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Showing posts with label Russia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Russia. Show all posts
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Thursday, August 16, 2007
More Russian stereotypes and completely random thoughts
Traveling on trains as much as we did, it gives a person time to think (insert joke here). Supposedly, many writers found inspiration traveling the Trans-Siberian. Rest assured, these musings won't win any literary awards.
Continuing on the stereotypes:
Russian cuisine:
IMO, its not nearly as bad as people make it out to be. Most meals start off with soup and bread, followed by numerous small dishes (tapas portions), such as salad, fish, beef, potatoes, etc. Omul, a smoked fish common in Siberia, is really tasty. And western food (and fast food) is a common sight in Moscow.
Carry-overs from the Soviet-era:
- All the menus contain the size/weight of each portion. Apparently during the Soviet-era, food was rationed out, but its pretty cool now, because you can tell if you're ordering a little bit of food or a lot.
- Restaurants frequently don't have the item you want on the menu (we experienced this in Siberia, but not in Moscow)
- At "all you can eat buffets", you're only allowed to go up once and take one plate.
Customer service and hospitality:
The stereotype is best summed up by Aeroflot's (the national airline of Russia) slogan during the 80s, which was "We don't smile, because we're serious about making you happy". And its true we experienced many customer-unfriendly items, such as restaurants not having items on their menu, all the railway schedules are set to Moscow time (even the train station clocks in other cities are set to Moscow time), and of course, you've already read about our train facilities and immigration experiences.
Having said that, we do have a new appreciation for the message the fine folks at Aeroflot were trying to convey. Clearly its not an appealing tagline, but it does seem to sum up our experiences with Russian customer service. Once you move past the fact that very rarely do people smile (everyone looks really angry), and the difficulty in interpreting the tone of the language as friendly, most of the people we met were rather accomodating. Examples:
- Waitress at a restaurant: We ran out of that. And that too. Not that -- No, I bring you this - its good.
- Provodnista in train: Its not cold; the train temperature is always set to 18 degrees centigrade (64 degrees F); this is normal temperature. Oh, you have the sniffles. I turn off the a/c.
There was an episode of the Simpsons (Lost Our Lisa) where Lisa got lost on the bus and ended up in the Russian area of Springfield. If the Aeroflot slogan is the stereotype, the Simpsons episode truly captures the essence of what Russian customer service and hospitality is all about.
Getting there and around:
In order for foreigners to enter Russia, they must first get a letter of invitation from the country, then apply for a visa that has strict "valid from/to dates". Best to use a travel agent to facilitate these. And at Russian customs you have to declare practically everything, including mobile phones, cameras, computers and foreign currency. These are considered "temporarily permitted devices".
Getting to the major cities (e.g, St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Ekatinburg) is easy, since most major European airlines (and Delta) have flights, and Korean Air flies to Vladivostock on the Pacific Coast. But, anywhere else and you're either driving, taking the train, or one of 6 or 7 different Russian airlines. And while aviation safety records as a whole are improving, statistically Russian airlines continue to be the most dangerous (followed by Africa-based carriers, save South African Airways). Hence, why we're taking the train (frankly, I would love to take a Tupolev TU-154; its a very well engineered, albeit old plane, but Marie is afraid -- something about not wanting to die. Her dad summarizes her thoughts well, by saying "better to take a dirty train, than an unsafe plane").
Driving:
Like in Mongolia, Siberians drive their cars on the right hand side of the road (like in the US and France), but both left-hand and right-hand drive cars are prevelent. Moscow has only cars with the driver on the left-hand side. And the accident rate is amongst the highest in the world.
Completely random thoughts:
- Russia is the anti-Dubai: If Dubai is diversifying its economy through improved financial services, tourism, and trading, then Russia is doing exactly the opposite. Flush with money thanks to rising oil and gas prices, Russia is placing one big bet on its future.
- With Russians, one always know where they stand. If they like you, you'll know it -- and if they don't like you, you'll DEFINITELY know it.
- Marie's grandparents visited Russia in the mid-80s, and her grandmother said Russians have really nice eyes. We agree with her.
- We consider the fact that Marie and I have spent every moment together for 4 months (including a 6' x 5' room for 77 hours without showering) and not wanting to kill each other (that much) a good sign.
- If there was ever an "Ultimate Fighting: World Leaders", my money is on Putin. The guy is former KGB, jacked and always looks ready to kill. Bush would do reasonably well (apparently he works out everyday), while the odds would be against Sarkozy.
- My Indian skin has no problem with intense sunlight, but the wimpy American office worker can't deal with monsoon-like humidity. For Marie, its quite the opposite.
