The FINAL post

This will be the last post that I put on this blog, and that kind of sucks because that means I am officially back to my normal life this week… with all of the schedules and overtime and hassles of real life.

I will start by getting to the actual trip stuff. I took around 1800 pictures and 300mb of video during my trip. I just took a bunch of pictures and planned to sort it out when I got home. I did manage to pare down the set to probably around 850 pictures and put them on a website. I hope to get around to selecting like my 30 favorites and putting them in a separate folder in the next week. I only posted the pictures online at half of their original size (each is still roughly 1mb or more), and I will be happy to supply a good copy of any that you want… just email me. I am slowly trying to go through and put some labels on some of the photos, but that will take a long time.

Each library that is destination specific has a number before it. This lets you know the order of each city, and each library also has a map associated with it (and my next priority is to map each photo... some may not have street maps, but the aerial view on Google maps will allow me to place the photos). I also eventually plan to upload all of my older pictures (mainly from Europe in 04-06) but that may take quite a long time (and money for the storage space).

Well… the link is as follows:

http://picasaweb.google.com/ericdues

and if you care you can subscribe so that you will get an email when I do eventually upload other pictures

And as always, this site will remain at:

http://trans-sib-07.blogspot.com/

until the host decides to take it down due to inaction.

In other news: I am busy at work and I just put in an offer on a condo yesterday. I have only actually been looking for 5 days (since last Thursday), but I think I found what I want so I hopped on it! With the (hopeful) condo closing and painting/moving in January many of the above updates will likely not happen too quickly. After the move I may be in Arizona for a while for work, so my productivity on getting these picture sorted will be very slow. This whole condo thing is expensive too… so I will not be taking any large trips like this for some time.

And one last rant… Russia took another giant leap towards a totalitarian government last Sunday with Putin’s victory in the most unfair election in the world in recent memory (he is also escalating military training back to cold war routines). He basically secured his own power indefinitely and the place will be on even worse terms with the rest of the world because of their fuel reserves. One random story that I keep thinking of when I think of how messed up their political process is the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya last year outside her apartment.

She was the last true journalist that was openly critical of the government and their policies and the war with Chechnya. All of the evidence points at the KGB/Kremlin/Putin as the reason behind it. One might think that being a journalist in Iraq may be the most dangerous assignment in the world, but more journalist have “died premature deaths” in Russia in the past 5-6 years than in Iraq. Those journalist that are outspoken against the government or their actions have mysteriously died off very quickly since Putin took office.

Well, one night in a hostel in Moscow, a young Russian girl majoring in journalism, a journalist from the UK doing research in Moscow, and myself were solving the world’s problems while drinking a fair amount. Eventually we began to get the Russian girl (who’s English was not great, but manageable) to talk about what she did. After a while we found out that she actually had no intentions of really becoming a journalist, but she just hopes to find a man and get married. It is not because she does not want to be a journalist, but she realizes that it is just too dangerous. While she explained this she looked both sad and scared, and I think if she would have had another drink or talked for any longer she would have actually cried while talking about it.

Putin has not only given himself much of the control of the country for the foreseeable future, but during his presidential term he has also managed to eliminate any true critics and deter people from being critical. He controls the TV and radio much in the way Hitler and Stalin controlled their populations media and used it for their own propaganda.

Well, perhaps after all of these negative blog posts about Russia I may not be allowed back into the country, but I don’t think I would go back until the Putin regime is replaced (hopefully) by a younger generation that actually desires true freedom of press, economy, and politics. I visited 2 true communist countries on this trip, and Russia still seemed the most communist.

Well, I could go on for a long time over some of this stuff, but I will just leave it at that. I do hope to have a bunch more pictures put up in the course of the next few months, so check back on my photo site if you wish.

Peace Out,

- The Dues

Back Home

I am back home and still trying to adjust to the time change (my body hates me at this point). I will updated the blog one more time next week (around December 4-5 is my goal) with a link to a very robust online photo album. Just email me if you want me to email you when I do that.

Homeward bound

Homeward bound, originally uploaded by ericdues.

Now I know the fun part if this trip is over... The pilots just
arrived, my phones clock is set to Ohio time (Beijing time -13
hours... it just became yesterday night when I did that), and I had
the "American Breakfast" at the hostel... the only American food on
this trip except a New York pizza joint in Siberia.

I guess one more accomplishment can be made, I have never been on a
747, although I am quite sure it will be like all other planes;
crammed and uncomfortable... Tylenol PM anyone? I now have about 2.5
days, counting in-air time, to adjust to the time difference before
leaving my fantasy world and getting back to thinking about bridges
and walls and other such exciting topics.

It will be good to land on American soil and then be able to figure
things out simply by reading instructions... but that is much less
exciting. After going through customs here and checking in for the
flight, I was reminded how horrible and annoying and self-centered
that travelling Americans can be (in general).

I know I am not the perfect traveller, but I think we as a travelling
nation would be a bit more respected if we realized that by travelling
you must be willing to accept some level of discomfort... if you
can't, just don't travel... Please! I actually saw an American prick
hassling security because he wanted to talk to the airport manager
because some Chinese man and wife skipped some spots in the line to
meet a friend and because they appeared to be late for their flight...
come on people, have some damn understanding.

Another thing that a trip like this does is put into perspective the
small portion of the world that I have seen. Nick, for example, has
been going for something like 7 months and started in the Middle East,
and we ended up meeting at the Mongolian border... quite some distance
and time away from his beginning. I am also constantly running into
those who are at various stages of 1-2 year trips around the world...
my dream trip.

I am, of course, next to an old Chinese couple that speaks no English
and does not seem so keen to move, I am sure they will love me when I
get up after my hopefully long sleep.

Takeoff time is here, and I can't send this from the airport here, so
it will get sent when I land in NYC... USA and Thanksgiving food here
I come!

- The Dues

Goodbye Beijing

Goodbye Beijing, originally uploaded by ericdues.

It is that time... I have seen all I am going to see, done all I am
going to do, and bought all of the stuff I am going to buy... and I
loved every minute of it! The picture above is of the courtyard in
the hostel I am staying at, the Peking International Youth Hostel
(which I highly recommend). I am beginning writing this after going on
my last shopping spree at the Yashow market.

I have loved this city and would love to spend more time here; I will
be back in the future.

Last night, Nicks friend (Dom) from Australia brought us into some
back alley resturaunt that was the best food that I have had while
here (Chinese duck in Beijing with three Aussies, how much more
authentic thanksgiving can you get). Tonight we are participating in a
dumpling party at the hostel then going out to some bars recommended
by Dom.

Beijing:
-It is huge
-The sights are great (although I did not even get close to seeing it
all)
-The people are generally nice and helpful
-The traffic is nuts (I am writing this because I need to kill some
time to key the traffic die down so that the taxi isn't so expensive)
-The food is great... The best of the trip
-It is pretty cheap

After spending 5 days here in this city, and realizing that I really
need 15 days here and another 90 in the country, I have no doubt that
the upcoming Olympics will be amazing. There is construction
everywhere right now, and today we went to see the Olympic stadium
park and site... It is huge and progressing nicely.

I do think, that in about 2-3 years I will likely hop on a cheap
flight here and stock up on clothes, the savings (especially if you
buy good stuff like suites) is enough to pay for the flight and hotel
(if you were going to buy that stuff anyway)... if you bargain hard!
I did the final fitting of my suites today, and they are awesome, and
worth 10x what I paid.

The people I meet, even in the countryside, were nice and helpful to
me, the dumb white hairy guy.

I am now sending this after the dumpling party, and in 12 hours I jump
on an Air China flight home... I wish I had more time.

In short, good food, nice people, and cheap stuff makes for great place.

Beijing: I'll be back!

- The Dues

The wall

The wall, originally uploaded by ericdues.

I just got back from a 10k hike of the Great Wall. I do not think I
will be upload any pictures tonight. I hope I can get some pictures
uploaded tommorow night while packing everything up for the trip home.

The walk was tough, but we made it in three hours. I rode a 500 foot
long zip line about 180 feet in the air over a gourge along the rout.

