To the End of Europe

After a short trip crossing Western Europe, and the culture shock that was entering Russia, the real exploration of the largest country in the world began.

Day 6: A short day in Moscow

The colourful Red Square

Due to my late night wandering around Moscow, I woke up really late. A long excursion up and down Tverskaya Ulitsa was required in order to find an affordable restaurant, after which I went for a day walk around the Red Square again. Having decided that this trip was for discovering Russia as a whole, that meant spending little time in Moscow (and none in St. Petersburg); I accepted the reality that I'll need a few days for those two alone in a later trip, and was happy to just wander around and absorb the feeling of the city centre.

The GUM by daylight

The Kremlin

Family shot: Kremlin, GUM, St. Basil's cathedral

I had one simple task that afternoon - find some toiletry products to seriously improve my look (and body odour). That turned out not to be easy: Moscow city centre is for tourists, and if you don't know where to look (hint: the GUM really isn't a good idea), you end up wandering for hours, searching for something as simple as toothpaste and deodorant. That did make me explore those large boulevards, which isn't a bad thing, occasionally stopping at one of the many coffee houses for a sugar and caffeine fix, until I finally found a small продукти shop (literally a "products shop", such as the ones I had seen in Minsk).

Back to the hostel, I had my first shower/shave/brush in quite a few days, and feeling nice and fresh, grabbed my bags and left for the train station - this being Moscow, and my first train to catch in Russia, I didn't want to leave anything to chance, and arrived to the train station a full 4 hours before departure.

Комсомольская metro stop, 3 train stations - which one is mine?

Then began my marathon waiting for the train, and struggling not to fall asleep. Funny thing in Russian train stations - no-one sits on the floor, if you can't find a place, well you'll just have to wait standing; luckily there are plenty of waiting rooms available (accessible only with your train ticket, or by paying an entry fee). So I waited, trying to read a book and wasting my iPod's battery just so I wouldn't hear the constant loudspeaker announcements (уважаемые пассажиры this, dear passengers that...).

After what felt like an eternity, my train to Nizhni Novgorod was finally announced. A moment of panic ensued, when I looked at the panel and just couldn't find it - the train system still uses the old Communist names for most cities.

Nizhni Novgorod? Try Gorky instead (train 24)

I finally boarded my train, exhausted and looking forward to some sleep. I was highly impressed with the train - brand new, really modern. My decision was to book kupe places in all trains - basically a 2nd class ticket, sharing a 4-bed cabin. In this train, there were only two of us, Denis and me. Denis was just coming back from working in America, so we carried on in the language of Shakespeare; I didn't object, for once I could make myself fully understood. Turned out Denis is also a programmer, and so I found myself in a night train in the middle of Russia, discussing the merits of Python and C++! Funny how things are: it's cheaper for his American company to hire Russian programmers, even if that means flying them over to the US for months at a time, to help deploy new systems.

Firmy trains - definitely the wisest choice

Day 7: A long day in Gorky

The night was way too short to recover any sleep: at 0620 we were already walking down the train platform. Denis was really nice, and offered me a lift to the Kremlin (which was much further from the station than I had calculated, therefore saving me a seriously long walk in the cold morning). He had three people from his company waiting for him, so the five of us squeezed into their tiny Lada 2107; the drive across the Volga and into the city centre was a lot of fun, with the morning fog giving the city an eery feeling.

Nizhni Novgorod before 0700: hardly a soul around

I sat in a small park close to the entrance of the Kremlin, writing my diary while watching the city slowly waking up around me. A much different city after Moscow: the BMWs, Hummers and similar replaced with Ladas and Volgas. I had thankfully prepared a thermos of hot coffee just before leaving the train, which really helped to keep me warm (it's the single most useful characteristic of Russian trains - hot water always available for free, one heater per carriage).

With my coffee finished, and feeling a bit cold, I went for a walk around, and was quite impressed with the old wooden houses from the Tzarist times (I knew about the ugly concrete Communist buildings, but these were a lovely surprise). It's a pity to see them slowly decaying, though.

Gorky house museum

I managed to find an open bakery, and after a much needed breakfast, I went back onto the streets. One of the most famous people to have lived in the city was Gorky, who wrote about injustices during the Tzarist times; that earned him an exile, but later on also the admiration of Communist leaders - hence the city being renamed after him. There's evidence of the Communist obsession with Gorky everywhere: his birthplace and the house where he wrote some of his most famous stories are the best kept wooden houses around. I visited the later one, now a museum - not particularly exciting, especially when they give you a Russian-only catalog, explaining the unlabeled contents of each room.