- Why is prostitution is rampant in countries that claim to have "conservative values"?
- No matter where we travel to, no one thinks we're married. Having passports from different countries certainly doesn't help (even though the last name is the same).
- I lost count of how many times on this trip Marie has said "If Frederic saw me wearing this..."
Continuing on the stereotypes:
Russian cuisine:
IMO, its not nearly as bad as people make it out to be. Most meals start off with soup and bread, followed by numerous small dishes (tapas portions), such as salad, fish, beef, potatoes, etc. Omul, a smoked fish common in Siberia, is really tasty. And western food (and fast food) is a common sight in Moscow.
Carry-overs from the Soviet-era:
- All the menus contain the size/weight of each portion. Apparently during the Soviet-era, food was rationed out, but its pretty cool now, because you can tell if you're ordering a little bit of food or a lot.
- Restaurants frequently don't have the item you want on the menu (we experienced this in Siberia, but not in Moscow)
- At "all you can eat buffets", you're only allowed to go up once and take one plate.
Customer service and hospitality:
The stereotype is best summed up by Aeroflot's (the national airline of Russia) slogan during the 80s, which was "We don't smile, because we're serious about making you happy". And its true we experienced many customer-unfriendly items, such as restaurants not having items on their menu, all the railway schedules are set to Moscow time (even the train station clocks in other cities are set to Moscow time), and of course, you've already read about our train facilities and immigration experiences.
Having said that, we do have a new appreciation for the message the fine folks at Aeroflot were trying to convey. Clearly its not an appealing tagline, but it does seem to sum up our experiences with Russian customer service. Once you move past the fact that very rarely do people smile (everyone looks really angry), and the difficulty in interpreting the tone of the language as friendly, most of the people we met were rather accomodating. Examples:
- Waitress at a restaurant: We ran out of that. And that too. Not that -- No, I bring you this - its good.
- Provodnista in train: Its not cold; the train temperature is always set to 18 degrees centigrade (64 degrees F); this is normal temperature. Oh, you have the sniffles. I turn off the a/c.
There was an episode of the Simpsons (Lost Our Lisa) where Lisa got lost on the bus and ended up in the Russian area of Springfield. If the Aeroflot slogan is the stereotype, the Simpsons episode truly captures the essence of what Russian customer service and hospitality is all about.
Getting there and around:
In order for foreigners to enter Russia, they must first get a letter of invitation from the country, then apply for a visa that has strict "valid from/to dates". Best to use a travel agent to facilitate these. And at Russian customs you have to declare practically everything, including mobile phones, cameras, computers and foreign currency. These are considered "temporarily permitted devices".
Getting to the major cities (e.g, St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Ekatinburg) is easy, since most major European airlines (and Delta) have flights, and Korean Air flies to Vladivostock on the Pacific Coast. But, anywhere else and you're either driving, taking the train, or one of 6 or 7 different Russian airlines. And while aviation safety records as a whole are improving, statistically Russian airlines continue to be the most dangerous (followed by Africa-based carriers, save South African Airways). Hence, why we're taking the train (frankly, I would love to take a Tupolev TU-154; its a very well engineered, albeit old plane, but Marie is afraid -- something about not wanting to die. Her dad summarizes her thoughts well, by saying "better to take a dirty train, than an unsafe plane").
Driving:
Like in Mongolia, Siberians drive their cars on the right hand side of the road (like in the US and France), but both left-hand and right-hand drive cars are prevelent. Moscow has only cars with the driver on the left-hand side. And the accident rate is amongst the highest in the world.
Completely random thoughts:
- Russia is the anti-Dubai: If Dubai is diversifying its economy through improved financial services, tourism, and trading, then Russia is doing exactly the opposite. Flush with money thanks to rising oil and gas prices, Russia is placing one big bet on its future.
- With Russians, one always know where they stand. If they like you, you'll know it -- and if they don't like you, you'll DEFINITELY know it.
- Marie's grandparents visited Russia in the mid-80s, and her grandmother said Russians have really nice eyes. We agree with her.
- We consider the fact that Marie and I have spent every moment together for 4 months (including a 6' x 5' room for 77 hours without showering) and not wanting to kill each other (that much) a good sign.
- If there was ever an "Ultimate Fighting: World Leaders", my money is on Putin. The guy is former KGB, jacked and always looks ready to kill. Bush would do reasonably well (apparently he works out everyday), while the odds would be against Sarkozy.
