After spending an hour and half in purgatory between Estonia and Russia, not having a clue what was happening, we finally got back on the bus and headed through another gate officially marking the border. I had a overwhelming sense of relief as the barrier lifted and we drove into the Russian Federation. I had finally made it after years of planning and dreams. I suddenly realised why the bus was taking 7 hours to get to St Petersburg, the roads were in an incredibly poor state of repair and the bus drove at a steady pace of 40 miles per hour for a fair distance.
Looking out of the window in a sleepy state I inspected the snow covered Russian landscape and saw some incredibly run down houses that looked like shacks and it reminded me that Russia has a fantastically huge gap between the rich and poor. I soon fell back into a state of unconsciousness and woke up several hours later once we had reached the outskirts of St Petersburg. The scene this time was completely different and there were countless number of people scuttling around, running for buses and people working on the streets. The clock read a little after 6am which I though was a bit early for this type of activity. However, I was unsure of the time difference between Tallinn and St Petersburg but was sure it was in alignment to Moscow time which is +3 GMT, in which case it was actually 7am, perfect time to commute into work.
An hour later, the bus arrived at the Baltic train/bus station in St Petersburg. I had no idea if I was in the right place. I approached the driver and using the international sign language of pointing and repeating Baltic station, he simply responded "Da!", as we were in mutual agreement, feeling semi relaxed and reassured I headed off to find the hostel.
Before leaving Tallinn I consulted the world wide web and wrote some directions down for my journey from the Baltic Station to my hostel and realised that it was only a 'short' metro ride to Moscow Station where my hostel was situated. I wondered into the train station and took my time to get acquainted with the building and noticed that every sign was written in Cyrillic. I approached a beautiful young lady who was squashed in a ticket booth and had my first chance to practice my Russian and asked 'Do you understand English?' to wish she simply but politely responded, 'Niet!' However, she pointed me in the direction of the metro entrance and said something which I could only assume meant that I buy metro tokens outside, to the right and inside...
As I struggled my way through a bombardment of Russian workers, I noticed that not one person was smiling. I finally made my way down into the deepest underground network in the world and it is absolutely spectacular. The metro stations in Russia are all decorated in different styles and they are incredibly clean. The London Underground is an absolute disgrace compared to the Russian's spotless and more efficient metro network. I suddenly realised that I had arrived in Saint Petersburg the same time as everyone making their way to work. I purposely chose this time as I could save money on a nights accommodation. Was this a good idea? Not sure. The word courtesy is not synonymous with Russia. In an ideal world there would be queues, people would allow others to leave the train before entering themselves, people would hold the door open for the person following them instead of letting it slam in your face, people would say "dobroye ootro" and "spasiba". Despite the Russians trying to create the ideal society over the last two hundred years, I can honestly say that this is not it.
I was pushed and shoved, squeezed and squased for my entire journey of only four stops which seemed never ending until I finally arrived at Ploschad Vosstanyia where my hostel was just a short walk away. I left the metro station the only way I could and walked out into the biting cold of Saint Petersburg, happy that my first ordeal of the metro was over. Having seen the "how to get to the hostel" video and armed with my directions, I felt confident I knew my way, so I walked in the wrong direction for quite a long while until I decided to turn around and consult a map. I found a map on a wall outside of the train station and quickly looked at it to find the road I needed and this time, walked in the right direction and I finally arrived at Soul Kitchen Hostel, warn out, hot and in desperate need for a shower.
Thursday, 25 November 2010
Saturday, 20 November 2010
And in the beginning... Estonia, 14-19 November 2010
Hi all,
This is my first update since beginning my journey around the world. I left a rather rainy England and headed for Estonia. As soon as I stepped out of the car at Stansted Airport, I was complaining about the weight of my backpack, although I spent the previous two weeks unpacking and discarding non-essentials and repacking the bag again, it was still too heavy! Once we had checked in for the only flight I will be taking until Singapore (hopefully further, but we'll see...), we were asked to check our baggage into the outsize desk because of the straps. The official took an interest in my bag and asked me to leave all my belongings on me outside with Matt whilst I accompanied them in their office whilst they search me and my bag. Matt was watching the proceedings from outside and he had to laugh when the gentleman pulled out a tin containing an All Day Breakfast which my friend Mike Hearn gave me for my trip. Perhaps that accounted for some of the weight in my bag, also the Smarties and mint imperials...
Tallinn, Estonia - 14 - 18 November 2010
Our flight went without delay or hitch and we landed in Tallinn within good time, got straight in a taxi and arrived at our hostel, The Flying Kiwi, from the outside it looks like a dark, dingy and run down building . Both Matt and I did not share our first impressions and waited to see the inside before making any judgments. We were greeted by Amanda, a Kiwi, who promptly checked us in and took us to the closest bar for our first Estonian beer along with a couple of awesome Aussie girls from Perth. we shared a great many laughs and they even went through my bag to see if I could shed anymore items. I got rid of a few things which took a little strain off my back and onto Matt's as he had to take it home with him.
