Blogs from Far East, Russia, Europe - page 8

kamchatka petropavlosk, russia We arrived in Kamchatka after a fuel stop in Anchorage on 10/3 after crossing the international date line and loosing a day. This is erraneously referred often as Siberia but only constitutes part of the peninsula. It has more than 160 volcanoes , 29 of them active which create more than 20 climate zones. I only experienced the cold ones there. The harbour of Petropavlosk does not freeze over in winter making it an ideal military post now and in the past/ WW2. We ate lots of fabulous salmon - although I heard some complaints after the 4 th meal. Overall, an experience but not something I want to come back to. ... read more

Woke up much refreshed. Breakfast in the hotel's tiny cafe, completely unprepared to feed 60 people more or less at once. People basically had to fend for themselves. Knowing Russian is a definite asset, as the staff knows no English beyond "thank you" and "welcome". Back on the bus and off we went for our city tour, with Ziggy describing the main features of the city. First stop was the city museum. Although old-fashioned by Western standards, it was loving done, focusing on the region's rich natural beauty and flora and fauna, as well as its almost-extinguished aboriginal peoples. Next stop was a bank where our team leaders exchanged money for us en masse. We then visited an official souvenir shop, whose wares ranged from tacky to exquisite. Violet purchased two matreshkas (Russian nested dolls) and ... read more

Vladivostok can be translated to "possess the east" and is a port city on the pacific and the end of the Trans-Siberian rail line. It houses the Russian pacific fleet in the golden horn bay and was closed off to foreigners during the Soviet era, reopening again in 1991. It is sometimes called the "San Francisco of Russia" due to it being on the ocean and the hilly area on which most of the city sits. The city is the midst of a construction and development boom with a couple of bridges, several large scale hotels and new roads in the works for the APEC summit the city is set to host in 2012. I arrived by train in the afternoon and had arranged to couch surf with a local there called Dimitry. Couch Surfing is ... read more

The famous Trans-Siberian Railway, covering two continents and spanning over 9000 km of track from Moscow to Vladivostok, any train lover's dream. It was built back in the early 1900's and connected much of Russia's vast and remote regions. In my case I only cared for the train in a transportation perspective, but I'll admit it was going to be an interesting ride and a good place to meet Russians from all walks of life. I left from Ulan-Ude, stayed in the plastkartny section (3rd class) which consisted of open berths (six per berth) and boy do Russians like to feel at home on them. The olfactory sensation alone will forever be tattooed to my mind. All sorts of food, clothing strewn about, people in their undergarments, and the smell of sweat invaded the senses. Of ... read more

The first stage of the return journey is get to ourselves from China down to Vladivostok, the starting point for the Trans-Siberian Express. Of course most sensible people would catch the Trans-Mongolian direct from Beijing to Moscow but I want to go on the Trans-Siberian so we have 2 overnight journeys on the Chinese railways to get us from Beijing to Harbin, then Harbin to Suifenhe and the China:Russia border. The first challenge is finding the right train. I adopt my usual strategy of making a fool of myself and waving my tickets at everyone and anyone until an official finally escorts me to the right train as they want to make sure you leave their territory ASAP. The trains are quite comfortable, we are in a little 4 birth cabin and bunk beds. We are ... read more