Friday, August 17th 3:10 Naushiki, Russia
We've been sitting here at the border station for over two hours. It is possible it might take another 9 hours--nobody knows. Everyone is just wandering aimlessly, wondering where to go, what to do and when we will get through! And why is this process so inefficient?
We left Irkutsk last night at about 8:45pm after saying good-bye to M, going to Moscow, at about 4pm and then Andrei and Zheniya at 8:10, going to Omsk. We had to say our good-byes to Roma, Julia and Masha from the street, in a quick good-bye. It is better that way. It was sad to see our GBT and Russia experience come to an end. It was two fabulous weeks full of hard labor and hard laughter. There were group bonding games that made me pee my pants, food that filled me to the brim, and endless hours of conversation, story-telling and jokes. There was a week-long killer game. I was killed on day three by a bomb at dinner. Then the second week we had special friends. Everyday we got a little flower bouquet, a candy, a present, or a note! It was fun and always brought a smile to everyone's face knowing someone was secretly sneaking around preparing gifts.
But even without the games and songs, people connected--stereotypes were broken and friendships were forged!
Showing posts with label trans-siberian train. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trans-siberian train. Show all posts
Friday, August 31, 2007
Train from Tanhoy to Slutyanka
Tuesday, August 14th, On the train from Tanhoy to Slutyanka
We packed up and left our camp yesterday. After a grueling 1 1/2 hour hike out with a pack weighted down with two tents and two loppers plus all my crap, we got to the national park center near the lake. The afternoon was lazy but disappeared quickly--unpacking, walking to town and a little store, the banya, lunch and then dinner prep.
The banya, or traditional Russian sauna and beating, was fabulous! Partly because it was my first time and in part because I was doing it with Russians in Russia near Lake Baikal! The general idea is much like a sauna or steam bath: wood, fire, water, rocks and a wooden house. There are two large buckets of cold water that have to be filled by hand. And there is a large tub of water connected to the fire stove that gets heated to boiling. There are pails and buckets that can be filled with either hot or cold water or a combo for bathing. You can bring soap and shampoo inside and do all your washing in the HOT HOT room. But the really unique feature of the banya is the ritualistic beating! It is supposed to stimulate your blood.
To be beaten you need branches from a pine or birch tree or some other tree gathered fresh! I was the only one of the three of us bathing together that wanted a beating. The Russian girls said they didn't like it. So down I went. I laid down (fully nude) on the upper bench to be beaten by pine branches. The branches were dipped in water first, and then Zheniya started the beating. She bet me first on my backside for 3-5 minutes covering every last inch. She didn't hit hard, just a light tap or touch, enough to feel the scratch of the pine needles on my skin. Then I flipped over and she did the same on my front side. It felt great and smelled wonderful--like x-mas trees! After the beating I was covered in pine needles! I ditched my warm water intended for bathing and filled up on cold. By this point I was about to suffocate in sauna. And I did run out to escape a few times, putting my head out the front door for fresh air. Much at M's amuzement!
It did feel amazing to sweat out the dirt and get a deep cleaning after two weeks. My nails are almost clean again. But it will be awhile before all my mosquito bites heal and the general conditions of my skin is back to normal. And who knows if my clothes or socks will ever fully recover.
At the moment, sitting on the train, we are stopped at some po-dunk town next to the lake. We seem to be on a commuter train, lots of people getting on and off at all these really little stops that don't look like much more than a few houses and a train platform. Tanhoy, where we got on, was just that--a few roads, a few houses, many of them abandon and a few cows. The houses looked like they mostly rely on fire for heat and the people were collecting water from a common water pump, so no indoor plumbing either. Many houses have metal or corrugated metal roofs with seemingly little or no insulation--remarkable given the winter temps and the amount of snow they must get. But each houe has beautiful window framed in bright blue designs. And there are almost always flowers in the window--quaint beauty amidst a harsh landscape.
