Eventually I managed to blurt out something, which considering I was in the back of an over packed deathtrap of a minivan with a suitcase and large backpack crushing my legs, was a little bit daft:
“Right now, there is nowhere else on this, or any, planet I would rather be”.
I meant it.
Okay, so I was at work this week thinking about the Trans-Siberian railway and I put together my Top Ten Survival Tips. Of course, these are only formed by my experience on the railway and are just a bit of fun, but with any luck they could help anybody who is thinking of taking this amazing trip! Here goes…
1. Come Prepared
Any travel guides you may have (buy one, you won’t regret it) will be sure to have a decent list of useful stuff to bring on the Trans-Siberian railway, but here are a few extra tips. If you are staying on the train for a long stint, bear in mind that you won’t get the chance to access much more than pretty basic supplies for most of the trip so come prepared. There is nothing worse than waking up freezing cold and thirsty at 3am in your pitch black carriage, gasping for a sip of water of reliable origin.
The different numbered trains vary slightly in terms of what you can purchase on board and the facilities offered as standard. Some may have plentiful toilet paper supplies, others don’t, some provide cutlery and mugs, others don’t. In other words, it’s best not to take any chances. One piece of kit you should definitely bring is a plug for the toilet sinks. Nearly none of the bathrooms have these so if you want to fill the basin up for a wash or shave at any point you are going to need one. As for food and drink supplies don’t expect anything other than basics along the route, so if you can’t go without smoked salmon or quails eggs for a few days then bring your own.
2. Stay Safe
Traveling the Trans-Siberian is like traveling anywhere else and the same safety rules apply. Be aware. Remember that you will almost always stand out as a tourist and, therefore, a target. Just don’t make yourself an easy one. Generally speaking, the Trans-Siberian route is pretty safe, however, it always pays to stay savvy. Keep an eye on your stuff, and even if you get the impression that you are in a carriage with some nice people, you never know if they might be tempted to make off with a little ’souvenir’ when they jump off at their stop in the middle of the night. Single women (and men) traveling in 4 berth cabins should be careful too, you may get stuck with some people who you really don’t feel happy with. Be sure to make your Provodnista aware if you feel unsafe or uncomfortable at any time. It is not unusual for solo traveling ladies to travel in third class on many trains as you will be unlikely to find yourself alone with an inappropriate passenger with the extra people around. When you are off the train, be aware of trackside pickpockets and as ever when traveling keep your money and documents somewhere safe, and preferably with you at all times. Remember also that when you get off the train, anybody else can still be on it so don’t leave any gifts on display for them. Don’t worry too much about people coming from off the platforms onto the train, though, Provodnistas are fiercely protective of their carriages and will always be manning the door whilst you are catching some fresh air.
I came off my train without a mobile phone.
3. Keep an Eye on the Time.
All carriages have a timetable on the wall containing times for all the major stops along the route. Keep an eye on these so that you are ready to hop off and mosey around the stations and pick up supplies when you get the chance. Some of the stations have some worthwhile attractions to check out, whilst others are completely featureless. All, however, offer fresh air and, normally, the chance to at least pick up a few supplies. It’s worthwhile setting an alarm for early morning stops, and waking up to realised you missed the last stop by an hour and the next isn’t for another 6. Late night stops can generally be missed, as the vendors tend to shut up shop and trackside merchants are scarce, especially in the winter. Also, keep an eye on the time zone changes and local times. All trains in Russia run on Moscow time, so don’t be surprised when it is pitch black and the train clock reads 5pm. Also, if you are taking the Trans-Manchurian/Mongolian train, be aware that your ticket will state Moscow times for your Russian departures then swap to local times for your arrivals once you cross the border.
4. Befriend Your Provodnista
Your Provodnista is your best friend on this trip! They are in charge of keeping your carriage in order, often lend or sell useful supplies and are generally very useful people to have on your side. Even if there is a foot thick language barrier between the pair of you try to smile, be nice and avoid irritating them as they will inevitably be the person you have to bargain with if something goes wrong. Aside from essentials or potential problems, having a good relationship with your Provodnista could even give you access to some creature comforts like extra pillows or blankets. They are generally friendly and helpful (unless you are unlucky), but they are unlikely to make the effort unless you do especially if there are language difficulties. Basically, a little effort could go a very long way.
