'Ra Ra Rasputin'.... all together now, sing along! ;)

Zdrastvuytye (hello in Russian).
And so we entered Russia around 09.00am on Friday 11 May. We were stuck at the border station for a good 4 hours or so while yet more forms were filled in, passports checked, cabins searched and customs declaration forms were stamped. We had to stay in our cabins this time, although there was a friendly Mongolian guard who let us disembark to use the station toilet. And the enterprising ladies in the station toilets were selling everything, from loo roll to toothpaste! The guard even let us brush our teeth on the train tracks - seeing as he was freely spitting onto the rails, we thought why shouldn't we?! ;) I wish we'd gotten a photo of me, Laura and Becks brushing in unison. That would have been one for the album.
And so the train rolled on, with another 4-5 hour stop at the border town in Russia! I didn't need the loo there, thankfully, because you needed Russian Ruebbles, and of course we didn't have any. Some of the girls forced their way into the lavs, but others opted to wait until the train was moving again.. plus the Russian guards did not look quite as accommodating as the Mongolian ones so we thought best not to disturb them.
We arrived in Irkutsk (which I actually thought was still in Mongolia until someone pointed out we'd be going over another border crossing when we boarded the train in UlaanBaatar) around 07.00am on the Saturday and were promptly met by our new honcho, Eugene. He had his team leader with him who supervised our drop off at a local hotel to use the ATM and money changing facilities. There are only around 50 Ruebbles to the British Pound, so that was a lot easier to work out than Mongolian Tukrig, or whatever it was).
Then we were wisked off Lake Baikal: the world's largest freshwater lake (and the deepest too). A few of the gang ran into the Vodkatrain group which did this trip the other way around in Beijing and they'd said the lake had been frozen and they'd been hovercrafting out on it. That sounded like fun! Sadly it was no longer frozen - still very pretty though with snow-capped mountains on the far side (when you could see them through the haze).
Our bus pulled off down this track through some very traditional houses to get to our accommodation and we all wondered what we were going to be deposited into, but it turned out to be a very comfortable Swiss-style chalet! It was a sprawling place and even included a sauna, which several of the team tried out later in the day - although the thought of being beaten by birch twigs and then being covered with freezing cold water was not really my poor chest's idea of fun, so I passed.
The rooms were really nice - complete with own toilet, but there were only 2 showers to the entire annex of around 7 rooms in which we were all staying. Plus they didn't stay hot for very long either - especially on the last day when the owners turned off the hot water while everyone showered and prepared to leave! People were not happy - especially when they said all meals cost 250 Ruebbles each and then charged 300 for one of them. They did the same for laundry (which of course we were all in dire need of by that stage): 250 R per bag, but people with large bags got charged a lot more! Of course you have no choice as you're stuck in the middle of nowhere... the cheek of it.
The food was nice though - always 3 courses and there were vegetarian options too - and we even had karaoke! We walked up to the (closed) observatory on top of a hill that afternoon (it was cold and blustery around the lake but up the hill it was scorchio) which offered some nice views of the lake. After dinner some people went to a local bar, while others settled down in the communal dining/lounge area to do some karaoke. Of course, as we were in Russia, I had to do Boney M's Rasputin - a disco classic! Sadly this quickly highlighted my age in the fact that only one of my travel companions kind of knew the chorus: no-one else had heard of it! Sacrilege. Still, I let rip without caring and it was excellent fun. Michael did a wonderful rendition of German band Scooter's techno classic How Much is the Fish?. We were all in stitches - it fast became his theme tune and a running joke.
Other highlights of our stay here included a nippy boat ride across the lake and a trip to Taltsy Museum of Wooden Architecture, which was essentially a traditional Russian village taken from Peter the Great's time. Fascinating. There were some nice stalls selling Russian dolls and all kinds of handicrafts too, which made it more interesting. Nice woodwork.
We returned to Irkutsk to catch the train to Moscow on the Monday. Thankfully we visited a really nice, modern supermarket to stock up on noodles, Pringles and the like for the 3 night and 3 day train marathon ahead of us! A stable diet for the train included: bread, Nutella, peanut butter, Pringles, nuts, noodles, pot mashed potato, and of course, chocolate. ;) All good, healthy stuff...
