Gobi Desert trip itinerary

Its all set. I leave tomorrow morning for a 10-day trip to the Gobi desert and central Mongolia. I will return on September 7th and won't be emailing until then. The trip was arranged through the Golden Gobi guesthouse so should you need to reach me call the guest house at 011-976-11-322632.

For less than $35/person/day we have a jeep, gas, driver, english speaking guide/cook, accomodation in gers, all meals (cooked), all national park entrance fees, and even some camel and horse riding thrown in too! Pretty good deal I'd say.

There are 5 of us going, including a Swiss couple and 2 other girls from I'm not sure where yet. The two girls are coming back a little early so it will be just 3 of us the last 3 days. I'm pretty excited about the tour and the group and I'm glad I held out until today.

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia - Day 2

Saturday (26 August) evening at the hostel was uneventful, in fact, it was pretty dead. I ate a very filling dinner with a milk shake at a nice restaurant near the hostel for $4. Did I mention Mongolia was cheap?

Sunday (27 August) I decided I should see a little bit of the city even though I wasn't feeling very motivated. I walked over to one of the city highlights, Gandantegchinlen Khiid, Mongolia's largest and most important monstery. I was surprised to see so many people around the compound and to my disappointment the monstery was closed for some special event. I could tell there was something big about to happen though as there was a large chair under a tent set up directly in front of the entrance to the monstery, along with a bunch of chairs, video cameras, speakers, etc, surrounding the tent. Then there was a 'light' barrier set up all around this that the crowds continued to build around. I could tell someone was coming to speak and the crowds continued to build. They have no concept of personal space here so everyone just pushes everyone else and no body gets upset (except foreigners!).

After standing there about 20 minutes a thought entered my mind as to who this speaker might be, but I thought there was no way I could be so lucky as to stumble upon such an event. But as the crowds continued to grow I became quite certain of the speaker, seeing several people holding pictures of him. Then my suspicions were confirmed when His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet arrived with his entrange! Wow, talk about luck, getting to see the Dalai Lama in Mongolia. Of course I couldn't understand a word of what he said, nor of the Mongolian that it was translated into. But nevertheless I got some photos and it was a cool experience. I grew tired of the crowds though and left before he was done speaking. What an unexpected surprise and talk about luck; I just happened to show up at the monstery at that time on that day.

The hostel had arranged a meeting at 6 pm that evening (Sunday, 27 August) for people to get together to plan trips to the country side. I was looking forward to meeting some people for a trip but neither the people nor the trips interested me so I decided to wait it out another day in hopes of finding what I was looking for on Monday.

Monday (28 August) morning at breakfast I met some Italians who just arrived who seemed interested in going to the Gobi Desert like myself, but importantly seemed like people I would want to travel with. Then I went to another hostel and met some other people I had been emailing. We seem to have the same philosophies so we are going to meet up again in a couple hours and hopefully make some plans to leave tomorrow. Tentatively we are looking at a 10-11 day trip to the Gobi Desert. So I have a couple of leads at this point and things are looking positive. Hopefully I'll be on my way tomorrow morning.

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

What a trip! The slight culture shock I experienced when I arrived in Russia was out done by the culture I experienced this morning. Mongolia is crazy. The first thing I noticed (I actually noticed this at customs) is that people actually speak english! That is nice. Some signs are also in english. Again that is nice. Mongolia is also cheap, cheap. My dorm bed is $5/night and there are cheaper beds than that to be found in the city. Food is cheap, taxis are cheap, internet is cheap, laundry is cheap..... cheap, cheap, cheap. People also smile here! What a change from Russia. And once again I finally feel like I stick out as people here look quite different than Russians.

When I got off the train Saturday (26 August) morning, I almost immediately saw a person holding a sign for my hostel. Sweet, a free (and more importantly easy) ride to the hostel. I got to the hostel and had my first hot, clean shower in 10 days. The hostel is great. Friendly, clean, helpful, etc. Then I took a taxi ($1.25) to the black market as I needed to buy a warm jacket since I sent my home in Helsinki! The Gobi desert will be cold at night and I needed something warmer than the sole longsleeve shirt I have. I bought an thick, imitation north face fleece jacket for $20 and a hooded cotton pullover for $5. What a deal! Then I took a taxi back to my hostel ($1.75). Now I'm using internet for $.50/hour!

I'm trying to hook up with a group of people to take a trip to the Gobi desert for a couple of weeks. Tomorrow the hostel has organized a meeting for people to get together to make plans and form groups. So I'm really looking forward to exploring some of the far reaches of Mongolia, probably starting Monday morning.

It was strange this morning when I was negotiating with the taxi driver over a matter of $.50 when in any of the other countries I just came from that amount is worthless....

