As I may have mentioned previously, here is a special presentation of some photos from Istanbul, with some appropriate background music.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Glorified Gallipoli and Terrific Troy
Monday was an early start to catch a bus to Gallipoli. I got there about 12:30 and the tour started at one. Our guide Hasan took us to the Gallipoli museum which had a number of artifacts found in the area, including a collection of bullets that had hit each other in mid air and letters from soldiers, to ANZAC cove, which the Turkish government has officially renamed as such, John Simpson's grave (the guy with the donkey), Aru Buran cemetery, the site of the dawn service where they were already erecting the stands for ANZAC day, Lone Pine cemetery, one of the Turkish memorials, Chanuk Bair, a big New Zealand memorial site, the site of some of the trenches and a large memorial with a quite from Ataturk regarding the soldiers buried on the peninsula:
A few things really stuck home on the tour. First is that it felt like home. I'm not a sentimental type, but it did not feel like I was on foreign soil. The next was how beautiful the area is. Also present was the respect the Turks have for the ANZACs and the respect the soldiers on both sides had for each other even while killing each other. Stories of gallantry and nobility are common on both sides.
On Tuesday morning I took a tour of the ruins of Troy, the city of legend written of by Homer. Pretty interesting, but a lot of imagination is required. Pretty cool were the spots where you could see pieces from the nine different periods of Troy's history covering 3000 years. Then it was back to Istanbul and crashing in a hostel.
It was another early start today to catch the 8:30 train to Athens which will take 24 hours or so.
A few thoughts on Turkey. Russia keeps it prize for the best chess sets, but Turkey gets the prize for best chess boards, and best backgammon sets, although I'm not sure how much competition there is for that one. It was also a lot more expensive than I expected. My hostel was good, although the weekday staff were a lot friendlier than the weekend staff. Finally, Istanbul is a cat city.
"Those heroes that shed their
blood and lost their lives...you are now lying of the soil
of a friendly country, therefore rest in peace. There is
no difference between the Johnies and the Mehmets to
us where they lie side by side here in this country of
ours...You, the mothers, who sent their sons from far
away countries wipe away your tears. Your sons are
now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having
lost their lives on this land they have become our sons
as well."
- Kemal Ataturk
A few things really stuck home on the tour. First is that it felt like home. I'm not a sentimental type, but it did not feel like I was on foreign soil. The next was how beautiful the area is. Also present was the respect the Turks have for the ANZACs and the respect the soldiers on both sides had for each other even while killing each other. Stories of gallantry and nobility are common on both sides.
On Tuesday morning I took a tour of the ruins of Troy, the city of legend written of by Homer. Pretty interesting, but a lot of imagination is required. Pretty cool were the spots where you could see pieces from the nine different periods of Troy's history covering 3000 years. Then it was back to Istanbul and crashing in a hostel.
It was another early start today to catch the 8:30 train to Athens which will take 24 hours or so.
A few thoughts on Turkey. Russia keeps it prize for the best chess sets, but Turkey gets the prize for best chess boards, and best backgammon sets, although I'm not sure how much competition there is for that one. It was also a lot more expensive than I expected. My hostel was good, although the weekday staff were a lot friendlier than the weekend staff. Finally, Istanbul is a cat city.
Intrinsic Istanbul
Thursday was a rainy day and I visited some museums. First was the Topkapi palace, where the Sultans used to live. It was alright. There was an awesome knife in the treasure room which had a gold sheath and three huge emeralds in the hilt. There was also a collection of relics of the prophets which included Moses' rod, David's sword, arm bones in a golden arm shaped case, a bunch of Mohamed's beard (dude must have had one long beard). This collection also had someone there 24/7 reading from the Koran. An easy job if you can get it. After the palace I visited the Archeology museum and in three hours got through less than half of it.
Friday was fine weather again and I did a bus tour around town. I spent about an hour and a half walking along the remains of the city walls, which were pretty tall and would have been even taller in the day as the ground was lower then. The walls are also about 1500 years old and stood for 1000 years before being broken by the giant cannons of the Turks in 1453. I think I could have done it cheaper using public transport, but I would have missed a lot of the things along the way.
On Saturday I took a two hour cruise along the Bosporus (the choice was between a two hour cruise or a six hour cruise) which was good but cold. Quite a windchill factor. After the cruise I visited another mosque but didn't see much as it was undergoing restoration work, then the spice market where I got a box of Turkish delight (half rosewater and half a mix of other varieties) and a t-shirt. Finally I crossed the Golden Horn to visit the Galata tower, which has a great view of the city.
Sunday I visited the Azeri Military History Museum, which had a pretty decent collection, then I went to see Valens aqueduct, which n days long gone supplied the Basilica cistern with water.
Friday was fine weather again and I did a bus tour around town. I spent about an hour and a half walking along the remains of the city walls, which were pretty tall and would have been even taller in the day as the ground was lower then. The walls are also about 1500 years old and stood for 1000 years before being broken by the giant cannons of the Turks in 1453. I think I could have done it cheaper using public transport, but I would have missed a lot of the things along the way.
On Saturday I took a two hour cruise along the Bosporus (the choice was between a two hour cruise or a six hour cruise) which was good but cold. Quite a windchill factor. After the cruise I visited another mosque but didn't see much as it was undergoing restoration work, then the spice market where I got a box of Turkish delight (half rosewater and half a mix of other varieties) and a t-shirt. Finally I crossed the Golden Horn to visit the Galata tower, which has a great view of the city.
Sunday I visited the Azeri Military History Museum, which had a pretty decent collection, then I went to see Valens aqueduct, which n days long gone supplied the Basilica cistern with water.
Idiomatic Istanbul
At last I got to Istanbul and walked to my hostel which was about half an hour from the train station and just behind the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. That afternoon was spent wandering around the area past the Galata tower looking for the Australian consulate, which I was only a block or two from when I stopped looking. On the way back to the hostel I stopped by a tourist information centre who showed me where it was on my map.
Wednesday morning I took a tram and walked up the hill to the consulate where I was told I had to go to a website and request a postal vote, which would be sent to my address in Australia. Not much use to me since the election was to be on Saturday.
After that less than stellar effort I made my back to the Hagia Sophia. The third church on the site dedicated to the holy wisdom, it was the largest cathedral in the world for almost 1000 years, it was converted to a mosque by Mehmet the conqueror and then into a museum by Ataturk. An impressive building almost 1500 years old.
Across the way from the Hagia Sophia is the Blue Mosque, aka the Sultanahmet mosque, which is intentionally very similar in design to the Hagia Sophia, but coloured, as the name suggests, blue instead of the Sophia's red. Its condition is a lot better than the Hagia Sophia, but it has the advantage of only being about 500 years old.
Next was the Basilica Cistern. This is a giant underground watertank built around the same time as the Hagia Sophia. It's cool and damp and the lighting is quite appropriate.
Wednesday morning I took a tram and walked up the hill to the consulate where I was told I had to go to a website and request a postal vote, which would be sent to my address in Australia. Not much use to me since the election was to be on Saturday.
After that less than stellar effort I made my back to the Hagia Sophia. The third church on the site dedicated to the holy wisdom, it was the largest cathedral in the world for almost 1000 years, it was converted to a mosque by Mehmet the conqueror and then into a museum by Ataturk. An impressive building almost 1500 years old.
Across the way from the Hagia Sophia is the Blue Mosque, aka the Sultanahmet mosque, which is intentionally very similar in design to the Hagia Sophia, but coloured, as the name suggests, blue instead of the Sophia's red. Its condition is a lot better than the Hagia Sophia, but it has the advantage of only being about 500 years old.
Next was the Basilica Cistern. This is a giant underground watertank built around the same time as the Hagia Sophia. It's cool and damp and the lighting is quite appropriate.
Vivacious Veliko Tarnovo and the Troublesome Train
Note: This is another big entry that covers a few places, so I'm going to split it up into several posts.
I'm now not only a few cities behind, I'm a country behind. I last wrote while on the way to Veliko Tarnovo, a small town in the centre of Bulgaria. The train ride was alright. There were some nice rock cuttings along the way my grandmother would have liked.
The main attraction of Veliko Tarnovo is an old fortress that is reasonably intact. There were also a few old churches around the place and a few monuments. On the Sunday I wandered around town taking in most of these sights. On Monday I lazed around the hostel and did a little shopping for supplies.
The guests who were there were an interesting mix. On the first night there was a pair of German cousins on a road trip, a British/Israeli woman who was buying a house in a nearby village and her sister and and an Australian and a Swede who had joined up somewhere and decided to travel together. On the second night there was a pair of Chinese people from Germany. The girl was obsessed with shoes and had bought so many pairs in Bulgaria she'd had to buy two new suitcases to take them back home (I think it was around the 40 pair mark). Her friend, who was not quite so keen on shoes, was named Shu.
The train to Istanbul got off to a rocky start. While I was waiting a guy came up to me and said he worked on a nearby archeological dig and showed me some Roman coins he offered to sell me for what was left of my Bulgarian money. It's just as well I didn't as when I got on board I got some bad news. The carriage my ticket was for had broken down and been left behind in Romania, and since the remaining sleeper car was run by the Turkish railways, the guard wouldn't just give me a berth on his carriage without paying for a reservation. This struck me as particularly rough since the carriage was reasonably empty and I ended up having the berth to myself.
Immigration was also a bit of a hassle. I had to pay for a visa and had checked before and found out that they would accept Turkish Lira, Euros and US dollars. I thought I would be fine as I had a bunch of US 100s left, but they wouldn't take it as they didn't have change. I managed to change one of the 100s into Euros at one of the duty free shops (the first I've seen since Korea) and all was well, but I was worried for a little while.