Tallinn itself is a wonderful place, the hostel was situated within the old town close to all the treasures it has to hold. I thought it was going to be deathly cold in Tallinn but it was actually not too bad at all. Maybe it's down to the superb Berghaus coat I've got! We spent a few days just wondering the town and going through any open door we could find. This also meant we walked into and open casket funeral which felt extremely wrong, especially as they were still selling postcards during the ceremony! It amazed me that there were still people selling goods to tourists despite the distinct lack of them around. Nevertheless, we got some rather warm nuts from a beautiful Estonian lady and Matt minted his very own Estonian good luck coin. But before I could finished asking the trader about missing tourists, a large group of camera wielding Japanese tourists came around the corner. Oh how we laughed. However, it wasn't just the tourists that were missing, there were no Estonians either!
The next day we took a day trip to Helsinki, Finland. The journey across the Baltic took us only a 1.5 hours. The departure point was a strange place, we climbed several hundred steps over a huge piece of Soviet architecture that houses the Tallinna Linnahall, built for the 1980 Moscow Olympics to stage the sailing events, once we reached the top I had a sense of achievement much like climbing Snowdon! The crossing was a chance to catch up on some sleep which I had been needing.
The first thing that struck me about Helsinki was the cleanliness of the city. There was absolutely no litter on the floor. We walked round for the whole day walking in and out of buildings, sneaking past security guards to get into museums for free and visited the most amazing church. We were actually purposely looking for this temple as we heard good things. So we set off armed with a rather small map picked up at the port and searching the skyline for spires, we soon reached the spot on the map where it should have been but there were no spires or church like buildings anywhere just a pile of rocks. It soon became apparent that the temple was actually below us! The Temppeliaukio Church was built into the rock during the late 20th century and was decorated with a lots of copper. The roof apparently contains over 20km of coiled copper. We were also lucky enough to hear a singer and his accompanist practice so we could hear the superb acoustics the building offers.
The day was spent with two Italian girls whom we met in our hostel back in Tallinn. They went to Helsinki for couple of days and were embarking on their first Couch Surfing experience, something which I have never done but would like to try out sometime on my trip. Couch surfing offers free or incredibly cheap accommodation at a participants house or just the chance to meet a local. I have heard from them and they have reported good things!
As Helsinki, alike to other Scandinavian countries, is extremely expensive we made sure we spent as little as possible and only eat one cheap burger whilst we were there and headed back to Tallinn where birthday celebrations for the hostel owner, Jenn, were underway.
That night, Jenn, Amanda and Jonny took us to a basement bar called Shimo which was really fun. The best thing about it was that we didn't have to make any decisions on what drink to have as we just asked Matt the barman to give us a surprise, which he did every time. I have absolutely no idea what we drank that night but they were all very good!
Estonian Occupation Museum
Today, Estonia has population of just under 1.4m people which compared to Russia's 145m and Germany's 81m is incredibly small. The same difference was felt in 1939 when the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression pact was signed in which Stalin agreed Russia would not enter into war against Nazi Germany should they invade Poland. There was also a secret pact which divided up Poland and gave all of the Baltic states (Lithuana, Latvia, Estonia) to the Soviet Union. Estonia had such a small population at the time that they new they had no chance fighting off the Soviets or Germans so it decided to declare a bloodless handover to the Soviet Union. This agreement was supposed to last 10 years, but cracked in under 2 when Germany invaded the Soviet union on 22 June 1941 in a surprise attack. This was when the Soviet Union entered World War II.
During our time in Tallinn, we visited the Occupation Museum which documented the unfortunate situation Estonia was put in and the life of the population under each regime. During 'The Red Year', Estonia was under Soviet rule as per the non-aggression pact and the handover of power from Tallinn to Moscow. It soon became apparent that the Soviets were arresting, deporting and torturing any person that went against the government or done anything contrary to the laws. This problem became so severe that when Germany attacked the Soviet Union in the surprise attack in 1941, the inhabitants of Estonia were happy to see them and felt as if they had been freed from a state of terror. Unfortunately it was inevitable that the Nazi's dream of a perfect race would release a whole new style of terror to the peace hungry Estonians.
During the battles of 1944, The Soviet union returned with vengeance once again gained control of Estonia. Estonia felt as if they had been finally freed and raised their national flag in celebration of independence. However, this did not last long as the Soviet's Red Army arrived in Tallinn, took down the flag and replaced it with the red flag and declared Estonia was to be run by them from Moscow. The next 50 years saw a continual fight for independence from USSR until finally the last of the red army withdrew during August 1994.
