Impressions of Russia

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Whenever you travel to a country, it is important to avoid the tourist traps and get to know the locals. Here are my impressions of Russia.

Created in the 12th century, Russia was originally a much smaller country. Known as Muscovy, the country was formed in the golden ring area surrounding present day Moscow. After being dominated by the Mongols for a few hundred years, the country began to slow start conquering lands and expanding.

Russia as we know it today didnt really form until Peter the Great came on the scene. A very tall man, Peter the Great could be considered the first great real estate investor of Russia. During his reign, Peter conquered all of the lands between Moscow and the Pacific Ocean.

Russia is simply a huge country. From east to west, the country is so big you can travel for seven days on a train and still not make it all the way across.

During the 20th century, Russia converted from a rather corrupt monarchy to communism. Alas, communism didnt turn out to be much better with leaders such as Joseph Stalin indiscriminately slaughtering much of the population through ill advised planning. Eventually, the Russians changed their mind and converted to a rough form of Democracy in 1991. Thereafter, the various satellite companies controlled by the former Soviet Union began breaking off and claiming independence.

Democracy has been an up and down prospect for Russia. While Ferraris drive the streets of Moscow, the rest of the country can go months without heating. This contrast brings up a unique aspect of the cultural heritage of Russia.

In Russia, it is all about Moscow. Moscow gets everything first, while the rest of the country is really left to fend for itself. If you travel through Russia, youll be stunned at the differences including infrastructure and standard of living.

Russia has gone through fits and starts in the change to Democracy. The Russian Mafia is legendary and has its hands in everything. At one point in the late 90s, only 7 percent of people paid taxes. Fortunately, things have begun to turn around under the reign of President Vladimir Putin. The mafia has lost some of its power or at least become less obvious. The foreign debt while represented 90 percent of the gross domestic product is now down into the teens. Real income for ordinary Russians is growing at about 12 percent on average. All and all, the country finally seems to be getting its ducks in a row.

Having lived in Russia for a year, I can tell you the country is a magnificent place. Russians are fairly formal in business and initial interactions. Once youve broken through the formality, they are perhaps the warmest, friendliest people Ive had the pleasure of every meeting.

If you get a chance to go to Russia, I highly recommend you do so!

Impressions of Russia

Siberia Russia Part 9 Chita

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After deciding to move to Siberia for a year to teach at the Chita State Technical University, I embarked on a travel odyssey unlike any other. In this entry, we pick up the last stage of the seven-day trip to get there.

Siberia As Seen From A Train

In preparing for my trip, I had actually done some preparation. As a common man, I know most of you female readers will find this hard to believe, but I swear it was so. Yep, I had read up on books, rented movies and so on. I was familiar with the tundra, the forest and the perma-frost of Siberia. And I was going to see it all during the three-day train ride across Siberia. Au Contraire!

Apparently, the untamed wilds of Siberia are a bit farther north than where the Trans-Siberian Railway runs. During our train ride, we saw no forests, no mountains and pretty much nothing. It was like taking a really slow train ride across Kansas. There just wasnt much of anything to see. I wish I could tell you differently.

End of the Road

As I went to sleep on the evening of the sixth day of the trip, I was developing a firm conviction that I would never see Chita. Instead, it was clear that I was in some type of bizarre reality television series based on travelers being driven slowly insane. Amazing Race? Give me a break. As with oh so many things, I was wrong.

The Seventh Day

Brooms scratch. Particularly when handled by the Russian woman in charge of our car. As I shot up out of my bunk, I realized she was talking loudly and pointing more than a bit. The train was slowing down, but I couldnt see much out the window because we were in trees and there was too much sun. Upon awaking Grae with a few whacks and a laugh, I finally recognized her saying, Chita.

We had arrived. After three flights, one angry customs official, a few embarrassing moments, way too many crackers and seven total days of travel, we had indeed arrived. At 5:30 in the morning.