- My Indian skin has no problem with intense sunlight, but the wimpy American office worker can't deal with monsoon-like humidity. For Marie, its quite the opposite.
- Why is prostitution is rampant in countries that claim to have "conservative values"?
- No matter where we travel to, no one thinks we're married. Having passports from different countries certainly doesn't help (even though the last name is the same).
- I lost count of how many times on this trip Marie has said "If Frederic saw me wearing this..."
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Moscow: Pleasant, expensive and pepper spray
After 4 days of a Soviet-era train sans-shower, we finally arrived in Moscow. The city was a pleasant surprise - really beautiful and a nice blend of pre-Soviet architecture with all the modern amenities. But, other than alcohol, its EXPENSIVE:
- a 3km taxi ride is about $25;
- A Hotel Ibis/Red Roof Inn level hotel outside the city-center costs about $200/night.
- a pair of Nike's cost about $180.
- A 2 course dinner at a decent, but by no means extravagant restaurant is about $100 for 2.
Predicting we were going to need a bit of luxury after the train, we stayed at the Sheraton Palace hotel (read: budget breaker) and as a result, didn't spend as much time in the city as we would have liked to.
Architecture
Pre-Soviet era Russian architecture is very unique, in a good way. The buildings that surround the Red Square and Kremlin are beautiful, as are the numerous gold topped churches, baroque-style government buildings, and grand old train stations. We were really surprised to see how many nice buildings there are in Moscow (in stark contrast to Irkutsk). On the other hand, there are plenty of Soviet-era buildings outside the city center, which are as glamourous as their reputation. Lenin's Mausoleum a far from pretty structure, was closed; but frankly, I didn't have much interest.
Pepper Spray
We were heading towards the subway/metro station, when we were innocent by standards of a young lady who shot a LOT of pepper spray at a drunk fellow. In case you were wondering, everything they say in that link (blindness, hard to breathe, burning sensation, etc.) is true, although since neither of us are under the influence of drugs, we were unable to validate that drug users can keep their eyes open. Maybe next time...
Random Thoughts
Apparently a common Russian marriage tradition is to pay your respect at the eternal flame near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Alexander Park. We saw lots of newly married couples in their wedding dress/tuxedos lining up and leaving flowers in tribute.
When photographed, Russian tourists love "striking a pose" in front of monuments.
Prostitution appears to be rampant in Moscow (or at least in the public eye more than any other place we've been to, except Bangkok). Even the Moscow Times (equivalent of New York Times) has ads for escorts and "night-clubs".
Kbac (pronounced kvass) is a Russian non-alcoholic beverage made of fermented rye-bread; kinda like their version of coke. My friend/co-worker Stas brought 2 bottles into the office one day (it wasn't received well). But, I must say the ice-cold Kbac in Moscow was pretty good. May have had something to do with being on the train for 4 days...
- a 3km taxi ride is about $25;
- A Hotel Ibis/Red Roof Inn level hotel outside the city-center costs about $200/night.
- a pair of Nike's cost about $180.
- A 2 course dinner at a decent, but by no means extravagant restaurant is about $100 for 2.
Predicting we were going to need a bit of luxury after the train, we stayed at the Sheraton Palace hotel (read: budget breaker) and as a result, didn't spend as much time in the city as we would have liked to.
Architecture
Pre-Soviet era Russian architecture is very unique, in a good way. The buildings that surround the Red Square and Kremlin are beautiful, as are the numerous gold topped churches, baroque-style government buildings, and grand old train stations. We were really surprised to see how many nice buildings there are in Moscow (in stark contrast to Irkutsk). On the other hand, there are plenty of Soviet-era buildings outside the city center, which are as glamourous as their reputation. Lenin's Mausoleum a far from pretty structure, was closed; but frankly, I didn't have much interest.
Pepper Spray
We were heading towards the subway/metro station, when we were innocent by standards of a young lady who shot a LOT of pepper spray at a drunk fellow. In case you were wondering, everything they say in that link (blindness, hard to breathe, burning sensation, etc.) is true, although since neither of us are under the influence of drugs, we were unable to validate that drug users can keep their eyes open. Maybe next time...
Random Thoughts
Apparently a common Russian marriage tradition is to pay your respect at the eternal flame near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Alexander Park. We saw lots of newly married couples in their wedding dress/tuxedos lining up and leaving flowers in tribute.
When photographed, Russian tourists love "striking a pose" in front of monuments.
Prostitution appears to be rampant in Moscow (or at least in the public eye more than any other place we've been to, except Bangkok). Even the Moscow Times (equivalent of New York Times) has ads for escorts and "night-clubs".