5. Bring entertainment
Books, cards, music, games or even a snazzy little portable DVD player. Despite some dramatic scenery there are only so many trees you can whiz past before the view becomes a little monotonous. At other points of the journey, the view can, frankly, be a little depressing. So what better than trying to explain Uno to a Russian teenager, tucking into a foot thick fantasy novel or watching dodgy pirated Moscow DVDs with complete strangers to wile away those long hours between stops.
6. Watch Your Sleeping Pattern
Whether your cabin mates are trying their best to keep you up, you can’t get comfortable on your train bed, you are partying way too hard or you have general lethargy induced by days of not venturing more than a stones throw from the train you spend all day on, be wary of your sleeping patterns. For those prone to napping, it’s very easy to find yourself rocked to sleep by the train at three in the afternoon only to wake up at 8pm and consequently still be wide awake at 3am. Added to this is the fact that the Trans-Siberian railway stretches across several time zones which you cruise in and out of seamlessly. Next thing you know you are wide awake at 3am or falling asleep at noon, all the while gaining or losing an hour for every day or so of travel. Not a nice shock to the system when you finally arrive at your location at six in the morning having been wide awake since midnight.
7. Money Issues
Don’t forget to bring cash. You are unlikely to have any access to ATMs except for at bigger stations, and even then don’t rely on it. So if you plan to pick up any supplies or souvenirs as you go then bring plenty of rubles. Be careful, however, not to bring too much as you are made to declare all of you cash as you cross international borders and if you have a large sum you could run into problems as the Russian Government are funny about tourists taking money out of the country. Also, it is handy to have some US dollars or Euros for changing with the hordes of money changers that will flood your carriage if you are entering Mongolia. They will also take any left over rubles you want to dump. Never accept the first price you are given for your money from these money changers, and be ready for a good haggle if you want to get considerably more togrog for your buck.
8. Stock up at your stops
And enjoy the evolving cuisine as you make tracks across Russia! The food and drink on the train can be pretty disappointing and overpriced to boot. Unfortunately, the only real other source of hot food onboard is anything that be made with boiling water, available in every carriage. However, as anybody who has ever traveled unprepared on a long train journey will tell you, instant noodles get very tedious, very quickly. On the other hands the trackside Babushkas and kiosks, omnipresent at all the main stops, have more than enough to keep your stomach happy. As you move from region to region what you can buy varies, so tuck into varieties of dried fish from waterside towns to bags full of pine nuts in Alpine areas. Also expect a range of dried meats and sausages and other great nibbles throughout. Aside from food you can also pick up all other sorts of supplies from toothpaste to cold drinks and vodka, a key socializing tool on the train!
9. Don’t wander too far from the train!
More of a follow up to the last tip, but important enough to be a tip of its own! Be sure to ask how long you have at each stop if you plan to go for a stroll. Even then, don’t be tempted to stray too far. The best advice is to just to at least to keep the train in sight and be ready to dash back when you notice the platform starting to empty back onboard. If you do find yourself out of sight, then just make sure you are back at the train 5 minutes before you have been told it is due to leave as they normally start getting people back onboard around that time. They will leave without you. That said, don’t be afraid to have a wander, the train is very unlikely to head off earlier than planned.
10. Have fun!
If you can’t enjoy traveling as much as arriving, the Trans-Siberian railway just isn’t the place for you! The journey isn’t a hop from A to B but a completely unique travel experience in its own right. Whether you are working your way across in shorter jumps or traveling several days at a time don’t miss the chance to experience Russia from a unique perspective. Take time to meet new, interesting and often completely mental people. Take in the views, which range everywhere from grey, dreary industrial towns to epic forest landscapes, and fill your memory cards to the brim. Make sure you get your Russian/Mongolian/Chinese phrasebook out and embarrass yourself, sample the varying food along the way, have a good haggle and an even better laugh. It’s an amazing journey, enjoy it.