Jumping out of bed, we each stuffed our belongings into our bags. Staggered out into the hall. Realized we both badly needed showers.

And stepped off the train into Chita. Siberia. Russia.

Siberia Russia Part 9 Chita

Siberia Russia Part 8 the Slow Train

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After deciding to move to Siberia for a year to teach at the Chita State Technical University, I embarked on a travel odyssey unlike any other. In this entry, we pick up the trip on the Trans-Siberian Railway.

The Horror

As my new Russian friend walked down the hall, I reflected on the information he had provided me with a grimace. The train ride from Khabarovsk to my destination, Chita, was going to take three days. I had already been traveling for four days and the thought of 3 days on a train made meunhappy.

While reflecting on this development, I had an opportunity to take a look at my new neighbors, errfellow passengers. They were moving in. Literally. Pillows, sheets, bags full of food. The general impression was we were going to be on the train for a long, long time.

As we actually cleared the city, I told myself to look at it as an adventure. An adventure? Oh, yes.

Of Crackers and Grape Juice

Nutrition is an odd thing. Like many, I try to eat a healthy diet with vegetables and so on. Of course, a stressful day at work has led to more than a few fast food meals. On the Trans-Siberian Railway, I wouldve killed for fast food.

Contrary to what another passenger had told me, the food car on the train was open for business. The woman in charge of our car told me this in limited English and an exasperated look on her face. Well, she didnt lie. The food car was open. Unfortunately, the only thing it was selling were boxes of crackers and grape juice.

Im not a big cracker fan, but Ill eat them. I happen to like grape juiceor I did. For the next 48 hours, Grae, a fellow traveler, and I munched crackers and drank juice. Then we drank juice and munched crackers. Then we crushed crackers and put them in the juice. Then we made feverish declarations to never eat crackers or drink juice again. Ever.

The Funny Part

After 48 hours of crackers and juice, I was more than willing to starve. I kept having nightmares about the horrible things happening in my stomach. Grae apparently had arrived at the same opinion. Cinching up his pants, he went to hit up our fellow travel companions for some real food.

Part of the fun of traveling is realizing how foolish you really are. When you are in a country where you dont speak the language, you are going to eat a pretty hefty amount of humble pie. What the hey, we were hungry.

After five minutes, Grae returned to our compartment with one of those looks on his face. We had lived on crackers and grape juice for no reason. Yes, we could buy food at every stop the train made by just walking into the train station. And we stopped a lot.

As we pulled into a little town, Grae and I were hanging from the doors of the train. We ran into the station andall they had were crackers and grape juice. Just kidding. I am not sure what we bought, but it was the best food Ive ever had.

Next stopChita!

Read more of this Russian Travelogue at NomadJournalTrips.com

Siberia Russia Part 8 the Slow Train

Siberia Russia Part 7 the Trans Siberian Railway

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After deciding to move to Siberia for a year to teach at the Chita State Technical University, I embarked on a travel odyssey unlike any other. In this entry, we pick up the trip leaving the train station in Khabarovsk.

A Train To Nowhere?

In deciding to travel to Chita, Siberia, I had originally estimated a travel time of three days. Okay, maybe three at the outside figuring time changes and such.

As day 4 of the trip headed into the afternoon, I was finally on the train that would take me to Chita and figured I would be there in a day or so. I would finally get to see the beautiful and extreme landscape of Russia. To make things even better, I would get to brag to my friends about riding on the famous Trans-Siberian railway. This was going to be great. As is often the case with anticipated events, reality threw an ugly wrench in the proceedings.

StopGoStopGo

In California, there are two types of trains you can take. The first is an express train that pretty much takes you from point A to point B with few stops in between. For those traveling shorter distances, there is a slow train that stops at every little town and station. In Russia, we were clearly on the slow train.

As we pulled out of the train station in Khabarovsk, anticipation was in the air. The train slowly gained speed. We stared out the window as the city started to pass at an increasing pace. After about 5 minutes, we stared out the window as the city started to pass at a DECREASING pace. After a few more minutes, we stopped at another train station.