Trans-Siberian Railway – Part 3, Irkutsk, Russia to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Thursday (24 August) night my train left Irkutsk, Russia bound for Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. I was ready to be done with Russia by this point even though it had been just 3 weeks since I entered Russia. Traveling in Russia is just plain difficult sometimes and it begins to wear on you. I shared my train compartment with a Mongolian family which was fine except young boy was really annoying. On Friday (25 August) just after 1 pm we arrived at the Russian border. After waiting there for nearly 5 hours for customs monkey business ("leave your compartment, return to your compartment, leave the train, stand up, sit down, fill out forms, fill out more forms, locked toilets.....") we continued onto the Mongolia side where we waited almost another 4 hours and more of the same customs nonsense. It wasn't until nearly 10 pm that night did we continue our journey. That was a little annoying but I knew ahead of time that was part of the ride. I missed some of the best scenery during the 2 nights and had to spend 9 waking hours staring at train stations. Too bad we couldn't go through customs at night! But I woke up on Saturday morning to stunningly beautiful Mongolia. Stunning, that is, until we hit the urban sprawl of Ulaanbaatar. On Saturday (26 August) morning we steamed into the ugly, smogy, capital of Mongolia, Ulaanbatar.

Irkutsk, Russia

I arrived in Irkutsk, Russia Tuesday (22 August) afternoon and made my way to the hostel. It was really tough to come back to civilization after such a great 4 days on Olkhon Island. The hostel (Irkutsk Downtown Hostel) was a welcome relief to this otherwise easily passed over city. Irkutsk is nothing much to brag about; big, dirty, noisy, and seedy. After 6 days without a hot shower I was looking forward to one at the hostel, unfortunately the hot water is broken right now. So that hot shower will have to wait. It may not seem like a big deal (and I've had plenty of non-heated showers in SE Asia), but when the tap water is around 50 degrees F and its not warm outside, you need hot water to shower.

Tuesday evening I got sick and spent the night throwing up. Not fun, but at least I was in a nice hostel. I felt slightly better the next morning (Wednesday, 23 August), but still only managed to go down to the train station and back before spending the rest of the day hanging around the hostel. Had my first food in 24 hours on Wednesday night.

Thursday (24 August) morning I felt much better, but this town doesn’t inspire much sightseeing. So after a trip to the store for some train food, I spent the day at the hostel.

I leave in a few hours for Mongolia. It’s another 35-hour, 2-night hop. I’m ready to be down with Russia as everything is just so difficult here. I’m really looking forward to Mongolia as I’ve heard nothing but fantastic things about it from other travelers. I’m planning to hook up with some other travelers there from some trips to the Gobi, etc so internet access will be limited.

Olkhon Island, Lake Baikal, Russia

On the bus ride to Olkhon Island Friday (18 August) afternoon I met some other backpackers and we ended up splitting rooms once there. The guesthouse was full but they put us up in one of the villager’s homes, which is common practice there. The main town on Olkhon Island, Khuzhir, is nothing more than a village. Only dirt roads and no street lights or signs. Just a few cars and more cows. It was fantastic and beautiful. No plumbing though. The weather was perfect and the scenery was amazing. It was difficult to grasp how large Lake Baikal is (largest freshwater lake in the world, containing 20% of the world’s liquid fresh water, 1630 meters deep!).

It would take too long to write everything down so here it is in a nutshell:
Friday (18th) afternoon – hiked around the rocks on the shore of the lake. Perfect weather.
Friday night - a big group of us went out to the town bar. Met 2 Russian girls, Ira and Olya.
Saturday (19th) - spent the day on the beach. The water was freaking freezing. Perfect weather.
Saturday night – another big group went to the same bar. Up until sunrise.
Sunday (20th) – weather not as good but still spent the day on the beach.
Sunday night – did nothing. went to sleep early.
Monday (21st) – went on a minibus excursion to the north cape of the island. Fantastic trip. Perfect weather and scenery.
Monday night – pretty mellow, hung around campfire at the guesthouse. good times.
Tuesday (22nd) morning – took minibus back to Irkutsk.

Trans-Siberian Railway – Part 2, Tomsk to Irkutsk

Wednesday (16 August) evening I started the second leg of my Trans-Siberian journey. This was a 35-hour, 2-night hop from Tomsk, Russia to Irkutsk, Russia. I said goodbye to Rita and her family (and got to meet her daughter, Liza, just before I left) and headed for the train station. I was anxious to see who my cabin mates would be this time. Rita was convinced I would have better luck than my prior train ride and she was right. I got to my cabin to find a family already there. A grandmother (though not your typical Babuska), her two daughters, and one of the daughter’s 2 sons (11 and 12 years old). Two of the family members were staying in the next cabin but came to our cabin for meals, etc. I was relieved and the family was super nice to me. The grandmother always made sure I had food in my hands when they were eating, and sometimes made sure I had food in both hands. The two sons made me play cards for a while. I later found out that they were Johova’s Witnesses going to some type of conference. Really nice people. Unfortunately they only were only in my cabin for first night and left at noon on Thursday (17 August). But fortunately another family took their place at the same stop the first family got off. I also met a couple of backpackers, Jill and Niall, and we spent some time in the restaurant car playing cards.

So I arrived in Irkutsk on Friday (18 August) morning feeling pleased about a more ‘successful’ train ride. Once in Irkutsk, I immediately made my way to the tourist office to catch a minibus to Olkhon Island on Lake Baikal. I made it just in time to catch the minibus and 7 hours later I was on Olkhon Island.