It was late and I was a mixture of tipsy, excited, slightly lost and a wee bit apprehensive about the trip ahead of me as I stood on the tiny platform that marked the starting point of the mother of all train journeys. My awe inspiring Russian language skills had got me this far and now it was just a matter of waiting under the announcement board for my train number to come up. I decided that seeming I had already started drinking I would continue, so I headed to a kiosk to pick up a bottle or two of Baltika 7 to pass the time. Standing outside, I spotted two lads laughing and speaking English and as I passed they made a beautifully inappropriate comment about some people they had been traveling with that made me chuckle. As I returned from the kiosk, they were still at it and I decided I had to introduce myself, it was clear they were waiting for the same train as I was, they seemed like fun, and I was eager to establish some English speaking acquaintances on the train as sooner rather than later. The very moment I decided to say “hello”, our platform flashed up on the screen and so I used that as an excuse to strike up conversation. It turned out this would be one of the better decisions I would make on my trip.
Adam and Jon turned out to be a really nice pair of young lads from London who were in Russia on a program to practice their Russian whilst traveling across the country. It also turned out they were staying one carriage down from my own and had an almost identical itinerary to my own whilst traveling across the trans-Siberian. What’s more: they had a bag full of snacks and vodka and spoke Russian. On getting to my carriage I was feeling very lucky to have met the pair of them and we arranged to meet up and hang out a bit after we left to get settled into our cabins. My luck only seemed to get better when I got to my room to find I have been moved to the Provodnista’s cabin which instead of being a 4-berth is made for 1, with a sofa seat instead of a bottom bunk and a bed on top. I dropped my bag and took a photo of what (I thought) would be my home for the next four days.
Soon after I had made the top bunk bed, my Provodnista was tapping on my door, and told me to make up the bottom bunk as that is where I would be staying. Concerned that I might be staying in the same room as her, virtually rendering my chances of partying in my cabin impossible, I cursed my luck and started making up the bed. However, it turned out to be my lucky day and the top bunk was in fact for an energetic teenager who seemed quite good fun, though we could barely communicate. He declined my offer of a beer but invited me to the smoking cabin for a cigarette, which I accepted even though I don’t really smoke. Whilst standing between carriages, Adam and Jon showed up and had a chat with the Russian lad who turned out to be called Igor, and was the son of my carriages Provodnista. We went back and introduced ourselves to Igor’s mum and then the four of us disappeared into my cabin for the rest of the night armed with some munchables, a pack of cards and a couple of bottles of vodka.
When I awoke, slightly hung over and completely unaware of what time it was, the train was stopped. I clambered off my bed, slung some shorts and sandals on and pottered, bleary eyed, onto the platform. It was a miserable day but the cool drizzle on my face did better for me than a hundred aspirin ever could and soon Igor was waving a pack of cigarettes in my face again. Soon after, the other two had joined us and we went for a stroll to pick up some food and drink. So it continued for the next few days, the four of us hanging out in our tiny cabin or the restaurant car, drinking, smoking and playing cards. We made an effort to get off every time the train stopped to have a little wander or pick up supplies. A few of the stations have some interesting things to see, or an impressive interior or such, but a large proportion offer nothing but a chance to stretch your legs. I could write for hours about the journey and the things we saw and discussed along the way but it would be of no interest to anybody but me. Likewise an exact itinerary of the journey would be a bit of a dull affair. I guess the trans-Siberian railway is a fairly dull affair at its core. I don’t know what possible appeal I saw in days and days on a train traveling through the closest thing there is to ‘the middle of nowhere’ but not for one second did I regret it. A whole host of weird things happened from stealing the key to the rear door of the train and getting photos of us hanging out the back to late night discussions with Russian fighter pilots, but in general most of the time was spent doing…not much really. I suppose ’surreal’ is the only way to describe the whole occasion.
Whilst alone, most of my time was spent staring out of my little window, marveling at the enormity of the Russian landscape. All along the way, I was pinching myself. Whether at a decaying Siberian industrial town or making tracks through the beautiful Urals into Asian Russia I found it hard to believe that I was finally here; traveling across Russia on the Trans-Siberian railway.
Then, as quickly as it had begun, I was standing on the platform in Irkutsk, saying goodbye. I left the station alone, figured out roughly how to walk to my hostel and set off across a bridge over the Angara River. It was sunny. Painfully bright. In fact, Siberia was damn hot…
…and a very strange place.