I found it horrific to think how powerless the Estonians must have felt during the changes in rulers. To not be able to defend your own land and just give it to whoever wanted it must have been incredibly hard and if they refused they would have just been deported to Siberia or even tortured and killed. Unfortunately we couldn't watch all of the documentaries showing in the museum as there were 6 of them and each lasting 30 minutes.
The First Snow
The first snow fell as Matt and I were sitting in a Taco Express restaurant at around 1am and continued to fall all night. When we woke up, we were greeted by a fantastic snowy scene and it was still falling! That was the day we were leaving Tallinn, Matt was going back to blighty and I was heading to Russia, so we didn't wanted it to fall too much. They are extremely efficient clearing the roads though so it wouldn't have made a difference anyway.
At 6pm Matt left the hostel in a taxi bound for the airport and that was when I was officially left alone for my journey across the world. My bus wasn't leaving Tallinn until midnight so I had arranged to go to the bar with Jenn, Amanda and Jonny from the hostel for one last drink before I left. Unfortunately they had to wait for a couple of guest who were delayed 24 hours at Stansted due to their flight being cancelled. They finally arrived around 10.30pm and we got to the bar around 11pm, just enough time for one quick bottle of Alexandra and get a taxi to the bus station.
I always get a little concerned when the taxi driver doesn't speak English and there are more than 1 bus station in the city as you never know if you will be dropped off at the right one. Luckily he did understand me persistently repeating "international bus station" and "Saint Peterburi" and I arrived with plenty of time to spare.
Boarding the bus it quickly became apparent that I was the only English speaker on there and no one else could understand or speak it. I had a piece of paper thrust into my face by the Russian driver, which turned out to be the migration card you need to fill in before you enter Russia. I filled it in, sat back and relaxed whilst the bus cut its way through the North East of Estonia heading to the Russian border, getting woken up by the stench of a cigarette being smoked on the coach. Some things you just don't like and the smell of cigarette smoke is one... but I'm with Russians, they do as they please!
We arrived at the border around 3am and a Russian border official boarded the bus and took our passports from us and promptly returned to her small booth. I could see her through the window as she took around 30 minutes to inspect each passport carefully and check the visa. I spotted mine as it stuck out like a sore thumb between the other Russian ones. I got a little concerned as she seemed to take a particular interest in mine. But she soon arrived back on the bus with our passports. I searched eagerly through mine hoping to get a glimpse of my first stamp, however, there wasn't one and i began to worry that I hadn't got an entrance stamp which would cause severe issues later down the road with visa registration and exiting the country. The gates opened and we drove on another 200 metres before we stopped again.
I felt helpless as nobody on the bus spoke English and the driver barked orders at us in Russian over the tannoy. Suddenly everyone on the bus got up, left the bus, collected their baggage and walked into a dark, dingy building. All I could do was follow them blindly and hop for the best. I breathed a sigh of relief when I discovered this was passport control and the first lady was a preemptive check. I got my stamp and walked casually over the border with my bag in one hand and my passport in the other. I still didn't understand anything but I knew one thing for sure... I was in the Russian Federation!
This is my first update since beginning my journey around the world. I left a rather rainy England and headed for Estonia. As soon as I stepped out of the car at Stansted Airport, I was complaining about the weight of my backpack, although I spent the previous two weeks unpacking and discarding non-essentials and repacking the bag again, it was still too heavy! Once we had checked in for the only flight I will be taking until Singapore (hopefully further, but we'll see...), we were asked to check our baggage into the outsize desk because of the straps. The official took an interest in my bag and asked me to leave all my belongings on me outside with Matt whilst I accompanied them in their office whilst they search me and my bag. Matt was watching the proceedings from outside and he had to laugh when the gentleman pulled out a tin containing an All Day Breakfast which my friend Mike Hearn gave me for my trip. Perhaps that accounted for some of the weight in my bag, also the Smarties and mint imperials...
Tallinn, Estonia - 14 - 18 November 2010
Our flight went without delay or hitch and we landed in Tallinn within good time, got straight in a taxi and arrived at our hostel, The Flying Kiwi, from the outside it looks like a dark, dingy and run down building . Both Matt and I did not share our first impressions and waited to see the inside before making any judgments. We were greeted by Amanda, a Kiwi, who promptly checked us in and took us to the closest bar for our first Estonian beer along with a couple of awesome Aussie girls from Perth. we shared a great many laughs and they even went through my bag to see if I could shed anymore items. I got rid of a few things which took a little strain off my back and onto Matt's as he had to take it home with him.
The next day we took a day trip to Helsinki, Finland. The journey across the Baltic took us only a 1.5 hours. The departure point was a strange place, we climbed several hundred steps over a huge piece of Soviet architecture that houses the Tallinna Linnahall, built for the 1980 Moscow Olympics to stage the sailing events, once we reached the top I had a sense of achievement much like climbing Snowdon! The crossing was a chance to catch up on some sleep which I had been needing.