Tomsk, Russia

Early that afternoon (Monday, 14 August), Rita, Kostia, and I took the bus from the Tomsk bus station to their house and Rita insisted on paying the bus fare. When we arrived at their house, she showed me to the room where I would sleep. I also met their 14 year old son, Daniel, at this point. He spoke english too of course. Rita and Kostia also have a 20 year old daughter, who was away on vacation and not coming back for a couple more days. Then Rita feed me lunch before she had Daniel take me on a little tour of Tomsk. It was a beautiful day and a great little city (~500,000 isn't exactly little, but it felt small). Eventualy Daniel ran off to meet some friends. I'm sure he would have rather done anything other than be a tour guide for some stranger his mom just brought in off the street! But he did a great job and spoke more english once outside the house. After Daniel left I continued to walk around the city that afternoon, enjoying the weather before returning to their home that evening. I got cleaned up and then they feed me dinner. All the meals were excellent. I felt a little akward about all this hospitatily from strangers; warm meals, tours, a comfortable, quiet, and friendly place to sleep. Wow! They are such nice people, including Rita's mom who lives with them who doesn't speak a word of English but still tries to communicate with me.

The next morning (Tuesday, 15 August) it was cloudy with the occasional sprinkle. Rita was my tour guide this morning. She showed me more of Tomsk, including Tomsk's famous wooden architecture; numerous wooden houses with intricate wooden craved details. Then she helped me buy my train ticket to Irkutsk for the next evening. Then, again, she feed me a delicious lunch.

After lunch she took me to her Dacha, or Russian Summer house, located just outside the city. I had read that Dachas were an important part of the Russian culture so I was quited interested to see it. We took a bus part of the way there and then walked another 30 minutes along a path through the forest. Once we arrived at their Dacha and I was completely surprised by her garden. It was huge. In the front were all kinds of flowers and berry bushes and trees. In the back, was the vegatable garden with every kind of vegatable and herb imaginable. I helped her pick huge cucumbers, huge squash, carrots, onions, spring onions, garlic, dill, parsely and I'm sure I left stuff out. She had numerous other vegatables there that we didn't pick. Basically every kind vegatable you can buy in a store here she grows in her garden! Then she picked a bouquet of flowers from her garden for her mom. Then we picked a cup full of raspberries for her mom as well. We snacked on raspberries as well as several other kinds of berries I'd never heard of before that Rita introduced me to. We loaded up my backpack and a large plastic bags with the treasures from Rita's garden before catching the bus back to her house in the city. Again, that evening they feed me well and we snacked on the spoils from Rita's hard work.

The next morning (Wednesday, 16 August) I discovered that I had left my passport at the travel agent where Rita helped me book my train ticket. I was nervous about this blunder but not overly so, and certainly not as worried as I was about losing my credit card in St. Petersburg (even though losing my passport would be a much bigger deal!). After the delicious breakfast Rita made using the vegetables from her garden, we went down to the travel agent - again Rita insisted on paying the bus fare since I was her guest - and found my awaiting passport. Whew!

I leave tonight (Wednesday, 16 August) at 7 pm for Irkutsk, Russia. I arrive in Irkutsk at 7 am two days from now, a 35-hour, 2-night, 1-day train ride. Again there were no 3rd class seats but I have an upper bunk in a 2nd class compartment. I hope my cabin mates are less rowdy than the last...

Once in Irkutsk I will immediately take the 7-hour bus ride to Olkhon Island on Lake Baikal where I will spend 4 to 6 nights. There is a traveler's hang out on Olkhon Island called Nikita's guest house that I want to spend some time at. As Olkhon Island just got power last year, I'm not expecting to find an internet connection there so it will be a while before I can blog again. After Lake Baikal, I will return to Irkutsk where I will catch the train to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Novosibirsk to Tomsk, Russia

I walked the 3+ km from the Novosibirsk train station to the bus station early that morning (Monday, 14 August). Although Novosibirsk is a large town (1.5 million people) it was very quite early that morning. I bought my ticket for the 5-hour bus ride to Tomsk without too much hassle, but then boarded the wrong bus. Luckily a pretty, university aged girl saw what was going on and helped me onto the right bus (falling down the stairs of the bus in the process), which created quite a scene (I felt) when I had to get my bag back out from the luggage area.

I boarded the correct bus and found my seat. As I thanked the woman sitting next to me in Russian for getting up to allow me to my window seat, she responded "your welcome". I was surprised to hear she spoke english (what a coincidence) and we instantly struck up a conversation. She had seen my whole ordeal with getting onto the wrong bus and I felt a little embarrassed as she said she could tell immediately that I was a foreigner. I found out that Rita was an english teacher at the Tomsk University. What luck! She offered to come to the Tomsk train station with me once we arrived to help me secure my train ticket for the next day. I was very grateful for this offer as buying tickets was never easy for me with the Russian language barrier. A few minutes later in the conversation we were talking about accomodation in Tomsk and she said, "you know, you can stay with me if you like." Wow, I was very greatful for the offer but also didn't want to impose. But I accepted, very appreciative of her generosity. Her husband, Kostia, met us at the bus station. I wondered what he thought of his wife bringing in some stranger off the street to his home?! He spoke broken english but didn't say a lot at this point. I decided to wait until the next day to buy the train ticket so as not to be on a restrictive schedule in Tomsk.

