Bex's space

I soon realised all the dodgy foreigners were getting on my train, well, I guess I was getting on THEIR train. The first 10 mins was chaotic. I found my cabin where a small oriental guy was sitting, smoking away under the No Smoking sign. He seemed pleasant but outside the cabin there were allsorts of carry-ons! I soon met my fellow cabin sharers, they seemed nice too but as I just sat there I just couldn’t settle and had a feeling this was going to be an interesting ride!!
After a few minutes, the train now leaving Moscow, one of my sharers asked if I spoke English etc he then went somewhere and returned pointing at me to the female attendant saying “tourist”. He signalled to get my bags (just as I had unpacked my toiletries) and basically I was escorted by this guy & the attendant to several carriages forward and put in a cabin where a young lass, western, sat, looking petrified! I realised I had left a few things in the previous cabin so I dashed back only to find the carriage aisles being rammed full of frigging manikins! It was becoming very surreal to say the least. By the time I walked back to my new cabin I had seen so many items of clothing / pipes / food`/ coffee / boxes of this & that that I soon realised I was on a Traders Train! I was being starred at quite a bit too, the odd one out in so many ways. I got to the cabin, sat down, took a deep breath and introduced myself to the German girl, Conny.
This was Wednesday night and from then until Monday morning we knew everything about each other. She was a good lass, German humour mind, as in non existent but I was grateful to be in her company.
We couldn’t quite believe what sort of train we were on. The train itself was fine, bit cramped but we kinda knew this prior to getting on. But all these traders was just bizarre. It was very interesting to say the least. The first few stops we arrived at that night we saw exactly what these ppl do for a living. They jump out onto the platform and sell sell sell. Russians at the stations desperate to bag a bargain. Mongolians / Chinese desperate to sell any stock. The manakins were in full display with the latest cardigan, jumper, jeans etc
We soon met our cabin sharers, Gana and Boya. They were a married Mongolian couple, both 50 and he spoke little English, enough to make the journey manageable. I didn’t know quite where they were sleeping as both bunks above Conny & I were crammed with boxes of coffee and sunflower seeds!! With our big backpacks it was quite tight I can tell you! They were a lovely couple and they really looked after us well. There were dodgy folk out there but I felt Boya was as hard as nails despite being all of 4 foot and about a size 6! She was pretty fierce esp. when two blokes attempted to put a bloody buggy in our cabin! She wasn’t having any of that!! They moved their stock around and they both shared one bunk for a few nights.
As we got to know them better I felt sorry for them. They worked very hard and this was etched on their faces. They were both dependant on alcohol to keep them going, like most of the train traders (and attendants!) They had to sell their stock fast with border crossing issues etc We ate with them and drank with them too. We didn’t exchange numbers / emails / addresses, tricky to communicate but all the same, I think both Conny & I will always remember them.
We met the odd random over the next few days. One Mongolian bloke, who was only traveling as far as the Russian border had spent 10 yrs in England so we spoke with him a lot. He was just seeing if the traders train was the right thing for him, he had some stock but hadn’t sold any of it and therefore not made a penny and therefore hadn’t eaten since we left Moscow. We had been given a lot of food from folk so we offered it him but he declined everytime.
Despite cramped conditions, no shower, basic food, horrid cheap vodka and being totally out of my comfort zone, I slept really well! We were always on Moscow time which kinda messes you up when you cross into Mongolia. The odd thing was of course you’re crossing time zones so the sun was setting at 1pm on our last day! By this time Boya and Gana had returned to their other cabin and we had two new sharers, Bakk and Tulva. 2 “city boys”. They didn’t speak with us for a long time, Boya & Gana stayed with us for sometime and explained they had caught the train on the off chance there would be a spare bed. Gana was very protective of us to begin with but it soon came clear these guys were fine and as it happened, albeit a lifetime in waiting, the spoke good English. We had a real good laugh with them and again they looked after us with food & beer. I have kept in touch with one of the, Tulva, he was very sweet. I don’t quite know what they did for a living but I got the impression they were a “business men” of sorts. They were the only two on the train wearing designer suits!!!
The scenery we were passing was amazing. It changes so rapidly from forrests after forrests to little shack villages and then deep in Siberia it’s just nothing other than snowy landscape, lovely to see. Just wish our train window had been cleaned this centuary in order to get some good snaps! Most stations we stopped off at in the day we were abe to get off and have a look around but taking photos was forbidden, although some folk did take them. It really was facinating seeing all these old ladies of about 3 foot nothing, trying on clothes, checking out blankets etc Despite leaving Moscow when it was still warm’ish we had noticed a very great change in the weather and most stations gave the temperatur of -15. It did take your breath away, it was cool in so many ways. The train itself was bloody hot!!!!! I spent most of it in t-shirt & jeans and flip flops.
The train attendants were all in on the traders too, they turned a blind eye to the goings on in order for a drink / money. I didn’t take to our attendant, think she smiled once at me. I felt like she had summed Conny & I up as little rich westeners. WRONG!
The border crossings were always interesting and they command such fear and respect, Conny & I had nothing to worry about but the traders looked strssed, mainly because they were breaking the law with all their stock! It wasn’t unusal to witness the middle of the carriage aisle being opened up and stock being put under the carraige with a few frantic guys passing numerous boxes in a line to the guy under the carraige. I wish I had taken a photo of that to be believed!