We will be meeting up with a friend of Nicks tonight and he is going
to show us a good place to eat.

- The Dues

Fwd: Beijing update

I will try to produce a larger update tonight as I am leaving in a bit for a pretty busy day.

Summary:

Arrived and shared a cab to hostel.

Walked around and ate the following:
A wrap of mystery meat
A bowl of noodles
Liver soup
Scorpions on a stick
Silk worms in a stick
Grasshopperon a stick
Seahorse on a stick

Then beer and bed

Yesterday was forbidden city, the square and an acrobat show and Peking duck

Today I hope to see the olympic park and go to a black market.

I will try to do some pictures tonight.

- The Dues

Beijing update 2

I did forget about three other things that forgot that I ate on the
first night... an egg wrap with random things in it, eggs hard boiled
in soy sauce in a pot on the street, and a sweet potatoe steamed over
coals on the street... but those are not to weird, so who cares.
Tonight after we ate some normal hot-pot food, Nick and I walked
around the street markets again and had some banana doughnuts, deep
fried lotus root, whole squid on a stick, and fruit on a stick coated
in caramelized sugar on it. I love the food in place!

The big dissapointment thus far has been the prices on most of the
electronics that that I am after. Certain things like memory and the
like are cheap, but I have been dissapointed with the camera and
mobile phone prices. I think I actually offended one of the
saleswomen with the price u offered her for a camera. I did like the
DVD prices though.

Clothes, however, make the whole trip seem like a financial success. 2
custom suits (for less than the cost of one poor quality suits in the
states) and a lot of other clothes later I will bit need to buy much
for quite some time. I need to go for a touch-up fitting on Friday
then pick them up before I fly home on Saturday.

Well, after another failed attempt to post some pictures tonight (due
to the computers being occupied and then drinking with other random
travellers from England, Switzerland, and Germany) I will go to bed to
prepare for my 10k hike of the Great Wall tommorow.

- The Dues

Goodbye Mongolia

Goodbye Mongolia, originally uploaded by ericdues.

> The above photo was taken by a strange but cool old Itallian guy
> that was playing with my phone while me and the Brazillian (Gustavo)
> ate our hangover meal in the very nice dining car. I had some
> mystery soup that was very good.
>
> Well, the last hours in Mongolia were eventful to say the least.
> After starting the night at a decent (by Mongolian standards)
> Italian place with done Gengis Khan beer and scotch and tequilla, we
> proceeded to go to several other bars. Then it was a strange taxi
> ride around to several different clubs that were closed.
>
> Finally we arrived, with the help of some Mongolian UNESCO worker,
> at a bar/disco/freak show place in some back alley... the kind of
> place you could only find if you had local knowledge of the place.
> That place had everything one could want, and after several bottles
> of vodka we took a "taxi" (some random guys car... this is common
> here) back to the hostel and packed our bags for the train. Gustavo
> and Nick then passed out, while me and his dad (Steve) went and
> found a 24 hour diner and got some mystery breakfast.
>
> We then returned to the hostel, woke up the other two, and the UB
> Guesthouse van took our inebriated group to the train station. Upon
> boarding the train I slept for some time until the Gustavo awoke (in
> a different carriage) and we proceeded to the dining car after
> finding and waking the Aussie crew.
>
> Now, as I write this I am in the middle of the Chinese customs and
> wheel changing, which I guess means I am in China. It is amazing to
> me that thus process of wheel changing and arrival/departure customs
> is quicker than just the departure process in Russia.
>
> I am sharing a kupe with all Mongolians, and they once again are
> pretty nice, especially the younger lady that speaks English. In
> another 15 hours I will be in Beijing, and the while crew I have
> been with lately is staying at the same hostel as me, so we then
> will have several pairs of eyes to help us get lost while trying to
> find the hostel. After check-in is when I hope to post this and many
> other (6) backlogged updates.
>
>

UB Guesthouse

UB Guesthouse, originally uploaded by ericdues.

As I sit here watching Star Wars and getting ready to go out for some
pool and beer, I thought I should write something specifically for
this place. They are the most helpfull hostel that I have ever stayed
at, and made what would have been a good stay in Mongolia even better.

Just the free transport to/from the train station is good enough, but
the ease and cheapness of setting up a stay in the national park makes
it even better. The hosts are the most helpful I have come across.

A couple of the Swedes and French guys are taking a 12 day Gobi tour,
and I am extremely jealous.

Now we are watching the new Simpsons movie, which goes to show the
range of free entertainement here.

Ok, I am going to watch this movie now... since I have not seen it yet.

But, I can not stress enough how great this place is, also as
evidenced by its reviews on Hostel World.

- The Dues

Mongolia

Mongolia, originally uploaded by ericdues.

Well, the Mongolian border crossing was relatively straight forward.
After our train moved about 35 kilometers, we cleared customs and went
through the inspections in a matter of an hour. Then all of the
Mongolians that got on at the border, got back off and moved to other
cars. Although the one we were talking to came back to our kupe and
played with my phone for a bit and shared a hard-earned beer with us.

The Aussie son, Nick, fell into a concrete drainage trench about 5-6
feet deep while running back to our train in the dark after buying
some beers at a small shop near the train station. I was essentially
just wearing long underwear and sandles during this time, which I am
sure looked a bit odd. Nick ended up breaking one bottle and cutting
his hand and bruising his heel in the process, but is lucky bit to
have really hurt himself worse.

So, I thought the train arrived at noon, but the Russian timetable
switched to local Mongolian time at the border, so my ride was not
there, although the fantastic UB Guesthouse (who I was staying with on
my last night in UB) was there to pick up other guests. After being
dropped off by them at the office of the company (Tiara Resort) that I
booked my train ticket and national park stay with, it soon became
apparent that I would be waiting for quite some time until they
opened... so I decided to try to make alternate plans.

I walked back to the train station so that I could orient myself
correctly, but I did happen to run back into the van dropping off
other people from the UB Guesthouse that were bound for Bejing on the
Thursday version of the same train I am taking on Sunday. I asked the
driver and he took me back to the UB Guesthouse and I decided to book
my camping trip through them and with the Aussies and the
Brazillian... which would mean that I would not be alone the whole time.

The picture above is taken at sunset on the last night. The first day
and night the group of Swedes from Russia were staying with the same
family and we had a pretty sizeable vodka party with all of the random
backpackers that were staying there (about 9 in total). The ger was
so damn hot because the oompa-loompa lookalike guy that stoked the
fire filled it with coal to a level that made the entire stove glow
red-hot. This then essentially made the place a sauna and in the cold
ass weather there sat about 8 guys in their shorts sweating and
drinking vodka... only to occasionly run outside in the cold to cool
down and stop sweating.

The two days were spent playing soccer with the kids, horseback
riding, eating real Mongolian barbecue, taking photos, drinking vodka
and solving the worlds problems, and hiking some mountains.

The scenery was absolutely amazing, and the picture above definately
does not do it justice. I am glad I got out and did this now, because
while going around the Terelj National Park, it was clear that more
upscale resorts will be going in the future and the very desolate
landscape and nomadic lifestyle that people come to see will be
infringed upon and the experience will be lessened a bit. The
completely black starry sky alone is worth the trip, and the larger
resorts will take away some if that too.

Well, after having a huge Korean meal for $5 it is off for a bit if
drinking tonight, then time to catch my last train in the morning.

- The Dues

Borat

Borat, originally uploaded by ericdues.

Well, the train ride fleeing Russia was everything that it should have
been. I shared a car with two assholes from Kazakhstan... that's
right, as seen in the movie Borat. These dicks wouldn't even let me
use the small table at all, and so I kept pretty confined to the top
bunk. That went on for about the first hour until things took a turn
for the (much) better.

I found two British girls, one Brazillian, and an Australian father/
son team doing the Trans-Siberian trip. As fate would have it, they
were the only two in their kupe as well, so I spent most of the trip
drinking and chatting with them and the Brazillian.

The exit process from Russia started out with them disconnecting our
car from all of the others and leaving it alone on the platform die
three hours of no activity. Then, about 30 Mongolians got onto the
train and then the customs procedure and baggage inspections and no
smiles except for from us and the Mongolians... this was already the
beginning of me liking Mongolia and her people.