Ah, there are probably two big stations in the city and it makes sense to pick up everyone for the trip across the country. Soon enough, the whistle blew and off we went again. Smiles spread across our face. These disappeared roughly 5 minutes later as we stopped again.

My god, how many train stations are there in this city? I can tell you there are at least 5 since we stopped at that many. With time spent sitting in each little train station, an hour had passed and we werent even out of the city!

As I stood at a window in the hall, a Russian man heard me muttering and decided to practice his English. We chatted. I remarked on the number of stops. He grimaced and told me the trip to Chita would take 3 plus days. I grimaced. And nearly cried like a small child. Three days in a train compartment no bigger than a closet. Oh, my.

Then he told me the food car on the train was closed for the trip. Since this is a clean web site, I cant print the words I uttered at that moment. Just picture the reaction of Homer Simpson on learning there is no more beer in Springfield.

My new Russian friend smiled and said, What does that word mean? We never learned that.

Read more of this Russian Travelogue at NomadJournalTrips.com.

Siberia Russia Part 7 the Trans Siberian Railway

Siberia Russia Part 6 when Stairs Attack in the Khabarovsk Train Station

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In this continuing series, we cover my move from San Diego to Chita, Siberia to be a professor at Chita State Technical University. We pick up the story going to the train station in Khabarovsk to catch the Trans-Siberian Railroad.

Day 4!

If youve been reading this series on NomadJournalTrips.com, you know my original travel estimate was 2 days from San Diego to Chita, Russia. Well, day 4 has arrived and I am just getting on the train. This horrible time estimate is evidence of a poor math education. I blame the American education system!

I never could figure out those math hypotheticals, If a train is going south at x speed and a cyclist is going north at x speed, when will they meet? When are they going to meet? More like, What the heck is cyclist going to look like WHEN they meet? What about his family, not to mention the nightmares suffered by the conductor. I mean, really, who can do math under such circumstances?

StairsEvil, Evil Stairs

At the Intourist hotel, we arranged for train tickets to Chita. By we, I mean my friend Grae did everything. For $27, we had arranged a private berth and all was good. With a good nights sleep, we headed down from the room and out into thepouring rain. A local was kind enough to give us a ride to the train station and all seemed good. After a bit of pointing, extreme facial expressions and so on, we discovered our train was running about an hour slow. We hunkered down and did a bit of people watching.

As we sat, I pondered my luggage. I had a large hiking backpack and something I called the lump. The lump was an extremely large duffle bag with tiny wheels on one-end and plastic bars running down the flat side/bottom. In theory, you could roll it or drag it anywhere. Mine was black, wet and weighed about 70 pounds. Before you snicker, keep in mind I was going to Siberia for a year. What would you take? Still, I had an uneasy feeling, but couldnt really figure out why.

Our hour was up and it was time to head to the track platform. Like many European train stations, one had to actually walk down stairs, through a tunnel and then back up stairs to get to your platform. This is not the way it works in San Diego. It also doesnt rain in San Diego. Rain, 70 pound bag on wheels, plastic bars, stairsI think you get the picture.

The stairs were packed as I shuffled forward pulling the lump behind me. You would be proud. I made the first flight without maiming anyone or being slapped. Just as I stepped down the second flight, thou was nudgeth from behind.

Time slowed.

The lump hit me in the back of the knees. I fell back onto the lump. In a transformation beyond my primitive understanding of quantum physics, the lump became a high performance bobsled. Down I went.

Still in slow motion, I couldnt help but notice the agility of the Russians in the stairwell. Some jumped up an ornamental shelf running down the stairs. Overweight individuals sucked it up and suddenly became thin. Miraculously, not one soul was hit on my way to the bottom. My landing was uneventful, which is to say there wasnt a loud smack on the wall at the bottom of the stairs.

