Another day in the capital was a day of touristy work too. We decided to have a late morning after the exhausting day of visiting the red square. The hotel duped us by mentioning free breakfast which turned out to be an expensive bill. Well at least I had a solid meal.

We wanted to explore some of the other sights and an English speaking sales lady recommended a bunch of museums and art galleries near the river. We were heading in the general direction and found a grand church – church of the Christ. It was well worth the effort and time spent to get there.

The rest of the day was spent visiting a handicraft centre and we picked up some impressive memoriblia and antiques. I should say, the Moscow visit was the most touristy visit to a town in a long while.

What I did find extremely impressive is the metro system. Though the place is typically in Russian, I started navigating around after the 2nd ride. Color coded and well marked exits make it a breeze to move around. The circle line drops the travel time heaps. The stations seem very old, the trains noisy and dirty from people walking in and out of snow. But it seems to me that the system is a lot more impressive than Singapore. There are no unnecessary and repeated warnings to the passengers and no restrictions on what to do. But the system runs, and runs efficiently.

People are extremely courteous and the metro seems like the place to get together. Lots of hugging and kissing adds a very romantic vibe to the town. A lot of people carry flowers and every corner seems to have a florist selling bouquets.

The highlights are also the stations. Each one of them have a unique design from the lights to murans, statues, tile work and stained glass. The place seems more organically put together and that is cool.

The schedules are impressive too, we never had to wait for more than 2 minutes for a train and never travelled more than 30 mins to get from one corner to another. Impressive for a large town like Moscow. The teains were so frequent that there was never enough time to gather people to make the cars congested.

The best part is that ge fares are a flat rate per ride and cheap at 25 rubles (1 sgd). I think that there are a lot of lessons to be learned from here on setting and running a train network. I am impressed and sad that Singapore pales in comparison.

Well those are the observations and rants. On the chick watch log, Moscow girls like thier friends elsewhere dress fashionably (not expensive, but stylish) I like that about Russia. People are colder, but I chalk that to big town paranoia.

I like this town and would not mind living here either.what with all the hot girls walking around and the history to explore here.

Hopped back on the train now to officially complete the Trans-Siberian on sleeper and heading to St.Petersburg.

Today is what I call a pure tourist day, though we hit a out of context blues pub in the evening. More of that later…

When in Moscow, the big deal is to visit the Red Square. So we went there. When I was a little kid, i had a very large poster of the St. Basil’s cathedral overlooking the Kremlin. I spent almost 10 years staringat the poster while growing up. But being in the red square really drives the scale home. The buildings lining the red square are immense. Immense. St basil’s is pretty in the snowfall too. A typical tourist moment lasted the whole afternoon.

We were trying out a group shot in front of st.Basil’s when a bunch of school kids walked in and wanted to join in the group shoot. Seems like we, the motley crew, look like the beat people around or are a novelty like the probocis monkeys. Oh well, I get more smiles than stares from the opposite sex and I don’t mind it one bit. Am basking in my own sex appeal now a days.

In the morning, earlier, I was given a coldshoulder by a couple of girls when I tried to approach them for some help with directions. I made up for that I guess since I found that there are a lot of friendly people in town. So officially, Moscow is alright in my book. With it’s strongly shopping oriented life style and all the issues related to being a big town, people are generally aloof and a wee bit reserved. I could even say paranoid. But that is alright, this happens in all big towns. So moscow is alright, it is still Russia, just a bit more European.

In the evening, we went off the marked roads to a small blues pub called road house. Blues in Russia? The place was so crowded that we could not get a table. We had to head to another restaurant nearby to get food and cone back later for some blues and drinks.

The visit and crowd was worth it. It is probably the best blues or jazz band I have ever heard in a pub. Additionally, got more smiles from local girls. That makes 3 hits in 3 cities in Russia. That mKes Russia totally OK in my book.

Tomorrow, may be more cultural indulgence before he head to the cultural capital St.Petersburg. May be I will have a perfect score when there. I hear people are great there too.

After agood nights sleep, we started early in the morning to catch the train to Moscow. I guess I officially record the coldest I have ever been. -34 it said at the station. The run to the cabin froze my fingers and took almost 5 minutes to get the blood flowing back.

Ironically the trains are getting better and the legs shorter. A overnnighter and a 24 hr train on the best train yet. The cities are getting larger and the stops far between, indication that we are heading to the capital.

We got in room service in the train, now that is something…

I have heard that the train stations in Moscow are beautiful, and I saw what they mean. Frescos in railway station with 50 ft High ceiling and grand chandliers welcomed us at the station we arrived at.

Moscow is snowing as I write this and is at -10 deg. Warmer than yesterday and I will have to layer on waterproof gear to mice around town.

This place is expensive though. A 20 min cab ride costed us 120 sgd (prepaid) and that is literally obscene.

Well we are here and Moscow is the most expensive town in the world and said to offer great sights. Russians think Moscow is not real Russia but I am Hopeful of some good time in this town too.

We were walking out to grab some lunch, the wind hit us hard. All of us ran for cover and grabbed the essential clothing to counter the wind. I guess now we are ready to see the sights on offer at Ekaterinburg.

We walked acros the city lake, which was an adventure on it’s own because the informal paths made by the ocasional walkers was not really solid. A few spills, slides and stamps later, we were across.

First stop was the cathedral of the blood, a magnificient memorial to the last czar Nichols and his family. The place was grand and the weather cold. Later We decided to take a walking tour of the town and that we did.

