Vodka and Caviar

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This summers adventure is an attempt to hitchhike about 2500miles from Estonia to Turkey. i started in the beautiful medievil town of Tallinn in Estonia. aswell as sightseeing i also got a chance to see His Holyness the Dali Lama on his visit here (i was overjoyed as i missed seeing him when i went to his monastary in India 2 years ago).

i went to an incredibile prison which was only closed 5 years ago. the quirkey 'meuseum' consisted of an old lady pointing to the door and letting me walk free around the whole eerie complex. it looked and felt like a 1950s lunatic asylam or an old KGB torture dungen.

i intended to go to Finland, but all the hostels are booked days in advance, and im just not that organised. i went to the coast instead where i saw some cool old Soviet buildings. I also intended to go intoi Belarus, but my visa got rejected last miniute (loosing me 120pounds), and so i settled for just going to Russia instead.

after getting stuck at the Russian border for a night (yet more problems with my visa), i managed to eventually hitchhike my way to St. Petersburg. hitchhiking about has been good fun - i have met some interesting people and experianced some outragous driving. one guy took me back to his old communist looking apartment block where his mother cooked me a massive meal.

St. Petersburg is an impressive city full of rich imperialist architecture and enormous museums. i then managed to hithchike to Moscow in a van, taking 13.5 hours. i met some really cool people at the hostel and spent alot of time feeling rough from vodka, caviar and other wierd Russian snacks. As well as the Kremlin I also saw Lennis preserved body, which looked more like a waxwork.

Overall i found Russia diffrent to what i expected. Very western and expensive (although you can buy a pack of cigarettes for 20p, a small jar of pesto will set you back 8quid). i also find the people to be of extreams - initially cold but when they get to know you turn out to be extremly friendly and hospitible.

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