Moscow is a huge, sprawling, beast of a city with a population to match. I read on the mighty Wikipedia that is actually the most populous city in Europe and as such expected Hong Kong-esque bustling streets and an overcrowded city centre. However, Moscow being the behemoth it is, you are never faced with the sense of overcrowding that you get even in cities like London. Either that or half of the 10.5m population live underground or something.
In fact, the most crowded place I did visit in Moscow was underground. The Moscow metro has to be the most impressive metro system around and is a tourist attraction in its own right. The stations are all built adhering to the typical “look how big and mighty we are” guidelines and this soviet scale and style is apparent in every station. However, every station seems to be different from the last as well. The walls, floors and ceilings are plastered with classic communist imagery and you are never further than a sickle throw from a statue of some square jawed chap looking determined or an angry looking eagle.
Above ground most of Moscow is equally impressive with its imposing buildings and countless monuments harking back to days long gone. I didn’t get half as much time as I would have liked whilst in Moscow and a couple of days simply aren’t enough. I had a reasonably priced, clean and comfortable hostel in a good spot and could happily have spent a week roaming the streets and checking out the sites. Alas, I had only two days and one night to see what I could so I contented myself with a trip to Red Square and the Kremlin, had a stroll around the epic GUM State Department Store and popped in to check up on Lenin. Having a look at Lenin lying in his mausoleum at the heart of Red Square is definitely an interesting experience but I couldn’t help but laugh. Now I know it might seem the wrong thing to do, however, I couldn’t keep the laughter in when the guy in front of me turned to his mate and loudly whispered, “He looks like he is covered in butter”. When the echoing of my snort of laughter finally hushed over the deathly silent chamber I made a hasty escape under the glaring eyes of some pretty pissed off looking guards and some amused looking tourists.
Red Square and the Kremlin are pretty magnificent but heaving with tourists, Lenin/Stalin look-alikes posing for pictures, crap souvenirs and even a couple of dancing monkeys. Of particular annoyance is the constant presence of Russian police checking VISA validity. Russian Visas need to be registered for every three days spent in a different place; if they are not appropriately registered you are liable to suffer a pretty hefty fine (at worst about US$200) and a lot of hassle. In Red Square (in particular) the number of Russian police ensuring that neglected Visas are found and fined is overwhelming, and in two days mine was checked twice. Of course, being the responsible traveler I am, my documents were all in order but that didn’t seem to stop them trying to extract a ‘fine’. One guard was convinced that the fact I did not have my VISA registered in Moscow despite the fact I would not be there for three days (and had both my incoming and outgoing train ticket to prove it) still constituted a breach of VISA law. I challenged him on this and muttered an exchange with his colleague in Russia before they both grunted and sent me on my way, but by many accounts some people have not been so lucky and been ‘fined’ or paid an outright bribe to avoid whatever it is they would have done if you refused. You may find yourself asking, “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?”. Well, the situation has got to the point where a separate branch of the police are actually employed in order to keep an eye on the notoriously corrupt Moscow street police.
The last thing I did before setting off to leave Moscow was drop by a supermarket to buy some supplies for the next and most exciting leg of my trip. I had been chatting to a lad in Moscow who had just completed the Irkutsk – to Moscow leg of the trans-Siberian in the opposite direction. After listening to some of his stories I figured my best change of finding some people to hang out with should I find myself in a carriage with absolutely no other English speakers was to buy a few bottles of Vodka, because “all Russians speak Vodka”. So stocked up with snacks, vodka and shiny new ticket I headed towards Moscow station to embark on the longest train journey of my life.
The 5151km #10 train to Irkutsk, Siberia.
Okay, I am determined to finish this off…
Since my last post I have experienced a lifetime of changes and half a world of places. Briefly summarise it went a bit like this:
When I entered Russia I had a rushed trip in St. Petersburg and Moscow followed by the mother of all train journeys. At no point during this did I manage to get on the internet for longer than ten minutes at a time. After that came a stint in Siberia and Mongolia (with even less internet exposure) followed by a few weeks in China. For the time in China I have no excuses other than the fact the so much had happened in Russia and Mongolia that sitting in front of a computer for hours recollecting this would have deprived me of time spent exploring. Now, however, it is all over and life has slowed to strolling pace. I am behind a desk, fulfilling my role as part of the corporate machine and intend to use that time both recollecting my last little adventure, and planning the next one…
Of course, it would be too much to try and fit this all into one post, so over the next few entries I will be trying to put together an accurate reconstruction of the second half of my trip from memory, before they too fade and I forget where I even went. I realise that few people are probably interested in this anymore (if they ever were in the first place) but I think this blog has become more of a journal for myself than anyone else.