The Ostrog

Nizhni Novgorod is a nice city to explore on foot, and that's what I did, especially after the fog cleared, giving way to a lovely sunny day. I had a look at the Ostrog, where political prisoners of the Tzar were kept, while waiting their deportation to Siberia. I then kept walking along Gorky street, until I reached Gorky square, with a massive statue of... Gorky.

The University

I got my fix of internet surfing in the Volga Telecom building, booked my accommodation in Perm (the next stop), and then found a small restaurant: like in Moscow, they now have "business lunch" options a bit everywhere, a good way to feed oneself for a very reasonable price. That was followed by a stroll down the main pedestrian street, much different with a lot of people and no fog. The Kremlin was closed for an official event, so I wandered towards the river, where I found an impressive statue of Chkalov, the famous pilot who first crossed the Arctic on a plane, flying from St. Petersburg to Vancouver.

Finally, I sat by the mighty Volga, the river that stopped the Nazi invasion on its tracks.

The evening was still far, but all the walking and the lack of sleep were really catching up with me; I considered snoozing for a bit by the shade of some nearby tree, but the sense of wasting the day away prevented me from doing so, and instead I kept on exploring the area around the Kremlin, including the beautiful ramparts.

Russian buses

The evening finally approaching, I went through my first experience taking a bus back to the train station. This is no easy task: you're lucky to find the actual stop, and there's no indication of where each bus goes, let alone a timetable. Basically, if you don't know the system, you have to wait for a bus to arrive, check on a small panel on its side if your stop is written there, and then pray that you're catching it on the right direction. And when you're looking for something as "simple" as железнодорожный вокзал (railway station), the chances of getting it right are quite slim. I was quite stressed while the bus was stuck in traffic, and really proud when it finally reached the (correct) station. Their decoration has to be seen to be believed; basically it's down to the taste of the driver, meaning anything from cheap Chinese ornaments to CDs slotted everywhere, and pictures of scantily dressed women hanging in the windows.

The beautiful Nizhni Novgorod train station

One final task awaited me: buying train tickets for the first time, after Yuri's help in Moscow. And what a daunting task it is: you need to find the appropriate window, pay attention to the (window specific) closing (and pause!) hours, and go through a lot of bureaucracy just to buy one ticket - and of course they speak only Russian. Forgot to say you wanted to pay with Visa at the start? Too late. It takes roughly 10 minutes per ticket, according to my calculations; but when the person in front of me bought 21(!!!), I ended up waiting 2 hours in the queue - after such a long day, it was painful. I'm really glad I speak some Russian, though - there was another foreigner there (French?), who only managed to buy her tickets when I stepped in to help.

So I finally boarded my train at 2300; an older train than the previous one, it was really comfortable (probably even better), and much more charming. Sleeping trains in Russia are like small hotels: clean linen is provided, including a towel, and they even vacuum the carriage and wash the windows every day! I got to know my three kupe companions (Aleksey, Zhena and a third one), shared a shot of vodka with them (my first one in Russia!), and finally colapsed in my bed. What a day!

Day 8: Trains, vodka, and then Perm

I love sleeping in trains - the constant movement makes for a wonderful rocking bed. I also really enjoyed waking up during the night, with the train stopped in an isolated spot somewhere - sleeping in a train, lost in the middle of Russia! I was the second one to wake up, after Zhena; a bit after we woke up, the train stopped, and I ventured outside, to look for some breakfast. Whenever the train stops for a while, a whole horde of babushkas await on the platform, selling all kinds of products, from vodka and beer to sausages and pies. I was blending in, and managed to buy something discreetly, but when a seller understood I was a foreigner and started speaking in English, attracting a crowd of babushkas, I quickly took refuge back in the carriage.

That was shortly followed by lunch: instant noodles, enriched with slices of chouriço (all the way from Lisbon) and cheese. And to ensure my digestion, another shot of vodka, courtesy of Zhena. We had a good chat, despite my broken Russian, and he made me watch hundreds of photos of their fishing trip. And when I was done, he realised I hadn't watched all the videos, and made sure I watched those as well.

Me, Алексей and his family

We reached Perm at the end of the day. Aleksey had his family waiting for him, and along with Zhena, offered me a lift to the hotel, saving me a long walk - my second lift in two days, albeit in this case on a modern (and far less charismatic) big Jeep. The generosity of Russian people to total strangers really impressed me.

Hotels are really not my scene. I mean, I like the comfort, but paying 10 times what I would for a hostel, with extra comfort that I don't need, and minus the possibility to meet loads of budget travellers, it just doesn't make any sense. The Hotel Ural was definitely overpriced for the level of comfort it provided, but was also delightfully old-fashioned. And there being no alternative in Perm, I made the most of it: had a really long shower (the first in almost three days), washed my clothes and hang them to dry (hot water pipes are excellent at drying socks), used every socket available to charge all batteries, surfed the net for a bit, and then fell into a really deep sleep for a good while.