We packed up and left our camp yesterday. After a grueling 1 1/2 hour hike out with a pack weighted down with two tents and two loppers plus all my crap, we got to the national park center near the lake. The afternoon was lazy but disappeared quickly--unpacking, walking to town and a little store, the banya, lunch and then dinner prep.
The banya, or traditional Russian sauna and beating, was fabulous! Partly because it was my first time and in part because I was doing it with Russians in Russia near Lake Baikal! The general idea is much like a sauna or steam bath: wood, fire, water, rocks and a wooden house. There are two large buckets of cold water that have to be filled by hand. And there is a large tub of water connected to the fire stove that gets heated to boiling. There are pails and buckets that can be filled with either hot or cold water or a combo for bathing. You can bring soap and shampoo inside and do all your washing in the HOT HOT room. But the really unique feature of the banya is the ritualistic beating! It is supposed to stimulate your blood.
To be beaten you need branches from a pine or birch tree or some other tree gathered fresh! I was the only one of the three of us bathing together that wanted a beating. The Russian girls said they didn't like it. So down I went. I laid down (fully nude) on the upper bench to be beaten by pine branches. The branches were dipped in water first, and then Zheniya started the beating. She bet me first on my backside for 3-5 minutes covering every last inch. She didn't hit hard, just a light tap or touch, enough to feel the scratch of the pine needles on my skin. Then I flipped over and she did the same on my front side. It felt great and smelled wonderful--like x-mas trees! After the beating I was covered in pine needles! I ditched my warm water intended for bathing and filled up on cold. By this point I was about to suffocate in sauna. And I did run out to escape a few times, putting my head out the front door for fresh air. Much at M's amuzement!
It did feel amazing to sweat out the dirt and get a deep cleaning after two weeks. My nails are almost clean again. But it will be awhile before all my mosquito bites heal and the general conditions of my skin is back to normal. And who knows if my clothes or socks will ever fully recover.
At the moment, sitting on the train, we are stopped at some po-dunk town next to the lake. We seem to be on a commuter train, lots of people getting on and off at all these really little stops that don't look like much more than a few houses and a train platform. Tanhoy, where we got on, was just that--a few roads, a few houses, many of them abandon and a few cows. The houses looked like they mostly rely on fire for heat and the people were collecting water from a common water pump, so no indoor plumbing either. Many houses have metal or corrugated metal roofs with seemingly little or no insulation--remarkable given the winter temps and the amount of snow they must get. But each houe has beautiful window framed in bright blue designs. And there are almost always flowers in the window--quaint beauty amidst a harsh landscape.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Adventures in Mongolia
Mongolian National Orchestra! Throat singing and all! I am in love with throat singing! 
Happy Birthday JP!
Mongolia Desert lunch with our Japanese 4WD, Japanese speaking driver and English speaking guide!
Staying in a ger! Loving life!
The travel buddies found sand dunes!! A happy happy couple (of friends)!Saying Good-bye to GBT
A big piva in Irkutsk before final good-byes! 
Matt left first! Everyone shed a tear...there were even a few kisses if I remember correctly!
Roma, our GBT leader, carried my bag! Wow! Andrei had carried it earlier that day! Thanks guys!
Waving good-bye to Zheniya & Andrei! Come visit us in the US!!
And then there were only two...off to Ulaanbaatar!Camping by Lake Baikal
Russian Village Life--I love the blue window trim!
A night by the lake--so idyllic!
On the shores of Lake Baikal! Crystal clear water you can drink! Delicious!
Team GBT bids 'paka' to Lake Baikal and to all our new friends!
Hiking out from our Lake Camp spot! Why can't I learn to pack lighter??Vladivsotok-Irkutsk Train Journey
Here we go: Vladivostok to Irkutsk! 
Nappy Nappy!!
All boys do is sleep!
A happy (but dirty) train family!
