Russia
a mix of stereotypes
and surprises

Daily journal of my journey along the Trans-Mongolian Railway and onwards to Hong Kong

Moscow

Moscow, September 7th, 2017

Spent all day traveling from Amsterdam to Moscow, with a transfer in Riga

Personal backpack record: only 8.3 kg! (Emma's is 15.3...)

Highlight of the day: discovered a weird new flavour of crisps

Fun fact #1: Even when it's very busy, Russians only use the right side of the escalator to stand, while leaving the left side free for people who want to climb up (which no one does).

Confusing moment: we found a lot of Japanese vending machines in an underground passage

Moscow, September 8th, 2017

Conquered the Chinese tourist groups to visit the most touristic sites of Moscow

Highlight of the day: Unexpected photoshoot in the basement of a mall

Fun fact #2: We discovered some fake rocks in the Kremlin, that cover something mysterious... a secret passage?

Hidden passage?

Russian malls are fun

Moscow, September 9th, 2017

Lowest point of the journey so far: walked through a fake disneylike village especially designed to sell expensive rubbish to naive tourists

Tried to secretly take pictures of the inside of a beautiful church and failed miserably

Fun fact #3: In the 1950s, rebellious Russians recorded American pop songs and other forbidden music on used X-rays. The discs look amazing!

Highlight of the day: celebrated Moscow's 870th birthday with craft beers and new card games (of which Canada's "go fishing" was the absolute worst)

Gazed at weird art objects

Nizhny Novgorod

Nizhny Novgorod, September 10th, 2017

Visited the VDNKh, also called the 'Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy'. This gigantic park is filled with more than 100 exorbitant monuments, each dedicated to one specific field of industry, but all celebrating Soviet times... Fascinating.

Highlight of the day: We took our first train! Our Russian skills have evolved enough to decypher train tickets and we covered 400 km so far.

Fun fact #4: Some of the traffic lights in Moscow are operated manually by traffic controllers

Unsurprising fact: Found ready-to-drink Vodka shots (Russian size) in the supermarket

First train

Not water.

Traffic light controller

VDNKh

Space monument

Nizhny Novgorod, September 11th, 2017

After leaving Moscow, it now feels as if we've entered 'the real Russia'. Numerous identical apartment buildings (most of them worn down), stereotype babushka's (old ladies with a curved back and a headscarf) and empty bottles of liquor on the street.

But very much like Moscow, there is still the beauty of historical architecture. In Nizhny Novgorod, we visited the Kremlin, a few churches and a remarkable monastery.

When a young father saw us taking pictures of old buildings, he took a lot of effort to explain to us how to get to an old, closed cinema. When we thought we had found this deserted building and went in to explore, it turned out to be another not-so-deserted squatting house

Fun fact #5: Russia's military pride and glory is emphasized throughout the country. On every other streetcorner you can find repainted army vehicles, given a second life as nationalistic monuments. There are even special 'amusement' parks where you can climb on and take pictures of every kind of tank, battleship and fighting plane you can think of

We took a night train to Kazan. Of course we took the cheapest (3rd) class, which was surprisingly comfortable. We both had an upper bunk, which are difficult to squeeze into, but provide you a little more privacy than the lower ones.

Night train activity

Russian street

Military glory

More military glory

Not-so-deserted building

'Real' Russian building

Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevskiy

Pechersky Ascension Monastery

Church of Nativity of Most Holy Mother of God

Kazan

Kazan, September 12th, 2017

We arrived in Kazan, capital of the Republic of Tartarstan. This area has a complex relationship with the Russian Federation and tried to declare its independence in 2008. However, both the UN and Russia ignored this declaration.

Visited the Museum of Soviet Lifestyle, which has an incredible collection of Soviet memorabilia. The owner gave us a quick private tour and helped us dress like back in the days.

By now, we have visited so many churches and other holy places that we almost became saints ourselves.

Fun fact #6: The most famous specialty of Tartar cuisine is Chak Chak, a simple sweet made of fried dough and honey, that has a complete museum dedicated to it in Kazan.

Hello from the USSR

Chak Chak - a very sweet sweet

Saints

Church / lookout point

Kazan, September 13th, 2017

With 24°C and a blue sky, it was a surprisingly nice day

Befriended a very warm-hearted and slightly crazy babushka, who hugged and kissed us as if we were her long lost grandchildren

Visited the Kazan kremlin, the most beautiful of kremlins we've seen so far.

