We arrived in Moscow at 5 in the morning after our 77-hour stint on the train. When the train pulled into Moscow station Jimmy and I practically ran off the train onto the platform and into the semi fresh air! The train station was beautiful it looked like Monet's Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare 1877, which hangs at the Art Institute in Chicago, the sun was just coming up and light could be seen in the sky through the partial glass roof, the steam of the train, the bustling of the people, the selling of pastries, we were totally mesmerized, we had arrived to a familiarity, similar to Europe. We quickly found the metro and were happy to learn that it started running at 5:30 so after a look around the beautiful train station we went to the underground. Unfortunately the train was running on a relaxed European schedule and did not arrive until 6. However we were not to annoyed due to the extreme beauty of the metro station, deep under ground – the deepest metro we had ever been in was decorated with stained glass, ornate lighting, classic and clean wooden benches with iron work on the sides, marble and tile made up the floor and rounded tube ceiling, it was truly a work of art, as was every other metro station we went to throughout Russia, complete with blast doors which made it a totally safe, livable bomb shelter constructed during the war. The trains were also classic, painted green, with attention to detail, and clean too! After boarding what we were pretty sure was the correct train, since all the stops were written in Russian and our guide book as well as the email we received from Hostel World confirming our hostel booking listed the metro stops in a Russian English. We went two stops as we were instructed to do, but when we came up to the street, it was twilight and we were standing next to a McDonalds. We had no idea where to go from there – the email directions made it seem like we were supposed to see the hostel. Jimmy suggested that we walk “this way” so we started to walk but blindly. We came to a large street and decided to hop into a cab. The cab driver drove for quite some time and through many winding back alleyways. Finally we arrived at the Godzillas Hostel, we would have never been able to find the place without the cab drivers help. Now it was time for the payment, throughout our travels, taxi drivers have shown to be overcharging scam artisst and should be taken warily, so when we asked how much it was, in a country we already new was very very expensive, we both cringed with anticipation. “How much you think” the cab driver asked us, “$5” Jimmy replied, “Deal” the cab driver said and Jimmy handed over $5 with a smile. We went inside the hostel and it was by far the cleanest, up to date, nicest hostel we had stayed in so far, and it should have been for what we paid for it, $70 for a double room! Our room was not ready yet so we took showers and stored our bags and went in search of coffee and a new adapter or possibly charger for the laptop that had been fried since day two of the train trip. Moscow was beautiful, everywhere I turned I wanted to take a picture, old apartment buildings, cafes, streetlights, and then we came to the Kremlin! Amazing. We walked and walked in search of an apple store, one side of the Kremlin and then back again, totally lost but loving it. We finally found a store, not the store, and bought a new adapter, we plugged the computer in and it worked! I was really worried it was totally fried, even though Jimmy told me repeatedly that it was not.
After our task was accomplished it was time for coffee, again another search. We finally found the Starbucks we were after on Arbat Street, a wonderful alley-like walking street with artists painting outside and its claim to fame, the Wall of Peace. We entered the Starbucks and walked up to the counter and to our surprise, nothing was in English – we had been traveling for three months and everywhere we have gone, even China had English, but not this Russian Starbucks or any other place in Russia for that matter. Russia was the first country we encountered where English was not spoken; it was a very rare occurrence when we encountered an English speaking person outside the hostels. So I tried to order my vanilla latte and a hot chocolate for Jimmy, the process took about fifteen minutes and finally some how got the point across to the barista, who continually spoke to me in very stern Russian the entire time. After our coffees we walked around some more, visiting the Cathedral of Christ Our Savior and other sites. The next time we looked at our watches it was 5:30, so we started to walk back to the hostel. However it took us quite a long time to get back because we got completely lost – we were so lost and tired and did not want to walk any more. When we got our bearings we found a place for dinner – again no English spoken, but picture menus, which worked just as well. We ordered some serious meat, which we were both really excited about since the food in China was basically rice 24/7. Jimmy teased me as I ate the sausage and sauerkraut that this was the food of my ancestors and he had never seen me so happy – the strange thing is I was totally happy, usually I’m a salad kind of girl but for some strange reason the totally greasy and unhealthy sausage was calling my name. After dinner we went back to the hostel and crashed, since we had been up since 4 in the morning.