Well, here goes….
After some wobbly Scooby Doo-esque time-travel transition I found myself at Helsinki station at some ludicrously early hour of the morning. Despite the early hour, I was still late for my bloody train but managed to negotiate the station with European efficiency (possibly the last station on this trip that will be easy to navigate what with Russia, Mongolia and China ahead of me). I proceeded to fall asleep almost instantly, and it wasn’t until I was rudely awoken that I got to enjoy my first ever experience in Russia. I must admit my first Russian experience was rather hairy one (in both senses of the word) being awoken by a classic James Bond style border official armed with all sorts of scary weaponry and his equally scary dog. After pondering for a while what they do if the dog decides it need to ‘go’ mid interrogation I opened up my Trans-Siberian Lonely Planet guide, for this was the first stage of my trip where it would come in handy. The train pulled into Finland station, St. Petersburg, and armed with a few handy phrases and a rough idea of where my hostel was I stepped onto the platform to a rousing patriotic anthem and felt Russia concrete beneath my feet for the first time.
My stay in St. Petersburg was rather uneventful to be honest and I recall my arriving my more vividly than the actual stay. The weather was good to me, the city was beautiful and the people surprisingly friendly. I saw the main tourist’s sites as usual, but you should all know by now that I never really spend much time writing about those things as any guide can give more information than myself on the matter and in most cases the actual visit to the sites in pretty standard. However, no account of St. Petersburg would be complete without a little about the Hermitage, one of the largest collections of art and historical artifacts on this fair earth. However, as intriguing as the contents of the buildings is the buildings themselves. The complex is enormous and many of the rooms within the building are so lavishly decorated they border on tacky. The best example of this being the doorknobs. I know it may seem odd to visit the Hermitage and comment only on the door handles, but the inner metal-head in me couldn’t help but love the fact that they are all dragons’ claws holding onto massive plastic ‘rubies’. There is also so much gold paint/leafing on the ceilings, walls, doors and even floors of the place that Gaby (a lovely German girl who fancied a trip to the museum) and I developed a new categorisation process for the rooms.
After rating the rooms anything from ‘too much gold’ to ‘distinctly lacking gold’ we headed off for a night out in town. Successfully avoiding the mental Russian who lived at our hostel we had a nice night out on the town with some other English girls we met and wound up outside some monumental club disputing whether or not to go in and witness the greased up Russian bodybuilders in g-strings dancing to techno. Despite being assured this wasn’t a gay club and there were many ‘beautiful women’ inside, I decided against it as I had a night train to catch and I didn’t fancy navigating my way to and through Russian train stations completely destroyed.
Of course, all this time I got pictures, so go check them out:
http://flickr.com/photos/joehastings/sets/72157594254611104/
For now I will leave it at this, but expect another update soon with details of my stay in Moscow and onto the Trans-Siberian railway!