Kbac (pronounced kvass) is a Russian non-alcoholic beverage made of fermented rye-bread; kinda like their version of coke. My friend/co-worker Stas brought 2 bottles into the office one day (it wasn't received well). But, I must say the ice-cold Kbac in Moscow was pretty good. May have had something to do with being on the train for 4 days...
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Trans-Siberian Railway: Irkutsk - Moscow
Our third, longest (77 hours) and final installment of the Trans-Siberian railway experience was from Irkutsk to Moscow. Train #1 (aka "Roissya") is the flagship service between Moscow and Vladivostock. Again, the Orient Express its not, but it was by far the nicest train we've taken to date:
- Here, our 6 foot by 5 foot berth consisted of: 2 reasonably well padded benches, centrally controlled air-conditioning, 4 reading lights, a radio channel that played Russian pop music, an in-room 15" television with 2 channels (1 Russian TV, the other was the train carriage hallway security camera), and 2 electrical plugs.
- The amenities provided were: 2 wool blankets, a package of fresh sheets and a pillow case, 4 feather pillows (which we couldn't use since Marie is very allergic to feather), and a daily breakfast package of tea bags, instant coffee, unedible "chocolate wafers", crackers and a bizarre vacuum-sealed mystery meat.
- Our "non-smoking" train carriage had: 2 clean, well maintained bathrooms that had running water and like the others, could not be used when stopped at a train station. Potable hot water was available at the end of each carriage.
- There was a dining car that served what I considered edible food on this train. Marie thought it was far too greasy to eat.
Disaster almost struck when we noticed I inadvertendly left the power adaptor at our hotel in Listvyanka -- that meant we wouldn't be able to recharge the laptop until Moscow (Russia uses the same power plug as France, and our laptop has a US plug). Worse, this meant Marie wouldn't be able to watch DVDs for the 77 hour trip. Thankfully, the friendly attendant in the restaurant car lent us his adaptor, so tragedy was averted!!! Take a look at the pictures to get a sense of how freaked out she was!!!
This train made 28 stops between Irkutsk and Moscow -- some for 2 minutes, others from 20-47 minutes. Thankfully, the schedules were clearly posted and adhered to (apparently in Russia, the railway personnel's pay is tied to punctuality), so we knew when we could hop off and for how long. One fascinating thing about Russian train stations are the elderly women that patrol the tracks, selling fruits, meats, home-made breads and other snacks.
Interesting to note that throughout our time in Russia, we saw many elderly women, but not that many elderly men. A quick check of the "The Economist's Pocket World in Figures" (a great reference book chock full o' world statistics and rankings - if you like CIA World Factbook, you should really pick it up) tells us the average life expectancy for males in Russia is 58.7 years, while for women its 71.8. Without knowing all the facts, I suspect alcohol and unhealthy diet could be two main causes.
Given the previous statement, you wonder if selling products to train passengers could be their primary source of income? In any case, we bought plenty of stuff from them, and they were all tasty.
Random thoughts:
- I tried the bizarre vacuum-sealed mystery meat -- it was NOT good.
- The author of our "Lonely Planet: Trans-Siberian Railway" book compares the journey to going on a cruise or laying on the beach (spend time catching up on reading, relaxing, etc.) Marie compares it to jail (6' x 5' berth, bad food, bathroom breaks and outside activity (train station platforms) at scheduled times).
- The train stations in Siberia (and more importantly, the people in them) reminded Marie of a refugee camp.
- So many of the cities and houses we saw wouldn't exist if it weren't for the Trans-Siberian railway. Apparently the railway was, among other things, a tool used to get Russians to relocate to Siberia (both voluntarily and involuntarily).
- We spent 156 hours (6.5 days) on trains traveling from Shanghai - Beijing - Ulaanbaatar - Irkutsk - Moscow. I don't think we'll be traveling by rail anytime soon.
Bottom line:
It was long, criminally overpriced, and not terribly comfortable. Am I happy we did it? Yes. Would I take it again? Good question. For Marie, its an easy answer (I'll let you guess).
- Here, our 6 foot by 5 foot berth consisted of: 2 reasonably well padded benches, centrally controlled air-conditioning, 4 reading lights, a radio channel that played Russian pop music, an in-room 15" television with 2 channels (1 Russian TV, the other was the train carriage hallway security camera), and 2 electrical plugs.
- The amenities provided were: 2 wool blankets, a package of fresh sheets and a pillow case, 4 feather pillows (which we couldn't use since Marie is very allergic to feather), and a daily breakfast package of tea bags, instant coffee, unedible "chocolate wafers", crackers and a bizarre vacuum-sealed mystery meat.