I'm now not only a few cities behind, I'm a country behind. I last wrote while on the way to Veliko Tarnovo, a small town in the centre of Bulgaria. The train ride was alright. There were some nice rock cuttings along the way my grandmother would have liked.
The main attraction of Veliko Tarnovo is an old fortress that is reasonably intact. There were also a few old churches around the place and a few monuments. On the Sunday I wandered around town taking in most of these sights. On Monday I lazed around the hostel and did a little shopping for supplies.
The guests who were there were an interesting mix. On the first night there was a pair of German cousins on a road trip, a British/Israeli woman who was buying a house in a nearby village and her sister and and an Australian and a Swede who had joined up somewhere and decided to travel together. On the second night there was a pair of Chinese people from Germany. The girl was obsessed with shoes and had bought so many pairs in Bulgaria she'd had to buy two new suitcases to take them back home (I think it was around the 40 pair mark). Her friend, who was not quite so keen on shoes, was named Shu.
The train to Istanbul got off to a rocky start. While I was waiting a guy came up to me and said he worked on a nearby archeological dig and showed me some Roman coins he offered to sell me for what was left of my Bulgarian money. It's just as well I didn't as when I got on board I got some bad news. The carriage my ticket was for had broken down and been left behind in Romania, and since the remaining sleeper car was run by the Turkish railways, the guard wouldn't just give me a berth on his carriage without paying for a reservation. This struck me as particularly rough since the carriage was reasonably empty and I ended up having the berth to myself.
Immigration was also a bit of a hassle. I had to pay for a visa and had checked before and found out that they would accept Turkish Lira, Euros and US dollars. I thought I would be fine as I had a bunch of US 100s left, but they wouldn't take it as they didn't have change. I managed to change one of the 100s into Euros at one of the duty free shops (the first I've seen since Korea) and all was well, but I was worried for a little while.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Bloody Brasov and Swift Sofia
So at the moment I'm a town behind in writing down what I've done. This is mainly due to the short amount of time I spent in Sofia, about 31.5 hours. Last time I wrote I was on my way to Brasov. I was not alone on this trip. Derrick was a Canadian I met at the hostel in Bucharest and he was leaving for Brasov the same day I was so we went to Brasov together, so when I use we it's not because I've gone all hoity toity and am using the royal we.
The train from Bucharest to Brasov was very good, new rolling stock that was well appointed and even had numerous power outlets throughout the carriage, although I did not make use of them on the trip. We got to the hostel with little difficulty. On arrival we were sat down with a couple who arrived at the same time and made to fill out our booking information on paper (every other hostel has done that themselves on a computer) and received the sales pitch. First the lady who ran the hostel outlined the things to see in the area, then the tours they offered to see them all. The tours sounded ok, but a little rushed and a little pricey (40-45 Lei per person, not including entrance fees). After setting into the hostel, Derrick and I strolled around town to get a feel for the lay of the land.
The next day was the first bad weather I've encountered so far. It was raining/drizzling most of the day except when it was snowing. After it eased up around 11ish we went out walking around town to see things in the light of day and to go inside things. The Black Church was interesting and had a huge pipe organ, although not as big as the UQ one. We walked around in the drizzle for a few hours before calling it quits.
the next day was a beautiful day with barely a cloud in the sky. We caught a bus from Brasov to Bran (4 Lei) and got into Bran at 10:40 only to find the castle didn't open until midday, so we walked around for a while, but the town seemed pretty much consist of the castle, souvenir stands and pensiones. The castle was alright, but didn't live up to expectations. The attached collection of peasant houses was also underwhelming. After finishing up in Bran, we caught a bus to Rasnov (3 Lei). Here we visited Rasnov fortress, which was built by and used by the peasants of the town when attacked. It was a bit of a climb above the town though. Going up we walked up the road going up behind the fortress, as this was the only marked path. It was a pleasant walk in almost forest with some great views near the top. In fact the views from the fortress were amazing, snow capped mountains, the town, the plains, all amazing. At the highest point of the fortress you get a full 360 view which is amazing. The fortress is about 500 years old, and was neglected for a lot of the 20th century, but still intact and they are working to restore it.
To descend back to town we took the stairs from the front of the fortress, which took us down to a street we'd walked down on the way up. We looked, but there was absolutely no signs suggesting the stairs existed at the entrance of the building we walked through to get to the street.
We then caught another bus back to Brasov (2.5 Lei) where we took the cable car up the mountain right next to the town and saw there was more of Brasov on the other side of the mountain. We could also see the hostel from the top as it was close by and a bright purple in colour.
On Thursday (the 12th) we parted ways, Derrick headed to Sighisora while I made my way to Sofia via Bucharest. I had about a 7 hour wait in Bucharest so I left my bags at the station and went to an English bookstore I'd seen while walking around town. I bought a Sandman book and a book about the AK-47.
The train to Sofia was an overnighter, and I arrived at about 6:00 I walked to a hostel a few people had recommended, for the first time not booking ahead. This turned out not so great as they only had a bed for one night, whereas I had been planning to stay in Sofia for three nights before going to Istanbul.
During the day I walked around Sofia and took in a lot of the sights. During m walk I decided not to try and find another hostel in Sofia, but to go to Veliko Tornovo, a place a lot of people had recommended. I'm going to stay there two nights and catch the train to Istanbul from there Monday evening.
The train from Bucharest to Brasov was very good, new rolling stock that was well appointed and even had numerous power outlets throughout the carriage, although I did not make use of them on the trip. We got to the hostel with little difficulty. On arrival we were sat down with a couple who arrived at the same time and made to fill out our booking information on paper (every other hostel has done that themselves on a computer) and received the sales pitch. First the lady who ran the hostel outlined the things to see in the area, then the tours they offered to see them all. The tours sounded ok, but a little rushed and a little pricey (40-45 Lei per person, not including entrance fees). After setting into the hostel, Derrick and I strolled around town to get a feel for the lay of the land.
The next day was the first bad weather I've encountered so far. It was raining/drizzling most of the day except when it was snowing. After it eased up around 11ish we went out walking around town to see things in the light of day and to go inside things. The Black Church was interesting and had a huge pipe organ, although not as big as the UQ one. We walked around in the drizzle for a few hours before calling it quits.
the next day was a beautiful day with barely a cloud in the sky. We caught a bus from Brasov to Bran (4 Lei) and got into Bran at 10:40 only to find the castle didn't open until midday, so we walked around for a while, but the town seemed pretty much consist of the castle, souvenir stands and pensiones. The castle was alright, but didn't live up to expectations. The attached collection of peasant houses was also underwhelming. After finishing up in Bran, we caught a bus to Rasnov (3 Lei). Here we visited Rasnov fortress, which was built by and used by the peasants of the town when attacked. It was a bit of a climb above the town though. Going up we walked up the road going up behind the fortress, as this was the only marked path. It was a pleasant walk in almost forest with some great views near the top. In fact the views from the fortress were amazing, snow capped mountains, the town, the plains, all amazing. At the highest point of the fortress you get a full 360 view which is amazing. The fortress is about 500 years old, and was neglected for a lot of the 20th century, but still intact and they are working to restore it.
To descend back to town we took the stairs from the front of the fortress, which took us down to a street we'd walked down on the way up. We looked, but there was absolutely no signs suggesting the stairs existed at the entrance of the building we walked through to get to the street.
We then caught another bus back to Brasov (2.5 Lei) where we took the cable car up the mountain right next to the town and saw there was more of Brasov on the other side of the mountain. We could also see the hostel from the top as it was close by and a bright purple in colour.
On Thursday (the 12th) we parted ways, Derrick headed to Sighisora while I made my way to Sofia via Bucharest. I had about a 7 hour wait in Bucharest so I left my bags at the station and went to an English bookstore I'd seen while walking around town. I bought a Sandman book and a book about the AK-47.
The train to Sofia was an overnighter, and I arrived at about 6:00 I walked to a hostel a few people had recommended, for the first time not booking ahead. This turned out not so great as they only had a bed for one night, whereas I had been planning to stay in Sofia for three nights before going to Istanbul.
During the day I walked around Sofia and took in a lot of the sights. During m walk I decided not to try and find another hostel in Sofia, but to go to Veliko Tornovo, a place a lot of people had recommended. I'm going to stay there two nights and catch the train to Istanbul from there Monday evening.
Monday, March 09, 2009
Really, why even bother pretending?
So North Korea just had an election. Not surprisingly, Kim Jong-Il got 100% of the vote, although surprisingly he was only running for what seems to be the equivalent of an MP. But getting 100% of the vote is pretty easy when there's only one pre-approved name on the ballot in each electorate, and everyone has to bow to a giant photo of you before casting their vote. The guys with guns probably discourage independent thinking on the matter as well.
I wonder why they even bother. This is simply a more expensive way of appointing a body and doesn't fool anyone into thinking this was a real election. Either put on a better show and make it look like you're trying to be democratic, or admit you're a tyranny and use the money you spent on the election on food for your people, or more likely a tank or two.
While I'm on the topic of North Korea, I don't believe this is really a communications satellite. The only people allowed to communicate in the country are the military, and the country's small enough you don't need to send something all the way into space to build something to provide decent coverage. They're doing it to show that they can launch something big a long way.
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I wonder why they even bother. This is simply a more expensive way of appointing a body and doesn't fool anyone into thinking this was a real election. Either put on a better show and make it look like you're trying to be democratic, or admit you're a tyranny and use the money you spent on the election on food for your people, or more likely a tank or two.
While I'm on the topic of North Korea, I don't believe this is really a communications satellite. The only people allowed to communicate in the country are the military, and the country's small enough you don't need to send something all the way into space to build something to provide decent coverage. They're doing it to show that they can launch something big a long way.