Took a local train for just 22 roubles (€0,32) to the 'Temple of All Religions', a complex where all major world religions are represented. Although the temple is under construction, it has a beautiful story (that can be regarded as 'Fun Fact #7 😉 ): the Temple was founded by Ildar Khanov, an artist and philantropist who is known for his efforts in the treatment of alcoholism and drug addiction. Together with some of his former and current patients he inhabits, maintains and develops the Temple.

Temple of All Religions

With babushka Milena

Just us showing how nice and warm it is in Russia

Kremlin mosque

Kremlin tower

Kazan - Omsk train

In the train, September 14th, 2017

Woke up early to be on time for our 35 hour train ride to Omsk

Tried to experience the trainride 'Russian style'; the first beer was opened before 12:00 and our dinner consisted of instant noodles with vodka on the side.

In the train, there is not only time to talk, read, snack, sleep and drink, there is also more than enough time to think. There is time to think and rethink and think even more. Leaving home to travel unfortunately goes hand in hand with seperating yourself from your loved ones. And in this case, on top of the friends and family we had to say goodbye to, both Emma and I had to leave behind (at least for now) a special someone. This wasn't an easy decision, it was a particularly hard one, and the past week I was still unsure if it was the right one. But now, after hours of ruminating about this in the train, I have to conclude that it was, in fact, the right decision. Travelling indefinitely has been a dream for many years. I have the freedom I longed for. I am happy!

Traveling like Russians

Omsk

Omsk, September 15th, 2017

We completely forgot about the 3 hour time difference between Kazan and Omsk and therefore arrived in Omsk earlier than expected.

Without too much trouble, we found the right marshrutka (minibus) that took us to the outskirts of Omsk. Here we met our Couchsurfing hosts Sergey and Margarita.

In the bus, we spotted two boys dressed like soldiers.

Apparently there is some kind of military elementary school...

Took a nice stroll along the river and through the village-like neighbourhoods west of Omsk

Our hosts prepared a delicious borsch, traditional Russian soup, for us. They served it with bread and delicious CHEESE, so our Dutch tastebuds were very happy.

Yum, homemade Russian borsch

Typical Russian blankets

River stroll

Child soldier?

Omsk, September 16th, 2017

Being tired of walking through cities and knowing exactly what all the Russian churches look like inside, we decided to relax and read a book in one of Omsk's many parks instead

According to Tripadvisor, the #1 thing of #226 things to do in Omsk is look at an artwork dedicated to a plumber, who's name is Stepan (this says enough about how much fun Omsk is, really). Obviously, I could not resist the randomness of such a monument and dragged Emma across the city to have a look at it. Nobody seems to know what this guy is actually famous for and all I could find on internet was "Local people believe that all you have to do to avoid problems with plumbing at home is to give him a tight hug". Uhmm... OK

Just a quick update about weird crisp flavours: after the 'creamy mushrooms' from last week, we now tried 'four cheeses pizza' (which was quite nice) and 'cucumber and dill' (worst idea ever).

Stepan, who makes all your plumbing problems go away

Great reading spot

Park beach

Walked past a pretty church so still felt obligated to take a picture

Cucumber crisps shouldn't be a thing

Nice walk

Novosibirsk

Novosibirsk, September 16th, 2017

After spending a full day in the train (again), we arrived in Novosibirsk. We are now five hours ahead of the Netherlands and in the same time zone as Jakarta - wow!

We are staying with a couple from Couchsurfing, in a chaotic household with three crazy cats. We learned some Russian words that are not recommended to be used in public and played a game of Dixit.

Because the cats ate half of dinner before it was ready, we ordered a pizza. This was the definite highlight of the day, because it had a drawing and welcoming text especially for us!

Most special pizza box ever delivered to us

Cats & Dixit

When you have to eat while lying down because you have the upper berths in the train...

Novosibirsk, September 17th, 2017

Today we discovered the limits of not booking ahead a train on the Transsiberian route - there were no seats left on the only train of the day. Flexible as we are, we booked a place for tomorrow and decided to explore the Novosibirsk reservoir.

As it turned out, this was a great idea. The nature surrounding the reservoir was stunning and the warm weather tempted us to dive in the fresh water. The only problem: we did not have our towels and bikinis with us. So it turned out to be a quite adventurous swim... where we luckily avoided to be seen by other hikers 😉

Just before returning to the hostel (and preparing the first *healthy* meal of our trip) we spotted a curious squirrel, that got very close to us. Really cool!