I jumped up and turned to see if anyone was injured. There was total silence. Faces just stared back at me. Apparently, the only thing injured was my ego and skin, which was turning a dark shade of red. Well, I like to make an impression! I vehemently prayed that none of them were going to Chita.

Everyone started moving again and not a word was said. Alas, the lump was not so accommodating when it came to climbing up the stairs on the other end of the tunnel.

Next The Trans-Siberian RailwayHow Many Days To Chita?!

Siberia Russia Part 6 when Stairs Attack in the Khabarovsk Train Station

Siberia Russia Part 5 Khabarovsk and a Little Russian

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In this continuing series, we cover my move from San Diego to Chita, Siberia to be a professor at Chita State Technical University. We pick up the story outside the airport in Khabarovsk, Russia.

Khabarovsk

Khabarovsk is an amazing city. Museums with works from Picasso, Rembrandt and other masters. A bustling downtown area with cafes, a lively music scene and architectural triumphs. Then again, maybe not. We were far more interested in finding a hotel with hot water and never ventured into the city.

Outside of the airport, we were a bit flummoxed by the fact there appeared to be no taxis. We quickly learned that practically any Russian with a car is also a taxi for hire. After 5 minutes of egging each other on, Grae made taxi arrangements and we were off. Apparently taking in out disheveled appearance after 3 days of traveling, our driver suggested the Intourist hotel. We readily agreed.

During communism, Intourist hotels were set up for exclusive use by foreigners. Ours was fairly nice and, importantly, had showers with copious amounts of hot water. You can see a picture at website: www.lodging.ru/hotels/intouristkhab.asp. After having returned to humanity with one of the best showers of my life, it was time to brush up on my Russian skills.

I am a huge fan of ice hockey. During the eighties and nineties, many of the best players were Russians. In interviews, they almost always talked about learning English by watching television. If it worked for them, it would work for me. Not exactly.

As Grae showered, I flipped through the eight available channels. Sitcoms were a non-starter, but I eventually found a news channel. I see the images. I know what the images are. I hear the words being spoken by the reporters. I have absolutely no idea of what words go with what images. Okay, lets back up. What words do they use over and over? Damn, do they have to talk so fast? After 30 minutes, I have learned nothing, nada, zippo. My respect for Russians playing in the NHL has never been higher.

Might as well sleep on it. Yes, day three of the trip was finally done. My original prediction of a 2-day trip was out the window. Still, we were in Russia, so how much longer could it take? Pull out a map and take a look at the country. It is twice the size of the U.S.

Next When Stairs Attack

Siberia Russia Part 5 Khabarovsk and a Little Russian

Siberia Russia Part 4 Airport Follies and a Stern Lecture

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In this continuing series, we cover my decision to move from San Diego to Chita, Siberia to be a professor at Chita State Technical University. We pick up the story aboard the flight from Anchorage to Khabarovsk, Russia.

Day 3 (Still)

As I lounged in my huge Aeroflot seat, the stewardess announced that we would be arriving in Khabarovsk in the next 30 minutes. Khabarovsk is located in the deep south of the far east of Russia on the border with China. It is the home of the Far East Military of Russia and is the largest city east of Lake Baikal. I was primarily interested in how hard it would be to find a hot shower.

Well, this was it, the first day of my year in Siberia. I had my phrase book, electric blanket, travelers checks and a solid rush of adrenaline. Of course, I had never actually taught a class before, but I would deal with that later.

We descended out of the clouds into a rainstorm. The view was still incredible. We were flying into a flat valley surrounded by snow-capped mountains. Everything was a deep green. A few cabins could be seen on the ground.

There was a very clear view of the airport as we banked through the valley to approach from the West. Umm, arent airports usually lit up? This one looked like a ghost town. The runways looked fine, but there were no lights in the buildings. There appeared to be a dearth of activity on the ground. I had never backpacked from a plane to the airport, but maybe this was the way it was done. When in Rome

Finishing off an incredible flight, our Russian pilot set us down with a light touch. As we taxied up to the airport, I could only think that if the rest of Russia was as good as the flight, it was going to be a great year.