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Big in Bucharest
En route from Bucharest to Brasov which is about a three hour trip. The views are nice, we're going up into some mountains, the Carpathians I believe. It also looks like it was a good idea not to have posted my jacket to London yet as it's snowing outside. Maybe I'll post it from Sofia.
Bucharest had two highlights although one of them had nothing to do with Romania. The Romanian highlight was the Palace of the Parliament. This is the second largest building in the world (in terms of how much land it covers. I think tall buildings are generally more impressive than broad ones). It's about 170m on each side, a giant square with towers on each corner. The rooms inside are huge. There is a gallery that goes along the front of the building that is 150m long. Most rooms are very tall, some going up to 19m tall. No one is changing a light without a ladder here. The building has 3500 tons of crystal in the chandeliers, a fortune in gold leaf, a lot of the floors and walls are marble, and all the materials and labour came from Romania. This is the kind of structure you only get when you have a megalomaniac dictator running the country.
The other highlight was going to see Watchmen, which was fantastic. It stayed true to the book, but obviously they had to cut a lot of stuff, and the cuts they made left the main point intact, although they had to change the ending a bit as without all the stuff they cut it would have been a giant deus ex machina.
Another interesting thing in Bucharest was the history museum. They had a replica of Trajan's column, which I believe commemorates the Roman's conquest of what is now Romania. As it was indoors and they couldn't fit in vertically, they put all the sections in order around the walls so you could see them up close and follow the story, which I doubt I'll be able to do when I see the original.
I feel like I'm getting a bit blase with my sightseeing. I think that it's partly that I've been on the go for over a month, and partly that the last week and a bit have been in between places, the places en route between the cities I'm really excited about. I remember how excited I was when I arrived in Moscow, a feeling I didn't have in Kiev or Bucharest.
Bucharest had two highlights although one of them had nothing to do with Romania. The Romanian highlight was the Palace of the Parliament. This is the second largest building in the world (in terms of how much land it covers. I think tall buildings are generally more impressive than broad ones). It's about 170m on each side, a giant square with towers on each corner. The rooms inside are huge. There is a gallery that goes along the front of the building that is 150m long. Most rooms are very tall, some going up to 19m tall. No one is changing a light without a ladder here. The building has 3500 tons of crystal in the chandeliers, a fortune in gold leaf, a lot of the floors and walls are marble, and all the materials and labour came from Romania. This is the kind of structure you only get when you have a megalomaniac dictator running the country.
The other highlight was going to see Watchmen, which was fantastic. It stayed true to the book, but obviously they had to cut a lot of stuff, and the cuts they made left the main point intact, although they had to change the ending a bit as without all the stuff they cut it would have been a giant deus ex machina.
Another interesting thing in Bucharest was the history museum. They had a replica of Trajan's column, which I believe commemorates the Roman's conquest of what is now Romania. As it was indoors and they couldn't fit in vertically, they put all the sections in order around the walls so you could see them up close and follow the story, which I doubt I'll be able to do when I see the original.
I feel like I'm getting a bit blase with my sightseeing. I think that it's partly that I've been on the go for over a month, and partly that the last week and a bit have been in between places, the places en route between the cities I'm really excited about. I remember how excited I was when I arrived in Moscow, a feeling I didn't have in Kiev or Bucharest.
Friday, March 06, 2009
Living Large in Lviv
It was only while looking at the stamp I got in my passport today that I realized that today is one month from when I left Korea. And I've only just made it to the third country. I've entered the EU, but not yet entered the Schengen zone or the Eurozone. That will probably occur in about two weeks when I make it to Greece.
As has often happened in my life, I don't feel like I've done enough to fill up a month. Nine days (including today) have been spent on trains. Twelve in Russian cities and seven in Ukrainian cities. That adds up to twenty-eight.
I think I've kind of stuck within my budget on average. I had a few bumps with regards to taxis on this front, but should not repeat that as I've decided to avoid taxis and make sure I stay at places that give good direction and are close to public transport. I'm using a different website to book hostels which is a lot better than the first site for giving directions. Hostel World for those who want to know. I've used my credit card a lot to get local funds as it's usually been easier than exchanging the cash I have(at least in Russia. The Ukraine and Romania have exchange booths everywhere).I'm going to cut back on that as I have only three, maybe four more countries outside the Eurozone, so I will try and use up my US dollars in those countries, and cash in my travelers cheques when I hit Greece.
I'm on another train as I write this (no surprise there. I seem to pretty much just write these on the train). I have the carriage by myself at this point. There was an Italian couple on board, but they got off around lunch time. In fact, when the train arrived in Lviv, this carriage was not yet part of the train, which initially caused me some confusion as my ticket said I was in car 16 and the train only went up to car 8.
Lviv was a nice town with lots of old buildings. The town center was quite historic looking with lots of statues and churches and other stuff around. My first day I did a walking tour from the Lonely Planet which took in a few churches, a few vacant lots that were synagogues until WWII, Castle Hill which distinctly lacks a castle but does have a good view, a few museums that were closed that day (I tried to go into one, noticed the sign saying it was closed on Wednesdays, thought nothing of it as it was surely later in the week than Wednesday, got confused at the lack of anyone trying to sell me a ticket until one of the men I passed on the way in showed me the sign again, at which point I realized it was indeed Wednesday).
On Thursday I visited Lychakivskiy Cemetery which had many cool tombstones that I was unable to photograph as the battery in my camera died. After the cemetery I went back into town to visit some of the museums and the tower of the town hall. The museum I liked the most was the Arsenal, which as its name suggests has a display of weapons from all over the world including swords, axes, maces, crossbows, pistols, rifles and cannons.
My last four days in the Ukraine I have had dinner at the same chain of restaurants, which is a non all you can eat buffet. The food was good and cheap. I sort of liked the borscht. The soup was good but I'd leave the cabbage behind. I wonder if it's possible to make borscht without the cabbage.
The hostel in Lviv wasn't as good as the others I've stayed at. The building was old and the stairs were not level and it was a bit dank. The theme was good (it was called Kosmonaut and had pictures of Yuri Gagarin on the wall and a vampire Lenin). While I was there I was the only guest, so I had not only a room to myself but the whole place. It was OK, but I prefer the liveliness of the place I stayed in Kiev. Another plus for the Kosmonaut is that I got a free t-shirt from them.
I arrive in Bucharest tonight and will spend a few days there. Then I'll head north a bit to Brasov and do the Transylvania thing (If I'm lucky I'll get to stake a vamp or two, though I doubt it). Then I'll move south again to Sofia in Bulgaria (via Bucharest no doubt) and then onto Istanbul, the second on my "must see" list for this trip (the list includes Moscow, Istanbul, Athens, Rome, Paris and London). Other places are on the "what's cool around or between those places" list. It will probably be about one and a half to two weeks before I arrive in Istanbul. I have a plan for what I'm going to do with my pictures from Istanbul, so look forward to that one.
As has often happened in my life, I don't feel like I've done enough to fill up a month. Nine days (including today) have been spent on trains. Twelve in Russian cities and seven in Ukrainian cities. That adds up to twenty-eight.
I think I've kind of stuck within my budget on average. I had a few bumps with regards to taxis on this front, but should not repeat that as I've decided to avoid taxis and make sure I stay at places that give good direction and are close to public transport. I'm using a different website to book hostels which is a lot better than the first site for giving directions. Hostel World for those who want to know. I've used my credit card a lot to get local funds as it's usually been easier than exchanging the cash I have(at least in Russia. The Ukraine and Romania have exchange booths everywhere).I'm going to cut back on that as I have only three, maybe four more countries outside the Eurozone, so I will try and use up my US dollars in those countries, and cash in my travelers cheques when I hit Greece.
I'm on another train as I write this (no surprise there. I seem to pretty much just write these on the train). I have the carriage by myself at this point. There was an Italian couple on board, but they got off around lunch time. In fact, when the train arrived in Lviv, this carriage was not yet part of the train, which initially caused me some confusion as my ticket said I was in car 16 and the train only went up to car 8.
Lviv was a nice town with lots of old buildings. The town center was quite historic looking with lots of statues and churches and other stuff around. My first day I did a walking tour from the Lonely Planet which took in a few churches, a few vacant lots that were synagogues until WWII, Castle Hill which distinctly lacks a castle but does have a good view, a few museums that were closed that day (I tried to go into one, noticed the sign saying it was closed on Wednesdays, thought nothing of it as it was surely later in the week than Wednesday, got confused at the lack of anyone trying to sell me a ticket until one of the men I passed on the way in showed me the sign again, at which point I realized it was indeed Wednesday).
On Thursday I visited Lychakivskiy Cemetery which had many cool tombstones that I was unable to photograph as the battery in my camera died. After the cemetery I went back into town to visit some of the museums and the tower of the town hall. The museum I liked the most was the Arsenal, which as its name suggests has a display of weapons from all over the world including swords, axes, maces, crossbows, pistols, rifles and cannons.
My last four days in the Ukraine I have had dinner at the same chain of restaurants, which is a non all you can eat buffet. The food was good and cheap. I sort of liked the borscht. The soup was good but I'd leave the cabbage behind. I wonder if it's possible to make borscht without the cabbage.
The hostel in Lviv wasn't as good as the others I've stayed at. The building was old and the stairs were not level and it was a bit dank. The theme was good (it was called Kosmonaut and had pictures of Yuri Gagarin on the wall and a vampire Lenin). While I was there I was the only guest, so I had not only a room to myself but the whole place. It was OK, but I prefer the liveliness of the place I stayed in Kiev. Another plus for the Kosmonaut is that I got a free t-shirt from them.