The day was spent with two Italian girls whom we met in our hostel back in Tallinn. They went to Helsinki for couple of days and were embarking on their first Couch Surfing experience, something which I have never done but would like to try out sometime on my trip. Couch surfing offers free or incredibly cheap accommodation at a participants house or just the chance to meet a local. I have heard from them and they have reported good things!
As Helsinki, alike to other Scandinavian countries, is extremely expensive we made sure we spent as little as possible and only eat one cheap burger whilst we were there and headed back to Tallinn where birthday celebrations for the hostel owner, Jenn, were underway.
That night, Jenn, Amanda and Jonny took us to a basement bar called Shimo which was really fun. The best thing about it was that we didn't have to make any decisions on what drink to have as we just asked Matt the barman to give us a surprise, which he did every time. I have absolutely no idea what we drank that night but they were all very good!
Estonian Occupation Museum
Today, Estonia has population of just under 1.4m people which compared to Russia's 145m and Germany's 81m is incredibly small. The same difference was felt in 1939 when the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression pact was signed in which Stalin agreed Russia would not enter into war against Nazi Germany should they invade Poland. There was also a secret pact which divided up Poland and gave all of the Baltic states (Lithuana, Latvia, Estonia) to the Soviet Union. Estonia had such a small population at the time that they new they had no chance fighting off the Soviets or Germans so it decided to declare a bloodless handover to the Soviet Union. This agreement was supposed to last 10 years, but cracked in under 2 when Germany invaded the Soviet union on 22 June 1941 in a surprise attack. This was when the Soviet Union entered World War II.
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| (C) Matthew Duncan 2010, Thank you! |
During the battles of 1944, The Soviet union returned with vengeance once again gained control of Estonia. Estonia felt as if they had been finally freed and raised their national flag in celebration of independence. However, this did not last long as the Soviet's Red Army arrived in Tallinn, took down the flag and replaced it with the red flag and declared Estonia was to be run by them from Moscow. The next 50 years saw a continual fight for independence from USSR until finally the last of the red army withdrew during August 1994.
I found it horrific to think how powerless the Estonians must have felt during the changes in rulers. To not be able to defend your own land and just give it to whoever wanted it must have been incredibly hard and if they refused they would have just been deported to Siberia or even tortured and killed. Unfortunately we couldn't watch all of the documentaries showing in the museum as there were 6 of them and each lasting 30 minutes.
The First Snow
At 6pm Matt left the hostel in a taxi bound for the airport and that was when I was officially left alone for my journey across the world. My bus wasn't leaving Tallinn until midnight so I had arranged to go to the bar with Jenn, Amanda and Jonny from the hostel for one last drink before I left. Unfortunately they had to wait for a couple of guest who were delayed 24 hours at Stansted due to their flight being cancelled. They finally arrived around 10.30pm and we got to the bar around 11pm, just enough time for one quick bottle of Alexandra and get a taxi to the bus station.
I always get a little concerned when the taxi driver doesn't speak English and there are more than 1 bus station in the city as you never know if you will be dropped off at the right one. Luckily he did understand me persistently repeating "international bus station" and "Saint Peterburi" and I arrived with plenty of time to spare.
Boarding the bus it quickly became apparent that I was the only English speaker on there and no one else could understand or speak it. I had a piece of paper thrust into my face by the Russian driver, which turned out to be the migration card you need to fill in before you enter Russia. I filled it in, sat back and relaxed whilst the bus cut its way through the North East of Estonia heading to the Russian border, getting woken up by the stench of a cigarette being smoked on the coach. Some things you just don't like and the smell of cigarette smoke is one... but I'm with Russians, they do as they please!
We arrived at the border around 3am and a Russian border official boarded the bus and took our passports from us and promptly returned to her small booth. I could see her through the window as she took around 30 minutes to inspect each passport carefully and check the visa. I spotted mine as it stuck out like a sore thumb between the other Russian ones. I got a little concerned as she seemed to take a particular interest in mine. But she soon arrived back on the bus with our passports. I searched eagerly through mine hoping to get a glimpse of my first stamp, however, there wasn't one and i began to worry that I hadn't got an entrance stamp which would cause severe issues later down the road with visa registration and exiting the country. The gates opened and we drove on another 200 metres before we stopped again.
I felt helpless as nobody on the bus spoke English and the driver barked orders at us in Russian over the tannoy. Suddenly everyone on the bus got up, left the bus, collected their baggage and walked into a dark, dingy building. All I could do was follow them blindly and hop for the best. I breathed a sigh of relief when I discovered this was passport control and the first lady was a preemptive check. I got my stamp and walked casually over the border with my bag in one hand and my passport in the other. I still didn't understand anything but I knew one thing for sure... I was in the Russian Federation!
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