http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , Russia en-us Wed, 25 Nov 09 19:29:25 +0000 Wed, 25 Nov 09 19:29:25 +0000 Yli 5000km jlkeen vihdoin Irkutsk. Saavuttiin viidelt yll lumisadetta 5 C ei paha. Pienesti ihmetytt se ett valtaosassa autoista ratti sijaitsee oikealla vaikka tll oikeanpuoleinen liikenne. Irkutskissa on asukkaita 600 000 ja hmmstyimme kuinka nykyaikaista kaikki tll rdquokeskell ei mitnrdquo onkaan. Keskustassa vieri vieress Adidaksen Benettonin Nokian ja muiden http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Irkutsk/blog-454988.html Muita suomalaisia ei oo tullu missn vastaan mutta samassa vaunussa meidn kanssa oli saksalainen ja australialainen pariskunta ja lopuissa hyteiss asui kolme kiinalaista vaunupalvelijaa jotka pitivt vaunun puhtaana ja huolehtivat ett samovaarissa oli jatkuvasti tarjolla kuumaa vett matkustajille. Vaunupalvelijat mys herttivt ennen mrnpt ja huolehtivat lmmityksest. Lmmityst va http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/blog-454986.html Nelj piv junassa meni tosi kivuttomasti. Meill oli kiinalainen juna ja asustimme kahden hengen hytiss jossa oli kerrossnky nojatuoli pyt ja pieni vaatekaappi. Varsin tilavaa siis. Ravintolavaunu oli venlinen ja ruokavaihtoja taisi olla kolme. Porsaanleikkeet ja Baltikaoluet ainakin olivat erinomaisia. Pivittin pyshtelimme useilla asemilla jaloittelemassa ja tydentmss muonav http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/blog-454947.html Junamatkalla 17 21.11.2009P meni sekaisin ihmettelyst jatkuvasta kellonajan vaihtumisesta tai vodkasta. Varmaan kaikista niist vuorotellen ja yht aikaa. Ylitimme viisi aikavyhykett eli kelloa siirrettiin joka piv eteenpin junan aikataulu kuitenkin noudatti Moskovan aikaa. Ennakkoodotuksista poiketen maisemat vastasi posin suomalaista talvimaisemaa eik kurjuus nkynyt ainakaan ma http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/blog-454942.html Tlt tullaan VenjNiin alko meidn reissu sateisesta Helsingist 14.11.09. Tolstoijunassa vlill HelsinkiMoskova oli ihan luksus 2hengen hytti tosin TV ei toiminu mutta vodka kyll. Vainikkalassa lumista ja pime rajalla kaikki dokumentit luonnollisesti vain Venjksi.Eilen Moskovaan. Marraskuu on hyv aika vierailla. Kremlin muurien sisll oli tilavaa kvell miltei ilman muit http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-453694.html The Hermitage is why I came to StPB and I will concentrate on just that. Anything else will be gilding the Lily.Have now been to the Hermitage three times and have successfully covered the first floor. The East Asian section was closed on my third visit. It may be that more 'guards' are needed in high traffic areas today. There were hordes of people coming into the place via the front entrance th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Saint-Petersburg/blog-453590.html Irkutsk I've heard of that place somewhere before. But its not a country is it Oh Risk Playing the board game Risk way back when. It was a country or region or whatever in Risk Well now I'm on a train. And going thereThe open steppes of Mongolia have been morphing into gently rolling hills with more and more trees the taiga ecosystem of Siberia is starting to pass by out the tra http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Lake-Baikal/blog-452700.html Letrsquos start by learning how to say hello in Russian ldquoDoes your arse fit ya.rdquo Say it out loud you know you want to Now say it a bit quicker and mumble it slightly in the manner of having downed a few too many potent Russian vodka shots Diz yr arz fitya 104710761088107210741089109010741091108110901077 hello FUN FACT There was once a be http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-448972.html Irkutsk to YekaterinburgPacked and on the train shared open third class compartment with Alexander x Russian born in Kazakhstan some sort of police work. and Licka 20 headed to Novosibirsk. No English but it developed with time and still no Russian on my side. Starting to recognize the sound of some words like harashaw good fine all is well. Visited several hours and got off at station http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Irkutsk/blog-448290.html Our Russian experience has been incredible and happily concern free. Upon preparing for this trip we did what many before us had done we read numerous Travel blog entries of peoples experienced in Russia visited the Trip Advisor website for the dos and donrsquots and for the most part they all painted a similar picture that Russia wasn't going to be