I arrive in Bucharest tonight and will spend a few days there. Then I'll head north a bit to Brasov and do the Transylvania thing (If I'm lucky I'll get to stake a vamp or two, though I doubt it). Then I'll move south again to Sofia in Bulgaria (via Bucharest no doubt) and then onto Istanbul, the second on my "must see" list for this trip (the list includes Moscow, Istanbul, Athens, Rome, Paris and London). Other places are on the "what's cool around or between those places" list. It will probably be about one and a half to two weeks before I arrive in Istanbul. I have a plan for what I'm going to do with my pictures from Istanbul, so look forward to that one.
Come On Catholics
This case from Brazil seems a little bit of overkill. An archbishop has excommunicated a group of people who helped a nine year old girl who had been sexually abused by her stepfather get an abortion.
I think this is the sort of case almost everyone would agree on that the girl is in no way physically, mentally or emotionally ready to be a parent, and that to continue the pregnancy would be dangerous to the girl.
Frankly, if anyone should be excommunicated here, it's the stepfather who has acted in a despicable fashion
End Post
Writing time: 5 minutes
Time since last post: a few days
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I think this is the sort of case almost everyone would agree on that the girl is in no way physically, mentally or emotionally ready to be a parent, and that to continue the pregnancy would be dangerous to the girl.
Frankly, if anyone should be excommunicated here, it's the stepfather who has acted in a despicable fashion
End Post
Writing time: 5 minutes
Time since last post: a few days
Current media: none
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Killing Time in Kiev
Once more I'm on a train from somewhere to somewhere. In this case from Kiev to Lviv (or Lvov or one of the many other forms I've seen). It's a daytime train because the overnight trains get into Lviv at around 4 in the morning, so instead I'm catching a daytime train which left Kiev at 11 and will arrive in Lviv at 9pm.
Lviv represents the first departure from the general plan. The plan was that after Kiev I'd go to Crimea and catch a ferry across the Black Sea. But the ferries are too flaky this time of year, so instead I'm going to go overland to Istanbul via Romania and Bulgaria.
Kiev was a nice city, although I prefer Moscow and St Petersburg. For the first time the lingua franca in the hostel was English rather than Russian, although I was one of the few who only spoke English. Without more information my hypothesis is that the common language seems to be that of the people who run the place.
Last Wednesday I got to Moscow around 9pm, caught a taxi to Kievskii station, got a bite to eat and sat around until 11:23 when the train left. I got told off by security for taking photos of some of the decorations of the station. I went to sleep soon after the train departed and would have had a good nights sleep if it weren't for being woken up by customs at about 3 or 4 in the morning. They were a bit concerned about my visa since I've got two, one of which is canceled because the embassy made two mistakes on it. In the end though, all was well and they let me into the country.
I slept lightly for another few hours before arriving in Kiev. I walked to the hostel and although I missed the turnoff (the hotel given as a landmark did not show it's name all that well to someone coming from the direction I was) but realized my mistake a block or two further and found my way in the end.
The hostel is run by a British guy named Marcus who is a bit of a wheeler dealer in the Ukraine hostel business and extolled the opportunities out there for someone with a bit of cash to set something up. The hostel was alright, my only complaint being that the base of the bed was made up of planks that just covered the width of the bed and with a sudden movement one or two might fall off.
My first afternoon I walked past the National Theater, the Golden Gate (the rebuilt gate of the old city walls), the grounds of St Sofia cathedral (the buildings were closed Thursdays), St Micheal's Monastery, St Andrew's and then down St Andrew's descent, an old cobblestone road lined with guys selling souvenirs. The ones which really caught my eye, although not for reasons that would make me purchase somethings, were the stands selling tin soldiers. Russia had some exceptional tin soldiers with exquisite detail, but Kiev not so much. The stands in Kiev would have a few large models around 7-10cm tall, and then a lot of small ones around 28mm tall. How am I so sure of that height? Well, the first stall I looked at I started to look at some goblin like creatures on squares bases that kind of looked familiar. Next to them were some elves that looked quite Tolkeinish with a lot more detail on them. The I saw a futuristic soldier in big bulky armour carrying a massive laser gun. These were in fact Warhammer models given a quick once over with some metallic spray paint and being sold for about 100 hrivnias, or about AU$20. Last time I checked you'd have got two for about AU$18, so no the best souvenir.
So far I have bought three souvenirs. Two have been t shirts, as I figure I can wear them as I go and it's a practical investment. The other is an old badge from the KGB (probably a replica, but cool none-the-less).
For dinner on Thursday I went out with a group from the hostel to a place referred to as both the hospital and the doctor bar. It was a bar/restaurant with a medical theme. The waitresses wore nurse outfits (with varying amounts of clothing underneath), the bartenders wore scrubs, they served some drinks in test tubes, they had a padded room, etc. It was reasonably priced and the food was good.
On Friday I visited the caves monastery, an old orthodox church complex that included a set of catacombs with the preserved remains of a bunch of guys and people would go down there to pray. After the monastery I went to the WWII memorial, which features a 62m tall woman holding up a sword and shield, a collection of old tanks, jets, artillery and other military hardware, and two museums (one for WWII, the other post WWII). Reasonably interesting, but not much English.
On Saturday I took a walk along the main street downtown and then up to St Sofia again to check out the inside and the bell tower. The inside of St Sofia was very good, as they left some parts unrestored so you could see the effects of time. Overall, a nice cathedral. I also saw a poster for Watchmen, which is coming out in the Ukraine on the 5th.
On Sunday, I went to the natural history museum, which was pretty good. They had a lot of dioramas that were well produced, a hut built of mammoth tusks and jaws, a collection of live reptiles and insects, some whale skeletons and much more.
On Monday I went with a group from the hostel to the Chornobyl museum, and we were lucky enough to arrive there just as an English tour was beginning. It was actually a private tour three people had paid for, but they didn't mind people following along and joining the tour. Over the course of the tour people accumulated in the group. It was not as sad as the Hiroshima museum since it was an accident rather than a deliberate act and nowhere near as destructive, but it is still a tragedy.
After the Chornobyl museum we went to a folk village where traditional houses, windmills, churches and other structures are preserved. The wooden churches have a strong smell of timber when you're inside them (not surprising) which really gave them a very different feel to the stone cathedrals I've mostly visited.
That evening I tried to but some train tickets. I managed to get my ticket for Lviv, but my onward ticket was more frustrating. I had to go to a different ticket stand at the other end of the station, which was behind a set of doors with very little signage (after days of visiting museums and such, I know the words that go on the places that sell tickets). I found the stand and the lady couldn't read the note I'd had written in Ukranian by a local working at the hostel. The ticket lady thought I wanted a ticket from Kiev to Sofia, instead of Lviv to Sofia, and as there's no train from Kiev to Sofia, wouldn't sell me one. I double checked with information I'd gone to the right ticket stand, and went back. I got in line behind the man who was being served and a few minutes later a man got in line behind me and asked if he could go before me. As I was a bit frustrated at this point I said no and continued waiting. When the man in front of me finished the man asked again, and again I said no and tried to communicate with the ticket I wanted. At this point the man stated talking to the ticket lady in Ukranian (or Russia, I can't really say which), and when she started serving him instead of me I gave up and left. (Regarding the man's actions, I think if you're in a hurry you could ask once, but if the person says no you should leave it at that. Don't keep pestering, and don't barge in front. The ticket lady was even worse, as she should not have served him.)
It is for the best though that those two vexed me. I had gotten the order of Romania and Bulgaria mixed up, and didn't actually want a ticket to Sofia, so fate saved me a big hassle by giving me a small one.
Lviv represents the first departure from the general plan. The plan was that after Kiev I'd go to Crimea and catch a ferry across the Black Sea. But the ferries are too flaky this time of year, so instead I'm going to go overland to Istanbul via Romania and Bulgaria.
Kiev was a nice city, although I prefer Moscow and St Petersburg. For the first time the lingua franca in the hostel was English rather than Russian, although I was one of the few who only spoke English. Without more information my hypothesis is that the common language seems to be that of the people who run the place.
Last Wednesday I got to Moscow around 9pm, caught a taxi to Kievskii station, got a bite to eat and sat around until 11:23 when the train left. I got told off by security for taking photos of some of the decorations of the station. I went to sleep soon after the train departed and would have had a good nights sleep if it weren't for being woken up by customs at about 3 or 4 in the morning. They were a bit concerned about my visa since I've got two, one of which is canceled because the embassy made two mistakes on it. In the end though, all was well and they let me into the country.
I slept lightly for another few hours before arriving in Kiev. I walked to the hostel and although I missed the turnoff (the hotel given as a landmark did not show it's name all that well to someone coming from the direction I was) but realized my mistake a block or two further and found my way in the end.
The hostel is run by a British guy named Marcus who is a bit of a wheeler dealer in the Ukraine hostel business and extolled the opportunities out there for someone with a bit of cash to set something up. The hostel was alright, my only complaint being that the base of the bed was made up of planks that just covered the width of the bed and with a sudden movement one or two might fall off.
My first afternoon I walked past the National Theater, the Golden Gate (the rebuilt gate of the old city walls), the grounds of St Sofia cathedral (the buildings were closed Thursdays), St Micheal's Monastery, St Andrew's and then down St Andrew's descent, an old cobblestone road lined with guys selling souvenirs. The ones which really caught my eye, although not for reasons that would make me purchase somethings, were the stands selling tin soldiers. Russia had some exceptional tin soldiers with exquisite detail, but Kiev not so much. The stands in Kiev would have a few large models around 7-10cm tall, and then a lot of small ones around 28mm tall. How am I so sure of that height? Well, the first stall I looked at I started to look at some goblin like creatures on squares bases that kind of looked familiar. Next to them were some elves that looked quite Tolkeinish with a lot more detail on them. The I saw a futuristic soldier in big bulky armour carrying a massive laser gun. These were in fact Warhammer models given a quick once over with some metallic spray paint and being sold for about 100 hrivnias, or about AU$20. Last time I checked you'd have got two for about AU$18, so no the best souvenir.