I will say I am happy to be out of Russia and around some more
friendly people.

- The Dues

Self Portrait

Self Portrait, originally uploaded by ericdues.

I took this shortly before the most time consuming border checkpoint I
have ever encountered. That will be detailed more in what I expect to
be one of the next posts. When I woke up in the morning we had
dropped all of the cars behind mine, so I was able to take photos from
the back of the train.

- The Dues

View from the back

View from the back, originally uploaded by ericdues.

After they disconnected the cars behind mine, this is 2 hours before
customs.

- The Dues

The FINAL Russian train station!

The FINAL Russian train station!, originally uploaded by ericdues.

Well, assuming that they let me leave the country, this is how I will
spend my last few hours outside a train in Russia, waiting in this
room in the train station in Irkutsk. I am sure it is hard to
decipher, but my train is the last one on the timetable in the
picture... the very slow daily #362 to Ulan-Bator. As usual, the
timetable is all based on Moscow time, which is 5 hours behind local
time. My train leaves about 2.5 hours from the time I am writing this.

This daily train stops for about 1 minute every 15-20 minutes at some
small station for the first 16 hours... That is a lot of stopping that
is sure to get annoying while trying to sleep, especially if people
are constantly getting in and out of my kupe.

I did manage to wander around the crowded central market, backpack and
all, and procure some provisions for this 36 hour trip to Ulan-Bator.
I have the following: 1 liter of OJ, 1 small loaf of fresh (now)
bread, 2 small "just add hot water" instant mashed potatoe cups, about
6" of 1" diameter hard sausage (commence making jokes now), and about
15 bite-sized pastries. My only concern is that I don't have enough
liquid or any booze, but that stuff is heavy and I did not feel like
carrying any extra weight on my 5 mile journey around town today...
since they thoughtfully put the bus station on the opposite side of
town from the train station. I have around 200 rubles left, which
should be enough for me to buy any supplemental booze and/or drinks
that I need en-route. This will also allow me to avoid the hassle of
exchanging my excess rubles for tugrigs, the Mongolian currency.

I will definately say that I hate old Russian women. I expect old
ladies, in general, to be nice. I am currently sitting between two of
them that just angerilly told a Mongolian dude that he could not sit
in the one empty seat in our group of 4. They have done this
repeatedly over the past hour, insinuating that the seat is taken
when, in fact, the damn old lady is just a greedy old bitch. The other
old hag just randomly starts complaining about something... I would
assume me... the bastard foreigner who took a seat because it was
open. If I have to share a kupe with either of these ladies that will
turn into an interesting power struggle! I keep getting the feeling
that the random complainer is about to hit me over the head with her
bag! As I look around the room, I don't see any old women that I
would dare approach and ask to sit by.

I Love Mongolia

Just a quick update.  After changing my plans upon an early arrival into Mongolia, and a very time consuming and seemingly pointless 10 hour border crossing I am back in the hostel in Ulaan-Bator and getting on a 30 hour train tommorow morning bound for Beijing.  I have many other updates ready to send on my phone, but they will have to wait until I reach my Hostel in Beijing in a few days.

 

This city is quite average and polluted, but a couple of nights in a tent with a nomadic family quickly allowed me to forget that... also I meet back up with the Swedes from the hostel in Moscow, and have been doing some travelling with a father/son Australia team and a lone Brazillian that I meet on the train from Russia. 

 

The main reason I like Mongolia so much better:  Mongolians are helpful and nice, Russians are not.

 

A flood of updates with pictures will be coming from Beijing shortly

- The Dues

My Mexican food

My Mexican food, originally uploaded by ericdues.

Just a quick shot of the Mexican food I am eating. Pork with vegies
and what they call Tabasco, but I call ketchup. It is a bit pricey at
about $12 for thus and espresso and some juice, but I am not
complaining. I feel I have done my due dilligance in sampling a wide
array of Russian fare. I have not yet eaten any American fast food, so
I think I am doing quite good. It is definately not as spicy as I
expect Mexican food to be, but it is certainley acceptable.

- The Dues

Three birds, one stone

Three birds, one stone, originally uploaded by ericdues.

Miracle!

I have found a cafe (I hadn't eaten more than an apple yet today), I
needed to warm up a bit (-8c and I have been walking around for 2.5
hours) and I had hoped to find an internet cafe. I found one great
place place to satisfy all three. Cafe Fiesta... A wifi southwestern
themed place in the main market district of Irkutsk.

So now I can type this email, send this and 4 other backlogged updates
(I will attempt to do them in chronological order), eat my Mexican
frying pan, as the English translation is if what I ordered, then go
buy groceries for my trip. There is not too much to see here and I
have already walked most of the city center, and I am tired of Russian
museums and churches at thus point, so I will just go wait in the
station for the remaining hours before boarding my final Russian
train. That is seven hours away, and I will likely spend 4-5 of them
in the train station, but I don't care.

Well, my food is here, so I will leave it at that. My next update will
be from somewhere in Mongolia!

- The Dues

Russian Random Thoughts

Russian Random Thoughts, originally uploaded by ericdues.

Above is one of the smoked omul after I was done with it, hopefully
you can see the spine sitting in the middle of it. I figured I would
type a few more things before left this country.

I am sitting on a bus back to Irkutsk for which I paid about $2.50
for, 1/20th the cost it took me to get here. I have know idea what the
hell is going on right now, but the cold bus (because the driver keeps
his window open so he can smoke) just stopped for 15 minutes in the
middle of nowhere. The driver said something, and some people came to
the front and gave him money while he was writing something, the what
appeared to be several small arguments broke out between him and some
old ladies. Now we are going and it will be my first mission when we
arrive to find a toilet... tge coffee and water I had for breakfast
was maybe not the best idea before sitting on a two hour cold bus
ride. Then I will walk around the city in about -10c weather for about
4 hours with my bag on my back and then hopefully find an Internet
cafe and send a short update (that will of course post before this).

This homestay that I did was really just renting a cottage on the
cheap. I had the place to myself the whole time and only saw the host
when I paid her 4 hours after I arrived. Couple that with the sparse
population and the remoteness of the location and I was pretty much
completely alone for two days. I would sit around at night watching
the Russian news channel (one of only two available out here), review
pictures, and drink a few beers every night. I am not sure if I will
remember how to talk to anyone when I return!

I fully expect to be able to talk even less to people in Mongolia, but
for the first day I should be around some people, and the last night
there I am staying in a popular hostel near the train station, so
perhaps there will be some people to hang out and drink/talk with.

- The Dues

Goodbye Russia

Goodbye Russia, originally uploaded by ericdues.

I begin this email tired and full after about 10 miles of walking/
hiking around the lake today in what was a cold but pretty sunny day.
Part of that hiking included this view at the mouth of the Angara
river (the only outbound river of the 300+ rivers at this lake), which
was after a 35 minute hike up a snowy mountain after a 3 mile walk to
reach the base of the snowy mountain. I will say that I was pretty
tired after that but since I hadn't really eaten anything all day and
I expended a lot of energy, I figured I should eat a lot of protein.
So I commenced walking down the mountain and, after a stop my the Lake
Bakail museum, another 5 miles to buy some smoked omul fish... two of
them. There is nothing quite like smoked fish caught that day being
sold by those who caught it. I finally figured out that the most
efficient method of eating it is to break the spine at the head and
tail and then most of the meat can be pulled away from the skin in one
piece by using the spine. From there you can get nearly all of the
meat off the ribs without any bones.

Well, tomorrow I catch a bus back to Irkutsk and then a train onto
Ulan-Bator (Mongolia). Assuming all goes as planned I am essentially
done with Russia (after some brief sight-seeing in Irkutsk tomorrow).

While I didn't go there this time, St. Petersburg is definately much
more westernized, A.K.A. tourist friendly, than Moscow. I actually
found that getting around outside of Moscow was not too bad; in fact I
would venture to say that it was actually easier in these smaller
cites due less of a "pushy" atmosphere and less intrusive police.
True, the same old ladies are everywhere to impose their will on you,
but the cites and towns that I visited were much more manageable.