Godspeed
Well, as it went the journey from Bergen through to Helsinki was surprisingly easy and even relaxing in places. The train ride from Bergen back to Oslo was even better this time round, the same scenery but with better weather. My afternoon in Oslo was dull but restorative and consisted of using the internet and watching some happy clappy band sing songs of praise at the station. My afternoon is Stockholm was lovely but not of particular note. The sun was out and I cruised around all of the central areas with my big old backpack on. Sweaty back and shoulders but nice sightseeing. I didn’t get up to much particularly adventurous, just meandered my way from the main train station in the north of the city to the ferry port in south stopping at most major tourist locations and trying to sneak in for free. The ferry ride was good fun too and had all of the classic/rubbish activates to get up to i.e. quiz on the top deck, bingo, duty free booze and a couple of games of waste-your-money-in-the-casino. I met a nice couple whilst admiring one of the best sunsets of all time from the back of the ship and spent the rest of the evening playing cards and drinking beer with them. Next stop, Finland…
There isn’t much I can write to explain just how enjoyable my stay in Finland was. The city of Helsinki is much like any European city and by now, as I mentioned, I was becoming a bit blasĂ© with regards to the European capitals. There is always a nice building here, a nice church there, a few big roads full of McDonalds and normally a big park in there too. However, staying with people who really know and love the city they live in is an infinitely rewarding thing. Jyry and his friends were the warmest and most fun group of guys I have met in a while and remind me a lot of my good friends back in London which turned out to be just what I needed. Every night of the week, whether they had work, or not they would be happy to walk or bike down to the area of town known as Kallio or invite us over for a beer, which surprised me since Jyry’s description of average young male Finns was that of a generally insular bunch who drink too much. It struck me that this could possibly be said of me and my mates and maybe thats why I felt right at home once the ice was broken. The mid-week though was just a precursor to the weekend to come. Plans had been made for a weekend visit to Jyry’s cabin in the countryside.
It was immense…
The cabin itself was an old-as-time log cabin about as close to the edge of Lake Lojha as you can get without being ankle deep. In fact, the only reason it is allowed to be so close to the waters edge is because it was built long before regulations were brought in 50 or so years ago stating cabins must be built further back from the shore. I guess the easiest way to describe it is to appeal to the romantic vision most people would have of an old log cabin nestled snugly where forest meets lake in the Finnish wilderness. Easier still is to just go look at the pictures! The night consisted of the manliest activities one can imagine short of spearing a wild moose and eating it raw. We roasted countless hunks of meat over an open fire, fired up the traditional Finnish sauna (of course!), cooled ourselves off in the lake and listened to hour upon hour of Finnish power metal…all the time drinking about as much beer and vodka as it is possible to without causing permanent damage. It was nothing short of a perfect night with the lads done Finland style and one I am unlikely to forget. Soon enough though, it was time to leave and after saying my goodbyes and inviting everybody in Helsinki to come stay with me in Hong Kong when I get my own place I was on a train to St. Petersburg, Russia. More interesting stories ensue but right now I simply don’t have the time! Another update tomorrow…
Oh yes, the greatest title yet!
Right… I’m having a somewhat lazy evening in Helsinki and thought I would use a bit of free time to post a bit of a catch up on my Norwegian exploits.
Oslo
I arrive in Oslo at around 8AM after my overnight train from Malmö, Sweden, only to find that my hotel had an even more outrageous check in time (4pm) so I had the best part of the afternoon to check out the City. I picked up a few guides to give me some ideas about things to do and hit the streets. A backpackers budget guide to Oslo which warned me straight off about how expensive Oslo is, a comment I didn’t pay much attention seeming that I am used to pretty expensive cities having lived in Hong Kong and London. In reality Oslo makes London and Hong Kong look relatively cheap. Being a traveler, I’m not really concerned with taxes or the general cost of living as a resident but instead the backpacker essentials such as food, entertainment and beer. After paying nearly ÂŁ6 for a sandwich and some orange juice for breakfast (from a 7-11 no less, hardly Michelin starred service) I decided I would do well to watch my wallet very closely. As such I decided my best bet would be to rent a bike and simply look around for the day and try my best not to buy anything unless I was starving to death.