So far I have bought three souvenirs. Two have been t shirts, as I figure I can wear them as I go and it's a practical investment. The other is an old badge from the KGB (probably a replica, but cool none-the-less).
For dinner on Thursday I went out with a group from the hostel to a place referred to as both the hospital and the doctor bar. It was a bar/restaurant with a medical theme. The waitresses wore nurse outfits (with varying amounts of clothing underneath), the bartenders wore scrubs, they served some drinks in test tubes, they had a padded room, etc. It was reasonably priced and the food was good.
On Friday I visited the caves monastery, an old orthodox church complex that included a set of catacombs with the preserved remains of a bunch of guys and people would go down there to pray. After the monastery I went to the WWII memorial, which features a 62m tall woman holding up a sword and shield, a collection of old tanks, jets, artillery and other military hardware, and two museums (one for WWII, the other post WWII). Reasonably interesting, but not much English.
On Saturday I took a walk along the main street downtown and then up to St Sofia again to check out the inside and the bell tower. The inside of St Sofia was very good, as they left some parts unrestored so you could see the effects of time. Overall, a nice cathedral. I also saw a poster for Watchmen, which is coming out in the Ukraine on the 5th.
On Sunday, I went to the natural history museum, which was pretty good. They had a lot of dioramas that were well produced, a hut built of mammoth tusks and jaws, a collection of live reptiles and insects, some whale skeletons and much more.
On Monday I went with a group from the hostel to the Chornobyl museum, and we were lucky enough to arrive there just as an English tour was beginning. It was actually a private tour three people had paid for, but they didn't mind people following along and joining the tour. Over the course of the tour people accumulated in the group. It was not as sad as the Hiroshima museum since it was an accident rather than a deliberate act and nowhere near as destructive, but it is still a tragedy.
After the Chornobyl museum we went to a folk village where traditional houses, windmills, churches and other structures are preserved. The wooden churches have a strong smell of timber when you're inside them (not surprising) which really gave them a very different feel to the stone cathedrals I've mostly visited.
That evening I tried to but some train tickets. I managed to get my ticket for Lviv, but my onward ticket was more frustrating. I had to go to a different ticket stand at the other end of the station, which was behind a set of doors with very little signage (after days of visiting museums and such, I know the words that go on the places that sell tickets). I found the stand and the lady couldn't read the note I'd had written in Ukranian by a local working at the hostel. The ticket lady thought I wanted a ticket from Kiev to Sofia, instead of Lviv to Sofia, and as there's no train from Kiev to Sofia, wouldn't sell me one. I double checked with information I'd gone to the right ticket stand, and went back. I got in line behind the man who was being served and a few minutes later a man got in line behind me and asked if he could go before me. As I was a bit frustrated at this point I said no and continued waiting. When the man in front of me finished the man asked again, and again I said no and tried to communicate with the ticket I wanted. At this point the man stated talking to the ticket lady in Ukranian (or Russia, I can't really say which), and when she started serving him instead of me I gave up and left. (Regarding the man's actions, I think if you're in a hurry you could ask once, but if the person says no you should leave it at that. Don't keep pestering, and don't barge in front. The ticket lady was even worse, as she should not have served him.)
It is for the best though that those two vexed me. I had gotten the order of Romania and Bulgaria mixed up, and didn't actually want a ticket to Sofia, so fate saved me a big hassle by giving me a small one.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
St Petersburg Redux
Once again I'm sitting on a train. I'm en route between St Petersburg and Moscow, and from Moscow I will catch an overnight train to Kiev.
I don't have much to add about my stay in St Petersburg. On Monday, which was a public holiday, I visited a few churches (St Isaac's, The Blood of the Saviour) and the cruiser Aurora, which was involved in the revolution before heading back to rest. I bought a souvenier, a KGB badge.
Tuesday I was very slack, and mostly lounged around at the hostel. I kind of feel like I should have done something but on the other hand I'd spent the previous seven days walking around all day, so a day of rest seemed in order. That evening I hung out with a few of the other guests who now all spoke English as all the Russian guests had left on Monday. I then went out with some of them to an English style pub called Dickens to watch a football (soccer) match. Actually, there were three games at the same time, but the main focus was on Manchester United vs Intermilan.
Today I packed up, sent some postcards and then caught the metro to the main train station.
I don't have much to add about my stay in St Petersburg. On Monday, which was a public holiday, I visited a few churches (St Isaac's, The Blood of the Saviour) and the cruiser Aurora, which was involved in the revolution before heading back to rest. I bought a souvenier, a KGB badge.
Tuesday I was very slack, and mostly lounged around at the hostel. I kind of feel like I should have done something but on the other hand I'd spent the previous seven days walking around all day, so a day of rest seemed in order. That evening I hung out with a few of the other guests who now all spoke English as all the Russian guests had left on Monday. I then went out with some of them to an English style pub called Dickens to watch a football (soccer) match. Actually, there were three games at the same time, but the main focus was on Manchester United vs Intermilan.
Today I packed up, sent some postcards and then caught the metro to the main train station.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Petrograd Patrol
This follows on directly from the previous post. You should read it first.
During the 20 minutes between waking up and arriving in St Petersburg I started talking to the guy in the bunk above me, whose name was Dmitry and is a professor working on terahertz optical and acoustic signals. I said goodbye to him as I got off the train, but he bumped into me while I was checking the map of the Metro, and he helped me get part of the way to my hostel.
I found the hostel pretty easily (especially given that I was walking. I think I shall have to eschew taxis as they never seem to be able to find the place and rip me off in the process). The hostel is called Crazy Duck and I'd say it's better than the Hostel Napoleon (so named because Napoleon stayed in the building back in 1812 allegedly) in Moscow. It's cheaper, the rooms are more spacious, the TV is huge and has surround sound and is also centrally located.
I checked in about 8:30 and while checking in saw a brochure for a walking tour at 10:30. That seemed like a good introduction to the city so I decided to do it. I was almost late because I got confused on the Metro, but got to the meeting point just as they were about to start. The guide was Sasha who was a history buff and walked around in jeans and a thin jacket, while the rest of us had gloves on and several layers done up. The rest of us were myself and two Belgians, Girt (I'm not sure of the spelling) and I forgot the others name.
The tour meandered around central St Petersburg, and took in a lot of small sites I'd have never known about, including an arts centre that used to be a squat and now includes the headquarters of a group planning to build a temple devoted to the Beatles. We also stopped in at a cafe and tried a cheese pastry thing for which I can't recall the name of (it happens a lot).
After the tour ended I continued on with the two Belgians and had a look at Peter and Paul fortress and then we had a late lunch at a cafe Sasha had recommended. At about 700 rubles it was the most expensive meal I've had in Russia, but definitely the highest quality.
After that we parted ways. I lounged around in the hostel for a while when two good looking girls introduced themselves and told me to come drink. Now, I may not be the suavest of individuals, but I know this is an offer not to be refused. I spent the evening not understanding much but indulging in the one lot of drinking I'm allowing myself per country. It was pleasant, and they were all friendly, but hard to get into entirely when all the conversation is going over your head. I did get a free dinner out of it.
On Sunday I woke up to a rather non-PG sound as metal bunks are not the most discrete of beds for certain activities. This is not an unprecedented experience, but at least in Japan I had a wall separating me from things. I basically stayed quiet and made as though I was still asleep.
Sunday's sightseeing was confined to one building, the Hermitage. I must confess I don't think I'd heard of it until I played Civ IV. The building itself is a work of art, and you could wander around and marvel at it even if it were empty of contents. As it is the contents are an outstanding collection. The only disappointment was the Egyptian display which did not line up to the hype in the Lonely Planet. I saw paintings by da Vinci, Raphael, Matisse, van Gogh, Rembrandt, and many, many others. There was a very good display of Greek and Roman statues, and I think I got photos of all the muses along with a bunch of other mythological figures. The rooms fitted out as they were in the days of the tsars were extremely elaborately decorated and it's safe to say that their tastes did not include simplicity of design.
I took a lot of photos, but am disliking the trend of having to pay extra to take photos of things. It was an extra 200 rubles to take photos in the Hermitage, but I think it was worth it.
In the evening I spent a little time with the group I hung out with last nigh, but too much Russian got to me so as they dispersed to get ready to go out I returned to my bunk. I spent a bit of time talking to a group of cadets who were staying in my dorm, and then finished up writing my journal after they left.
During the 20 minutes between waking up and arriving in St Petersburg I started talking to the guy in the bunk above me, whose name was Dmitry and is a professor working on terahertz optical and acoustic signals. I said goodbye to him as I got off the train, but he bumped into me while I was checking the map of the Metro, and he helped me get part of the way to my hostel.
I found the hostel pretty easily (especially given that I was walking. I think I shall have to eschew taxis as they never seem to be able to find the place and rip me off in the process). The hostel is called Crazy Duck and I'd say it's better than the Hostel Napoleon (so named because Napoleon stayed in the building back in 1812 allegedly) in Moscow. It's cheaper, the rooms are more spacious, the TV is huge and has surround sound and is also centrally located.
I checked in about 8:30 and while checking in saw a brochure for a walking tour at 10:30. That seemed like a good introduction to the city so I decided to do it. I was almost late because I got confused on the Metro, but got to the meeting point just as they were about to start. The guide was Sasha who was a history buff and walked around in jeans and a thin jacket, while the rest of us had gloves on and several layers done up. The rest of us were myself and two Belgians, Girt (I'm not sure of the spelling) and I forgot the others name.
The tour meandered around central St Petersburg, and took in a lot of small sites I'd have never known about, including an arts centre that used to be a squat and now includes the headquarters of a group planning to build a temple devoted to the Beatles. We also stopped in at a cafe and tried a cheese pastry thing for which I can't recall the name of (it happens a lot).