- Our "non-smoking" train carriage had: 2 clean, well maintained bathrooms that had running water and like the others, could not be used when stopped at a train station. Potable hot water was available at the end of each carriage.
- There was a dining car that served what I considered edible food on this train. Marie thought it was far too greasy to eat.
Disaster almost struck when we noticed I inadvertendly left the power adaptor at our hotel in Listvyanka -- that meant we wouldn't be able to recharge the laptop until Moscow (Russia uses the same power plug as France, and our laptop has a US plug). Worse, this meant Marie wouldn't be able to watch DVDs for the 77 hour trip. Thankfully, the friendly attendant in the restaurant car lent us his adaptor, so tragedy was averted!!! Take a look at the pictures to get a sense of how freaked out she was!!!
This train made 28 stops between Irkutsk and Moscow -- some for 2 minutes, others from 20-47 minutes. Thankfully, the schedules were clearly posted and adhered to (apparently in Russia, the railway personnel's pay is tied to punctuality), so we knew when we could hop off and for how long. One fascinating thing about Russian train stations are the elderly women that patrol the tracks, selling fruits, meats, home-made breads and other snacks.
Interesting to note that throughout our time in Russia, we saw many elderly women, but not that many elderly men. A quick check of the "The Economist's Pocket World in Figures" (a great reference book chock full o' world statistics and rankings - if you like CIA World Factbook, you should really pick it up) tells us the average life expectancy for males in Russia is 58.7 years, while for women its 71.8. Without knowing all the facts, I suspect alcohol and unhealthy diet could be two main causes.
Given the previous statement, you wonder if selling products to train passengers could be their primary source of income? In any case, we bought plenty of stuff from them, and they were all tasty.
Random thoughts:
- I tried the bizarre vacuum-sealed mystery meat -- it was NOT good.
- The author of our "Lonely Planet: Trans-Siberian Railway" book compares the journey to going on a cruise or laying on the beach (spend time catching up on reading, relaxing, etc.) Marie compares it to jail (6' x 5' berth, bad food, bathroom breaks and outside activity (train station platforms) at scheduled times).
- The train stations in Siberia (and more importantly, the people in them) reminded Marie of a refugee camp.
- So many of the cities and houses we saw wouldn't exist if it weren't for the Trans-Siberian railway. Apparently the railway was, among other things, a tool used to get Russians to relocate to Siberia (both voluntarily and involuntarily).
- We spent 156 hours (6.5 days) on trains traveling from Shanghai - Beijing - Ulaanbaatar - Irkutsk - Moscow. I don't think we'll be traveling by rail anytime soon.
Bottom line:
It was long, criminally overpriced, and not terribly comfortable. Am I happy we did it? Yes. Would I take it again? Good question. For Marie, its an easy answer (I'll let you guess).
Monday, August 6, 2007
Siberia (Irkutsk and Lake Baikal)
I was very excited to visit Siberia. Maybe it had to do with growing up during the cold war and the associated propoganda, reading how the weather and people of the region severely weakened the armies of both Napoleon and Hitler, or watching Rocky IV a few too many times, but Siberia seemed such a far away, unreachable and unknown area. In some ways, many of our preconcieved notions were true, while some were completely off-base. We'll start with music, fashion and alcohol:
Music:
The stereotypes are true. Upon arriving in Russia, Marie walked into a store to purchase cold Pepsi and water. Sure enough, one of the other patron's mobile phone rang to the tune of "The Final Countdown" by the 80s superband Europe. We heard a remix of song in a restaurant the next day as well. So much of the music seems to be similar to the western rock and electronica heard in the late 80s/early 90s. As this is being written, "Be My Lover" by La Bouche is playing in the restaurant. While that may be perfectly normal for westerners to hear that in a "retro" club/bar, here its the cool places that play this stuff.
Fashion:
Didn't quite know what the stereotype was, other than it was bad and people wore big hats. While there were no big hats (it is summer), we did notice that Siberians guys LOVE wearing athletic jumpsuits (preferably Adidas) with white stripes on the sides. Also, Siberian women of all ages love using really unnatural red hair color (the more unnatural the better).
Alcohol:
The stereotypes are true. We noticed numerous people drinking beer/vodka in Irkutsk at 7.30am, and the beaches of Lake Baikal were full of beer chugging consumers. One surprising thing was that beer appears to be rapidly closing in on vodka as the people's preferred poison.