Crossing into Mongolia and having to put our clocks forward 5 hours and knowing we had 4 hour sleep before arriving in the capital at 6am was difficult. I was more than ready to get off the train and pretty excited at the prospect of a shower and some fruit / veg! As much as I had enjoyed eating Mutton / Mutton and more Mutton I was hopeful there might be more options in the city….
I must have fallen into a deep sleep as it was a shock when our door got knocked on at 530 with the attendant shouting Get Up! We had all packed the night before so it was easy to get off. Quick change of clothes, contacts in, ready to go / get off.
I was all over the place if I am honest, tired and confused. Where was my transfer person?! So many taxi guys kept coming up to me it wsas getting annoying but I remained calm, I knew we were an hour earlier than what was on my plan so may have to stick around for an hour. It was cold, freezing but the station had an indoor seating area. I had lost Conny, who was staying at a backpackers. I kept seeing a lady with a board but not my name, Rhonda, Michelle and another Michelle. I then found a very stressed Conny who didn’t kow where her accommodation was and started to get quite upset. Fortunately we found Tulva again and got him to call her place, the owner would be down in 10 mins to collect her, sorted. I saw this little Mongolian lady again, now looking stressed too. She smiled at me and at that point I read her board again, my name…sort of…Michelle Sogsworth!!!!!! That’ll do! I said bye to Conny who was now ok plus it was getting lighter and Ulanbaataar didn’t look quite so daunting now.
I jumped into the taxi bus that was waiting for me and met Rhonda and Michelle, 2 Aussie ladies. I apologised for them having to wait, they didn’t mind at all but said to me “God, what an awful train that was last night” to which I replied “I’ve been on there 5 nights”, instant respect!

To be updated as & when I have time!!!

All photos will be posted on Facebook from now on.