For those motivated enough to read a story about how we had to deal with a severe case of inattentional blindness today: To get to the reservoir, we needed to take the subway. The ticket machine was in Russian, but I decided that by now this should no longer form an obstacle. So I looked at the machine, smoothly pressed the right buttons and slipped in a note of 50 roubles. Still proud of my quick understanding of the machine, I took my change and waited for the tickets to be printed. Nothing. Concluding that the ticket machine must be broken, we called for assistance and repeated our steps under the expert eye of the subway employee. Again, I took the change, put it in my wallet and pointed my finger at the empty box on the machine: it had not printed our tickets! The employee, now also convinced of the machine's defectiveness, called a colleague to resolve the issue. After being on the phone for a few minutes, she came back and asked for the change we got from the machine. Thinking she would give us back our lost 50 rouble notes, I opened my wallet and showed her the coins I had, so she could pick the right amount of change. And then, when she pointed her finger, we finally saw the reason that the machine failed to print our tickets: a total of 4 subway COINS were glistening in the palm of my hand... Oops.

It was perfect weather...

...so we took off our clothes...

...and dived in!

Nice hike next to the Ob river

Squirrel!

It IS confusing... right?!

Krasnoyarsk

(On the way to) Krasnoyarsk, September 19th, 2017

Another day in the train. The third class upper bunk bed with its uncomfortably short length and annoyingly small headspace has been such a constant factor during our trip that it is starting to feel like a home away from home.

Today, we watched the seasons change. Within an hour from departure, the lush green forests of Siberian summer were suddenly replaced by trees full of red and yellow leaves - clearly the beauty of autumn. We will have to try to enjoy this season to the fullest in Krasnoyarsk, as winter will probably be awaiting us when we travel onwards to Irkutsk.

Some things never change, like the garbage I always collect in the pockets of my jackets and jeans. During my travels, on top of the receipts, expired tickets and empty wrappers, I tend to collect weird things in weird places. I will share the loot from a quick look in my toiletry bag and daypack with you, as a gentle reminder to myself that I should be a bit neater:
- - #1 Soft, bread-like thing that we got from a (too) friendly old Russ on the train. Tastes like egg and dried fish and was therefore hidden in my bag after a few polite nibs
  - #2 Rock-hard, supersalty Kazakh cheese, a gift from our first Couchsurf hosts, who luckily don't follow my adventures on Facebook and won't find out that I hid it in my toiletry bag
  - #3 Russian chewing gum, a freebie from the pizza delivery, unwrapped to look at, then stowed in a corner of my toiletry bag because I had already brushed my teeth

Waiting to board the train

Typical view from the window

Time to clean out my toiletry bag...

Krasnoyarsk, September 20th, 2017

Walked up the Karaulnaya Gora hill in Krasnoyarsk for a nice view over the city and the Paraskeva Pyatnitsa Chapel, which is featured on the 10 rouble note

Walked 6km to see the Krasnoyarsk version of the Eiffel Tower. This was a quite pointless mission, as we already knew it would be a small and shitty version. But the fun part: this obscure remake of Gustav's masterpiece has 36 reviews on Google with an average of 4,6/5 stars (the real Eiffel Tower has a score of 4,7). Does the Krasnoyarsk miniature deserve this outstanding appraisal? I've added the photos so you can judge for yourself

Traveling is all about self-exploration and personal development, right? After only two weeks, I can already report a big advancement: I now drink and like coffee (with loads of milk and sugar of course)! I guess there's only one drink left before I have acquired all tastes...

It has been raining a lot and this is a cool van

Wow! What a majestic building

Or maybe not... (it is all about perspective)

View from the hill

Lovely Krasnoyarsk

Novice coffee addict

The real deal

Stolby NP, September 21th, 2017

Went to Stolby National park, which has a mountainous landscape with mystical rock formations (called Stolby) that rise above the forest. It was fun to climb different Stolby and enjoy the view over the amazing autumn trees

So, yesterday we saw Krasnoyarsk's version of the Eiffel tower and today we spotted the city's own 'Big Ben'. Again, this is not a joke and again, the Krasnoyarsk imitation only scores a tenth of a star less than the London original, according to Google reviews

We had an interesting encounter with the police today, who warned us that we crossed the street in the wrong place (we should have walked 300 m further to a crossing with traffic lights...??). We had to show our passports, but luckily, no dubious things happened

After our long hike, we treated ourselves to a luxurious and delicious restaurant dinner, with great pavlova. Fun fact: this dessert was created in New-Zealand to honour the famous Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova during her tour there

I love this season!