After the tour ended I continued on with the two Belgians and had a look at Peter and Paul fortress and then we had a late lunch at a cafe Sasha had recommended. At about 700 rubles it was the most expensive meal I've had in Russia, but definitely the highest quality.
After that we parted ways. I lounged around in the hostel for a while when two good looking girls introduced themselves and told me to come drink. Now, I may not be the suavest of individuals, but I know this is an offer not to be refused. I spent the evening not understanding much but indulging in the one lot of drinking I'm allowing myself per country. It was pleasant, and they were all friendly, but hard to get into entirely when all the conversation is going over your head. I did get a free dinner out of it.
On Sunday I woke up to a rather non-PG sound as metal bunks are not the most discrete of beds for certain activities. This is not an unprecedented experience, but at least in Japan I had a wall separating me from things. I basically stayed quiet and made as though I was still asleep.
Sunday's sightseeing was confined to one building, the Hermitage. I must confess I don't think I'd heard of it until I played Civ IV. The building itself is a work of art, and you could wander around and marvel at it even if it were empty of contents. As it is the contents are an outstanding collection. The only disappointment was the Egyptian display which did not line up to the hype in the Lonely Planet. I saw paintings by da Vinci, Raphael, Matisse, van Gogh, Rembrandt, and many, many others. There was a very good display of Greek and Roman statues, and I think I got photos of all the muses along with a bunch of other mythological figures. The rooms fitted out as they were in the days of the tsars were extremely elaborately decorated and it's safe to say that their tastes did not include simplicity of design.
I took a lot of photos, but am disliking the trend of having to pay extra to take photos of things. It was an extra 200 rubles to take photos in the Hermitage, but I think it was worth it.
In the evening I spent a little time with the group I hung out with last nigh, but too much Russian got to me so as they dispersed to get ready to go out I returned to my bunk. I spent a bit of time talking to a group of cadets who were staying in my dorm, and then finished up writing my journal after they left.
Moscow Meanderings
This was originally written as one piece with the next post, but since it's pretty much evenly divided between Moscow and St Petersburg and it's quite long, I'm going to split it into two posts.
So it's been a few days since I last wrote so let's catch up. On Thursday I took a bus tour around town. It started at the Kremlin, but then went around town in a minibus to a few good sites. These included the World War II memorial, which is very tall, the Moscow State University main building, which is one of the seven Stalin skyscrapers, Sparrow Hills, which overlooks a large part of Moscow, and a fortress/nunnery. We also drove past a bunch of stuff which our tour guide was about 5 seconds late pointing out to us. At Sparrow Hills I bought a souvenier, a t-shirt with a Kalashnikov rifle on it. The tour group was 5 people; myself, Peter and Yana, a couple around my age, and an older couple of which the wife was rather bossy.
After the tour I went to Gagarin Square, which was a lot further away than the map suggested. I nonetheless got there, looked at the monument for a few moments, took some photos and headed back to the hostel.
In the evening I went to an English club run by a guy called George who seemed to be a permanent resident of the hostel. He's kind of a freelance English teacher. He invited me along to meet some Russians and be the native speaker at the nights meeting (I noticed some of the paperwork in his plastic sleeves showed that people (Russians) pay 900 rubles a month to attend the meetings, so George has to sort of be a native speaker wrangler for the meetings). Two other people showed up, Alexy and Julia, both professionals who worked for banks. Conversation covered topics such as Moscow, work, travels, Boris Yeltsin, the media, comparative drinking, Australia, Korea, trains and more.
The last item of note for the evening was when at MacDonald's (I'm sure I've already presented my reasons for greater consumption of the big M while overseas) I realized they did indeed have quarterpounders. I was trying to read the menu and one item came out to be a "royal cheeseburger". It took a few moments of wondering what a royal cheeseburger was when I recalled the phrase "royal with cheese". Yes, Pulp Fiction saved the day.
Friday was my last day in Moscow. I did another of the suggested walks on my map, but missed a turn and walked an extra two or so klicks, but it was alright. This walk had more of an arts theme and went past a few theaters and a few museums, although I only went into the museum of recent soviet history. This museum takes off about where the big history museum at the Kremlin left off with with the late imperial era and goes up to the modern day with Putin and Medyedev. I was disappointed that the small section on the space race seemed to miss Sputnik I, which would be in any museum I could put it in, let alone one specifically on 20th century Russia.
After I finished my walk I hung around the hostel for a while before eventually heading to the train station (Leningradskaya, for the record, since there are numerous train stations in Moscow) for my 23:55 train to St Petersburg. The train was much nicer than the Trans-Siberian, but I didn't really get to appreciate it much as soon after departure everyone in the berth went to sleep and I woke up about 20 minutes before arrival.
So it's been a few days since I last wrote so let's catch up. On Thursday I took a bus tour around town. It started at the Kremlin, but then went around town in a minibus to a few good sites. These included the World War II memorial, which is very tall, the Moscow State University main building, which is one of the seven Stalin skyscrapers, Sparrow Hills, which overlooks a large part of Moscow, and a fortress/nunnery. We also drove past a bunch of stuff which our tour guide was about 5 seconds late pointing out to us. At Sparrow Hills I bought a souvenier, a t-shirt with a Kalashnikov rifle on it. The tour group was 5 people; myself, Peter and Yana, a couple around my age, and an older couple of which the wife was rather bossy.
After the tour I went to Gagarin Square, which was a lot further away than the map suggested. I nonetheless got there, looked at the monument for a few moments, took some photos and headed back to the hostel.
In the evening I went to an English club run by a guy called George who seemed to be a permanent resident of the hostel. He's kind of a freelance English teacher. He invited me along to meet some Russians and be the native speaker at the nights meeting (I noticed some of the paperwork in his plastic sleeves showed that people (Russians) pay 900 rubles a month to attend the meetings, so George has to sort of be a native speaker wrangler for the meetings). Two other people showed up, Alexy and Julia, both professionals who worked for banks. Conversation covered topics such as Moscow, work, travels, Boris Yeltsin, the media, comparative drinking, Australia, Korea, trains and more.
The last item of note for the evening was when at MacDonald's (I'm sure I've already presented my reasons for greater consumption of the big M while overseas) I realized they did indeed have quarterpounders. I was trying to read the menu and one item came out to be a "royal cheeseburger". It took a few moments of wondering what a royal cheeseburger was when I recalled the phrase "royal with cheese". Yes, Pulp Fiction saved the day.
Friday was my last day in Moscow. I did another of the suggested walks on my map, but missed a turn and walked an extra two or so klicks, but it was alright. This walk had more of an arts theme and went past a few theaters and a few museums, although I only went into the museum of recent soviet history. This museum takes off about where the big history museum at the Kremlin left off with with the late imperial era and goes up to the modern day with Putin and Medyedev. I was disappointed that the small section on the space race seemed to miss Sputnik I, which would be in any museum I could put it in, let alone one specifically on 20th century Russia.
After I finished my walk I hung around the hostel for a while before eventually heading to the train station (Leningradskaya, for the record, since there are numerous train stations in Moscow) for my 23:55 train to St Petersburg. The train was much nicer than the Trans-Siberian, but I didn't really get to appreciate it much as soon after departure everyone in the berth went to sleep and I woke up about 20 minutes before arrival.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Untitled Poem
Written while on the train.
The journey goes on and on
The wheels turn and turn
And still I am so far away
From the place for which I yearn
In solitude I sit and sit
An empty mind to think and think
This days travels over distances far
Is still just one small link
Time passes as I wait and wait
Within my sight things appear and disappear
One hour or two, ten trees or twenty
My destination is still not near
I cannot just sleep and sleep
My bed at night goes to and fro
The cushions do not soften it
The gentle rumble brings comfort though
The noise keeps on a steady pace
Across the land we race and race
I do not know how I now seem
I dare not look into my face
The plains I see are vast and great
From our path we do not deviate
The rails we follow loom ahead
Two lines of metal seal our fate
I marvel at this massive feat
To link two points so far away
We've traveled for two days so far
We've made but one third of our course
I ponder on my rhyming scheme
Now long abandoned for freer verse
I think I should end my efforts now
Before the meta makes things worse
The journey goes on and on
The wheels turn and turn
And still I am so far away
From the place for which I yearn
In solitude I sit and sit
An empty mind to think and think
This days travels over distances far
Is still just one small link
Time passes as I wait and wait
Within my sight things appear and disappear
One hour or two, ten trees or twenty
My destination is still not near
I cannot just sleep and sleep
My bed at night goes to and fro
The cushions do not soften it
The gentle rumble brings comfort though
The noise keeps on a steady pace
Across the land we race and race
I do not know how I now seem
I dare not look into my face
The plains I see are vast and great
From our path we do not deviate
The rails we follow loom ahead
Two lines of metal seal our fate
I marvel at this massive feat
To link two points so far away
We've traveled for two days so far
We've made but one third of our course
I ponder on my rhyming scheme
Now long abandoned for freer verse
I think I should end my efforts now
Before the meta makes things worse
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Moscow Musings
Moscow is quite a bit different to Vladivostok. It's much more metropolitan; it has a subway system, there's the occasional bit of English signage around the place, there's lots of restaurants and perhaps too many shops. And the occasional mausoleum containing a leading revolutionary.
I haven't been in Lenin's tomb yet. It's allegedly open from 10 to 1 but every time I've gone by it's been as quiet as a grave. There's enough to do around it that I've not felt too bad about it (although I do still want to get in there). I've been to St Basil's with its multicoloured onion domes, inside the Kremlin and the churches it contains, the history museum (which had English notes on the first floor but not the second floor), and the cathedral of Christ the Saviour, which is across the river from the Red October chocolate factory.