Trans-Siberian Railway - Part 1, Moscow to Novosibirsk

So it finally began. Friday (11 August) night I walked from my hostel to 1 of the 9 Moscow train stations where my Trans-Siberian journey would begin. The station was unexpectedly crowded for being so late in the evening, ~10:30 pm. My train arrived about 15 minutes before it was scheduled to depart. The waiting hordes jammed slowly onto the train. I was the first one in my cabin. This train was nothing like my train from St. Petersburg to Moscow. This one was a simple, bare-bones comparment, but clean. I waiting anxiously for my fellow cabin mates to arrive, wondering who I would spend the next few days in very close confines with. First to arrive were 2 typical looking, middle-aged, Russian men who spoke not a word of English. Eventually we made introductions and I got the point across that I spoke no Russian. They laughed. Their names were Ivan and Sergey; hows that for typical Russian! Soon after, Dima, our last cabin mate, arrived. He also spoke no english. He was younger and had many friends board the train with him that later saw him off across the threshold of the window. I later found out (through pictures) that Dima was in the Russian army, and I assumed those were some of his army buddies seeing him off. As we set off just before 11 pm that Friday night on our 55-hour, 3-night, 2-day, 3343 km journey to Novosibirsk, Russia in western Siberia everyone in my cabin was quiet and sober. Soon enough that would all change.

Not long after leaving Moscow's Yaroslavsky train station, the mood in the cabin lightened and pictures and souvenirs were passed around to break the ice. First I was offered a beer and shortly afterwards food by the 2 Russian men. I gladly accepted having heard stories about the generosity of Russians and feeling a little bad for not bringing anything to share in return. Then the 'kanyak' came out, Russian brandy. Dima's offering to the cabin. I was surprised it wasn't vodka, after all the stories I've heard. As a man, it is considered extremely strange and impolite to refuse offerings of liquor. So not wanting to offend so early in my journey, I accepted. We drank and mimed our way across the language barrier lightening the mood substantially before we all went to sleep at the reasonable hour of 12:30 am. I was completely sober though, only accepting a little brandy with each toast. The others were probably also completely sober though even after drinking much more than me!

The next morning (Saturday, 12 August) I was the first in my cabin to wake. It was after 10 am. I went for breakfast in the restaurant car, which was another interesting 'conversation', and when I returned the 2 middle aged Russian men were drinking. It was at this point that I became a little concerned about the rest of the journey in this cabin. I had my first shot before 12 noon and knew I couldn't keep up at this pace. They eagerly offered me more food and drink, so when someone came around selling beer (and obviously these 2 Russian men wouldn't turn down the chance) I bought the next 2 rounds, having nothing else to share. I don't think I drank a single one of those beers though.

Some time that afternoon everyone took a nap. Then more drinking and eating that evening. I don't think I drank that round. During this course of drinks, one of the 2 Russian men, completely drunk by now, knocked an entire table of full beer cans on me. He was too drunk to be apologetic. Then around 8 pm everyone passed out for the night (or so I thought). I read in peace, surprised by how easy I had gotten off that evening all things considered. I fell asleep a couple hours later.

Then sometime around 1 am I was awoke to find myself in the middle of a party. The bottom bunk was not the place to be in this cabin. The 2 Russian men were wide awake, loud, drunk, and drinking heavily. There being not much room in the cabin they comfortably set on my bed as I tired to ignore all the activity and sleep. Throughout all this non-sense the other younger Russian guy, Dima, was able to ignore all this simply listening to his music and blocking it all out. I, on the other hand, couldn't block it out so easily. Eventually, several hours later, these 2 got drunk enough to pass out although one had to be lifted up to his bunk by his buddy. It was quite the scene, especially when his buddy slammed the heavy cabin door shut with his foot still hanging off the bed into the threshold. Ouch! but he was too drunk to feel much pain I think.

The following morning (Sunday, 13 August), or should I say "later that morning", something had to give. I couldn't take another day and night of this monkey business. I walked the entire length of the train asking all the Provodnitsas (carriage attendent) from each carriage if I could change beds. No one understood my request though as no one spoke english. I sat in the restaurant car for a while reading, wondering why I had been so anxious to start my train journey as this is not what I had envisioned. I made my way back to my cabin to find everyone passed out. Nevertheless I went to my Provodnik (male carriage attendent) and tried to ask again. Amazingly this time he found a bed in another cabin for me and I happily moved in. This cabin was great. Again the people didn't speak english but they were quiet, considerate, and sober. I spent the rest of the afternoon reading and just being happy for my improved situation.