I still find it a self-rewarding challenge to buy groceries and food,
but I tend to gravitate back towards the same stores and markets each
time (if I am in a place long enough) and the clerks seem to then know
what to expect from this dumb American that can merely point at
objects and say (very poorly I'm sure) only the most basic of words
and phrases.

I am not sure if I will ever have the desire to come back to Russia
unless it was with someone who spoke the language; which would of
course be a much different experience, but not necessarily a better
one. I think knowing the language would take some of the mysterey and
mistique from the experience, and then any city becomes just a city.
This is probably why American cities tend fail to be very intriguing
to me, because getting around them is so easy for anyone who speaks
English... you can just ask for directions. The only two other places
that I am interested in visiting here are the far northern city of
Murmansk and of course the terminus of the railway at Vladivostock.

For all of the visa hassles that I had, and the fact that they just
passed even stricter laws in the past 6 weeks, I can not possibly see
how this country will be able to succesfully welcome a large
international crowd for the 2014 winter Olympics. I would hope that by
then some of these antiquated laws and the general atmosphere of a
police-state (although it is not as bad outside of Moscow and St.
Petersburg) will subside.

I am getting very excited now about Mongolia and China (and if this is
posted, that means they let me out of Russia and into China). One
reason is because I can stop carrying the heaps of paperwork,
registrations and old train tickets with me at all times to prove that
I am not a spy or a terrorist or in some way breaking an obscure visa
registration law and therefore have "big problems" and have to pay a
fine to a corrupt border guard. Also, trains will begin runing on
local times instead of Moscow time, and since I will be in the same
time zone I can actually set my phones clock to the correct time
instead if keeping it in Moscow and constantly converting the time
into local time.

I do not need a visa for Mongolia, which is absolutely awesome. The
Chinese visa does not need registered to prove my whereabouts, and
unless I lose my passport (a catastrophe of the highest order), I do
not expect the hassles of Russia and Belarus in the final two
countries. Also, there is still much more for me do and see.

Assuming I meet up with the people from the tourist camp that I am
staying at in a National Park (Terelj), I hope to do lots of hiking
and picture taking and possibly some horseback riding. Mongolia should
make a good transition between Russia and China, as the people will
tend to look and act more Chinese but their language is loosely based
upon Russian.

I expect Bejing to be pretty incredible as well, and I just hope it is
not raining the day I am planning to hike one of the most untouched
stretches of the Great Wall. Thanks to a Canadian girl in the hostel
in Moscow, I think I might have a better idea of how to find the
hostel... but I still plan to spend about 4 hours clueless and lost
trying to find the place.

So far, the two pairs of travel socks and underwear are working out,
and the investment I made in lightweight performance travel clothing
was definately a good one, as I have not been too teribbly cold or wet
yet. I have also not shaved since Minsk, and other than some trimming,
do not plan to until I am back home; it is not the best look, but
since I couldn't grow my hair sufficiently "hippie long" enough
between shaving my head for the Tough Guy and this trip, I had to do
something.

Well, in feel that I have rambled on long enough and I will start a
new email when I have more to say.

- The Dues

Random Thoughts Novosibirsk

Random Thoughts Novosibirsk, originally uploaded by ericdues.

Well, I am starting this email in a hotel room in Novosibirsk, and I
can recharge my phone after I am done typing. I will likely send other
updates before this one, some of this is likely to be repeated... you
will just have to deal with that, as I am doing this so I don't forget
some of these random thought.

I do think that I am now "in the groove" of travelling. I like to take
longer trips because it does typically take me a little bit to get
used to the problems encountered with travelling, especially when not
knowing the language.

There were two hurdles that I felt would be two key times in testing
my meager limitations. The first was buying a rail ticket from
Ekaterinburg to Novosibirsk, and I was well prepared and it went
relatively smooth... I was even able to do it the cheap way while
waiting in line with the hordes of impatient Russians (of course also
having old ladies charge to the front of the line at various times).

This time on the train I had the room to myself for all but the first
three hours. I actually enjoyed this because I could spread out
without being bothered.

At some point about half way through the trip (whenever sunrise was)
the "train attendant" (there is a team of two ladies who control and
clean each carriage) befriended me and we tried to talk to each other
for a while. After about an hour of "conversation" in no common
language she went back to work and I went back to sleep. Later, about
an hour before we were to arrive she came back in and began to ask me
for a dollar as a souvenir. I explained to her that I only had roubles
(although I do have a stash of American money in my shorts) and she
seemed upset, and actually began to ask for $10 or $50 or $100 bills.
After explaining to her how much that was in roubles I remembered that
I had bought a bunch of postcards at the airport. I signed a postcard
of Columbus and translated my name and Columbus Ohio into Cyrillic for
her. This did not seem to completely satisfy her, but she left shortly
thereafter. The main reason I mention this is because it felt at times
like she was trying to extort money from me but I was just too dumb
for her to accomplish it.

So I arrived in Novosibirsk at around 7:30 pm local time... a new city
that exists only because of the trans-Siberian railway and is the
largest station in Siberia. I had read that getting a hotel as a
foreigner in this city is notoriously hard and I nearly pre-booked a
room online for $200 just to avoid the hassle. But me being cheap I
figured I could find something cheaper when I got here.

My first stop was to attempt to get a room in the hotel in the train
station that is only available to those who are travelling the next
day, which I am. The guide book said that this place is often full,
and they were either full or the lady just didn't seem like dealing
with me (which I find highly likely given her uninviting demeanor) so
I proceeded to option 2, the huge hotel across the road from the
station that bears the cities name.

After my walk through the sleet/snow I made my way to the hotel only
to be met with the same result. I then had the lady call the next
hotel I was going to try, and she seemed to indicate that they would
accept me there.

So, after a trip to the metro through the sleet, I made my way down
the main square (Lenin Square of course) and found the hotel
relatively easilly. At first they appeared to not want to accept me,
but I think my dumb insistance that I deserved a room wore on the lady
and after some obscure check-in procedure that I will never understand
I secured a room for roughly $37. The only problem is that they accept
only cash and I did not have that many roubles on me. After a 25
minute walk around back in the elements I was able (after finding
several out of order) to procure the funds and return victoriously
with cash. After a few more unintelligable forms I was finally handed
a key and I think I detected a faint smile on the ladies face. The
room is average and small with only two toilets for many rooms, but I
am happy to have saved a wad of cash, which will help me to absorb
some of the costs incurred in the first week of visa problems and plan
changes.

I ate something that may have been salmon (but more than likely it was
some random local fish) and some sort of fried meat patty. After that
I went to my room and was suprised to see on Russian "TNT" was
"Married With Children" with an all Russian cast. I attached a picture
because it was funny to watch if you have ever been a fan of Married
With Children.

So, tommorow after checking out this city, it is off to Irkutsk to
find the cottage that I am to stay in for two nights... that ought to
be an interesting experience as well.

For the most part, this has been a pretty relaxing trip. There are
times of intense pressure and frustration, followed by long stretches
of relaxation on trains or in my room wherever I am at. The last 5
days in Beijing will likely be the most hectic, since I will be
completely clueless with the language, but I kind of expect Beijing to
be more English speaking friendly than siberia due to the forthcoming
Olympics.

- The Dues

Random Thoughts Irkutsk

Random Thoughts Irkutsk, originally uploaded by ericdues.

Well, I begin this email at a small resturaunt in a small hotel in a
small valley in the small town of Listvyanka (population 2500), which
is 70km from the train station in Irkutsk and on the shores of the
most volumeous lake in the world... Lake Bailail. I will say that
getting here in the winter is in itself a small feat not to be
overlooked.

After walking around in the blizzard in Novosibirsk a few days ago, I
hopped on the main "Rossia" train across Russia from Moscow to
Vladivostock. I expected this to be an experience in itself, and it
did not fail me!

I was immediately greeted by some younger dude in my "kupe" a.k.a.
room in the train. He was followed by two younger women, one of whom
who did not mind flaunting her apparently fake but none the less very
nice breasts, which I of course did not mind at all! Then the train
ride got interesting after many beers and shots of the "Putkinkia"
vodka that I supplied.