Lake Baikal:
Lake Baikal is the deepest fresh water lake in the world (over 1 mile deep at some points!!!), contains approximetly 20% of the world's entire fresh water supply, and more than the 5 Great Lakes combined. Its so huge and takes so much energy to warm up that even in the height of summer (when its 30 degrees centigrade outside), the water gets no hotter than 15 degrees centigrade. Apparently it gets so cold during the winter that people can drive their cars across the lake. Some scientists believe that down the road, its going to become another ocean. Lots of hiking and fishing in the area -- quite a neat place.
We stayed in Listvyanka, a small resort town on the shores of Lake Baikal. According to the pictures on the wall, some notable Russians stayed at our hotel including Boris Yeltsin (smiling and looks drunk) and Vladimir Putin (not smiling, looks angry).
Other odds and ends:
- I expected to see a lot of Soviet-era factories, apartment buildings and war relics. And while there were some, they were surprisingly few in number; they were clearly more small, wooden (and often times abandoned) houses and sheds. And the summer time, the scenery/landscape is very similar to that found in upstate New York, or Canada: lots of pine trees, ferns, grasses, and blue skies.
- Please help stop "The Paris of....": Just as Beirut refers to itself as "The Paris of the Middle East", Irkutsk is "The Paris of Siberia". It is not. The line has to be drawn somewhere. My friend/co-worker Anthony now sarcastically refers to Newark as "The Paris of New Jersey".
Bottom Line:
At the risk of offending some readers of the blog, people nostalgic for the New Jersey Shore circa 1993 will LOVE Siberia.
- 90s dance music;
- women with REALLY unnaturally colored hair;
- muscle-bound guys shirtless/wearing jumpsuits;
- picnics on the lake shore;
- poorly "pimped" out domestic cars (here its Lada, whereas in Jersey it would be the Camaro, Mustang or Monte Carlo); and
- massive, massive amounts of alcohol.
Music:
The stereotypes are true. Upon arriving in Russia, Marie walked into a store to purchase cold Pepsi and water. Sure enough, one of the other patron's mobile phone rang to the tune of "The Final Countdown" by the 80s superband Europe. We heard a remix of song in a restaurant the next day as well. So much of the music seems to be similar to the western rock and electronica heard in the late 80s/early 90s. As this is being written, "Be My Lover" by La Bouche is playing in the restaurant. While that may be perfectly normal for westerners to hear that in a "retro" club/bar, here its the cool places that play this stuff.
Fashion:
Didn't quite know what the stereotype was, other than it was bad and people wore big hats. While there were no big hats (it is summer), we did notice that Siberians guys LOVE wearing athletic jumpsuits (preferably Adidas) with white stripes on the sides. Also, Siberian women of all ages love using really unnatural red hair color (the more unnatural the better).
Alcohol:
The stereotypes are true. We noticed numerous people drinking beer/vodka in Irkutsk at 7.30am, and the beaches of Lake Baikal were full of beer chugging consumers. One surprising thing was that beer appears to be rapidly closing in on vodka as the people's preferred poison.
Lake Baikal:
Lake Baikal is the deepest fresh water lake in the world (over 1 mile deep at some points!!!), contains approximetly 20% of the world's entire fresh water supply, and more than the 5 Great Lakes combined. Its so huge and takes so much energy to warm up that even in the height of summer (when its 30 degrees centigrade outside), the water gets no hotter than 15 degrees centigrade. Apparently it gets so cold during the winter that people can drive their cars across the lake. Some scientists believe that down the road, its going to become another ocean. Lots of hiking and fishing in the area -- quite a neat place.
We stayed in Listvyanka, a small resort town on the shores of Lake Baikal. According to the pictures on the wall, some notable Russians stayed at our hotel including Boris Yeltsin (smiling and looks drunk) and Vladimir Putin (not smiling, looks angry).
Other odds and ends:
- I expected to see a lot of Soviet-era factories, apartment buildings and war relics. And while there were some, they were surprisingly few in number; they were clearly more small, wooden (and often times abandoned) houses and sheds. And the summer time, the scenery/landscape is very similar to that found in upstate New York, or Canada: lots of pine trees, ferns, grasses, and blue skies.
- Please help stop "The Paris of....": Just as Beirut refers to itself as "The Paris of the Middle East", Irkutsk is "The Paris of Siberia". It is not. The line has to be drawn somewhere. My friend/co-worker Anthony now sarcastically refers to Newark as "The Paris of New Jersey".
Bottom Line:
At the risk of offending some readers of the blog, people nostalgic for the New Jersey Shore circa 1993 will LOVE Siberia.
