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(Day 44 on the road)The overnight train-ride to Novosibirsk got off to a good start. I met three English-speaking Russians (Katja, Stas and Alex) of my age on the train, and we started chatting. It was highly interesting to talk to them, and instead of sleeping, we talked the night away, with topics ranging from politics to religion. Outside, a full moon was shining on the Siberian steppe and a lot of large lakes, and the view was magical. I feel however that the other 55 people in the carriage who were trying to sleep were not very amused. In the end, we slept for about three hours, before arriving at 0400h in Novosibirsk.
Katja, Stas and Alex were on their way to buy a car here for Stats and drive it back to Omsk, so instead of sightseeing, I went with them to buy the car. They were picked up by Vladimir from the train station, an expert with cars who would help Stas to buy the car. I was of no help in the process, as I am pretty hopeless when it comes to cars. The only think I know about used cars is from university: In my
economics-classes, my professor used the analogy of used cars as the perfect example of a nontransparent market, where the seller has always more information about the product than the prospective buyer. I always thought that the economic principle behind this becomes very easy to grasp using this this example.
Stas bought a Toyota in the end, and the three of them headed off to drive back to Omsk. I wouldn't want to be in their shoes, two hours sleep and an 8h drive ahead of them). I thought I was in a much better position, so I took off to explore Novosibirsk. Unfortunately, just like Omsk, it didn't appeal to me very much. The center was grey and dominated with Soviet-style high rise buildings. I didn't have the time to get out of the city center as I was catching the train to Tomsk that same night, so I limited myself to the center and the new Railway Museum. The museum was excellent: It was dedicated to the Trans Siberian Railway, and had a great deal of information on the history of the railroad, all arranged in a lovely manner with much attention to detail. The museum was actually
closed, so when I found the door shut, I was initially disappointed and turned away. 10 seconds later however, the security guy opened the door from the inside, and signalled me to come in. He made a phone call, and about 5 minutes later, another guy appeared and opened the museum for me. The security guy turned out to speak some German, and as I found out he was a retired doctor, who now worked as security in the museum. Natalie in Moscow had told me that the average pension in Russia is around $500, so this probably explains it. I felt sorry for the guy, guess he had planned his retirement a little different than this.
Next stop: Tomsk (Russia).
To view my photos, have a look at
pictures.beiske.com. And to read the full account of my journey, have a look at the complete
book about my trip at Amazon (and most other online book shops).
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Steve
non-member comment
Great Photos
Great to see Novosibirsk, My girlfriend is from there, she has sent me pics of the square where you took your video. I met her here in Pigeon Forge, Tn. last summer, here on student exchange. To bad you didn't have time to stay for the evening, the night life in the town is fantastic. Great club called The Opera. Wish you well on your travels. Steve in Tn.