Of course none of my kupe-mates spoke English, but yet we managed to
have what appeared to be a very lively and funny conversation until we
all went to sleep/passed out. The next day after everyone laying
around and sleeping off and on, the trip took a new turn... possibly
for the worse, but I don't think so.

I was showing some pictures to, and playing some music for, the girls
when I was invited to go drink some beer with Russian dudes, two of
whom spoke some English. So I went to the dining car and bought myself
some peeva. After having one I was pulled into my kupe by the girls
and urged to stay because they explained that the dudes I was drinking
with were Russian Mafia (including the younger dude that was in our
kyle).

Well, I will say that I was a bit creeped out the whole time while
drinking with them anyhow, and so those two girls (Svetlania and
Natalia I believe) telling me that just made my suspicions more valid.
I actually sat next to the door the while time with my foot "resting"
on it so that it could not be closed. I then went back to the dudes
kupe and explained that I needed to sleep before I arrived in Irkutsk
due to me needing to figure out the city when I got there, but they
continued to try to get me to stay. After a bit, I did take off and
drink with the girls for a bit before actually trying to sleep in the
500 degree kupe.

About every hour, I was urged to go smoke with the girls, and I of
course said yes (anything else would just be rude). Nearly every time
the mafia dudes were there smoking as well, and their hassling of me
got worse as the night continued (but I assumed that they were tapping
into my beers that I had left there and were therefore getting to
drunk to care). Also during one of those events I found out that the
older, movie-assasin look-alike guy (who appeared to be the "connected
guy") was also getting off at the same stop as me... so immediately
thoughts of robbing and raping were abound in my mind (thanks guys).

Well, long story short; after devising many clever plans to avoid
contact with this guy ever again that likely would have failed anyway,
I ended up leaving the train last after saying goodbye to the girls
(who were headed all the way to Vladivostok) and I watched the assasin
hop into a bus and leave.

Then, after walking around the station for a while I jumped in a "van-
bus" on the advice of the guidebok. After a failed attempt to explain
that I needed them to drop me off at whatever stop of theirs was
closest to the bus station, I just hopped out (while it was still dark
outside) on Karla Marksa street. From there my compus, map, and two
feet hauled my ass and backpack to the station.

More frustration ensued as I asked one lady for a ticket to Listvyanka
she said the bus left at 11:00 (3 hours) so I stepped outside to see
if a slighly more expensive van-bus was leaving sooner. 5 minutes
later I was at her window to buy my ticket for the 11:00 bus. She then
proceeded to inform me there was no more bus to Listvyanka (at any
time). Four options here: 1) she didn't like foreigners, 2) she forgot
earlier that buses stopped going there, 3) the weather was to bad for
the bushes to run today, or 4) they sold all of the tickets in the 5
minute window that I stepped outside. My bet is option #1.

So I proceeded to get in a cab to whom I ended up paying 1400 rubles,
something like $45, to go 45 miles on an icey road in a driving
snowstorm, which I documented with video. We almost got in 1 accident
(only avoided due to a nice maneuver by my driver... the other guy was
in the center if the road at the crest of a hill), stalled the car
once, and nearly ran over some people walking in the middle of the
road. Taking into account the "experience" of the taxi ride through
the wilderness, the scenery, the constant "sign of the cross" and
apparent prayers made by my driver coupled with chain smoking very
harsh cigarettes and what I believe to be some pretty foul language:
the ride was well worth the price of admission.

I proceeded to find my way to the house I am staying in, take a nap,
and walk 3-4 mile along the lake taking various picture in this
massive storm. It appears that this is also the first major freeze and
snow if the winter here, so I wonder if it is the same system I
experienced in Novosibirsk a few days ago.

The picture above is part if the meal I had at some hotel resturaunt
(chosen solely because the guide book said that they had an English
menu). This was only the third sit-down meal of my trip thus far. I
had a dish of one of the local fish that only lives in this lake
(omul), and this salad. The salad was: crab, cucumber, egg, boiled cow
tongue, and mayo... and it was spectacular (although the only other
thing I had eaten in the past 24 hours was a smoked omul fish from a
street vendor). I also paid some inflated price for a glass of scotch
(nearly half the bill), because I am tired of vodka and I felt I
deserved some of my favorite booze as a reward for trekking along a
lake in a blizzard.

I also finished off my first memory card... roughly 950 pictures and
15 minutes of video... since I am past the half way point of my trip,
my 8gb total storage should be about right... and if I run out it will
be in Beijing, where I should be able to get another card for wicked
cheap...that will also be when this is posted, as I will not have
wireless access until then.

Weather permitting, I plan to hike to the top of a hill along the
shore and take some pictures of the lake tommorow. I believe the lake
is like the Grand Canyon, in that you can not fully appreciate its
size unless you take a week to hike and drive some large portion of
it. The statistics on the biology and size of this thing are amazing.
My hope to jump in the lake will not happen, so I will have to settle
for the 5 years of extra life that comes with dipping a toe in... but
I did my whole foot, so that has to be at least 6. I also saw a few
scuba divers in the water... if I was certified I would be all over
that.

Ok, that us all for this installment of random thoughts.

- The Dues

Siberia

Well, after walking down an alley that the guidebook instructed me to, I finally found an Internet cafe... so I am able to write a bit before I leave for Lake Baikal to stay in a cottage for two nights.  The upcoming train ride is 36 hours.

 

I arrived in Novosibirsk late last night and after some hassle I finally found a hotel that would accept a foreigner.  As it would turn out, the third try was a charm and it may be the best place I could have gotten.  It was close to everything downtown and the room is a rented on a 24 hour basis... which means after this I go back and checkout (at 8:30 pm).  This allowed me to get a shower after the day of walking around.  More details of the train ride and finding a hotel will be coming in the future... they are typed in my phone, and I may not have Internet access on that until Beijing.

 

So Novosibirsk is considered the capital of Siberia and there is a small church signifying the geographic center of Russia.  As fate would have it, on my one day in the Siberian capital they had a blizzard (or they may just call it a light dusting... but it was something around 18").  When I arrived last night it was sleeting, but overnight the temperature dropped to -10c, and I awoke to massive snowfall that is still continuing at this hour.  I will say that they are increadibly effifienct at dealing with it, as one might expect.  They even have city workers constantly scraping the sidewalks, something I wish Cincinnati had done during my slippery walks to school (Go Bearcats by the way... still a shot at the Big East title and a BCS game).  The storm was bad enough to make the lead story on the news, but that may only be because it was the first major snow of the year... again I have no clue, as I could only watch the pictures and try to decipher what they were talking about.  Needless to say, 5 hours of walking around this city in a blizzard-like conditions certainly did not help the picture taking effort... but pictures of things in a heavy snow storm kind of make sense in a location like this.  I do not think it is supposed to be this cold or snowy in Irkutsk, but I will be checking again after this.

 

You will also be pleased to know that I have not been raped or robbed yet.

 

Well, I am going to do a bit of browsing then my 30 minutes of internet time is up.  Another 1.5 days of eating meat and bread and some mystery cheese on the train awaits.  I will try to find an Internet cafe in Irkutsk before I leave for Mongolia, but that may not be possible so this could be the last update until Ulan-Bator or even Beijing, which is about 10 days away I think.

- The Dues

Asia, I am at your mercy!

Asia, I am at your mercy!, originally uploaded by ericdues.

Well, I made it to my train last night without any issue and that was
the good part of the train trip. The next 36 hours consisted of
temperatures ranging (and I am guessing here) between -100 and 550. I
do not know why it is so hard to keep a heater at the same level, but
I guess I am not a Russian train engineer either. Also, I shared a
cabin with an older lady that spoke absolutely no English... which
meant no funny drinking stories.

When I arrived at the train station I was able to successfully
purchase my ticket for tonights train using the translated message I
created at home before I left... at least some if this planning paid
off. I did however, get to the front of the line at one point and then
they went on a 15 minute "technical" break... I really hate that system.