- 90s dance music;
- women with REALLY unnaturally colored hair;
- muscle-bound guys shirtless/wearing jumpsuits;
- picnics on the lake shore;
- poorly "pimped" out domestic cars (here its Lada, whereas in Jersey it would be the Camaro, Mustang or Monte Carlo); and
- massive, massive amounts of alcohol.
Saturday, August 4, 2007
All our photos from our trip in the trans-siberian are online now
Vous pouvez voir nos photos de Siberie et de notre trajet en train jusqu'a Moscou (2 albums) en cliquant sur les liens a gauche.
Le transsiberien: payer pour (cher) pour decouvrir la vie en prison
Au moment ou vous lirez ce texte, nous serons enfin arrives a Moscou apres 9 jours de train entre Shanghai et Moscou, entrecoupes de stop a Beijing, Ulan Bator et Irkustsk.
Le trajet en train est long, long, long... et sale, sale, sale. Cela fait 4 jours que nous sommes enfermes dans ce train, depuis que nous avons quittes Ikurtsk, et je n'attends qu'une chose: arriver a Moscou.
Je me demande encore comment j'ai pu me laisser entrainer dans cette aventure...
Apres 4 jours sans shampooing (un record dont je ne suis pas fiere), mes cheveux sont si gras, que nous n'aurons pas besoin d'huile pour faire la vinaigrette. Depuis 4 jours nous ne mangeons que des chips, des biscuits secs, et du porc degoutant servi dans le "wagon-restaurant".
Le train s'arrete toutes les 5 ou 6 heures pendant un vingtaine de minutes, et il est possible de se ravitailler aupres de vieilles dames ou de stands. Serieusement, on se croirait dans un camp de refugies. Le reste de la journee nous sommes enfermes dans notre compartiment: une cellule de 4 metres carres. Heureusement que nous avons apportes un stock de livres et des DVDs.
Le trajet en train est long, long, long... et sale, sale, sale. Cela fait 4 jours que nous sommes enfermes dans ce train, depuis que nous avons quittes Ikurtsk, et je n'attends qu'une chose: arriver a Moscou.
Je me demande encore comment j'ai pu me laisser entrainer dans cette aventure...
Apres 4 jours sans shampooing (un record dont je ne suis pas fiere), mes cheveux sont si gras, que nous n'aurons pas besoin d'huile pour faire la vinaigrette. Depuis 4 jours nous ne mangeons que des chips, des biscuits secs, et du porc degoutant servi dans le "wagon-restaurant".
Le train s'arrete toutes les 5 ou 6 heures pendant un vingtaine de minutes, et il est possible de se ravitailler aupres de vieilles dames ou de stands. Serieusement, on se croirait dans un camp de refugies. Le reste de la journee nous sommes enfermes dans notre compartiment: une cellule de 4 metres carres. Heureusement que nous avons apportes un stock de livres et des DVDs.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Photos de Mongolie
Just managed to put the pictures of Mongolia online before going to bed (ah a nice clean hotel bed... after so many days in the train). Enjoy!
Our first photos from our Transiberian trip are online!
Nous venons d'arriver a Moscou (j'ecrirai quelques choses demain car ce soir j'ai un peu la flemme...)
En attendant, voici nos photos de Beijing (Pekin) et de notre premier trajet en train (Beijing - Mongolie).
En attendant, voici nos photos de Beijing (Pekin) et de notre premier trajet en train (Beijing - Mongolie).
Trans-Siberian Railway #263 - Ulaanbattar to Irkutsk
Our second Trans-Siberian (technically, Trans-Mongolian) railway segment was from Ulaanbattar to Irkutsk, Russia (the capital of Siberia). Just as airlines have different aircraft/service levels on a given route, the Mongolian and Russian train systems have different trains. Our original plan was to take a soft-sleeper berth on the medium-good train (by Russian standards). Its not Orient Express by any stretch of the imagination (the standard Amtrak and SNCF sleeper cars are far superior), but it appeared to be somewhat manageable. Unfortunately, that didn't jive with our schedule, so we ended up on Train 263, a Russian-built, Mongolian-managed commuter train that stops at virtually every station along the way. As you can imagine the configuration was slightly different:
- Here, our 6 foot by 5 foot berth consisted of: 4 lightly padded benches, a window that opened (no fan or a/c), 4 reading lights that only worked at night and that required the assistance of our provonista (cabin attendant that resembled Rosanne Barr, except less cordial) to turn on/off. In the accompanying berths were groups of REAL hippies (the don't wash their feet kind).