Woohoo! Happy to be here.

One of the Stolbs

Krasnoyark's Big Ben

Pavlova! Om nom nom

Irkutsk

On the train & Irkutsk, September 22-23, 2017

Another 18 hours in the train, this time with a higher percentage of drunk Russians than before. They were a little anoying, but that's all part of the Trans-Siberian charm

We finally figured out how to effectively get the exactly right train tickets without too much hassle at the ticket counter, hurray!

Enjoyed a walk through sunny but cold Irkutsk, a city filled with beautiful wooden houses and, as always, huge orthodox cathedrals

Train dinner: salad, bread and cheese

How to get the right seats on the right train

Bonus picture: the most delicious cookie in Russia!

Wooden houses of Irkutsk

Beautiful cathedral with long name (Cathedral of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God)

Olkhon Island

Olkhon Island, September 24th, 2017

It's rainy, it's windy, it's cold... and it's awesome! Today we arrived on Olkhon island, a quite remote place situated at the west side of lake Baikal. The landscape is amazing, there are only sand roads and the only village on the island is made almost entirely of wood

We sleep in a basic wooden cottage, we shit in a hole in the ground and we shower cold and outside. This is what traveling should be like! But thank humanity, there is electricity, a heater and even Wifi

Not only the sanitary facilities are from decades ago, also the cars driving on the island are old, and look amazing. We are especially fond of the vans (Emma looked into importing one to the Netherlands, but this seems to be very difficult)

Getting to the island was an adventure by itself, as the road was bumpy and the driver seemed to be determined to set a new route record. Because of this reckless driving on a mediocre "highway", we soon discovered why this minibus, contrary to most Russian minibuses, did have seatbelts: we were launched in the air all the time, as if we were riding a galloping horse. But in the end, we survived, and the trip did bring back some really nice memories from Armenia.

'Oops' of the day: I was too lazy to get out of bed and turn of the light, so I tried to hit the switch with my wallet. Unfortunately, it did not hit the switch but instead landed in a bucket with water...

Ferry to Olkhon

Cold wind!

Our toilet (Emma did not want me to take such a shitty picture, but I did it anyway)

Loving these vans

Awesome landscape

Our cute cottage

Olkhon Island, September 25th, 2017

Woke up to a view of the beautiful mountains across the lake, with snow on the peaks (that wasn't there yet the day before!)

Explored the island by foot, befriended several stray dogs along the way, climbed a few cliffs and walked up some hills. The views were amazing and, needless to say, much better than the pictures

Olkhon island is mainly inhabited by Buryats, a subgroup of the Mongols. This is noticeable by the appearance of the people, the building style, and the cuisine, which is delicious. We tried a "Khuushuur" (deep fried pastry with meat) for lunch and had "Buuzy" (Siberian dumpings) for dinner.

Because we will soon arrive in a cold Mongolia, I bought a pair of socks made of yak wool. They are very warm and look awesome too.

We enjoyed the FIRST red wine since the start of our trip. A very important and greatly delayed moment (usually Emma and I drink wine every time we meet).

Looks tropical, but don't be fooled: it's only 1°C

Buryat Buddhism

I love trees

View from our guesthouse

This selfie took a LOT of effort, because it was superwindy and Emma's telephone kept falling

Landscape

Khuushuur

One of our new friends

WINE IS FINE.

Ulan Ude

Ulan Ude, September 27th, 2017

It's snowing! 😃 When we left Irkutsk, we were already very excited about the millimetre of snow we spotted on some car windows, but it was an even bigger surprise that big snowflakes started falling from the sky as soon as we arrived in Ulan Ude.

Ulan Ude is the capital of the Republic of Buryatia, home to the Buryat people. Because most Buryats are Buddhists, there are many temples and other Buddhist structures in the city and surrounding villages. It is very interesting to see that this, too, is part of Russia and it's a welcome change to the hundreds (OK, tens) of Orthodox churches we've seen the past weeks. The temples also give the area a more Asian feel and make us very excited to continue our trip to Mongolia in a few days.

Our Russian roommate learned us how to distinguish good vodka from bad (usually illegal) vodka: just light it on fire (on the table, no problem). If the flame is blue, it's good, if the flame is green, it's bad.