The bicycle rental system in Oslo is clever and surprisingly cheap; you pay 60Kr (around ÂŁ6) and you receive a smart card which works on bicycle racks which are scattered across the city for 24 hours. When you put your card in a rack, a simple bike (4 gears, two wheels etc…) is released which you can ride around for up to 3 hours before having to replace it at any of the other racks in the city. Using this cool little system I just pedaled around seeing the typical tourist’s sites. The most impressive of these is probably The Vigeland Sculpture Park. I don’t know much about the artist in question but the park has hundreds of cool sculptures in a picturesque setting. Otherwise, I have to admit that Oslo didn’t provide a great amount to excite me. Maybe it was because I was feeling a little down. I’m not totally sure why. Maybe I was just being a big girl, maybe it was because I miss my little puppy Chili or even just because I am a tight bugger and spending so much money was stressing me out, but either way Chelsea losing 2-1 in the last minute to Mark-Bloody-Viduka-Boro didn’t help. Fortunately, I was heading to Bergen the next morning and it turned out that it was exactly what I needed (even though I didn’t know it yet…)
Bergen
Before heading on this trip I had heard that the Oslo to Bergen railway is one of the most impressive in the world. It is. Only an hour after leaving Oslo the first signs of a leaving the city and entering the great outdoors are apparent. Then suddenly, the fairly standard issue countryside lakes and forest scenery are swept into the darkness of a fairly long tunnel. When you emerge, the world changes. I don’t know what sort of odd portal we went through, but the next 4 hours were spent with my face/camera stuck to the window devouring the epic landscapes along the route. It’s easy to forget that the world outside the frame of the window is actually there and as countless lakes, mountain vistas and even Glaciers pass it would be easy to become desensitized (in a television violence kind of way…). However, I can honestly say it was the first long train journey I have taken where the traveling was more enjoyable than arriving. Pictures fail to capture quite how amazing it was, but I tried to take some none the less. The town of Bergen, though, turned out to be a quite a match to the train journey there.
My hostel was conveniently located right by the fish market in the center of town, and after checking in (finally a hostel with a sensible check in time!) I headed out to see what I could see. Bergen is small, but what it lacks in size and things to do, it more than makes up for in charm and beauty. Instead of wondering what activity was next on the list I was more than content just walking around and looking at things from the port and fish market, to the old wooden buildings to the tips of the 7 mountains surrounding the city. One thing I did notice about Bergen that day (aside from the fact it wasn’t raining, which it supposedly does 90% of the year) was the number of metal head touring around the city. Though I fit right in with my At the Gates t-shirt and general attire I couldn’t help but wonder why I had seen more pasty arms and legs, dodgy black t-shirts and even dodgier black hair today than in the rest of my trip combined. The answer was only a beer away. As the sun spectacularly set on my first day in Bergen (see pic above) I decided to find a place to have some food and some fizzy golden travel fuel and on the advice of a girl in a rather fetching Morbid Angel t-shirt I went to a bar called the Garage. It was Hole in the Sky festival. Tonight, under this very bar, would be a metal-stravagaza with bands such as Necrophagist and Morbid Angel playing. What’s more is that this would continue for 2 more days with Celtic Frost, Witchcraft, Satyricon and even Atheist playing. As I tucked into a horribly overpriced beer and complained that I couldn’t find a ticket and American accent beside me muttered “Hell, we are playing tomorrow night and we can’t get downstairs”. Turns out even if you are in one of the headline acts you couldn’t get in if you weren’t playing that night and so began my evening of drinking with the guys from Atheist.
I awoke refreshed by a night of beer and death metal, and determined to conquer one of the mountain peaks surrounding Bergen, however, the famous Bergen rain was to dash my hopes for now. The highest peak (Ulriken) was engulfed in clouds and they didn’t look like moving. I waited the day out to see if it would clear up but by lunch time it became clear that I would have to settle for visiting Floyen and small peak closer to town. I can’t imagine what Ulriken was like because the view from the top of the Floyen funiculaire was spectacular, but I had my sights set on a long walk up to a higher peak. Armed with a bottle of water, jacket and MP3 player I headed through the rain up a 3km trail to a nice looking lake. A few hours or so later I was still walking and couldn’t seem to figure out if I was still on the right trail. What I did know though is that I was heading up, and that was good enough for me. The weather was deteriorating, but I couldn’t bring myself to turn back as every corner revealed a new perspective down the mountain to Bergen, a nice lake or some forest older than time itself. At this point, I may have already seen my original lake (there were so many it was hard to tell which one was the right one) and I abandoned my quest replacing it with a newer one. To make it to the top of this wall of rock if it killed me. Never in my life have I been happier to be tired, wet and hungry on the top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere.
I came back down a new man, the slight sadness of the previous days was behind me and I didn’t even care that I didn’t have enough money to eat a nice meal when I got back down. I was exhausted. I bought some supermarket pasta and sauce, cooked it at the hostel and fell asleep almost instantly. Tomorrow was to be the start of a busy two days of traveling in which I would make my way from the west of Norway to Finland by means of train, bus and even a ship. Sleep was just what I needed then, and it is just what I need now.
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