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