Mon 8th Nov. Moscow. I arrived in Moscow about 9, I think. The train journey there was fine, slept quite well too. It was a very basic train but as I was there just to sleep it didn’t matter at all. I shared it with 3 Russians, they didn’t speak between themselves so it was a quiet journey. Again I was met and taken to the hotel on the outskirts of the city. The driver was about 102 yrs old and spoke very little English, he drove like a maniac so probably born & bred Moscow! The hotel was very nice, I had a great room with a huge bed. First things first – shower. I had a guided city tour at 1230 so just chilled out in the morning and then waited for the guide to arrive. I wasn’t sure what to expect plus I wanted to say I had seen most things and almost wondered if it was worth it?! Anyway, Eleena arrived and looked very flustered. It was just me on the tour so the next 3 hours were going to be interesting judging by her attitude. “Why haven’t you got a map of the city?” “Do you speak any Russian?” No, hoping you would have one & No were my answers. Great start. The metro was right outside the front door so we jumped on that and made our way to the centre. Once we arrived she seemed to have calmed down a bit and asked me a few questions and before you knew it I was waffling on about York – she new York well and so after then we were fine. I explained I had seen Red Sq and the Kremlin etc so she had a little think and took me around the back streets and the parks, it was nice to talk with her as she was an interesting person, if not a bit odd at times. We went for a coffee too, not on the plan but I wanted a pick me up and she looked like she needed one. I’m glad we did as we talked more about her past and how she felt living in this day & age in Russia was worse than in the Soviet era. She was definitely pro soviet. Her upbringing had been very basic but she now looks at the future very bleakly, for herself as well as the country. After our coffee we headed back to Red Sq where she said the tour was over, advised me which metro to catch and it was a question of bye, take care, don’t speak to strangers and she was gone. All I had to do now was get back to where I was staying, easy. By the time I got to the hotel I was starving. I had a mooch around the area and there wasn’t much, plus it was now dark and the place looked a tad menacing! So back to the hotel, restaurants were closed but I could order a sarnie through room service. They didn’t speak English and told me to see Reception, they said to see the bar person, who didn’t speak English and then proceeded to shout at me, so I shouted back and this was all a lot of fun. Back to reception who told me to speak with the restaurant, which was closed. Argh…! OK, I am in Russia so I am not angry that they don’t speak English, but all the menu’s are in English and the directory was all in English to I kinda thought that someone could speak English hence my decision to call chuffing room service in the first place! I raided the mini bar and got an early night 🙂 I dreamt I was in a backpackers and not some boring hotel!!!!!
Tues 9th Nov. Had the best sleep ever. Grabbed an early breakfast which was so so – politely turned down the steamed broccoli. I made more of an effort to see what was nearby the hotel – not a lot. I was meeting Eleanor later that day as she had got tickets for the opera at the Bolshoi, or nearby as I think that particular theatre is being renovated. I can’t quite remember what I did for the day but I popped over to Red Sq for one last time before meeting her. Took some more pics and also found the little café Ian & Adel went to a few days back. I met Eleanor at 7 and legged it to the opera – Cleopatra. Opera has never stood out as one of my past times but the tickets were well priced and I just wanted to experience it in Russia. It was great! I think it was it’s premiere and we had great seats, right down at the front and so close to the orchestra. I didn’t understand one word but still found it enjoyable. Eleanor filled me in from time to time but got the gist. At the interval we went to the bar at the top and looked down. it wasn’t huge but it was very impressive, very elaborate. I really enjoyed it and the ending was really loud with cheering “Bravo” etc flowers being thrown all over the stage and when the Conductor got up on stage the place erupted. It was a nice way to finish my trip in Moscow. Eleanor & I said our goodbyes and I made my way back to the friendly hotel….

Wed 10th Nov. Possibly the most boring day in my trip! I had to check out by 1 and then wait for my transfer for the Mongolia train at 7….Zzzzzz I used the internet but at a fiver an hour I did just that, one hour. I even managed to speak with a new bar person who this time showed me that they do do food and that he was more than happy to serve me a pizza – it was naff but at least I got some food!! Good coffee there too. I walked a bit around the neighborhood, found a little supermarket and then went back to the hotel where I continued to wait. BORING.
My transfer was on time, a dodgy looking geezer but he spoke some English and was quite charming, more than any other Russian / Muscovite I had met! It was a good 40 minute drive to the station and when we got there it was packed! He explained where my train would come in and where was best to wait. He then left and I ppl watched for the next hour. I was quite nervous at this point. I dunno why exactly but as I waited for my train all I could see was dodgy goings on between the “Police” at the station and from what I could tell, Chinese / Mongolian traders. The amount of manikins that were being loaded onto trolleys and passing these two police men was unbelievable. Everytime someone passed these coppers, they were given some money, but not in an obvious way. It all seemed very black market. I got the impression that Russian Police are as corrupt as hell, no shock there then, but when you see it first hand it’s quite scary. The Chinese / Mongolia traders were running around, there was a crazy atmosphere being created, panic, excitement, desperation.
I wondered which train they were getting…..