Early the following morning (Monday, 14 August) the Provodnik awoke me. We were shortly arriving in Novosibirsk, my destination. I saw the guys from my previous cabin that morning, completely stumbling drunk. I was extremely happy not to have been a part of those festivities again. It was still dark but warm when I got off the train in Novosibirsk, the capital of Siberia.

strange day

Yesterday (Thursday, 10 August) was a strange day. First with me helping this old woman who could barely walk carrying 2 heavy bags up 10 flights of stairs (there was a working elevator......), then successfully booking a train ticket, then a another bit of (good) strangeness:

I was sitting in a park having a snack (cookies......) minding my own business and this young, very attractive woman walks up to me and says something in Russian. I respond, "ya ne govoriu po Russki" ("I don't speak Russian"). She pauses for a moment then says, "kiss me quick". One of my quirks - for better or for worse - is to always be suspious when I'm traveling. So I immidiately start wondering how this could be a scam. I respond -- perhaps stupidly in hindsight because I couldn't think of something more witty to say like "shouldn't I buy you dinner first" -- "why?" She says, "just kiss me" and turns her cheek towards me. So I stand up and kiss her on the cheek. She says, "now this side" and turns her other cheek. I oblige again. She says "thank you" and steps aside and I sit down wondering what in the hell is going on. A guy walks up after her and says "now kiss me". I respond, "nyet" ("no"). He laughs and steps aside and then two people with a video camera (digital handy cam type) walk up from behind a sign - everyone laughing now - and say I'm on some kind of Russian candid camera. I thought they said it was like Russian MTV but I could be wrong. They had me wave to the camera and then I said to the pretty woman (while still being recorded), "I hope I didn't get chocolate on your cheek", because I was eating some chocolate cookies and had the bag in hand throughout the event. Eating is such a vulernable position to be in when approached by a beautiful woman so I was a little uneasy about the whole thing. Mainly I just thought it was a strange 'situation' for a candid camera show but I suppose some people actually kiss the guy too.... Strange day indeed.

Moscow - day 4

The weather was a little better today (Friday, 11 August) so I went around to some of the places/sites I had seen before and took some better photos. It was nice not to be walking around in the rain. I also got to see a bit more of the city and generally just took it easy.

I'm really ready to be out of the big cities. Moscow is a tough nut to crack. Its a great place to visit, but I know I definitely couldn't live here! Russia can wear you down pretty quickly if you let it get to you. Its so many things but the smog/noise/traffic (completely 'offensive' driving habits) and the lack of being able to read signs/labels/anything (because they are in Cyrillic) are my two main headaches. Also it seems like nobody is happy here - and I admit I wouldn't be if I lived here either - and no body ever smiles or is polite. Of course there are exceptions but rudeness seems to prevail. I've been to countries that are much worse off than Russia and the people there are warm, friendly, and happy there so I really don't know why Russia is the way it is. Perhaps these are just my impressions from the 2 largest cities and hopefully things will be different in the smaller towns.

Moscow - day 3

Although the hostel here (called Traveler's Guesthouse) is really overpriced -- its on the 10th floor of a run down hotel outside the city center -- it does have a good hostel feel with some interesting travelers; lots of 'Trans-Sibbers'. So I guess it could be worse.

On Thursday (10 August) I got a later start than the previous two days. I needed to book my train ticket this morning and was debating between trying to work it out myself, or just having the hostel/travel agency book it for a $20 fee. I decided to do it myself so I had one of the girls working at the hostel write me a note in Russian for the train ticket I wanted. Then I walked down to the train station and handed my note to one of the stern looking women (Russian speaking only, of course) behind the ticket counter as well as speaking a few practiced Russian phrases. I managed to secure my ticket speaking no english but with the help of my guidebook of course. So I was quite happy to have successfully booked my ticket almost entirely by myself. I leave tomorrow (Friday, 11 August) night at 11 pm from Moscow and arrive in Novosibirsk, Russia (western Siberia) on Monday (14 August) morning at 5 am. That is 3 straight nights and 2 full days on the train and 3343 km. The 3rd class beds were booked up so I had to opt for the more expensive, and less 'Russian', 2nd class. This ticket for 3 nights 'accomodation' and several thousand kilometers of rail travel in 2nd class cost $175. Not too bad! And I booked the day before I wanted to leave and during high season.

From Novosibirsk I'm going to the small(er) Russian university town of Tomsk for the night, probably by bus. Then the next day (or night) I will head further east by train to Irkutsk and Lake Baikal. That is assuming I can successfully book my onward ticket for the next day once in Novosibirsk. There is a great travelers guesthouse on Olkhon Island on Lake Baikal called Nikita's Guesthouse, so I'm quite looking forward to spending 5 or so days hanging out on this island hiking around and relaxing.

After the train station I went back to the outdoor photo exhibit that I found on my first day in Moscow. While I was there I ran into a French girl from the hostel, Kimmie, and we walked around for a while. Now I think I'm going to walk around a bit more around the Kremlin and Red Square. I'm quite excited to be starting my train journey tomorrow.

