Russia
A Gourmand’s Travels through Russia
Tuesday, December 20th, 2011
For every trip – there’s an inspiration, often springing from the most mundane places. In this case, a couple of USSR postcards hidden away in a souvenir box worked their magic – and here I am, in the footsteps of my mother and aunt heading to the ultimate tourist destination of Socialist times: Russia.
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Trans-Siberian: Day 14-15 – Moscow
Monday, October 25th, 2010
“Roooodzher, do not stray from the collective!” Once again, our sextagenarian tour guide Natalia was yelling at me from the far end of one of Moscow’s many bridges. We were halfway through a lovely, several-hour amble around the city via the leafy park that runs parallel to Tverskoy Boulevard, but Natalia was flustered. As one of the most governessy tour guides from our train journey, she wasn’t used to people lagging very far behind her fluttering purple flag.
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Trans-Siberian: Day 11-13 – Novosibersk to Kazan
Monday, October 25th, 2010
Back on the train out of Irkutsk the following morning, we were forewarned: these next several days were to have little variation in terms of landscape. It would be birch tree after birch tree after birch tree, since for certain stretches of Siberia one can see very little else. 70% of the western Siberian region of Sverdlovsk, for example – itself the area of Holland, Austria and Switzerland combined – is covered in forest. Still, after a few busy days in cities that overwhelmed with their exoticism and difference, I was actually quite relieved to have a few quieter days where I could sit in my cabin and simply gaze out the window.
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Trans-Siberian: Day 9-10 – Irkutsk
Monday, October 25th, 2010
Irkutsk’s railway station lies right on the banks of the extremely wide Angara river, but unless you look behind you on your way out the train, you’d never know this leafy, industrious capital was set anywhere near a body of water. Of course, I knew the place well from countless days spent playing Risk as a kid; it had rivaled Kamchatka as the place on the map with the most exotic place name – and therefore the most desirable property to own. Now the administrative centre and capital of Eastern Siberia, Irkutsk was once a critical caravanserai stop in intercontinental trade – and the extension of the Tea Road from Ulaan Baatar. It later became a scientific powerhouse and point of departure for explorations to eastern Siberia. Bering, for one, began his expeditions here.
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Trans-Siberian: Day 8 – Lake Baikal
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010
At dawn this morning – about midway through our journey from Beijing to Moscow – our locomotive ground to a halt so that a number of us braver souls could have the experience of a lifetime: riding in the great outdoors at the very front of the locomotive.
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Trans-Siberian Express
Sunday, August 2nd, 2009A wise man once said ‘the journey not the arrival matters’ and if any holiday proves that adage, this one does. This was a journey I will never forget.
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