Sat 6th Nov. We were woken up with a cuppa at 7am… When we arrived in St P at 8am it was still very dark but it was snowing and that was lovely, but so much colder than Moscow! Our taxi transfer was waiting for us, yeah, it worked! We went to Hotel Vesta, a cosy little place, more B&B standards but nice staff. We waited for our guide, who arrived at 9am. She had phoned me earlier to makesure everything was ok and I thought that was a nice touch. The city walk took just under 3 hours, it was so so different from Moscow. Very interesting, different architecture, lovely river running throughout. The only issue we had was lack of sleep and being bloody cold, it certainly resulted in me only listening to some of what the tour guide was saying. She was very sweet though and very proud of her St P! After we said our goodbyes we grabbed some lunch and then went to the hotel for a Nana Nap and also to get warm again! We popped into town later that afternoon. It was a lot busier by now. We walked for quite a long time and popped into various shops. Adel & Ian work in the cinema trade so when we spotted a few small, elaborate looking cinemas down small streets we popped in for photo opportunities. One of them looked so grand, it was good for me to see as well. it’s not somewhere where I’d normally look in! We were cold, we needed a pick me up, the cinema sold Vodka so we obliged in a shot each 🙂 Adel had mentioned going on a boat ride and that sounded good, if not a little nippy! As it happened we walked past one of the tours moments before it was boarding and decided to do it there & then. It was dark by now and I think it was much better to do it then than by day. It was amazing, we had a great time. The buildings looked spectacular at night. It lasted an hour, even though I had only braved it outside for 30 mins I was bloody frozen! We wanted to eat out somewhere so we then went on the prowl for a good place. I think it was this evening that Adel was walking a few yards behind Ian & I when we heard her yelp a bit, as I turned around 3 little women of some description ran off, they were trying to pick pocket her handbag. If I had to predict a place between Moscow & St P for being a victim then I would have said Moscow. Adel was fine though, a bit shocked maybe but we stuck together from then on. We found a place not too far from our hotel where we stayed for the remainder of the night. It was a great place, very quiet, but we ate well and had a few Russian beers. We were all pretty much done in so we were back at the hotel by 11am.

Sun 7th Nov: I had a goooood nights sleep, packed my stuff the next day and put it in Adel & Ian’s room. I was departing that night at 2300. A&I were staying on an extra night & flying home the following day. We decided to go the Hermitage and we got there for about 1030, we queued for only 30mins, which wasn’t bad. It is HUGE! Too big for the day methinks. It was tricky to navigate, despite having a map. Where you assumed a stair case would be wasn’t. Still, we did get to see a lot in the end but I don’t think either of us was that impressed, maybe a bit overwhelming? I think we stayed about 3 in the end. We then had a walk around the city and in the direction of a Soviet Museum. The walk itself was lovely (although we were pretty sure we were being followed, I didn’t catch on but Adel had. When she told us to stop walking the guy behind us did too, we decided, as were peckish to pop across the road for lunch and we all watched him move on, slowly) seeing all the magnificent buildings we had seen by night on the boat. We then made our way to the Soviet Museum. We only had about an hour & half before it shut and we were gutted as all of us fell in love with the place, we would have much rather had seen this place and taken our time than stay at the Hermitage!! It was so friendly, old, basic but so interesting. At that point I wish I had managed to stay an extra day or two in St P. All of us thoroughly enjoyed our short time in that museum.
That evening we ate out at a Russian place, it was a good place again, we picked them well! We had enough time to have quite a bit of food and more beer, wine oh and Vodka, blimey. I then grabbed my luggage and all 3 of us went to the station for me to board my train. Lets just say, I was back to reality! It was basic to say the least but comfy. I was sad to say bye to Adel & Ian. They had been great company for the past few days and Adel for the week. They had been so generous too, something I won’t forget. Spending over a week in someone’s company 24/7 can sometimes be difficult towards the end but Adel was just the perfect co-traveller. I hope we can travel again together, oh yeah, we thought of seeing a few games in 2012. I know I wouldn’t have enjoyed it half as much if she hadn’t been there to experience it too. I will take some good memories with me, some very funny ones too, esp. on our first sleeper train! When Adel was very apologetic for falling asleep on the train mid afternoon, hours before we arrived into Moscow, she woke up apologizing, asking what had I been doing whilst she was asleep? Was I ok? And again, “really sorry for just falling asleep like that”. I had to laugh as I told her she had only been asleep for about 10 minutes and I was just doing fine! :-0 Also, the toilet issue for me, Adel did well to keep me from going mad on that occasion no matter how desperate I was!!!