easy. Various blogs warned of trouble with http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/blog-447693.html Moscow Airport Waiting on tarmac for takeoff clearanceWe haven't even pulled out from the gate yet and already this flight has gone for long enough. Of course the two hour delay at the gate hasnrsquot helped and for the life of me still cannot fathem how a flight can be delayed for takeoff due to our lsquoweather conditionsrsquo as flight control over the intercom so put it. Looking out http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-447252.html The Moscow metro underground subway takes up so much of my life here represents such a vast crosssection of society and inspires such a mindboggling mixture of awe respect pity frustration fury and disgust that it deserves at the least a mention.Approaching a metro station you must first walk past an area of crappy food stands selling such delightful specialities as dog cat and rat s http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-446901.html We arrived in Moscow late approximately 10pm after a 6hr train ride from St Petersburg. Luckily wersquod manage to secure transfers before we left and there was our driver waiting at the end of the platform. It couldrsquove been very interesting trying to secure a taxi and also nerveracking seeing the number of police and officials around and trying to get a taxi wouldrsquove put the brigh http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-446559.html Hey Allwe still owe you with some pictures from the Baikal Lake as that posting went without photos... sorry. So here you go enjoyGreetsCA http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Lake-Baikal/blog-446369.html Hello again now from Beijing. Apparently this site is not blocked but facebook is.... But ok this posting should have been done in Ulaanbaatar UB Mongolia but this didn't happen due to a lack of time. So this posting is just a copypaste from a email draft that lingered in Agi's mail box for 2 weeks.... Enjoy.Ulaan Ude Ulaanbaatar After 13 hours on the bus we arrived to UB yesterday at http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Ulan-Ude/blog-446353.html So far Moscow has been equally as welcoming as its counterpart to the north St Petersburg. The following morning after our arrival the night before we awoke early today was going to be a long day we had two tours booked. First was a metro tour which involved the guide meeting us at our hotel and then walking from our hotel to the closest metro station and showing us about various station stops http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-446146.html Thank goodness for Russia and the amount of Russian themed songs on my ipod Scooter Boney M Dschinghis Khan The Beatles and the Anastacia soundtrack were all played excessively during our Siberian jaunt I arrived in Listvyanka more hungover than I have ever been in my whole life. I caught a glimpse of myself in a window reflection and scared that I would terrify small children and puppies as http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Lake-Baikal/blog-445548.html A six hour train ride to Moscow is what the day had in store for me. The wind in St Petersburg that blew straight through you threatening to take your umbrella with it quickly put an end to any ideas we had to spend our last few hours wandering the old streets. Back to the hotel and a long lunch before jumping in the waiting car to take us to the train station. Thankfully since traffic was abo http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Saint-Petersburg/blog-445534.html If you havenrsquot already realized by now dear reader snow is something that I am easily excited about. Having seen snow only once in my life for a week whilst skiing in Australia before this trip I have now seen it multiple times in different countries and it is fantastic. Unlike the locals I am not as yet put off by the slushiness occurrence that happens after snowing it is still rather m http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-445526.html The capture of Leningrad was one of three strategic goals in Hitlers initial plan codenamed Operation Barbarossa for invading and conquering the Soviet Union. Hitlers strategy was motivated by Leningrads political status as the former capital of Russia and the symbolic capital of the Russian Revolution its military importance as a main base of the Soviet Baltic Fleet and its industrial strength http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Saint-Petersburg/blog-445524.html