We hit a couple of other cathedrals, walked the lovers alley along the river while taking pictures all along.

We met a wedding party that was getting drunk on the champagne. We took pictures with the couple and got some nice glances from the bridesmaids should have asked them where they were going to party tonight. Would have been a good party to join . Ahem…

The evening turne out wilder than expacted and let me leave it at that I met this young girl in her 20’s (I seem to attract 20 somethings), Juliana who wished to leave Russia and migrate to America or Thailand. I hope she does that. Anyhow, I think the evening at Irkootsk still stands as the best evening of the trip, yet. Making fun people who enjoy the company of strangers and make u feel at home is a nice thing in a remote land.

So the first 2 legs of the journey comes to an end. Heavy heart leaving Irkootsk and looking forward to more fun at Ekaterinburg.

We logged in to The Hyatt, a particularly exensive but equally nice hotel in the heart of the town. The room has some great views.

Ilya mentioned something very interesting. He said, St.Petersburg is the heart of Russia, Ekaterinburg is the head and moskow are the pockets (money). He is right about Ekaterinburg, there are a lot of business executives around. The place looks charming too.

The first night was pretty uneventful. We walked around the streets looking for food, came across a square with ice sculptures and found a cozy but expensive nook ti grab dinner. The food was delicious and so was the service.

Till now Ekaterinburg seems to have a lot of English speaking populace to ease the conversations but it also seemed priced closer to Moscow than to the other parts of Russia. I guess we will find more watering holes when exploring the city tomorrow.

Enjoy the pictures, I will log more stories after the wild night out

The trans-Siberian is an epic. As it is with epics, it is difficult to place oneself at a specific place and time. EE have been travelling on the train about 5 time zones now. And 2 more to go.

Each person in the party is carrying clocks that show time from far and away. China, Singapore, Vladivostok, local time, Moscow time etc… When we ask for the time, we are never sure when it really is.

We wake up every day in a different time zone. It is 0330 on the train and the sun is rising. The sun rises but it is still dark till 0900. We eat breakfast at 1300 and dinner dinner know when. All the while, we never know where we are.

The only time we know the place is when we reach stations, but even if you consult a map, you are never able to place yourself in the world. Alienated in some ways, you feel lost but the connection to the real world awaits as the train leaves the station to it’s next destination.

We are on the train now, heading into Ekaterinburg at 1400 Moscow time, 1600 local time and 1900 Singapore time. Again with only the next destination, a hotel with warm shover in mind. What adventure awaits us, we are not clear but ready for all the fun on offer.

Leaving Irkutsk we are on the train again for the next 50 Hrs. The scenery has changed dramatically. A lot more snow and more leaf topped trees too. Different from the drier landscape of Siberia. I guess we will be expecting snowfall in the days ahead as there is visible moisture and lots of cloud cover. The temperature is on the warmer side to doing warmer then -10C.

We are on the Baikal express with friendly Providnitsa’s, nicer cabins and cleaner toilets too. The food is still bad and the meal cart service was poor. But we managed to ear heartily off the take out Pizzas.

There are a lot less people on this train it seems and a couple of hot mamas to boot.

We had a couple of surprising encounters. First was Ilya, a coal mine engineer from Yakutia. He was heading back to Altai mountains to meet his family. The other were a bunch of fellers from novo sibirsk – Alexander, dimitri and the other guy.

Let’s talk about Alex and group. They were pretty drunk when we met them. The talk was pretty much blabber but amicable. Plesant in the train though.

Ilya was a good conversationist as he was able to speak a little english.turns out, he was educated in an English school and still remembered enough if the language to be able to communicate with gestures and such. He has a tough job which he describes as extreme, living and working in -60deg weather in Yakutya. He was on his way to meet his family and an year old child in Altai. We spent a while exchanging stories with each other.

One thing that stuck with me was when he mentioned Siberia is real Russia. I kind of understand where he comes from as the harsh weather and the rural places is what reflects the attitude and lifestyle of most Russians. A nice nugget to remember the country by.

So I should say it is an enjoyable second leg to the journey.

Vici is one of the girls I got to know in Irkutsk. I prefer to call it Irkoootsk now knowing that this is such a fun place. Seems like when I am leaving irkoootsk I am taking a bit of the local people with me. Vici on my mind is my way of remembering this nice town.

After the late night, we had a late start to the day. Irkutsk has a good bit of history especially related to religion and we planned a quick tour of the churches before heading out on the next leg of the train journey.

We went around to the frozen river where a towering statue of Alexander III stood. Good photo op with lots of people taking strolls. I shoot a lot of street images and Irkutsk gave a lot of opportunity for that. People are very fashionable and dress with a lot of style. And I have tons of good images.

We then hit some orthodox and catholic churches and they were stunning. The murals in the Greek orthodox church was particularly beautiful with murals and frescos all over the walls and cieling. Well worth the time spent to get there.

The light was good for photographs and I guess I made good use of it too. We grabbed a quick lunch at a local pizzeria. The pizza was well made, had tons of veggie options and cheap to boot. We had to rush to catch our train after that and now am lying on my bunk bed as I write this.

Irkutsk ia a good base to get to lake Baikal but our schedules do not allow a longer stay. I wonder if a day is enough tine to spend in this town. It probably isn’t, but the memories of the day are good enough to leave a lasting impression of this place. And it is plesant memories I carry away from here.

Next stop, Ekaterinburg.