Ok, so I am sat here in my backpackers in Beijing slightly miffed that I cannot update my blog / facebook. I have more time than ever so I sit and ponder for a while then mess about with Hotmail and see there is a Word App. So, hopefully, this won’t crash I can start typing (from memory) my arrival into Russia, the Train, Mongolia, Beijing – present…all from memory.

Moscow: 4th Nov. Adel and I have arrived safely and we are pleased with the hotel – it has a comfy bed and a hot shower and the food is gooooood. We sleep well and we arrange to meet our school friend, Eleanor, on the Thursday morning. She has been living in Moscow for the past 2 yrs so we feel like she can be our tour guide for the day. Unfortunately it is peeing it down but it’s not at all cold, much to mine and Adel’s disappointment – we have packed many “warm” clothes and so far it has been very mild! Eleanor meets us at 1130 at the hotel and we start our day around the city. She has a car so it’s a good chance to see further a field. It is a public holiday so the roads are not hectic but some roads are closed for reasons we will never know. As it’s a wet day walking around isn’t too appealing so we decide to visit an Art Gallery. The parking is pretty whacky out in Moscow. You find a place on the pavement close the venue and choose that spot. The art gallery was very nice, not too busy. I am not into the art gallery scene but I did enjoy it. As Eleanor is a diplomat she tried in vain to get Adel & I discount, as she gets it automatically, but this didn’t work and Adel & I cough up a few quid. I think we were in there a few hours. After this gallery we decide to head towards a modern art exhibition which was ran by Roman Abramovich’s g.friend, so it was rather swanky to say the least. This place also had a great café so we had lunch there, our first time for Russian Borsch. It was lovely, good choice by Adel & I. We then looked around the exhibitions, one was album covers, it didn’t grab me tbh. The next was modern art and I have to admit that was really good. Some of the items were just odd and I didn’t get the “art” – a tall metalic ashtray with one cigarette butt,however, there were many other items that were interesting but I think all 3 of us fell for the magazine on the table. We looked at it, studied it, nodded and then realised every room had one of these and it was simply the exhibition magazine on a normal table, no art.
With it still raining we decided to go back to the hotel and get ready for a meal in the evening. It had been a really good day as we wouldn’t have done this sort of thing should we have just been sightseeing by ourselves and we are really grateful to Eleanor for being our guide for the day. So we popped to Eleanor’s for some nibbles and “Soviet” Champers before heading out. We got to hers about 7 and got a tour of her flat, which is very nice and close to where she works at the Embassy. The coolest thing for me, and maybe a bit sad, was when she arrives by car she drives in in to a car lift, even though I don’t have a car I would still like a car lift. It was very cool, for just me perhaps? Anyway, after having a few glasses of champers (it was actually quite yummy) and some Caviar (did my best on that, not being a lover of fish & all…) we head to a restaurant not too far from Red Sq. We had a look at the Sq and it was gorgeous, had goose bumps when I walked there and saw St Basil’s. Obv it was dark so photos don’t do it justice at night but it was very nice to see. We then went passed the Bolshoi theatre which was impressive. The Uzbekistan restaurant was great, specialized in Kebabs so I was happy! Had a few beers and for dessert we tried one of their water pipes with an apple flavour. Not too sure if there was anything else in there but Adel & I were quite giggly towards the end of the night. We had to keep an eye on the time as Ian, Adel’s Boyf, was due into Moscow airport at 130am. Upon leaving the restaurant we popped to a cheesy bar for a nightcap. Brandy & a slice of lemon seems the norm, so I got a round in. Poor Adel, not a fan of Brandy it turns out struggled a bit, and so did I! Fortunately we had just the one and then decided to make a move back to the hotel. We made our way back to the hotel in one of the “cars” and not a registered taxi, Eleanor does this quite often, 1) because she talks fluent Russian, 2) it’s a lot cheaper, 3) I get the impression she is just somehow looked after…anyway, back to the hotel and I now have the room to myself as Adel has moved into another room to wait for Ian….