Moscow, Russia - day 1 and 2

Tomas, the guy from Chili, was staying at a different hostel in Moscow so we parted ways at the train station and I found my own way to my hostel. On my walk there that morning (Tuesday, 8 August) from the train station I spotted a person ahead of me: backpack on, guidebook/bible in hand, walking from the train station in a 'suburb' of Moscow at 7 am in the morning down the street I knew my hostel was on could mean only one thing. It had to be another backpacker going to my hostel, so I chatted her up and we found the hostel together (although only after passing because we were distracted from talking). After waiting over 2 hours to check in at the hostel, Jacelyn (from New York), and I decided to explore the city together. We walked by an outdoor photo exhibit (similar to the one I saw in Copenhagen) and I had a good time trying out my Cyrillic diphering on her as she knew a bit of Russian. Then we took the metro to the heart of Moscow: the Kremlin. It was too late in the day and the lines to long to see the Kremlin then, so we walked around the outside of the Kremlin and through Red Square. At one end of Red Square it the famos St. Basil's Cathedral and Lenin's Tomb, although we went in neither. It was a beautiful, warm summer day and not the typical drab weather that Moscow and Red Square are usually protrayed as in movies. It was pretty neat although different and/or smaller than I was expecting. The low point of the day, actually of the last several days, was our lunch. We went into this nice, new underground shopping mall to find internet access. We walked through the food court and decided to have lunch there. It was hard to understand the menu and costs, so when I paid I ended up with a $12 portion of lasagna and a $5 order of fries. To add insult to injury, the lasagna was not that great, the fries were cold, we had plastic silverware and plastic plates. I must say that is the first time I've spent $17 on a meal in a mall food court! It was just another one of those 'wastes of money' that I hate. We ended up hanging out in a coffee shop for an hour or so too because we were both tried from the short nights' sleep and early start. Then we followed a little walking tour by some churches before working our way back to the hostel, stopping at the store along the way. The hostel here is the biggest rip off so far. At $33 it costs the same as my hostel in London, and it doesn't demand the price. But there are few options in Moscow. Moscow is really expensive and overpriced. But I slept well enough that night. On Wednesday (9 August) I woke up early to beat the crowds that form in front of the Kremlin. The Kremlin itself was not what I was expecting and I was a little dissappointed after all the hype it gets. There just wasn't much to see inside the walls of the Kremlin except a bunch of churhes and government buildings. I think the views of the Kremlin from outside the walls are better than anything inside the walls. Better still was what I saw afterwards, the massive Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. This cathedral is really underated and I ran into it by accident. After leaving the Kremlin area I saw this cathedral down the river and thought I'd walk over to it. Wow, am I glad I did as it is probably the highlight of Moscow for me now. It is one of the most beautiful cathedrals I've ever seen. The outside is stunning and the inside is even better, and the admission was free! After that I took a long walk along the Moscow River before grabbing lunch and eating in park outside the Kremlin walls. It has been sprinkly lightly all day which I hate because the clouds make my picture bland. Oh well.

St. Petersburg - day 5

On my last day (Monday, 7 August) in St. Petersburg I explored some other smaller, less touristy churches and parks. Again, I was continueously amazed by the city throughout the day. There are a few things I didn't get to see/do in St. Petersburg so I definitely have a reason to go back now. There are 2 palaces outside of town that are supposed to be amazing that I couldn't go to on Monday since I had to pick up my visa registration in the afternoon (yes, everything involving Russia and visas is complicated). I didn't want to risk getting back to town too late and have the travel agent be closed since I was leaving that night and had to have the registration. I also didn't get to see everything in the Hermitage but it was closed on Monday so I couldn't go back. But my overall impression of St. Petersburg was fantastic, although things are more difficult since it is Russia.

That evening (Monday, 7 August) I took the night train to Moscow. It was fantastic. The train compartment felt like first class even though it was second class. It might have been the nicest sleeping train I've ever been on. I was lucky to have another guy (from Chili) from the hostel in my compartment which gave me someone to talk to as the young Russian guy and his mom sharing our compartment spoke little english. I slept really well, although not quite long enough (~6 hours) to feel completely rested. We arrived in Moscow around 7 am.

St. Petersburg - day 4

I got an earlier start today (Sunday, 6 August) and basically just walked around the entire day exploring different parts of the city such as the Summer Palace and Gardens and then Peter and Paul Fortress. It was a beautiful day and there were lots of people out. I have to say that St. Petersburg is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. Ironically it is very European looking (ironic because its in Russia). So many grand, old, beautiful buildings. Its pretty overwhelming. Its starting to feel like you could spend weeks or months here and still not see everything. Its feels similiar to Rome in that respect. Its strange mix of beauty and grit that I am not used to.

I also must say that Russian women are H-O-T, hot!! Wow. I wasn't expecting to be surprised by beautiful women after visiting Scandinavia, but Russia was a very pleasant surprise. For some reason I had this idea in my head that Russian women, while attractive, were more modest, but they definitely dress more scantily than Scandinavian women. Too bad they don't speak much english.....

