Day 27 - 21/06/2010 - 11:35pm Moscow Time, 01:35am Yekaterinburg Time - In Transit, Russia
So we are on the train to Yekaterinburg, due to arrive at 06:14 ocal time on the 23/06. Our hotel is no longer the one we thought - we've been unable to get a reservation for it so we've been 'upgraded' to Hotel Sverdlovsk a hotel near the train sation with ensuite - should be interesting!
Our train is nice but is much more basic than the Red Arrow (we're on train #68) and is much more stuffy - great considering I've had a migraine for much of the day!
We are sharing with two Russian girls who seem about our age, if not a little bit younger - I think the rest of their family are next door. One of them just shut the window, much to my horror - it's like a bloody oven in here, I'm going to waste away overnight! Nevertheless I digress.
Today was OK, we didn't do much once I got my migraine. We tried this oriental food place for lunch, because it was a bit cheaper than usual in Moscow. Much to my disappointment, the oriental Russian food is as bland as all their other stuff - bad times! We didn't make it to Sergiev Posad, but we both liked Moscow and I think it's somewhere we'll visit again. I'll get you next time Posad!
So today we checked out and deposited our bags at the train station - we then went to find a post office which for once actually turned out to be a success. We sent 11 postcards in total - from St Petersburg and Moscow. If you were lucky enough to be sent one, you'll be even luckier if it turns up according to what our guide book says about the Russian postal service!
We spent the rest of the day surfing the net and chilling in the park by the Kremlin. It was a beautiful afternoon only marred by my migraine! Roll on Yekaterinburg!
Day 28 - 22/06/2010 - 17:00 Moscow Time, 19:00 Yekaterinburg Time - In Transit, Russia
So we've been on the train for just over 18 hours, another 11 to go. It's been surprisingly relaxing on the train, if not a little hot at times.
As I write this, Laura is having a nap on the bunk above me, the Russian girl on the other top bunk is leeping too. Opposite me, the girl is looking out the window and listening to her MP3 player - something I'm doing too! I'm a multi-tasker!
I think we both slept rather well, despite the heat for me. A little bit of a draught was coming through the bottom of the door and I slept OK with just a pair of shorts on - which is great. I was really expecting to wake up with a headache today due to the heat and being stuffy whilst asleep.
We've had basic conversations with the Russian pair - the can't for the life of them work out why we're going to Yekaterinburg. Home town deprication or shit hole? I'll report back tomorrow - it's got to be better than Bromsgrove though!
We said we were going to visit the Romanov memorial there but it just drew a blank face from the RUssian girls! Surely Romanov is Romanov in Russia?
I for one am looking forward to it, even if it just is for two nights. This is our 4th longest train journey @ 29 hours. The longest is the next one (Yekaterinburg to Irkutsk) @ 55 hours and the 2nd longest one is immeidately after that (Irkutsk to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia) @ 34 hours. I think I'll be cherishing my time on steady ground over the next week or two!
Day 30 - 24/06/2010 - 17:53 - Yekaterinburg, Russia
So we've been in Yekaterinburg for almost 2 whole days now. We've had a pretty good time thus far and I can 100% confirm that it is not as bad as the Russian girls on the train were saying!
We slept reasonably well, going to bed at about 10:30pm Yekaterinburg time. We were unfortunately woken up by the girls, chatting at 5:15am (3:15am Moscow) or so, Laura woke up slightly after me. I took the oppurtunity to see some of the secenery. The low fog in the Ural valleys was absolutely stunning at so early in the morning, it was just a shame it was only cabin side of the train, where the window is really too small to take a picture. I did, however, manage to get a picture of the stone obelisk marking the boundary between Europe and Asia, which I only knew about from our guide book, it tells you the exact KM where something is which you can correspond with the kilometre posts along the track which is pretty handy.
We arrived in on time into Yekaterinburg (doesn't surprise me, it's not the UK) and made our way to the hotel across the road from the station. They were kind enough to let us check in at about 6:30am and we went to the room. The room is really, really basic. There is wallpaper missing from bits of the walls, open (on show) pipes, a rusting fridge which doesn't shut (therefore been unable to keep drinks cool) and the window has open insulation showing. The beds are also extremely hard and lying on any side of your body apart from you back will hurt. Apart from that, it's OK - we've got a TV and our own bathroom (hence the pipes) and both of those work fine so I can't complain. They even very kindly gave us breakfast slips for that morning as well, which was appreciated but not used! We slept from 7am-12noon! Ooops.
Nevertheless, we made the most of the afternoon. We walked into the city centre, which was a 25/30 minute direct walk. However, we made the most of the sights on the way, seeing a couple of churches, monuments and buildings of partticular interest including the Church of the Blood which houses the Romanov family memorial. It was very grand and very fitting, although I did find it rather stupid that there was a statute to commemerate the Communists of the Urals across the road from the Church! Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures inside the memorial (which is fair enough) but I did get some good ones from outside where they had many pictures of the Romanovs. We saw much of the city centre, before heading back to the hotel via the metro and the supermarket. We had tea in the cafe here at the hotel, which was cheap(er) than most places but not great. It did it's job on a basic level though.
I watched the England game in the evening which was good, we're through that's all that matters! We also skyped home using the Internet in the Lobby (Wifi) which was nice. I got my University results and luckily I don't have to fly back for any Resits! We then went back upstairs, I tried to stay awake for the next set of games (started at half 12 in the morning) but only managed the first half. My dad was at one of the games in the front few rows, I was looking out for him but unfortunately there wasn't much action down there in the first half. It was a very strange feeling to know my old man was one of those people in the corner of the ground and I was watching him all the way from central Russia - very wierd!
So today we got up in time for breakfast which was surprisingly good - much better than the one in St Petersburg! I had pancakes, eggs, croissants and TEA WITH MILK! Yay!
Yesterday we looked into the possibility of going to the Europe Asia marker but the only tours the company we knew of (based in the hotel) did private tours only costing 3500 rubles EACH - around £77! No way! We managed to get some information of Wikipedia which looked sketchy at best, but we tried nonetheless. We managed to get bus tickets, from the kiosk for 60 rubles each (around £1.30). We missed the stop for the Europe Asia marker, despite trying to get the driver to tell us when it was, and got off when someone else did, about 5km away. We went under the dark underpass, came up the other side and got a bus again - 40 rubles each (90p). We got off at the stop after the Europe Asia marker going to Yekaterinburg (should have got off on the one before) but it was only 1km away so it didn't take long to walk back (after crossing the dual carriageway, there was no underpass!)
We saw the little (newer monument) but not the older one, because it was very far away by foot (we would have seen it with the tour but, pricey!) had a look around that part of the complex, having a cold drink by a fan in the cafe (it was 31 degrees today) and then headed back to Yekaterinburg. Cost of drinks (45rubles - 99p each), cost of bus back (30 rubles each - 65p). Total cost of our trip (per person): 175 roubles (£3.85). Savings!! I'm very proud that I managed to get us there!
When we got back to Yekaterinburg we went to the city centre once more to have another look around the river area. We tried to find the QWERTY monument (a giant English keyboard - bizzare but true) but couldn't find it! Maybe tomorrow! We're planning to go to Ganina Yama tomorrow on a tour for 500 rubles each - it's the abandoned copper mine where the remains of the Romanovs were found, now there is a monastery in their honour there. That should be interesting! If we have time, we'll find the QWERTY monument before our train to Irkutsk (3 nights away!) which leaves here at 22:46 local time!
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