Friday 5th Nov. Wake up, sore throat but put that down to the water pipe. Eyes are a bit red too and I feel a bit hungover but a decent brekkie should sort that out. Make my way to breakfast where I met Adel & Ian! Glad he made it ok, he had also booked a taxi via the hotel and this had also not turned up, not what you need at stupid o’clock in the morning! Anyway, we tuck into brekkie (which has been the best brekki so far) and decide what to do with our day. Red Sq is def on the agenda and as it’s not raining we decide to make our way over there mid morning but first to another nearby hotel called The Swiss. Eleanor had recommended this for cocktails as the bar is on the 37th floor and therefore has great views, but pricey! So we thought we could have a coffee in the morning, in the bar, it wasn’t to be, the bar opened at 5 so we just had a coffee downstairs. It was a great looking place, very grand and just shouts “I’m expensive!!!!”. Ian picked up the tab, fortunately!!! One coffee is the same price as what I am paying per night in the backpackers. The tube is odd as of course nothing means anything to us but fortunately Eleanor had given us some good advice and we make our way to Red Sq. It’s not too busy, a lot of Brides (meant to be good luck if they visit the sq after they have wed). We take many photos and then go into St Basil’s, which was shutting early so a good job we made it there when we did! It’s very nice inside but it’s more impressive outside. The Kremlin was closed but tbh I don’t think we were really bothered about that. We took good photos from the outside. I didn’t make it to see Lenin’s body, I was thinking about it but glad I didn’t, it would play on my mind too much!! There isn’t a great deal more to see in Moscow! We found a great little café for lunch and again had some Borsch. Now that we had seen everything we thought we’d return to the Swiss for Cocktails and as it was close to Hotel Katerina we could also collect our luggage and make our way to Eleanors for an evening meal prior to catching our next sleeper train to St P, which was departing at 2355.
Swiss Hotel – Cocktails 🙂 Wow. We made our way up to the 37th floor, me in jeans and ugg boots, Adel & Ian looking a tad smarter. We were greeted with a little hostility, and asked if we had made reservations? Were we residents? No & No. After a quick call to the manager we were allowed to go into the bar where all the staff greeted us. There was no one else up there, still early I guess. We had a great table over looking the city, great views and as it got darker the more the city shone. The cocktails were pretty good too! Good service, nice olives, good music, I liked this place. We experimented with just a few each and I think we were toying with the idea of a third but decided not to as we needed to get to Eleanor’s. When we left (and having given a good tip) I think all 3 of us looked towards the manager, the staff that had greeted us and not one looked up. They liked us when we came in but couldn’t give a shit on our way out. All 3 of us commented on this, maybe coming from a background in customer service, this was real poor. On our way down in the lift we all commented on the frosty exit, Ian said he had even given the coat attendant a tip and he didn’t even smile and say thank you. By the time we got to the ground floor we had all worked out that Ian had given him about 15p as a tip – we were still getting used to the Rubles!!
We made our way from the hotel, got our luggage and went to Eleanor’s. She was home by this point and was busy cooking. It was a good way to finish off our Moscow experience. The meal was lovely and we had a few vodka’s (mainly for Ian as he had not tried many) before we hailed another “car” and made our way to the train station. I was glad Eleanor stuck around as the document I had was all in Russian and I hadn’t a clue on how to get the actual tickets! I guess if she wasn’t there we would have worked it out but she was very handy! The train was LOVELY!!! Couldn’t have been more different from the one from Berlin. It was like Adel & I had travelled 3rd class to Moscow, this was a beast and a half. It was a shame we were going to spend most of our trip asleep (or as I soon found out, just eyes closed and no feeling of actual sleep). Ian was very impressed, Adel & I told him many times this was not the average train!! We said goodbye to E and I said I’d hook up with her again the following week on my return to Moscow (what could I do for 3 days in Moscow??!!) Anyway, we sorted ourselves out and the lights went off about 1am.