Food stops! Delicious homemade goodies! Sunday, August 26, 2007
Vladivostok-Irkutsk Train #7
Tuesday, July 31st 6:30pm Day #2 on the Trans-Siberian
The LP warned that third class would start to look like a refugee camp after a few days, but so far so good. Although we look a bit like refugees--dirty, greasy, smelly, haven't changed or bathed in days. But we are well fed, entertained, and I wouldn't be anywhere else in the world except where I am. A few times a day the train makes a 30 minute stop in a po-dunk town literally in the middle of Siberia. We can get out and stretch our legs, buy fresh bread, sausage, hard boiled eggs, potato-dill salad and fresh berries. So far everything has agreed with me. Our American neighbors in the next carriage over weren't so lucky with the train stop food and there was a puke incident between the carriages, but he seems fully recovered now.
There was much pre-Russia speculation and warnings about sketchy men and vodka parties that we would be required to join. But so far it has been a quiet trip minus the disco fever on the ferry that resulted in a painful hangover while clearing customs and immigration the next day.
The big surprises thus far in no particular order:
1. Listening to the "blue" dance song being piped into the train carriages on repeat for hours!
2. Arriving in Vlad on a national holiday with the Navy out in the bay shooting off fireworks.
3. Siberia is rolling green hills, meandering streams and birch forests.
4. Finding 3 cars in the swimming pool on the ferry.
5. Crocs haven't hit Eastern Russia yet--they turn lots of heads (I eventually left them in Irkutsk with my new Russian friends to start the trend)
6. Russians don't speak or understand Japanese, but it's all that comes out of my mouth.
7. Instant coffee tastes great on a 3 day train.
8. We are 3 of 5 foreigners on teh train that we have seen! Maybe the others are in 1st class.
9. 3rd class is classy! We get pillows, futons, blankets, sheets and a towel--luxury!
10. I barely miss my cell phone or internet....it is so freeing to be out of touch!
But I miss showering. I think it is time to devise a system! Desperate times call for desperate measures--water bottle showers in a 3rd class bathroom! It never felt so good to be clean!
The LP warned that third class would start to look like a refugee camp after a few days, but so far so good. Although we look a bit like refugees--dirty, greasy, smelly, haven't changed or bathed in days. But we are well fed, entertained, and I wouldn't be anywhere else in the world except where I am. A few times a day the train makes a 30 minute stop in a po-dunk town literally in the middle of Siberia. We can get out and stretch our legs, buy fresh bread, sausage, hard boiled eggs, potato-dill salad and fresh berries. So far everything has agreed with me. Our American neighbors in the next carriage over weren't so lucky with the train stop food and there was a puke incident between the carriages, but he seems fully recovered now.
There was much pre-Russia speculation and warnings about sketchy men and vodka parties that we would be required to join. But so far it has been a quiet trip minus the disco fever on the ferry that resulted in a painful hangover while clearing customs and immigration the next day.
The big surprises thus far in no particular order:
1. Listening to the "blue" dance song being piped into the train carriages on repeat for hours!
2. Arriving in Vlad on a national holiday with the Navy out in the bay shooting off fireworks.
3. Siberia is rolling green hills, meandering streams and birch forests.
4. Finding 3 cars in the swimming pool on the ferry.
5. Crocs haven't hit Eastern Russia yet--they turn lots of heads (I eventually left them in Irkutsk with my new Russian friends to start the trend)
6. Russians don't speak or understand Japanese, but it's all that comes out of my mouth.
7. Instant coffee tastes great on a 3 day train.
8. We are 3 of 5 foreigners on teh train that we have seen! Maybe the others are in 1st class.
9. 3rd class is classy! We get pillows, futons, blankets, sheets and a towel--luxury!
10. I barely miss my cell phone or internet....it is so freeing to be out of touch!
But I miss showering. I think it is time to devise a system! Desperate times call for desperate measures--water bottle showers in a 3rd class bathroom! It never felt so good to be clean!
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