Moscow proved to produce our best honcho yet: Anastasia. She was right on the ball with any info we needed and she had a list of top ten things to see in the city - you see, it's not hard! The only drawback was the hostel: us girls were plonked in an 8-bed dorm and the boys were in a 4-bed dorm (not very fair on the couples after 3 days and 3 nights on a train!). And there was only one shower per floor too, and we shared our floor with at least 4 other rooms. Plus the hostel was in a little bit of a building site state while we were there. Still, at least some of the showers were hot!
We ate at a really cool Russian buffet place the first night - lots of choice of delicious food and loads for veggies too! Bargain. Other highlights of our 2 days in Moscow included: Red Square (again, not how I imagined it would be) and St Basil's Cathedral; Tretyakov Gallery; the very swanky Moscow subway with its marble walls, statues, stained glass and mozaics; the elaborate/ wooden toyland-esque flea market; and of course, the Kremlin. Sadly the armoury in the latter was sold out so I didn't get to see any real Faberge eggs. :( But I did buy a faux Faberge egg for my mum from the market.. ;)
One of the downsides to the trip were the pricey club entrance fees and the fact we saw some guy smack another guy on the subway: not a pleasant sight (or sound). There are also police everywhere checking tourist passports. You have to register your passport every 3 days (traveling on the train does not count) with the police - usually your accommodation does this for a fee. Prices vary: it cost us 240 Ruebbles in Irkutsk and 400 R in Moscow, but it was free in St Petersburg?!
I could really tell we were back in Europe in Moscow. It was really nice. Large, old, colourful buildings, expensive clothes shops. There was even Oasis, Accessorize & Top Shop in one of the malls. It was good preparation for coming home I guess, in terms of the prices, as well as the shops.
The journey to St Petersburg was only an overnight train hop - our last leg of the Trans-Mongolian Express. It would have been a poignant journey, if it had not started at 00.50 and ended at 08.48, ie we were all asleep for most of it...
St Petersburg was a real mix of different European cities. Apparently Peter the Great wanted to turn it into Venice - I didn't realise that the city would boast that many canals! Parts of the city reminded me of Rome, parts of Venice, and part of Paris. It is certainly European. Many of the old buildings are bright, vibrant colours (mostly yellow).
Our honcho for the final leg of the journey was tiny Olga. And bless her, she wasn't really cut out for this kind of job. She didn't really know how to handle a large group and she was really too quiet. I had to feel sorry for her, but when I thought about how much I'd spent on this trip, I kind of changed my mind..
Particularly when we wasted our time on a boat trip on the Sunday morning after arrival, when we could have spent a good 3 hours at The Hermitage - Olga failed to mention it was closed the following day. In the end we only got to spend 1.5 hours there - nowhere near enough sadly.
We did, however, get to see the ballet at the Marinsky Theatre. It was in 3 acts - the second was my favourite: Rubies - lots of bright red, sparkly costumes. Tha last act was very pagan and there was not much ballet, just a lot of stomping around, although the music was good. The funny aspect was the Russian gentleman sat next to me: he knew which female dancers he liked and he was heard to shout 'brravo' a fair few times.. ;) It kept us entertained. I'm glad because it cost us 2000 R each - around £40! One of the dancers in the first act was not too hot though: she fell over once and then failed to keep up with the other 2 females dancing around the male who represented Apollo.
We took in the Petrodvorets (a very grand palace an hour's bus ride out of St Petersburg, where we managed to lose half of the group for an hour after they went to find the toilet!), the exterior of the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood and climbed the colonnade of St Isaac's Cathedral. The Grand Palace was quite spectacular, with cascades of fountains in the sprawling gardens, which reminded me of Versailles - the building was certainly easily as large. Just not quite as impressive.
And so it was on Tuesday, May 22 that I bid farewell to Russia and the rest of my 10-month trip! I couldn't believe it was over. Beck, Laura and Mike were all on the same flight as me to Heathrow so that was great cos we could share a taxi. But more of that on my next entry...
Spasiba (thank you in Russian) to whoever has been keeping tabs on my blog for almost a year. I hope it's kept you all entertained and has inspired you to plan adventures of your own to see this weird and wonderful world that we live on for such a short time!
Ciao for now. CJ x