Tomorrow I have one more day of sight seeing in St. Petersburg before catching the night train to Moscow tomorrow night. I met a guy from Santiago, Chili in the hostel who was going to Moscow the same day and we bought tickets on the train together. I've also met at least 3 other people taking the Trans-Sib too.

And one more thing I have to mention. I also met a Kiwi last night (on his 3rd Trans-Sib journey) and when I asked him how long he had been traveling for he said, "7 years." So the natural, albeit nosey, question I followed with was, "how are you funding that!?!?!" Turns out he worked for a while and saved up enough money to be able to live off (travel on) the interest. He wasn't sure how long he would keep traveling for. Talk about my dream come true!! Lets just say I went to sleep frustrated and envious of his situation, trying to think of how I could do such a thing..... damn.

St. Petersburg, Russia - day 3

With my credit card issue resolved, I could relax and enjoy St. Petersburg. Even though I woke up early today (Saturday, 5 August) I still didn't get to the Hermitage -- world famous museum -- until 11 am. I spent a good portion of the day there and still didn't get to see all the rooms. Its pretty overwhelming, as most world famous museums are. In a nutshell it was incredible but after a while you start to get numb to all. Aside from the works of arts hanging on the walls, the museum itself is a work of art and it would be impressive just to walk around the empty museum! There is a reason it was packed to the gills with tourists -- which was rather annoying. After the Hermitage I grabbed a late lunch and then went to climb the colonnade of St. Isaac's Cathedral. From here I could see the vastness of St. Petersburg. It was a mostly clear day and the views were stunning. Apparently I wasn't the only one that thought so as the viewing platform was 'circus-like' crowded. It was ridiculous and impossible at times to move around. But all that monkey business was worth the views over St. Petersburg. By the time I got down it was already about 6:30 pm; where does the day go!? I was hungry and tired but I still managed to walk around a bit more before catching the metro to the grocery store. Its definitely harder to eat in Russia not being able to read anything and with the stores, restaurants, etc. being quite different from what I'm used to.

reunited

St. Petersburg was built on a swap and what favorite bug lives in swaps? Mosquitoes! But I didn't see any mossies yesterday. Last night (Thursday, 3 August) it was a cool evening outside and warm in the dorm room, so as usual, we left the windows open all night to enjoy the cool breeze. Throughout the night I kept having this fly buzz around me so I kept pulling the sheet over my head. I didn't sleep very well because of this. When I woke up this morning (Friday, 4 August) I looked in the mirror to find my face, mainly forehead, covered with mosquitoe bites! I must have over 50 little bumps on my face. Its not too noticable though, mainly just annoying. I guess the mosquitoes felt the warmth of the dorm room and buzzed right in for an easy 8-hour feast on sleeping victims. The windows are shut for tonight though.

Yesterday, at the conclusion of the day's credit card hunt, I was told to call a number this morning at 9 am to learn how to retrieve my credit card. I still wasn't sure it was actually in the machine since I didn't confirm it myself at the time. But no new charges were showing up on my online statement. Of course the person I was suppose to be calling wouldn't speak english, so I had the girl working at the hostel help me out. We called at 9:05, no answer. 9:10, no answer. 9:30, no answer. 10:00, she spoke with someone and we were told to call back at 1 pm. Bear in mind the day before they told me to call between 9 am and 6 pm and its Friday (banks not open until Monday morning after 6 pm today). Frustrated I went to book my ticket to Moscow for Monday night (night train). I came back and hung around the hostel until 1 pm. 1:05 pm, no answer. 1:20, no answer. (At this point I'm just beside myself with frustration.). 2 pm, she talks to someone and gets some information. I'm given an adress to go to about 30 minutes away. I find the address and when I arrived I show my hand written Russian note - that the girl at the hostel gave me - to several different people. I'm then directed to a phone, call a number, the person on the other end speaks a little english, and 5 minutes later a woman comes out with my credit card. After looking over my passport, my credit card and I -- this little piece of plastic that I carry around in my pocket which everyone else in the world agrees means I get to eat with, have shelter over my head with, and travel anywhere in the world with; but that is the topic of another blog -- are reunited. I was so relieved to see this little piece of plastic. It was 3 pm by this point.

So I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around this incredibly beautiful city of St. Petersburg. The buildings and architecture are mind boggling. I will sleep well tonight, although my allergies have been killing me today. Tomorrow I'll have to find a pharmacy.

Mother Russia!!

Russia is really in your face! Almost as soon as we crossed the border by train I could tell I was in a different country, strangly worlds away from Finnland. Things definitely aren't as 'neat' here. Along the tracks I could see lots of ruined buildings, trash every where, and just a general feeling that things were less developed here and less maintained than in Scandinavia.

As soon as I stepped of the train today (Thursday, 3 August) in St. Petersburg I realized how much more difficult it would be to travel here. Everything (street signs, all signs)is in the Cyrillic alphabet, except of course the tourist street maps! This makes navigating the streets very difficult as you have decipher the Cyrillic alphabet as you go along. The metro was also quite difficult being in Cyrillic. I managed to find the hostel though without too much difficulty and felt slighty pround at my first crack at Cyrillic.