My hostel is pretty good. I'm in a dorm at this place, which I guess is a downgrade from the place in Vladivostok, but a known one so I can't complain, and this is more likely to be the norm from now on. They also have wifi which is great. It's pretty close to Red Square which is very convenient. It's also just down the road from the former headquarters of the KGB. It's a rather bland building with a bunch of what I presume is the KGB coat of arms across the front.
The subway here is rather deep, and the escalators going down to the platforms are in a tunnel that leaves the Third Infiltration Tunnel for dead. The trains themselves are a bit on the old side, being noisy and rickety with nary an electronic display in sight. they are however plentiful, with just over two minutes between departing trains.
The art in the churches is amazing, although I feel sorry for everyone who did the painting on the ceilings. The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour is a particularly fine example and if I hadn't already known I wouldn't have thought it was built in the post soviet era (technically rebuilt since the soviets demolished the previous incarnation of the cathedral). If it were well lit instead of full of shadows it would be almost overwhelming.
I had a worrying situation today. I went to the MacDonalds on Red Square for brunch and to pay I gave them a 500 ruble note. The cashier looked at it and then took it to a manager. The manager looked at it and used one of the machines I've seen at a lot of places and then consulted with another manager before they decided they weren't going to accept it. This worried me since I'd just got the note from a bank. Fortunately, the museum accepted the note when I bought my ticket. A similar thing happened when I bought my train tickets. The ticket seller wouldn't accept one of the 1000 ruble notes I gave her. This is something new to me as I've never been anywhere where legal tender isn't just automatically accepted. Lots of places have machines that illuminate bills to reveal watermarks or UV writing or other stuff that may be on the bills.
I'm also surprised at how wet and muddy snow makes the place. A mud slushy is an accurate description of the streets.
End Post
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I haven't been in Lenin's tomb yet. It's allegedly open from 10 to 1 but every time I've gone by it's been as quiet as a grave. There's enough to do around it that I've not felt too bad about it (although I do still want to get in there). I've been to St Basil's with its multicoloured onion domes, inside the Kremlin and the churches it contains, the history museum (which had English notes on the first floor but not the second floor), and the cathedral of Christ the Saviour, which is across the river from the Red October chocolate factory.
My hostel is pretty good. I'm in a dorm at this place, which I guess is a downgrade from the place in Vladivostok, but a known one so I can't complain, and this is more likely to be the norm from now on. They also have wifi which is great. It's pretty close to Red Square which is very convenient. It's also just down the road from the former headquarters of the KGB. It's a rather bland building with a bunch of what I presume is the KGB coat of arms across the front.
The subway here is rather deep, and the escalators going down to the platforms are in a tunnel that leaves the Third Infiltration Tunnel for dead. The trains themselves are a bit on the old side, being noisy and rickety with nary an electronic display in sight. they are however plentiful, with just over two minutes between departing trains.
The art in the churches is amazing, although I feel sorry for everyone who did the painting on the ceilings. The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour is a particularly fine example and if I hadn't already known I wouldn't have thought it was built in the post soviet era (technically rebuilt since the soviets demolished the previous incarnation of the cathedral). If it were well lit instead of full of shadows it would be almost overwhelming.
I had a worrying situation today. I went to the MacDonalds on Red Square for brunch and to pay I gave them a 500 ruble note. The cashier looked at it and then took it to a manager. The manager looked at it and used one of the machines I've seen at a lot of places and then consulted with another manager before they decided they weren't going to accept it. This worried me since I'd just got the note from a bank. Fortunately, the museum accepted the note when I bought my ticket. A similar thing happened when I bought my train tickets. The ticket seller wouldn't accept one of the 1000 ruble notes I gave her. This is something new to me as I've never been anywhere where legal tender isn't just automatically accepted. Lots of places have machines that illuminate bills to reveal watermarks or UV writing or other stuff that may be on the bills.
I'm also surprised at how wet and muddy snow makes the place. A mud slushy is an accurate description of the streets.
End Post
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Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Vladivostok to Moscow
So I finally made it all the way from Vladivostok to Moscow. The Trans-Siberian Express is definitely a great experience, but it is also six days on a train with no showers and narrow beds. I don't think I've enjoyed a shower as much as I did the shower I had at my hostel tonight. Nor enjoyed dinner so much. Six days of eating ramen and instant mashed potatoes with meat gets to you.
Fortunately there was power points on the train, so I spent many an hour watching the landscape go by while charging my devices.
I think there might have been two other people on my carriage who ended up doing the whole Vladivostok to Moscow trip (aside from the guards) and I shared my berth with 6 people over the trip. There was a women who was there from Vladivostok and got off late in the afternoon the next day, one guy who was there for one evening, three men who got on early the day after and got off around lunch time, and late that evening the last person got on, and he went all the way to Moscow as well. His name was Uri, and he was the only one of them who actually tried to speak to me. He was pretty nice, and helpful as well.
Photos will go up as soon as I find a way to upload them all (I have about 1 or 2 hundred from Vladivostok and 500 odd from the train trip (not all will be great, so there will be a bit of a culling)).
Tomorrow I'm going to check out Red Square and the stuff in the surrounds, including, but not limited to the Kremlin.
End Post
Writing time: seven minutes
Time since last post: over a week (the first time I haven't felt like I'm slacking off for leaving it that long between posts)
Current media: None, although I think someone is watching Ghost in the common area.
Fortunately there was power points on the train, so I spent many an hour watching the landscape go by while charging my devices.
I think there might have been two other people on my carriage who ended up doing the whole Vladivostok to Moscow trip (aside from the guards) and I shared my berth with 6 people over the trip. There was a women who was there from Vladivostok and got off late in the afternoon the next day, one guy who was there for one evening, three men who got on early the day after and got off around lunch time, and late that evening the last person got on, and he went all the way to Moscow as well. His name was Uri, and he was the only one of them who actually tried to speak to me. He was pretty nice, and helpful as well.
Photos will go up as soon as I find a way to upload them all (I have about 1 or 2 hundred from Vladivostok and 500 odd from the train trip (not all will be great, so there will be a bit of a culling)).
Tomorrow I'm going to check out Red Square and the stuff in the surrounds, including, but not limited to the Kremlin.
End Post
Writing time: seven minutes
Time since last post: over a week (the first time I haven't felt like I'm slacking off for leaving it that long between posts)
Current media: None, although I think someone is watching Ghost in the common area.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Trans-Siberian Thoughts 4
One more sleep until Moscow. It sounds like I'm a kid counting down to Christmas, but that's the best means of keeping count I have. I set my computer (and so ipod also) to Moscow time (GMT+3) a few days ago, and have been trying to sync with that, but I woke up at about 5 this morning, so that's not working so well.
Numbers on the train are dwindling, and everyone is becoming more reclusive. There is hardly anyone in the corridor watching the landscape go by anymore, and the door to most berths are generally shut. This does make it easier to charge my various bits and pieces.
I too am paying less attention to the landscape, and there is a clear decline in the number of photos taken each day. After a while snow and trees and the occasional village gets a bit repetitive. We have started sighting the mile markers counting down the distance remaining to Moscow (2162 at time of writing, with 32 hours to go).
There's a bit of snow falling now and then today. This is the first time there's been falling snow on an ongoing basis. There was a bit at one of the stops on day two, but that was about it. The snow I've seen on the trip has been very fine and dry and does not make for good snowballs. I've tried once or twice and it's like throwing sand.
War and Peace is a bit more interesting now that I've gotten past the society intrigues of Part I and am now into the war against Napoleon. I can't say the Russians are doing well at this stage, but something tells me they win out in the end.
I have managed to work out the mystery of the bathroom tap, which has made me feel much better, although it looks as though the carriage has gone through its allotment of toilet paper for the trip. Given that I have a roll from Korea and that Russian toilet paper is the roughest I've ever come across, this development has not troubled me too much.
I've written a few different bits and pieces that aren't exactly a journal (well, are in no way a journal), more free writing, which I suppose I'll put up when I have access to the internet again. The book I'm writing in is lined for the first half and the second half is all blank pages, so I'm using the first half as a journal and the second half for everything else (drawings, maths, poetry, memes, etc). I do quite like the book and will have to post a picture of it. I had intended to use "The Deeply Unfortunate Doings of an Ill-Fated Life" for this purpose, but this book was a last minute splurge at Kyobo books when I should have been looking for a money belt and suits the purpose a lot better. I've still to find something worthy to put in the ill-fated life, but for now its got a few general bits of writing that have been produced for various reasons.
Anyway, that's getting a fair bit offtopic and the train has stopped for some reason, so I think I shall stop writing as well.
Numbers on the train are dwindling, and everyone is becoming more reclusive. There is hardly anyone in the corridor watching the landscape go by anymore, and the door to most berths are generally shut. This does make it easier to charge my various bits and pieces.
I too am paying less attention to the landscape, and there is a clear decline in the number of photos taken each day. After a while snow and trees and the occasional village gets a bit repetitive. We have started sighting the mile markers counting down the distance remaining to Moscow (2162 at time of writing, with 32 hours to go).
There's a bit of snow falling now and then today. This is the first time there's been falling snow on an ongoing basis. There was a bit at one of the stops on day two, but that was about it. The snow I've seen on the trip has been very fine and dry and does not make for good snowballs. I've tried once or twice and it's like throwing sand.
War and Peace is a bit more interesting now that I've gotten past the society intrigues of Part I and am now into the war against Napoleon. I can't say the Russians are doing well at this stage, but something tells me they win out in the end.
I have managed to work out the mystery of the bathroom tap, which has made me feel much better, although it looks as though the carriage has gone through its allotment of toilet paper for the trip. Given that I have a roll from Korea and that Russian toilet paper is the roughest I've ever come across, this development has not troubled me too much.
