Blogs from Tomsk, Siberia, Russia, Europe - page 2

On est rendu loin maintenant... tres loin. Comme nous le rappelle M. statistique (oui, oui, Hugo), nous sommes a plus de 3900 km de Moscou, mais de "l'autre bord". On est maintenant officiellement en Siberie. On est passe a travers trois villes depuis la derniere entree. Je vous presente ici les deux premieres... je vais probablement devoir rajouter les photos un peu plus tard. KAZAN Ville Tatare qui est tombe sous l'emprise des troupes de Ivan le Terrible au 16e siecle, Kazan comporte encore une importante communaute mulsulmane. Kazan est egalement la capitale de la Republique Autonome du Tatarstan, une des regions les plus independantes de Moscou en Russie. La ville se prepare a recevoir les Universiades en 2013 et est en train de se refaire une beaute. Certains edifices sont bien renoves et d'autres... disons ... read more

Hei igjen! Jeg proever igjen, innlegget mitt ble nettopp slettet. Greit aa vaere en taalmodig sjel i blant. Vi er naa i Tomsk, en hyggelig liten universitetsby i Sibir, 270 km unna Novosibirsk, hvor vi sov i natt. Dagene etter forrige innlegg har stort sett vaert preget av vodka og tog. Utelivet i Irkutsk ble grundig sjekket, og etter noen flasker vodka havnet vi et sted som like godt kunne vaert i et lite norsk tettsted. Klientellet var noe eldre enn oss, og de danset ivrig og komplett rytmeloest til fengende slagere som Life is Life og Who the fuck is Alice. Vi er ikke tunge aa be, og vi inntok raskt dansegulvet sammen med minst 6 jenter som hadde bursdag (DJen gratulerte i hvert fall veldig mange) og med tre voksne damer som var ute ... read more

I arrived in Tomsk yesterday at 2:30pm, and my friend Artyom was waiting for me at the train station. It was very nice not to have to avoid the nagging taxi drivers (who charge an insane rate!) or to navigate my way around another strange city. I have been spoiled with the royal treatment since I got here. By the way, I met Art and his mother on the train from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar where we shared a compartment. They were very kind to me, and invited me to stay with them in Tomsk. Yesterday, Art drove me around to all the sights of the city. We had some lunch with his girlfriend Natasha and then saw more sights. In the evening we went to the sauna with Natasha and some friends of theirs. It was ... read more

After elaborate early morning birthday celebrations for Nico (doughnut with candle in Novosibirsk train station) we take the bus to Tomsk where we are spending a few days with Grigory (couchsurfing again) and his family. We entertain ourselves on the 4 hour journey by singing crap '80s songs and eating. Nico's incredible effect on the average Russian girl is again in evidence as while I am buying ice-creams at the half-way stop he is charming free mobile phone calls to Grigory from our fellow lady passengers. I return to find one poor girl giggling and literally swooning. Unbelievable. Nico, of course, is loving it and when we start moving he scours the guidebook for info on Russian residency. Brat! Short interlude for discussion on 70's kiddies tv show: During the journey I also make the discovery ... read more