Home again

On the train I thought that I would not like Moscow that much after Siberia but luckily I had a good time there as well. The hostel was best I've ever been to - a good matress on the bed, nice shower, nice and helpful staff and internet that works. Spend some time with Austrian-Italian girls and ended up in a funk club with them. It got a bit too quiet there and we tried to find somewhere with more people but we weren't that lucky. (Some bits that happened in between I have to leave out - ask me later...) Decided that we'll get some food to cook at the hostel. But at the supermarket I couldn't find my credit card any more. Looked the bag thoughout, checked all pockets, nowhere. All I could do was to phone Finland to cancel the card. And off course in the morning, collecting my clothes of the floor the stupid card dropped out of the leg of my trousers. Highly annoying. Though I have to say that I like these baggy pant with legs tied at ankle. Ever so handy even if you are not going to give birth to another messiah. I did have enough money for the last day, but only if everything goes straight forward. And I never did one registration in Russia, so there was the risk of getting in to trouble in the customs. But all was absolutely fine. Where's your bag, do you have anything to declare and that was it.

I felt really sad coming back home, I fell so in love with Russia! A friend coming to meet me at the station with some flowers for me made it easier but this all still feels very unreal. And I won't have any money until I get a new card...

The last surprise I got when I did some washing. Hanging up the clothes that actually smelled good again I found a pair of men's pants... No idea how they got there. Hope I had fun. (Think they belong to the people who used my flat when I was gone, but that's not such a good story.)
I'll try to think some tips for people doing the trans-siberian as I promised to a Scottish girl who I met in Moscow, but that will be tomorrow earliest.

Never realized how white my home is. I need more colours! A bit of Russia.

A writers' walk

This time I did manage to see the Red Square. And it was worth it. Especially the Basil Church (or whatever it is called) was fun to see. I also did a writers' walk, really just to see the place where the book Master and Margarita starts. That one I really enjoyed. If only I have had an umbrella with me.
Moscow is not really being nice to me with these opening hours. Tomorrow the market and the Cosmonaut museum will be closed. Any ideas what to do? Maybe a little boat trip on the river?

Irkutsk - Moscow

All trips on trains have been very different. When I left Irkutsk the train was 45 mins late, and that's quite exceptional for trans-siberian trains. For the first two days I shared the cabin with and older alcoholic lady and I was quite fed up. However, on the third day three firemen jumped on board and I found myself sharing a bit too much vodka with them and the provodnitsa - that was all quite early in the morning. 5 or so hours after they left the train and I happily fell a sleep. Woke up as new people joined my cabin and still the next day I found some almost empty bottles lying all around...

The rest of the journey was more quiet again but I had good time. Met some Americans, played, listened to music, read books, solved sudoku's, ate, even had a bath! Now I've arrived in Moscow and don't quite know what to do. Maybe I should try to see the Red Square this time. And the Cosmonaut museum might be fun too.

People

This lady joined the train in Habarovsk, on my way from Vladivostok to Irkutsk. She didn't speak any English but we did ok, she managed to teach me some more Russian words. The last night was so beautiful that we turned off the lights and shut the door so we could fully enjoy the sunset on lake Baikal and the million stars on the sky after that.
Here's Max who I spend many days with somewhere between Jekaterinburg and Vladivostok. I do hope that he will come to visit me in Finland with his family!
This lady shared the cabin with me for six days. She and another lady took good care of me onboard. One night I was freezing as the heating did not work and the nights in Siberia can be pretty cold. I woke up under two blankets, the lady who would not look in my eyes for the first 24 hours had got me the extra one. It really takes some days to get to know these people. Like one lady, who spoke good English came to speak to me on the third day. And all the time she wanted to speak to me and knew that I was a foreigner because I smiled to strangers. Russian people never do that, I was told.
Cabin mates of Max's.
No idea who these are. The old man is looking at the timetable which tells when the train arrives to each station and how long the stop will be. You still have to check each time from the provonidzda as the driver might want to catch up if the train has been late. I was surprized how well the trains keep in schedule.
Playing Yatsi. It turned to be a big hit as it was easy to teach with limited Russian skills.

A rock concert I went to see in Moscow. Some girls had dressed as in We Love Helsinki -dance events, and there were some really good dancers.

Lake Baikal

This morning one Austrian and three Germans arrived here and I joined them for a trip to Listvianka by the lake. The bus journey was a bit exciting, it was crowded and I had only half a seat to myself. And the speed was a bit too much for me. Saw one accident on the road, hope they all survived.
The weather was not better today. It's pouring wet snow and the wind makes it really chilly. And I only had summer shoes with me. Luckily I managed to wear woollen sock with them. A true Finn never travels anywhere without them, not to Siberia anyway! I'm still amazed how different today is compared to yesterday. Vladivostok with people sunbathing seems so far away now.
One day left here, I might spend it in museums if it stays as cold and wet as today.

In Irkutsk

This time the train trip was very different. I shared the cupe with a nice russian lady, who did not speak any english.



I arrived in the nicest hostel late at night. Slept for a few hours and when I woke up there was no-one else there. Got myself some breakfast, washed clothes and heard the phone ringing. I let it ring a few times and then aswered. No, I don't think there's any staff here, yes you will phone later. Hung up and as soon as I had that done, the door opened and no, I never was on my own there. Apparently it was the manager phoning, and I actually might have caused some trouble to the nice girls here. They tried to convince me that it's alright, I do hope so!



As there was no other guests left in the hostel I went to see the town on my own. It's a nice city but I think that there's not really much more to see here. Hope I will meet some people who would like to join me in a trip to the lake. That is if the weather get's better. The day was nice and warm but now it's raining with really strong wind. They say that it might snow later. I'm going to be in trouble with my summer shoes here... Well it is Siberia, what did I expect!

Unfortunately you won't see any more pictures yet as there's some problems with trying downloading them.

Last day in Vlad

I felt a bit better today. Met a Dutch and two Swedes and went sightseeing with them, had quite a nice day! But the internet in the hostel, nje rabotajet. A very useful phrase in many situations here in Russia. So had to come here to the post office for internet access and you will not see any more photos until I get to Irkutsk.

The train there leaves at 3 am, I will hardly be able to sleep before that as I'm very good with worring about early wakings and bad with sleeping without earplugs in strange places. It is highly confusing with all the timetables as the long distance trains always run in Moscow time and, well, it's not quite Moscow time here. Actually all my departures and arrivals are in extremely unpleasant hours. If only I had taken the train no. 1... Would be meeting more turists as well.

It was a little easier to stock up food for the train this time as I quite new what I wanted. Fruits, hot chokolade, bread, butter, cheese... I'm still short of coffee as I refused to buy Nescafe and not that convinced on these local instant coffees, and I couldn't find this local thick milk and sugar -thing that proved to be very handy on train. But I will survive, I just won't share the coffee that's left, haa. The russians usually refused anyway as they prefer tea.

Here I go again!