On other news, about 12 hours ago I officially crossed into Asia.
Considering the official marker is about 20km out of the city, and
there is only about 3 hours of stuff to see in the city, I had to find
a way to go see it... since I have come this far, I ponied up the cash
for a 4.5 hour guided tour of the Asia-Europe marker and the death
sites of the Romanovs... the last czars of Russia. It was either this
or pay about half the cost for a taxi and then I wouldn't know where
to tell him to go... So the tour was much easier (but bit quite as
satisfying) It was all pretty cool, but the main point was standing
on the border point. I did not take a picture with my phone, but I did
take a picture of my "official" border certificate that I reviewed.
And the tour guide was a hot Russian blond, which would tend to make
any tour better.

Well, the hotel that I booked my tour through was nice enough to allow
me to sit here and pay to use the wifi and plug in my phone for an
hour, and that hour is about up... so I must go now and get a few
supplies for it next 22 hour train trip that leaves in 4 hours. I hope
to stay in the cheap hotel in the train station, otherwise it will be
a huge and expensive one in the city... this whole damn country is
expensive.

I will likely not have Internet access for the next several days (and
perhaps not until Beijing) so this may be it for a while as far as
blog updates go.

- The Dues

Some drinking buddies

Some drinking buddies, originally uploaded by ericdues.

I just thought I would include this photo quick while I have internet
access, ad thus may be the last access I have for the next week or so.

Three Swedish dudes and a girl from Texas. Not seen is the dude from
Latvia and the obligatory aussy that was also around most nights.

- The Dues

Out of Moscow

Well, I have a longer email composed on my phone, but the network is freaking out here... so I am using the computer at the hostel.  I am now leaving the hostel to jump onto a train that will take me to Yekaterinburg... I may or may not be able to find an internet cafe there to allow me to post.

 

- The Dues

Moscow: It's not you, it's me

As I begin to compose what I plan to be my last email from Moscow, and
likely the last one from my phone until I reach Beijing in 2 weeks, I
am sitting here in a cafe basement eating a meal that I believe to
consist of pork and cabbage that I struggled to purchase and likely
paid an inflated price for.

The first time I was in Moscow nearly three years ago I had said that
I would like to live in this city for at least 6 months. I still feel
that way but I believe that it is best for the both of us if we break
off this relationship now. I don't see the point in wasting any more
of either of our time or money on something that is obviously not
working for either of us. I put the blame for this solely on my
shoulders.

See, I thought I could change, I thought I could learn enough Russian
to allow me to partake in the most basic parts of your life. Alas, it
is becoming evident that my meger skills are not enough to keep this
relationship going with any more meaning. I do however have a few kind
suggestions for you. I realize that you are doing things the way that
they have always been done where you are from, but I will mention them
anyway.

It would be nice if you smiled every once in a while.

Please, at least some times you should do something cheap. Expensive
stuff is nice, but cheap stuff should still be cheap.

Perhaps dress nicely at times, all of your buildings are being
renovated at once, perhaps stage it in such a way that the entire city
is not done at the same time.

I do have a few other small suggestions, but as I am off to catch a
train I will just say goodbye.

I will be on a train for the next two days, so there will likely be no
updates for the next few days. I hope to find an Internet cafe in my
next city.

- The Dues

All Russian Exhibition Center

Random building at this place

Holocaust Monument

This is a monument in Victory Park to the Holocaust

The Market

This is the market in the suburbs that I bought a few things from today

Victory Park

Victory Park is a great big museam and monument to WWII - The Great Patriotic War as they call it. This is just as you walk onto the park from the South.

War Monument in Minsk

This is apparently the most meaningful monument to the war in Minsk... I believe it is called the Memorial Chapel to the International Warriors

Me inside the Kremlin

This is a couple of days ago... a sunny bit while I was inside the Kremlin

One last day to kill

Well, after a day of shopping in various markets in both the suburbs
and the main tourist areas, and picking up a few items of interest, I
officially have only have one more day to kill in this city. I hope to
see some sort of parade in Red Square since it is a holiday
tomorrow... After that fails I will wander the city and just check out
whatever pops up.

After that, it is time for a 28 hour train ride to Yekaterinburg
(although the Russians still call it Sverdlosk). I have nothing set up
in that city, and I am only there for a day... I hope to find an
Internet cafe to use there and send an other update before I get back
on a train.

It has been quite refreshing these past few days being able to drink
and talk with others that are going across Siberia by train and do not
speak Russian... Now I just hope to find someone like that on my train
tomorrow night.

Go Bearcats!

- The Dues

A seat!

Well, I am sitting on the metro, around noon and I actually have a
seat. Riding the metro is a much more pleasant experience when this
happens, but I fully expect it to never happen again.

The reason I am riding the metro at this hour is due the extremely
sporadic life of the dude that I was going to go to the soccer game
with. He went out late last night and was still sleeping at noon, so I
decided to not wait for him anymore and I therefore took off to check
out some big WWII park on the outskirts of the city.

After spending about 5 hours checking out Victory Park, I can
difinitivley say that the Soviet Union did a damn impressive job in
building all if their monuments to The Great Patriotic war. Victory
park was a huge complex of museums and exhibits that is sprawling. I
have been to other museums in other countries, but none if them
approached this, and since the Russians lost some 25 million people,
it makes sense.

So I am again going through my nightly routine of showering and then
going to buy some beer (pivo) and drink with everyone at the hostel.

- The Dues

Closed!

I will say, that sitting in the hostel looking back on every day I
seem to forget the general levels of rudeness and unhappiness of
Muscovites. That is the great part about me being able to type
messages on the fly... I can have those things written down so I (god
help me) don't forget to complain about something.

Dealing with random Muscovites is something of a mystery to me. I can
sometimes stumble my way through some transaction and recieve a smile
afterwards; but most times it is the exact opposite. Sone random
thiights that I have noticed:
-Riding the metro during rush hour you will get bullrushed by feable
looking old ladies.
-Even after stating, in Russian, that you don't speak Russian, people
will insist that you will magically learn that instant and so they
continue to talk to you or ask question without any physical
indication as to what they are talking about. I like to think that I
am being complimented on my snazzy 'earth-toned' clothing.
-If you are waiting in line for something you will also get bullrushed
by old ladies, then they will just go to the front of the line after
they have decided that they have inflicted enough pain on enough people
-If something says that it is open, and it is not... do not ask
questions, no reason is needed, anyone can close anything they want at
any time and call it a technical break.

I toured the Kremlin in the rain, and when the sun finally popped out
I got some good pictures and then wanted to go into Red Square and get
a few sunny pictures, since I have not seen it in the sun before. But,
behold, about 30 military flag guys were practicing for the national
holiday parade on Monday...so they closed ALL of Red Square. No entry,
so I just bought some new sandles and now I am playing cards and
drinking with Swedes.

- The Dues

Something went right!

As is evident by this point of this blog, this first week of this trip has been a trying one. However, I am very happy to report that something actually worked as planned. There are several points in this trip that I am dependant upon meeting up with someone I have only spoken to via email from the other side of the planet, this is the first of those.

http://www.russiangirlfriday.com/ - Her name is Olesya - she is awesome. After having blind faith in Olesya and sending her money for procuring 3/5 of my train tickets, I actually received them. Anyone who may Google her looking for information and stumbles across this lowly blog of mine can be very confident in using her services. We met and she even went so far as showing me the important bits of information on the ticket.... and she gave me change, a totally unexpected turn of events that speaks volumes as to her professionalism. A big "thank you" and strong recommendation goes out to her and the service that she provides.

In other news... I have managed to lay together a plan that should allow me to keep occupied or inebriated in Moscow for 5 days (sometimes both at the same time).

Yesterday (day 1) was an art museum and sleep and checking into the hostel and a lot of walking and riding the metro and trying to get access to the free wifi in the hostel and then getting a bit inebriated at the hostels with a bunch of friends of one of the workers. It was his birthday that night and it was holloweeen and he had to work, so his friends through a party in the hostel... and most of them even spoke a bit of English. Lots of drinking with a lot of talking in alot of languages that I do not understand... and even a few 'friendly' wagers on some games of Foosball.