The next morning we slept in late and when we woke up we laid in bed for a long time, not wanting to go get on another train, but also really wanting to see St. Petersburg. Finally we got up packed up our bags and checked out. The manager of the hostel wrote down the train type we wanted to take to St. Petersburg in Russian and we went to the train station to buy our tickets. After navigating the metro – which was really not that complicated but for some reason we kept getting lost we finally arrived at what we thought was the train station. After waiting in line for 20 minutes it turned out we were wrong and the correct train station was further down the street. Finally we arrived and again stood in line and when it was our turn we handed the piece of paper to the women behind the counter and she looked at it for some time and then started speaking to us in Russian. She went on and on and we just looked at her, thinking lady I have no idea what you are saying, and she just kept going. Finally she became fed up and put us on some train that was to leave from another station at 10 pm tonight for what we gathered. We went back to the hostel, grabbed some coffee and our bags and then it was time to go find our new train station. We were definitely leaving for the station early but Jimmy gets a little nervous still on the days we travel so we went early. We arrive at the station with plenty of time and read. Then it was time to board yet another over night train. However this train was first class all the way – it looked like a hotel inside, we had the top bunks AGAIN! But I didn’t really care because it was so nice; soon we settled into our cabins and fell asleep. Early in the morning I woke up and the train was stopped, there was no platform outside and I knew that St. Petersburg was the last stop so I didn’t think much of it and fell back asleep. A little while later Jimmy woke me up saying it was 9:30 am and we were suppose to arrive in St. Petersburg at 7. I told him about the stop and he was sure we missed it and we traveling on to some other city. I thought there were to many people still on the train for that to be the case and even though the train schedule was in Russian I knew it said St. Petersburg was the last stop. The hours ticked by and we had no idea what was going on, we talked to the women who shared the cabin with us and through sign language she said we would not be arriving until 6 or 7 pm. The train was apparently running late. There was no dinning car on the train and we did not have any food besides a Toblerone, which was consumed at about noon. Other people on the train were in the same hungry boat and finally the train made a detour to some small town and a large truck pulled up beside it and off loaded tons of food. Then the train attendants spent the next five hours making and delivering food to everyone on the train. We had chicken soup, and chicken with barley and bread. The whole experience was quite an ordeal. Finally when the train arrive there were many people on the platform and many of them ran onto the train to see there loved ones, carrying flowers and gifts, which was nice but seemed a little unusual since many people made the commute from Moscow to St. Petersburg regularly.
We found a cab and bargained the price down and were off to our hostel. We arrived at the Green Light a short time later and checked in by now it was 8:30 pm and we were both tired and a little grumpy. When we checked in, the hostel had lost our reservation and there were no double rooms and then they made us register our visas, which we were told you didn’t have to do if you were only going to be in a city for a couple of days. The registration process cost money and so we were both a little annoyed but then they wanted to charge us some kind of service charge, and then Jimmy got angry and said we were leaving. The women quickly apologized and said it was no longer a problem. After all this we went to our room and turned on our computer. The phone had had no service since we left Moscow and so we were unable to see the 15 messages we had. But we saw the emails. While I was reading – Please Call Home Immediately, Jimmy announced that the train before ours had blown up on it way to St. Petersburg, the train we were originally suppose to be on. I couldn’t believe it, terrorists in Russia, we could have been killed. All in all a very crazy experience. We called our family and told everyone we were alright and went to bed.