As a result, I left the hotel really late in the evening, which was a pity: by the time I reached the Kama river (delightful name), the sun had set a while ago, and I only managed to grab a hint of twilight. I kept exploring the city on foot, and found a precious ally: a green line painted on the floor, taking me to the main city attractions, with a panel giving details about each of those, in Russian and English. For once I didn't have to make the effort of looking up every third word in my dictionary.

At 2200, I decided I needed food, and a new search in an unknown city started. The guidebook having a weak Perm section, it was down to legwork to find a place. And I was in good luck: I ended up finding a restaurant that served traditional Russian food, complete with a lovely decor inside, and open late. I had some borsh (beetroot soup), pelmeny (Russian raviolis), and even some dessert. The food was delicious, the service really nice (complete with traditional dresses), the price ridiculously cheap, I had a fantastic time. It was my best meal in the whole trip, and they certainly deserved their fat tip.

Delicious borsh, served in a loaf of bread

Day 9: The end of the line, and then Asia

The next morning I continued following the green line. It took me to funny places, like the monument to "Perm's salty ears": close to the city, the salt works of the upper Kama river have been in operation since the XVth century, and salt carriers used to load huge bags of it over their shoulders; the constant contact of the salt with their ears burned them red, so whenever they took off their hats at any tavern, they were instantly recognised - "Permyak salty ears have arrived!"

Perm was in fact a big trading city, throughout the centuries, and the architecture is unlike any I've seen all over Russia. The city is dotted with old rich traders houses, and the green line takes you to the nicest ones, along with all other points of interest.

One of the beautiful old trader houses

Pasternak's monument, close to the house where he wrote Dr. Zhivago

The unmissable Lenin statue

The end of the green line

Having reached the end of the line, I went back to the hotel, grabbed my (still quite heavy) bag, and made my way to the train station. A perfect load for a train journey, it was still far too heavy for a long walk: it took me 40 minutes to reach the station, amongst fears that I could miss my train (I still managed to arrive 1h in advance, though). I appreciated even more the lift from the previous day!

The wait for the train was interesting; every 5 minutes, there would be a Sukhoi fighter jet doing a low pass over the station. This didn't seem to impress anyone, so I guessed it was a common thing; probably an air base close by. Despite the warnings in guidebooks and the like, I couldn't resist taking a shot - and lived to tell the tale. My train arrived late (the only one throughout the whole trip in Russia), but what a pleasure to be back on board.

Another city, another train

That trip was the shortest one (a mere 6 hours) but one of the most entertaining ones. Being still quite tired, I told myself I'd take advantage of the trip to rest a bit - or so I thought. Upon boarding the train, I met Svetlana and Irina, two ladies coming back from their trip to Egypt (fligtht back to Moscow, and then train all the way to Khabarovsk). They were already on their second day of travel, and had made the kupe their home - the smell of salted calamari in the air, and sausages hanging from the window. In fact, the whole train was a bit smelly - the quality of trains in Russia has a direct correspondence with their number, and this one was number 350.

Irina and me

Svetlana and me

The conversation got underway, along the usual topics, although explaining my job in Russian is close to impossible - even in English, in fact. And, with such good conversation, out came a bottle of vodka. Full. It didn't take us long to empty it! We had a brilliant time, while the train crossed the Urals onto Asia.

Beautiful scenery crossing the Urals

Sun setting over the tracks

It quickly became clear to me that there was a disadvantage in my train schedule. I tried to take as many night trains as possible, to save on hotels and make use of day time for visiting, with the extra bonus that trains really were the best beds I had throughout the journey; but that meant missing out a lot on the scenery. As an example, the train passed by an obelisk, marking the border of Europe and Asia, which in the darkness was impossible to spot.

Finally, I reached Ekaterinbug (or Sverdlovsk, according to my train ticket). I bid my two excellent kupe companions goodbye - they still had another 4 days to go, before getting home. Reaching my hostel was surprisingly easy. I had called in advance, and there was no place left, so the owner of the hostel (apartment), Katya, let me stay at her personal place, where she lives with her brother and sister; she also booked a taxi (which was waiting for me at the station), texted me the number plate, and negotiated the fare for me. Have I told you just how nice Russian people are to strangers?

I still had time to meet Vera, one of the pen-pals whom I had arranged to meet along the way, who was almost disappointed at not having been able to give me a lift from the station. We had some late dinner, and stayed up chatting until 0200, after which I finally collapsed in my bed in Katya's living-room.

The beautiful Ekaterinburg main train station