Today (day 2) was waking up expected late due to the cheap Russian beer, heading down to see Lenin, but I arrived too late. Then I went to large (1km x 2km) shrine/park dedicated to show off Soviet might and technical prowess (lots of pictures here... even though it was very overcast).... it is now just a glorified shopping mall... but the monuments and architecture is absolutely amazing. Also, I had some very interesting meat on a stick with onions that I believe to be beef, but I can not confirm that. Most people do not go here, but it should be on the top of everyones list while in Moscow... especially if you want to see a lot of hammer and sickle insignias on stuff. I could only imagine that during Soviet times that this place would make any Russian full of unbridled national pride, and likely still does that for many. I may have been the only non-Russian speaker in the entire place!

Shopping... what a grand experience... I both dread it and look forward to it.
I received a dysfunctional metro card (it was supposed to have 10 rides on it, but she forgot to activate it) today, and had to explain that to the attendant during rush hour... holding up the line a bit (after only 30 seconds of random Russian and English words and absolutely ridiculous gestures I was able to convey this information successfully).
Buying groceries every day that largely consists of items that i can only point at and in quantities less than or equal to 5 (fingers). There are no supermarkets that you can just walk around, pick stuff up, and then pay... you have to tell them what you want and then pay and then they give you the items.
My old leather sandals smell like rotten feet, so i am going to buy some new sandals tomorrow... that should be interesting because I will likely purchase them from a street vendor.
All of this has one thing in common... I have to give up all dignity to get my point across and I get an immense feeling of satisfaction after completing even the most menial of tasks. I walked away from the grocery store tonight thinking i was king of the world because I was able to successfully purchase iced tea, cheese, sausage, bread, and yogurt. I never feel that way when I leave Krogers or Walmart. Also, I am doing most of my shopping well out of the tourist areas (where prices are ridiculous, even my Moscow standards) and where English is EXTREMELY uncommon. The fact that doing even the simplest of tasks is rewarding makes the entire day more interesting because I am constantly getting a sense of accomplishment.

Even more good news, I just fixed the wireless Internet access for the hostel, and now I can use my iPhone again on a wireless network... so the next few updates should be more frequent and a bit more "real time". I was able to get into the router settings and add the MAC addresses of both my iPhone and some Latvian guys computer... so now we don't have to wait in line for the computer at the hostel... everything was in Russian, but a computer is a computer anywhere, and i was able to get my way around and get some shit done... they should let me stay for free, because they keep receiving complaints about the non-working wifi... and now they will not (and I made sure that me and Latvia guys computers will always get fast access).

A quick summary of what is likely to come.... Kremlin and armory tour, Lenins tomb, Soccer game (Russia v Chechnya... can anyone say 'tension filled atmosphere') on Sunday, and other random monuments and parks and onion domed churches and random street food.

Also (Mikey, Ween, Eli)... I have not been raped or robbed yet... if I do you will be the first to know (Mother Dues was concerned over those comments, so I felt I would address them publicly).

Ok, my beer is gone, so I must go to bed and prepare to waste more time in Moscow tomorrow.

-- The Dues

Moscow... Please entertain me

Well, there was no issue with me crossing the border. Apparently when you take a train from Minsk to Moscow they don't check passports. So now I have entered Russia twice and left once; and entered and left Belarus. All of this and I only have an entry stamp for each country. I am not sure what that all means, but I am sure I will get drilled with questions when I attempt to leave into Mongolia in about 20 days.

So... I arrived this morning, and will likely not do too much. Riding the Moscow metro at rush hour while wearing a backpack and many layers of clothes (the same layers I wore yesterday while running around Minsk) has left me smelling pretty ripe. When I can notice my own smell I know it is bad! I will likely just take a shower and ride the metro and check out some of the more oddball sights. This metro carries more passengers per day than the NYC and London systems combined.

I assume that I will do things like go to art museums and other such things that I have never been to yet tommorow. The Kremlin is closed Thursdays, so I will plan to do that on Friday. Then the next three days are up in the air... I will try to go to some of the sights in the suburbs and along the Golden Ring... but past that I have know idea how else to occupy myself in this city for more than 3 days... I suppose I could do nothing (and some laundry) for a day, since it is a vacation and those are supposed to be relaxing.

Well, this may get posted out of order, as the password that they have on the wireless network in the hostel is not working, and they don't seem to care so much.

- The Dues

In Moscow

Well,

 

I have a longer email created and ready to post, but I can not get the wireless network to work here... but I am in Moscow and my only problem is that I don't know what I will do here for this long... I will likely not do too much this first day other than shower and randomly walk around the city.

- The Dues

Dasvidania Belarus

Well, although the rest of the beginning week of my trip is messed up, I do think that I at least got to see all that I could see in Minsk without having a car. With the city bring so sprawling, some of the strange new sites (like the crazy looking new library... which I saw on the drive in at night).

As it turns out, most of the sights and monuments that I saw on my long walk the first day were about all that there was to see. In one word, war, you can describe all of them. Since Stalin rebuilt this city after it was destroyed, he put a huge war monument at nearly every major intersection. I spent some time just riding the metro and checking out various parts of the city... most all other sections are typical looking Russian square concrete box buildings.

Minsk was a very suprising city; all of the rumors would have you believe that it is some wasteland and KGB would be following you around the whole time. It was quite the opposite experience. The streets are cleaned almost constantly both by people and machines, the
parks are huge and fairly well maintained, there are cafe's and shops everywhere, and if there was anyone tracking my every move they did a damn good job hiding themselves. I am sure they were also constantly amused and confused by the obviously lost nature of finding my way
around the city.

As far as the visa situation is concerned, it is frustrating because it is really entirelly out of my control. I jumped through all of the hoops the past two months and had all of the paperwork completed to perfection. Now, it is all messed up due to flight delays and under- trained airport workers.

But, in trying to find something positive in all of this, I have all the confidence in the world in finding my way around my future destinations, because I had to learn a lot these past few days trying to work this visa situation out. I had expected these first few days to be tougher than the rest simply due to getting used to how to do things that are completely foreign to me, and it has been much tougher than I could have ever imagined...due to all of this visa crap.

The thing I am most looking forward to now is being in a hostel with other backpackers, and perhaps being able to have an actual conversation with someone that does not involve the validity of by travel documents. I got the last bed on some of the nights in the hostel, so there should be many backpackers there and it should be pretty fun.

So I am on my way to Moscow by train (11 hours) now (actually it leaves in 4 hours, but I am leaving now and headed to the train station), and assuming my visa is alright, my next updates should come from a hostel in Moscow for the next 5 days.

- The Dues

Who killed JFK?

Who killed JFK?, originally uploaded by ericdues.

I just thought that sounded like an interesting title. Above is a
picture (taken with my phone as usual) of the apartment block that Lee
Harvey Oswold lived in. There is no sign about it, but according to
the guidebooks and my driver when I arrived, this is it.

- The Dues

Another change

Well, it would appear that the ability to get a quick visa in Finland us only available to citizens of the EU (apparently only recently this change was made). So, I am now doing a more "classical" begining to my trans-Siberian trip (according to all of the guidebooks); I should have nothing left that I want to see on Moscow after this.

I am taking a train from Minsk to Moscow and staying at a youth hostel for 5 nights. I have always said that I wish I could spend more time in Moscow, because it us such an impressive city, and I guess I am now going to get that chance. I have talked to both my travel agent in Belarus and the people at the official government tourist agency, and both seem to think that I will be ok taking a train to Moscow from here.

Last time I was in Moscow I only stayed 1 day because there were no youth hostels in the city. Luckilly that has changed... There are many hostels now, and I found a pretty popular one with vacancy.

So, that us the new plan, if this works (and I have to believe it will), hopefully I can get on some sort normal schedule. I still can not believe the gigantic problem that missing a flight in Moscow has caused. I would have paid more (and it would have been cheaper and less time consuming at this point) to enter Belarus via train from Warsaw if I would have somehow known that this would have happened.

That is all... I will likely send another update from the wireless access in my hotel before I leave Minsk. After that, everything will be done from Moscow for the next 5 days... Either from wireless access or internet cafe's or hopefully a Internet station in my hostel.