The next morning we booked a flight back to Moscow, not wanting to risk any further delays on the train because we had to catch a flight to Dubai the following afternoon. We walked all around St. Petersburg, which was a true European city, churches, palaces, art. We bought a black and white painting to remind us of our time in Russia, as well as a Russian doll. Finally it was back to the hostel to get our bags and off to the airport. The flight was short only 50 minutes and we were back in Moscow, it was 9:30. We got a bus that took us to the train station and then caught an airport express train to the city and then took the metro back to the hostel. By the time I was putting the sheets on our bed in another dorm room it was midnight.
The next morning we were up early again. I did a little work for graduate school, which I have still had a hard time focusing on and then it was off to the airport again for another flight. We arrived, had a quick coffee and then boarded our first Emirates flight ever. Emirates is the nicest airlines we have been on thus far, and I think it would be hard to beat, it is totally amazing. We had a great meal watched two movies and didn’t get any sleep.
We arrived in Dubai at 11 pm and decided to sleep in the airport, which was nice and had lounge chairs that we were able to snag and camp out for the night. Unfortunately my love of coffee got the better of me and I had a latte at 12:30, needless to say I didn’t sleep a wink. Jimmy got some sleep but not me I was up on the computer, reading, walking around and before I knew it the sun was up. Jimmy was refreshed and ready to see Dubai so we left the airport and headed into the city.
First stop, the mall of the Emirates, which was equipped with anything and everything you could ask for. We had yet another coffee; then it was off to see the indoor ski hill, which I thought would be lame, but was actually pretty cool. Then Jimmy got to hold a falcon that a man dressed like a Saudi prince was carrying around the mall. Finally we went to see some hotels, Dubai is kind of like Las Vegas, the hotels are amazing, right on the water and totally first class. By the late afternoon I was totally exhausted, something coffee could not even fix. So we took the train back to the airport and I passed out on the ride back. We made it through security and to our gate where I passed out again.
Then it was time to board another plane, again Emirates. We had another fabulous meal and another movie and then we were in Delhi, time 2:30 in the morning.
It took forever to get through customs, in the hot, un-air-conditioned room. Finally when we made it to baggage claim it took one hour! For our bags to get off loaded yes one hour. Then we walked out to get a taxi. We prepaid for one and walked with our slip out to the curb. A man approached us and said he would take us to the car, Jimmy followed, we were instructed to look for a black and yellow car and a black car with a yellow strip on the roof did pull up and Jimmy got in, I looked at him half asleep and said “are you sure this is the right cab”? He assured me it was and so away we went. Five minutes later we were stopped on the dark side of the road and our “cab driver” said he would be right back! I looked at Jimmy, slightly more alert now and said this is the part were they take us in the back ally and harvest our organs, Jimmy looked a little nervous as well. Our guy came back eventually and we got underway again. After two hours of driving “trying” to find our hotel and stopping at a travel agency that could find us a new hotel, Jimmy called our hotel for directions. Five minutes later we arrived at Tara Palace. Yet another scam to top off a very long 72 hours, it was now 7 in the morning. We checked in and the hotel informed us that we made our reservations for December 2, 2010! But they had a room for us. We went upstairs and crashed not waking up until 4:30 in the afternoon.
When we woke up I had terrible stomach cramps, I was sure that I had contracted malaria in my short time here in India. Jimmy was not convinced, he said I needed water and more sleep, so he went to get water and I slept pretty much until the next morning. When we woke up, we finally showered and decided to see India. We went downstairs and arranged everything for the next two weeks, trains, planes and automobiles. After everything was scheduled we visited the Red Fort and the cities largest mosque that was very near our hotel. Then we came back to the hotel and took an arranged car tour of the city. It was so nice to have someone drive us from place to place, the simplicity of the day was helpful, because we were experiencing a little bit of culture shock with the large amount of people, poverty and trash everywhere. Our driver even took us to dinner and waited for us. After dinner we went back to the hotel and were able to Skype with the family for a while. Everyone was good and we were glad were could talk. Finally it was off to bed because we had to get up early for another car ride – to Jaipur, the pink city.
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