When we boarded we found ourselves trying to be positive about the size of the room!!! We were sharing a 3 berth cabin exclusively. I would say our carriage had approx 10 of these rooms. We were both very excited still but were not really sure what to do…do we put the seats down into beds? We moved all of about 10 metres and stayed there for about an hour so by the time we did move it was already dark so we were not going to see anything more of Germany 😦 Eventually we started rolling and the journey started. It must have either been a very old train or track as we were getting thrown around a bit, started off a bit scary but we sort of got used to it, sort of. The female attendant came round and spoke to us in Russia, great. We can just about get by in French, a little in German but not a word in Russian! Anyway, turns out she sorted out our beds and this created a little more room for us, at least it felt like that anyway. We sorted outselves out and cracked open a beer only to find I had bought ALCOOL FRIE beer and Adel had bought Shandy!!! Party.
We ate about 6’ish and talked & talked and read quite a bit too. The lady then opened the door and said something and indiacted with her fingers “2”. We had yet again no idea but of course we just agreed with her by nodding our heads!?! I was pretty tired as I had not slept so well the night before so I was asleep by 1030 at least. Adel said she went to sleep at 1230. I popped to the toilet at 2, half asleep, got back into bed and within about 20 mins we stopped and had our first experience of border control. We hadn’t a clue where we were or what was going on. I thought we would have all this approx 7am when we went into Belarus but obv this was not the case. Our passports were taken, checked etc sniffer dogs came by, the men were very scary indeed and it was all a bit surreal. I really hadn’t a clue what was going on at first, Adel was a bit more on the ball than I! Must have been that alcool frie beer I had had earlier….The issue I had at this point was that I needed the toilet again, it was now near 4am. We started moving slowly and Adel went to use the toilet, I just heard the Russian lady shouting something and then she said “close”. Uh ho….But I need to go now. Within 5 mins we had stopped and this time it was entering the Belarus boarder, so the one before must have been leaving Germany???? I dunno….more passport checks, this time we had to fill out immigration cards etc confims what was in our bags etc then they left, yeah, I can go to the toilet now…..must have been about 5am. But no…we then shunted up & down for 10 mins before heading into the railway yard so have our wheels changed as they must use a diff size gauge in Belarus! After 45 mins we moved again…yeah, toilet? Nah….we were now in Brest Central station and were not due to depart for another 30 mins. I was sooooo in pain and woke Adel to tell her of this situation. I can now look back and smile but at the time I could have cried!!! I was looking at our water bottles with a plan in mind but where could I go? Eventually we left the station and 5 mins into the journey I walked (if you can call it that) to the toilet but we had lost our elec so I managed to pee forever but in total darkness. I have never been so relieved!!!!
I wanted to see the Belarus countryside but after 10 mins of watching it go by I crashed out for a few hours. Through out the day we both thought we best use the toilet as much as poss as we knew we would have the same carry on when we went into Russia. We spent the day reading and eating abit and talking more. The countryside was interesting (again I have photos!!!!) and it was so sunny (something I have only seen that day so far!). I had another snooze in the afternoon and then it got to the point where we were convinced we were in Russia but we never had the border control carry on, bit odd.
We both really enjoyed the trip and although being woken at 230am and staying awake for hours was disruptive it was all part of the experience. We got into Moscow at 8.30pm Wed and as we had booked our taxi via the hotel so everything was sorted and simple…….not exactly no.
When we stepped off the train it suddenly hits you that you really do not understand ANYTHING. It was very busy and we tried in vain to search for our driver “who will be standing at the station with your names on it and the hotel name”. Yeah, ok. We looked and looked but nothing. WE had no Rubles on us, don’t speak Russian, and tbh we were sure where we were!!! How we lauged after a 27 hour journey. Adel had the number of the hotel and I managed to get through and explianed what was going on. The hotel had messed up and a driver will be with you at platform 3 in 15 mins. OK fine. 15 Mins later, phone rings, “the driver is outside in a blue citroen and he will put his lights on & off for you to see him” all a bit spook like but ok. When we went outside, bearing in mind there are 3 exits it was like looking for a needle. Loads of taxi’s offering trade, at a cost, but after a while we found the little old man and his older citroen. We then sped away (and I mean sped) towards the hotel, quietly relieved. The main road to the hotel is a 9 lane (4 one side, 5 the other) busy busy fast fast road whereby no one obeys rules other than the Moscow rules. I was holding on for dear life and we both exchanged a few glances of fear. After a few minutes though I accepted that this is just how they drive out here, fast and irratic but hardly heard anyone beep their horn at anyone. We got to the hotel within about 10 mins and we were very pleased to be in comfort and to be alive…!