I've written a few different bits and pieces that aren't exactly a journal (well, are in no way a journal), more free writing, which I suppose I'll put up when I have access to the internet again. The book I'm writing in is lined for the first half and the second half is all blank pages, so I'm using the first half as a journal and the second half for everything else (drawings, maths, poetry, memes, etc). I do quite like the book and will have to post a picture of it. I had intended to use "The Deeply Unfortunate Doings of an Ill-Fated Life" for this purpose, but this book was a last minute splurge at Kyobo books when I should have been looking for a money belt and suits the purpose a lot better. I've still to find something worthy to put in the ill-fated life, but for now its got a few general bits of writing that have been produced for various reasons.
Anyway, that's getting a fair bit offtopic and the train has stopped for some reason, so I think I shall stop writing as well.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Trans-Siberian Thoughts 3
It looks like I have a companion for the rest of the trip. A man named Uri got on board this morning. He's been more talkative than the others who have been in my berth. He's told me his name for a start. We've also managed to exchange destinations (Moscow and Moscow) and book titles (War and Peace for me and a Bond novel for him).
During the day we've passed what seemed like a giant lake, quite possibly Lake Baikal. The track ran quite close to the shore and we followed it for a few hours. The lake was a huge white expanse with absolutely no vegetation at all on it. Most of the landscape has had trees or grass or something growing, but not here, just white as far as the eye could see. Occasionally I could see land on the other side rising up, but not often.
There also seemed to be a few cars and people out on the ice. I guess they were ice fishing. Someone must have been as at a recent stop there was a mass of people selling fish. Uri bought four and is keeping them cool by placing them next to the window. The window is the weak link in keeping the berth warm, and has got a fair bit of ice on it over the past few days.
I'm beginning to feel a bit grimy not having had a shower in three days. I have yet to work out the taps in the bathroom. No matter how I turn them, nothing happens and I worry I'm going to pull them off, and angry Russian sounds very angry, so I don't want to actually do that.
I'm also beginning to worry about money. It's not that I don't have enough, it's that most (all) the vendors so far have been reluctant to accept a 1000 ruble note (about A$40). I should try the drinks lady as she's obviously selling a lot (I've bought 125 rubles of stuff from her) so she should have sufficient change somewhere on board. As it stands now I only have a few hundred rubles left in small bills which won't last the whole of the rest of the trip.
During the day we've passed what seemed like a giant lake, quite possibly Lake Baikal. The track ran quite close to the shore and we followed it for a few hours. The lake was a huge white expanse with absolutely no vegetation at all on it. Most of the landscape has had trees or grass or something growing, but not here, just white as far as the eye could see. Occasionally I could see land on the other side rising up, but not often.
There also seemed to be a few cars and people out on the ice. I guess they were ice fishing. Someone must have been as at a recent stop there was a mass of people selling fish. Uri bought four and is keeping them cool by placing them next to the window. The window is the weak link in keeping the berth warm, and has got a fair bit of ice on it over the past few days.
I'm beginning to feel a bit grimy not having had a shower in three days. I have yet to work out the taps in the bathroom. No matter how I turn them, nothing happens and I worry I'm going to pull them off, and angry Russian sounds very angry, so I don't want to actually do that.
I'm also beginning to worry about money. It's not that I don't have enough, it's that most (all) the vendors so far have been reluctant to accept a 1000 ruble note (about A$40). I should try the drinks lady as she's obviously selling a lot (I've bought 125 rubles of stuff from her) so she should have sufficient change somewhere on board. As it stands now I only have a few hundred rubles left in small bills which won't last the whole of the rest of the trip.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Trans-Siberian Thoughts 2
I'm pretty sure I've got the date right. Time on scales less than a day aren't really much use on the train, and even a day isn't really a day. I left Vladivostok at 10pm and arrive in Moscow at 6pm with a travel time of 6 days and 3 hours. Over the trip I'm losing about an hour a day, or put another way, each day is 23 hours long.
Not everyone on the train seems to be on board for the long haul. At the moment I have my berth to myself again. At departure there was a mid 30ish woman in my berth as well, but she got off late yesterday afternoon. She was replaced a few stops later with a man who just slept, which is a lot more understandable after he got off the train late at night. Early this morning the berth was filled with three more men. I'm guessing a father and two sons, by their ages. They weren't on board long, getting off before lunchish.
A few of the people on my carriage have been here the whole trip so far, and we shall continue to see how many remain on board for the whole trip. I haven't really spoken to anyone, and no one has tried to talk to me. There is one person I've considered going up to and saying hello to. She's a redhead I first saw at the station at Vladivostok with a large backpack and looks more like a traveler/sightseer than other passengers. I saw her again at a stop while I was buying some ramen to eat. I really should go exploring and see if there's a restaurant car or the like. Yesterday I only got one thing of what I thought was ramen but turned out to be instant mashed potatoes with a little bit of meat. It was pretty good.
The landscape continues to amaze, but the white does get a bit monotonous after a while. Sometimes I think that if all the snow were brown dirt instead, it would look just like the scrub back home. There's plenty of mountains in the distance, but we don't seem to have gone over any ranges. My geography isn't good enough to know if we will or not. I suppose we might have already done so while I was sleeping. On the whole the views are well worth it, and I'm not the only one who spends a lot of time watching the scenery pass by.
Some of the time I'm doing that though I have an ulterior motive. The few power points in board line the corridor, so some of the time I've spent standing there my laptop or ipod has been plugged in getting some juice. I have decided to stop playing Civ IV while on the train, as the workout it puts the CPU and fans through really burns through the power quickly (I get about two and a half hours watching videos but only one hour playing Civ IV).
The train stops a few times a day for about 15 minutes or so (there are other stops as well but these are briefer) which gives those of us on board a chance to stretch our legs, buy some food, and in my case say "fuck" a lot because of how cold it is. The places we've stopped at have definitely been colder than Vladivostok was. Of course, I'm not as well prepared for the cold since there aren't any announcements of upcoming stations (not that I'd understand them, but I'm sure I'd quickly make the connection between an announcement I can't understand and arrival at a station (I did so pretty quickly in Japan.).).
I finally finished Paradise yesterday, after months of procrastination. I found my mind would just wander off while reading the prose and found the notes generally more interesting and illuminating. Like Machiavelli, a good knowledge of renaissance Italian politics is essential for the fullest understanding, and it is a subject that is not my strongest. I wonder though who would be put where in a modern version. Would Gandhi join the virtuous pagans in Limbo? (Indeed, what was Gandhi's religion?) Is there anyone despised enough for their adultery to make that circle worth visiting? What politics would replace those of Florence and Italy?
This has let me start once more on War and Peace, which is just as tedious this time through. I think I got through about a dozen pages at most before finding something else to do. I'll see how far I get through during the trip.
End Post
Writing time: a half hour or so.
Time since last post: two days
Current media: none
Not everyone on the train seems to be on board for the long haul. At the moment I have my berth to myself again. At departure there was a mid 30ish woman in my berth as well, but she got off late yesterday afternoon. She was replaced a few stops later with a man who just slept, which is a lot more understandable after he got off the train late at night. Early this morning the berth was filled with three more men. I'm guessing a father and two sons, by their ages. They weren't on board long, getting off before lunchish.
A few of the people on my carriage have been here the whole trip so far, and we shall continue to see how many remain on board for the whole trip. I haven't really spoken to anyone, and no one has tried to talk to me. There is one person I've considered going up to and saying hello to. She's a redhead I first saw at the station at Vladivostok with a large backpack and looks more like a traveler/sightseer than other passengers. I saw her again at a stop while I was buying some ramen to eat. I really should go exploring and see if there's a restaurant car or the like. Yesterday I only got one thing of what I thought was ramen but turned out to be instant mashed potatoes with a little bit of meat. It was pretty good.
The landscape continues to amaze, but the white does get a bit monotonous after a while. Sometimes I think that if all the snow were brown dirt instead, it would look just like the scrub back home. There's plenty of mountains in the distance, but we don't seem to have gone over any ranges. My geography isn't good enough to know if we will or not. I suppose we might have already done so while I was sleeping. On the whole the views are well worth it, and I'm not the only one who spends a lot of time watching the scenery pass by.
Some of the time I'm doing that though I have an ulterior motive. The few power points in board line the corridor, so some of the time I've spent standing there my laptop or ipod has been plugged in getting some juice. I have decided to stop playing Civ IV while on the train, as the workout it puts the CPU and fans through really burns through the power quickly (I get about two and a half hours watching videos but only one hour playing Civ IV).
The train stops a few times a day for about 15 minutes or so (there are other stops as well but these are briefer) which gives those of us on board a chance to stretch our legs, buy some food, and in my case say "fuck" a lot because of how cold it is. The places we've stopped at have definitely been colder than Vladivostok was. Of course, I'm not as well prepared for the cold since there aren't any announcements of upcoming stations (not that I'd understand them, but I'm sure I'd quickly make the connection between an announcement I can't understand and arrival at a station (I did so pretty quickly in Japan.).).
I finally finished Paradise yesterday, after months of procrastination. I found my mind would just wander off while reading the prose and found the notes generally more interesting and illuminating. Like Machiavelli, a good knowledge of renaissance Italian politics is essential for the fullest understanding, and it is a subject that is not my strongest. I wonder though who would be put where in a modern version. Would Gandhi join the virtuous pagans in Limbo? (Indeed, what was Gandhi's religion?) Is there anyone despised enough for their adultery to make that circle worth visiting? What politics would replace those of Florence and Italy?
This has let me start once more on War and Peace, which is just as tedious this time through. I think I got through about a dozen pages at most before finding something else to do. I'll see how far I get through during the trip.
End Post
Writing time: a half hour or so.
Time since last post: two days
Current media: none
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