- The Dues

New Plan, New Visa .. I hope

As it would turn out, Russia and Belarus have an agreement that they do not issue visas for foreigners... So my chances of doing anything with my visa here are none. I could stay in Minsk another 3 days then take a train to Moscow and stay in an expensive hotel there for a few
days, and nobody is quite sure if that is entirely legal... since I would then have two entry stamps on my Russian visa but no exit stamps... they really skrewed up my visa at the Moscow airport... Which is now officially the worst airport I have ever been too.

Well, a calculated risk is under way that will make or break my trip. My friend Hilkka in Helsinki found a company there that can have me a new visa by Friday (if I am at their office by noon on Wednesday)... Just in time for me to leave for Russia from Finland as planned. If this works, she is a goddess.

So, just next door to my hotel is the Air Baltic office, from whom I just purchased a flight that will have me in Helsinki by Tuesday evening. If all goes to plan in Helsinki, I will have the actual trans- Siberian portion of my trip intact... which is really the whole point
of this mess, this stuff in the beginning was just icing ok the cake.

I will update the the crazy visa situation when I know more details... I assume the cost will be expensive, but considering the sunk costs I have in train tickets from Helsinki, and the money i will save by having a place to stay for free for some extra days. The flight cost
is irrelevant. Essentially, the only extra cost will be for the new visa, which at this point I don't care about.

Worst case scenario #3, I can't get my visa in time, I am out the money I paid for trans-Siberian tickets, and I try to modify my air ticket to return home from Europe. All of my arrangements along the way were to be paid on arrival, so if that were to happen I would be
severely dissapointed... but oh well, I would then use my time to swing back through the baltics and head to somewhere like Lichtenstein and Portugul... all places I have never been to before. I really hope that it does not come to that though!

Off to explore the wet and overcast city the rest of the day, I fly out tommorow afternoon.

- The Dues

Minsk is huge

This is the view from my room in Minsk. This city is huge. After 90% of it was destroyed in the war, Stalin rebuilt it in his grand style, and it is definately more attractive than I expected. As you would expect, the Soviets built everything on a grand and sprawling scale, which always makes judging walking distancesba bit more difficult. I have already reserved another night in anticipation of me getting things sorted at the consulate tommorow.

I am dead tired after all the damn travelling, so I am just going to walk around aimelessly today for a few hours then come back to the hotel and do a lot of nothing.

I did not get a picture of it, bit on the drive in late last night Andrew, the driver, did point out the apartments that Lee Harvey lived in... This city, at first glance, seem very interesting and I do not think I will mind too much staying here a few extra days if I need too... As I will nor know for sure until after my visit to the Russian consulate tomorrow.

- The Dues

High Class with Low Self Esteem

Well, there is no more humbling experience than to be at the mercy of a Russian consulate.

I am typing this both from the business lounge at Moscow Terminal 1 and the business section of my Belavia flight to Minsk. I will have to say, caviar and wine on a flight are pretty sweet.

However, I know when I land that I will spend every waking (and probably many sleeping) moment trying to get a new Russian visa. I know it is possible in the States and in Scotland, but I am not so sure 24 hour processing with a faxed invitation letter is possible here.

However, the tour company I had pick me up from the airport and supply my necessary Bellorussian visa paperwork "BSP"... has agreed to help me with translating and explaining my situation to the Russian consulate on Monday. If they are able to help me get this done they are gods and I will forever be indebted to them. It turns out, that after I looked closely at my Minsk map, the Russian consulate is just down the street from me. The "BSP" people are going to go there with me Monday morning, and with any luck I may have another Russian visa by Tuesday... but luck has not been on my side thus far.

I will know more of the requirements after I look everything up on the web tonight. I think there is free wifi in my hotel lobby, right next to the casino/nightclub in my hotel.

................................

I am in the hotel now... And it costs a bit less than a trashy motel in the states, but is much nicer than a trashy motel.

Stay tuned for more updates, as I should know more about my messed up situation in the morning... I hope!

- The Dues

Oh the horror!

Oh the horror!, originally uploaded by ericdues.

I am sitting here in the Moscow airport (terminal 1 pictured above), which has the same name as the one I arrived late into, but Terminal 1 is actually a 20 minute bus ride away and only for domestic flights. So... I needed to go here, because even though I am flying to a different country (one that has had icey relations with Russia lately too) my flight departs from here.

I was well read on the subject, and even went to the correct desk to ask about this. They then looked at my ticket, with what I can only describe as a cross between astonishment and confusion, and directed me to go to customs (and I questioned their answer, but got the same response). After my 35 minute wait in line at customs, it took me 10 minutes to explain to a non-English speaking customs agent that I had arrived late from New York and was attempting to get on a different flight to Minsk that night. It was a very comedic and frustrating experience for both if us and everyone else that could see or hear us. She then took my customs form that I had filled out for Belarus and stamped my Russian visa... That detail could bust this whole trip, and I may be flying across Russia and into Mongolia. Now comes the 45 minute process of getting on a new flight to Minsk. First I was getting propositioned by a taxi driver... "Good deal...don't miss flight $100" ... in later talks with some random chick, it happens that the cab fare should be about $3 max. After that the process went something like this: - To the information booth that does not quite live up to its name - Walk around aimelessly trying to understand the instructions I was just given. - Take an elevator to floor 6 "airline offices"... Only to find some chick smoking a cigarette at the Lufstansa office that informed me that I should go to the Aeroflot ticket windows on floor 2 (which is where I started before the non-information booth) - Then, after a 10 minute wait due to the ticket lady being out for a few smokes, she informed me to go to an office in the opposite corner of that floor. - I walked by this place earlier, it is basically a small office cubicle in a dirty dark corner of the airport. One small sign had a number on it that I recognized the ticket lady said earlier... So I proceeded to wait in that line. - When it was my turn, I gave my ticket to an obviously unhappy man who, after 10 minutes of bickering with his co-worker, left... motioning for me to follow him. He had some sort of magic form in his hand... it took him a long time to fill out the little information on it. - We arrived at the ticket window I mentioned earlier, he slapped the desk three times after barging to the front of the line, and out came a ticket lady. Since the person who was at the front of the line was an Aeroflot employee, he gave her my form and old ticket and I think mumbled "business to Minsk". - After another 10 minutes a combination of 3 people gave me what I believe at this time is a ticket (it looks nothing like a ticket I have ever see) - I then proceeded to the Aeroflot transfer desk and got instruction and an irrelevant boarding pass for the bus from the young women working at the desk; they were obviously getting amusement out of my extreme degree if ineptitude. Now I have another 6 hour wait between flights and I will arrive in Minsk about 8 hours later than expected. Thankfully, due to the immense power and coolness of the iPhone I was able to confirm my hotel and a slightly more expensive transfer ($50 instead of $40... But now I avoid the hassle of bargaining with a cabbie at midnight in Minsk... The standard fare us $40) to the hotel via a series of 4 text messages. I also meet and talked with some Russian diplomat on the flight who had one that he uses while in the States... he is obviously cool.

It was supposed to be about 24 hours to Minsk(with all of the waiting) but it is now approaching 35. Now my thoughts are solely on my Russian visa. I am going to (hopefully) be able to stay in Minsk an extra day or two and try to pay some dumb amount of money for 24 hour visa processing of a new Russian visa. If that is not possible I may end up skipping straight to Finland and see off it is possible there. This messed up visa situation is pretty much a worst case scenaro, because it could cause me to miss Russia all together, which be a pretty un-authentic trans-Siberian trip. This next week is critical. I will likely send many updates at the same time, but I will be creating the next one as a new entery, so I can see how random and misguided my thought processes were through all of this. I will likely type my next update after I arrive in my hotel in Minsk... Or wherever I end up in the next 12 hours! I will never understand why I insist upon being a traveller, since nothing ever goes smoothly for me when I do it. But, typing all of this has both occupied my time and allowed me to see the humor in all of this. I often said that I expect there to be problems during this trip, and that is ok, because this trip is about the experience of really traveling outside your comfort zone; the destinations are just a way of quantifying the experience. - The Dues