- The amenities provided were: 2 wool blankets, a package of fresh sheets and a pillow case (but no pillow), and pre-packaged "meal" containing warm, stale yogurt and a mystery meat that dogs wouldn't even eat.
- Our non-smoking train carriage had: 1 functional bathroom (the 2nd one was closed) which was NOT cleaned/maintaned throughout the trip, did NOT have running water or a shower, and could NOT be used when stopped at a train station. Potable "hot" water (more like luke warm) was available at the end of each carriage.
- No dining car on this train
In anticipation for some of these delays, we stocked up on a breakfast of champions (petit dejeuner des champions) consisting of Pringles, Cup-O-Noodles, Ramen, Haribo candies, Lu cookies and bottled water. We also purchased a considerable number of books, magazines and DVDs (assuming we could use our Mac to watch them). What we didn't anticipate was the lack of electricity, which made it impossible to read at night, nor watch more than 1 movie. We also didn't anticipate that the "hot water" would not be hot enough to make Ramen. Fun stuff.
Mongolian - Russian Customs:
If we thought the China-Mongolia border was rough, this one takes the cake. The process of going through Mongolian immigration and customs, Russian immigration and customs and waiting for connecting train carriages took 10 hours. Furthermore, Russian immigration questioned whether I was the person pictured in my passport, and 3 different people came to verify I am indeed who I claim to be. And finally, like at the China-Mongolia border, during this time the bathrooms are closed, there is no electricity in the train and yes, this is standard operating procedure. Someone really needs to introduce Six-Sigma to the Russian and Mongolian train people!!!
In their defense, after the first 5 hours, the train pulled up to a station to wait for connecting carriages to arrive; so, technically passengers are free to walk around. However, the provonistas do not tell passengers what time the train will actually leave (and of course there are no schedules posted anywhere). Also, its not possible to lock the berth with all one's luggage/stuff in it. All that was going through our minds was "we paid good money for this?" All in all, it took about 36 hours to get to Irkutsk.
Turns out the "better" train shaves 16 hours off the travel time!!!! Lesson learned: if you make this trip, do your homework before purchasing tickets!!!!
- Here, our 6 foot by 5 foot berth consisted of: 4 lightly padded benches, a window that opened (no fan or a/c), 4 reading lights that only worked at night and that required the assistance of our provonista (cabin attendant that resembled Rosanne Barr, except less cordial) to turn on/off. In the accompanying berths were groups of REAL hippies (the don't wash their feet kind).
- The amenities provided were: 2 wool blankets, a package of fresh sheets and a pillow case (but no pillow), and pre-packaged "meal" containing warm, stale yogurt and a mystery meat that dogs wouldn't even eat.
- Our non-smoking train carriage had: 1 functional bathroom (the 2nd one was closed) which was NOT cleaned/maintaned throughout the trip, did NOT have running water or a shower, and could NOT be used when stopped at a train station. Potable "hot" water (more like luke warm) was available at the end of each carriage.
- No dining car on this train
In anticipation for some of these delays, we stocked up on a breakfast of champions (petit dejeuner des champions) consisting of Pringles, Cup-O-Noodles, Ramen, Haribo candies, Lu cookies and bottled water. We also purchased a considerable number of books, magazines and DVDs (assuming we could use our Mac to watch them). What we didn't anticipate was the lack of electricity, which made it impossible to read at night, nor watch more than 1 movie. We also didn't anticipate that the "hot water" would not be hot enough to make Ramen. Fun stuff.
Mongolian - Russian Customs:
If we thought the China-Mongolia border was rough, this one takes the cake. The process of going through Mongolian immigration and customs, Russian immigration and customs and waiting for connecting train carriages took 10 hours. Furthermore, Russian immigration questioned whether I was the person pictured in my passport, and 3 different people came to verify I am indeed who I claim to be. And finally, like at the China-Mongolia border, during this time the bathrooms are closed, there is no electricity in the train and yes, this is standard operating procedure. Someone really needs to introduce Six-Sigma to the Russian and Mongolian train people!!!
In their defense, after the first 5 hours, the train pulled up to a station to wait for connecting carriages to arrive; so, technically passengers are free to walk around. However, the provonistas do not tell passengers what time the train will actually leave (and of course there are no schedules posted anywhere). Also, its not possible to lock the berth with all one's luggage/stuff in it. All that was going through our minds was "we paid good money for this?" All in all, it took about 36 hours to get to Irkutsk.
Turns out the "better" train shaves 16 hours off the travel time!!!! Lesson learned: if you make this trip, do your homework before purchasing tickets!!!!
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