Blink, blink, blinklights started coming on in the terminal! Despite being no more than 50 feet from it, we were herded onto a transport. We started, did a wide u-turn and stopped at the gate. All I could think of was The Gods Must Be Crazy.

The Gods Must Be Crazy was a hilarious movie released in the eighties (no jokes about my age). The first scenes of the movie are biting satires of our modern way of life versus the indigenous tribes of Africa. In one scene, a woman gets into her car, backs down to the end of her driveway and puts a letter in the mailbox. Ah, progress! The journey from the plane to the airport couldnt have been much longer.

The airport terminal was pretty industrial. That is to say, no effort was made to sell you fast food, booze, ice cream, Khabarovsk Hard Rock Caf shirts or duty-free crap you really didnt need. Frankly, it was a relief.

Russian customs worked pretty much the same way as customs at any airport. You grabbed your bags, bummed pens off of strangers to fill out forms and stood in long line with other tired travelers. Eventually, you got to the front of the line and tried to see how the person standing eight feet in front of you did it.

Unfortunately, my turn was also my first chance to experience the Russian language. I passed my passport, custom forms and visa through the little window. I also tried an innocent smile, which worked about as well as smiling at an IRS agent. Everything went smoothly until the customs agent started speaking rapidly and pointing at my customs form. Something was wrong, but I hadnt a clue as to what. I turned to Grae with a quizzical look and he came forward to interpret.

All international travelers quickly learn a fundamental rule. The wait here line at customs is sacred. To prematurely cross the line is to commit an act of war. Russian customs was no different. Grae was loudly instructed to get behind the line and wait his turn. The customs agent then gave me a stern lecture. To this day, I cant tell you if he was discussing my forms or the weather, but the tone was definitely stern. The lecture was capped by the universal customs agent expression known as stupid foreignerwhy did I take this jobI really wanted to be a painter

Eventually, the issue with the form was resolved. I would like to tell you that I took an active role in this, but I basically stood there while the agent grumbled and aggressively stamped the documents. I did actively pray that the stamp wouldnt explode, but that was about it. Grae moved through customs without incident and we walked out into the cool, wet air of Khabarovsk, Russia.

To be continued

Siberia Russia Part 4 Airport Follies and a Stern Lecture

Russia Travel Visa Vodka and Old Friends

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If you think getting a visa to travel to Russia is difficult, you should try getting one to travel around the country. Living in Russia, I needed just such a Russia travel visa.

Russia Travel Visa

Unlike many countries, foreigners in Russia must declare on their travel visa where they will travel in the country. If they want to add a location, they have to get a new, temporary visa for the location. Basically, it is red tape and bureaucracy out the ying yang.

While living in Siberia, I was invited to speak at a human rights conference in the town of Tinda. I wasnt entirely sure where this was, but new I needed a temporary visa to get from my city to it. My host, Oleg Vladimirovich, told me getting one would be no problem. I shouldve known I was in trouble when our first stop was the liquor store.

Four vodka bottles in hand, we hit our first stop at the home of a retired customs official who was married to someones half brothers third sister and so on. We reminisced and drank shots for a half hour or so. Feeling no pain, the customs official called a friend and off we went to meet him while leaving the open vodka bottle behind.

At the new gentlemens home, we cracked our second bottle of vodka. Reminiscing was undertaken, which left me out of the process since I had never met the chap before. Eventually, another phone call was made and we were off to make a new friend.

As you can probably guess, this process was repeated two more times. At our final meeting, I was so warm on the inside, cold on the outside as Russians say when demurely sipping vodka that I was reminiscing with a man and wife who I had never met before in my life!

Eventually, we obtained the necessary visa or something that wouldnt get me arrested. Oleg joked it was a semi-visa. It might work or might not. Seeing double, I headed home to pack my stuff for the train.

Russia Travel Visa Vodka and Old Friends