I got to the hostel and checked in and as I pulled out my wallet to pay, I realized my credit card wasn't there. I think my verbal response was appropriate: "FUCK"!!!!! I had gotten cash at the cash machine in the train station (which in itself was my first introduction to the language barrier because no one understood my question of "cash machine?") and for the first time in my life -- I guess I was in some kind of culture-shock stupor -- I walked away from the cash machine without grabbing my card (although I had my receipt and cash). There is usually some kind of beeping or alarm to keep you from doing this but there was nothing.

I decided to hold off calling the bank immediately to cancel it in hopes that some person might turn it into someplace at the train station (but where?). This was much less likely in Russia though. The people at the hostel (reception and other guests) thought I should call to cancel it as someone could be out on a spending spree right then. So after I finished checking in, which now seemed to be taking forever, I quickly retraced my steps to the train station. Then I found a young Russian guy that spoke a little english and he decided he was going to help me. We went to talk to lots of different people and ended up at the bank upstairs along with another older Russian woman who joined in the hunt. After a long while on the phone the bank teller (no english), the guy who was helping me, and another woman relayed the message to me that the cash machine actually had my card (how did they know that?) and it was not stolen. I got instructions to call a phone number the next day at 9am and then I could return to the train station to get my credit card. I was still unsure how they knew the cash machine had my credit card (I had a copy of the card that the bank teller was reading over the phone to someone). So hopefully all goes well tomorrow when I go to try to retrieve my card. It would be a major pain in the ass to have my bank mail me a new credit card!!

The metro and everything else is noticably cheaper here which is great!

Helsinki - last day

Yesterday (Wednesday, 2 August) was my last day in Helsinki and my last day in an 'english speaking' country. The hostel I was staying in for my last two nights in Helsinki was fantastic. The first night (1 August) was the best. There were at least 15 people all solo travelers (which is really strange not to have at least one group of 2)and almost everyone was from a different country. We sat around the kitchen talking until late. It was a blast. I spent Wednesday doing errands mostly and got everything I needed to done. I was ready for a little more adventure so I was quite looking forward to Russia.

On Thursday (3 August) I caught the early morning train to St. Petersburg.

Scandinavian Hostels

I thought I would make a list of all the hostels I have stayed in so far on this trip for future reference for myself and others. After my last trip I found something like this would have been useful. It'll also be a good brief overview of my trip so far. So here goes. (* denotes my favorite hostels)

London, England -- St. Christophers Village
Copenhagen, Denmark -- Copenhagen City Hostel and Sleep-In Green Hostel
Göteborg, Sweden -- STF Vandrarhem Slottsskogen
Stockholm, Sweden -- STF Vandrarhem af Chapman* (ship) [and night train to Oslo]
Bergen, Norway -- Bergen Vandrerhem YMCA*
Oslo, Norway -- Anker Hostel
(Jotunheimen NP) -- 4 nights of camping at various huts
Lom, Norway -- loading dock at bus station (not fun!)
Trondheim, Norway -- Trondheim HI Hostel, Trondheim InterRail Center* [and night train to Bodo, Norway]
Stamsund, Norway (Lofoten Islands) -- Justad HI Hostel/Rorbuer*
Å, Norway (Lofoten Islands) -- Å HI Hostel
Abisko, Sweden -- Abisko Turiststation Hostel
(Kungsleden) -- 5 nights camping at various huts
Kiruna, Sweden -- city campground
Tornio, Finnland -- on bench at bus station (fun!)
Oulu, Finnland -- Nallikari Camping
Kuopio, Finnland -- "gazebo camping"
Helsinki, Finnland -- Hostel Academica, Hostel Satakuntatalo, and Hostel Erottajanpuisto*
Turku, Finnland -- HI Hostel Turku*
Tampere, Finnland -- Hostel Uimahallin Maja

money

This morning (Tuesday, 1 August) I went to the Chinese embassy and 1 hour and 85€ (about $115) later I had a Chinese visa. (There was a sole protester outside the embassy with signs showing pictures of tortured people to remind people how horrible the Chinese government is.) Same day service costs extra and so does being American; Finns get a Chinese visa for 22€ while it costs Americans 50€!! Of course I requested a 60-day visa and got a 30-day, but that is a minor point since I can get another Chinese visa when I'm in Hong Kong. So with that visa issue so easily (with money) taken care of I was left to toil with this issue of only being in Russia for 14 days. I decided to bite the bullet, spend the money, and reapply for the Russian visa. It should be ready tomorrow and is costing me an extra €155 that I shouldn't have had to spend. Yep that is $200+ down the drain. A complete waste of money so that I'm not hurried through Russia.

I can't put my frustration into words after how careful I've been with my money. I keep thinking how many days $200 would last me in Tibet, or Nepal, or China, or..... Hopefully I will soon forget about it and just be able to enjoy Russia. I think I'm less frustrated about the money than being hurried through Russia though, so I guess that means it was the right choice.

But I'm still not booking my train ticket to St. Petersburg until I have the visa in hand. The woman didn't think there would be a problem with me reapplying for a visa...... (I'm sweating over here)