Ok, so, just spent past 30 mins uploading my photos and have nothing to show for it. Annoying…

So Adel and I arrived into Berlin on Sun 31st evening and we were staying at a hotel / hostel right next to the train station and about a 15 min walk to the Brandenburg Gate. We stayed in a 4 bed dorm and as we had arrived late we had the top bunks. The building was only a few years old, in terms of hostel standards it was posh! We had a few beers that night and then had a Burger King meal in the station!!! We didn’t really know where we were in relation to anything else at at 10pm neither one of us was keen to explore Berlin city centre. The following day, the two girls on the lower bunks left so Adel & I quickly moved out stuff down there and set off to the tourist day out. We were going for a free walking tour but after waiting 20 mins we realised the tour guide wasn’t going to turn up so we hopped onto one of the city tour buses. Our ticket was valid all day but after about 50 mins we jumped off and decided to walk about a bit. We both really loved Berlin and I would like to go back one day. You can easily walk around and don’t need to rely on the metro / buses. We went to an area where the wall still exists and where we stood for about an hour reading all the history of the world war 2. It was a very sobering moment but so glad we did that. It became very busy in that area but other than that we found the city to be very quiet. We walked to Check Point Charlie but didn’t stick around long, very very cheap and touristy. We did spend most of the afternoon just walking about. We found a lovely area near the river where we again had a pint of beer and then strolled towards the gate. I took loads of photos, I just hope I can upload them one day!!!! Damn Russian instructions…
On the Tuesday we again went for a walk and took more photos and also went to the Jewish monument, again, another sobering moment. We then popped to the supermarket in the station and waited for our sleeper train to Moscow which departed at 3pm.

Working a little retrospectively here…

Left Pershore on Friday 29th Oct, not too many gulps of “what on earth am I doing?” but maybe a few tears..the journey to Paddington was packed.  Got to Paddington and met Adel and Ian and also Jo 🙂  Had a beer to calm my nerves / excitement.  Adel and I caught the Eurostar to Brux @ 1430 and there were only about 10 ppl on our carriage, very quiet (a theme through out the next week).

We decided to get a taxi to Jon’s rather than faff about with the metro and bus with my huge packapack and we were at Jon and Bahar’s place by 1800.  After a few beers we headed to a great Kebap restaurant, I have been before and I shall go again on my next visit.  We were home by 2200 I guess and just chilled out with the plan being an early’ish start the next day and to show Adel as much as Brux as possible.

We did rather a lot of walking, one of Jon’s famous tours!  We got to see a lot and grabbed a few coffee’s before ending up in a pub to watch the football and endulge in a few Belgian beers.  We then headed to a place called Delirium which I have been to before but wanted to show Adel.  It’s a bar that boast many a Belgian beer and is in all the tour guide books and Lonely Planet guides so it’s always busy and full of tourists, not many locals.  It’s good to go to and experience the the beer menu.  It was that busy that Jon went to order down stairs but incase it was too busy down there Adel and I tried to get served upstairs.  As it happens, we must have all been served at the same time (damn) so we ended up with many drinks on the table, so annoying.  Bahar joined us late afternoon and we then headed off to an English pub to watch the Manu game where we spanked Spurs.  In the evening we all went to a Ribs bar which was a really enjoyable experience.  It’s a set price, a rack of ribs and basically you just go for it, when you have finished you get a free refill of ribs!  Not a first date venue but it was great for all of us!  Wine was served in a 1.5L bottle, you help yourself and then they weigh the bottle and charge you for what you have drunk – dangerous but we were full of beer so didn’t abuse it 🙂

Think….it was a late night so we made the most of the extra hour and got up mid morning.  Packed up and went off to a Turkish bar for breakfast and very nice it was too.  We then said our goodbyes and Adel and I headed off to Brux station for the Cologne train.  It was a very fast train reaching 190KPH, very smooth and quite posh for 2nd class.  Only downside was our seats where next to the window partition so didn’t see a great deal!  We were in Koln for 30 mins, popped outside and took a few photos of the cathederal and popped back in for our connecting train to Berlin…it wasn’t quite as posh as the one prior but it was fun and for 5 hours we just sat back and talked and talked and talked.

Tomorrow I shall attempt to upload some photos and blog Berlin.

Well, I said I’d “finish off” NZ but just added in a few extra countries along the way….