An Inter-city train experience

Friends have asked whether we intend taking the Trans-Siberian railway while we are here.

No – absolutely not.

 

I started pacing the deck after one day into a 4 day ferry trip up the Patagonian coast of Chile. So I know that watching trees go past from a railway compartment is not going to keep me amused for more than half a day.

But if that wasn’t enough, I just saw a couple of friends off on their 4 day trip to Irkutsk, and that experience was enough to completely sour me on Russian railways. 

They had made their booking through a travel agent and a couple of days ago we picked up the tickets from an office in the suburbs. That took about half a day and if I hadn’t been there to help them I have no idea how they would have found the place.

Okay, so now they had these PDF printouts with all the travel details, bar coded etc. Looked like tickets to us. We then invested some further time visiting the station (there are a lot of railway stations in Moscow) – a bit of sensible prior reconnaissance.

This morning we turned up. Usual railway station chaos. Almost nothing in English – the railways here have yet to grasp that most international travelers rely on English as a lingua franca – and the departure platform of the train only came up on the board about 30 minutes before it was due to leave. 

Kievsky station (which is much nicer than the one my friends left from)

 So then we waited on the platform outside the designated carriage until the door was opened, then showed the ‘tickets’ and passports to the carriage attendant. She refused my friends entry and babbled away beyond the coping capacity of my basic Russian language skills. Fortunately a young English-speaking Russian was standing nearby who advised us that these ‘tickets’ needed to be exchanged for ‘real’ tickets back at the station ticket office (there was no advice about this requirement on the PDF printouts). 

With 20 minutes to go we sought assistance at the ticket office – again, no English was available – again, we were fortunately rescued by an English-speaking Russian who was passing by, a young woman, who showed us how to operate a ticketing machine (which had, of course, no English-language option) to extract glossy little ‘official’ tickets. How these tickets were in any way better than the computer printouts I have no idea – particularly as we had to use the printouts to obtain these new tickets . I mean, for heaven’s sake, I print boarding passes for aircraft from my home computer all the time.

With just 10 minutes to go, my two friends managed to board the train. I had a look at their compartment. They had purchased exclusive use of a four-berth cabin. Just as well. It was basic and would be cramped - even for two. Had it been a prison cell, the inmates would have been justified about complaining of inhumane treatment.

Afterwards I went shopping to de-stress. I never thought I would find dodging shopping trolleys in the chaotic aisles of an Ashan supermarket so relaxing. 

My advice for anyone thinking of travelling by train in Russia – fly. 

(I will make one exception - the fast train between St Petersburg and Moscow, the Sapsan, is worth the effort)

Not in hot water

On Tuesday night we came home after a few days away to find this coming out of the hot water tap.

It seems a hospital nearby is having some work done on its plumbing and this has affected the neighbouring apartments. We will not receive hot water again until July 18 - which means it will have been shut down for 10 days.

Muscovites are used to having their hot water interrupted every summer. In an exasperating vestige of Soviet centralisation, hot water is provided by a number of plants around the city. These are are shut down for up to 10 days in the warmer months for cleaning and maintenance. For many, the incentive to shower decreases with the water temperature and the Metro becomes the Sweatro - a transportion system for millions of unwashed armpits. 

There is often discussion about whether Moscow water is safe to drink. The city says that the water is clean. I'm not a chemist, so I can't offer an informed opinion. I suspect, judging by what has come out of our hot water tap the past few days, that some of the pipes may be in a sorry state. So while the water may leave the treatment plant potable, who knows what condition it is in by the time it arrives.

I have also noticed that all of the Russian employees where my wife works only drink bottled water - until I see them drink from the tap, I certainly won't.

Open air markets

Well, we are halfway through the posting now. Another year and a half to go.

The Rugby World Cup Sevens is being played in Moscow this weekend and I attended a reception for the Australian teams last night. Not that I have the slightest interest in Rugby Union, I'm strictly an Australian Rules guy. But one has to show the teams support.

Every Thursday afternoon temporary stalls are erected in a number of Moscow streets and parks. Over Friday and the weekend, stall holders do a lively business. Mostly they sell fruit and vegetables, but many other small grocery items can be found.

On Fridays I usually buy a kilo of cashews from a stall in Novoslobodskaya. At about 500 roubles (or $15), they are a bargain compared to the price I would pay in Australia. I am going to miss stuffing myself with cashews when we leave Moscow.

The sadly missed Prospect Mira street market

Unfortunately some of these markets have disappeared recently. The large one at Prospect Mira being a notable loss. I have been told the city administration has been closing some down as they interfere with traffic. My opinion is the traffic is interfering with the street markets. 

A gloomy day at at the Prospect Mira market

The Novoslobodskaya market - where I buy cashews

Some of the markets, such as this one at Bagrationovskaya, are off street and run 7 days a week. They appear to be semi-permanent

Ostrankino Tower

From our apartment we occasionally see accidents at the intersections along our street, such as the one below. I have been told that Russian road law requires the vehicles involved in an accident, however minor, not be moved until the scene is attended by the traffic police. The police, being very busy dealing with the mayhem on Moscow's roads, can take a while to arrive. This vehicle was in the middle of the intersection for 3 hours.

Notice the 'pedestrian crossings'. These are purely decorative and serve no practical purpose.

Something else we can see from our apartment is the 7th tallest freestanding structure in the world. Ostrankino Tower. At 540.1 metres it is also the tallest freestanding structure in Europe, and has been so for 46 years since construction was completed in 1967. Note that I say freestanding - there are taller masts guyed by wires and drilling rigs in the ocean.

If you are curious, the current list is:
1. Burj Khalifa - Dubai - 829.8 m
2. Tokyo Skytree - Tokyo - 634 m
3. Abraj Al Bait Tower - Mecca - 601 m
4. Canton Tower - Guangzhou - 600 m
5. CN Tower - Toronto - 553 m
6. One World Trade Centre (Freedom Tower) - New York - 541.3
7. Ostrankino Tower - Moscow - 540.1

I'm a little surprised the Moscow authorities haven't sent some chap up to the top of the mast to attach a broomstick - that should be just about long enough to get 6th place back from the Freedom Tower.

After I told him he was looking at the 7th highest structure, a visitor recently remarked that it didn't look tall enough to be in the top 10 and I have to agree, I was also surprised when I found out. Maybe its the lack of bulk.

The interior of the tower was burnt out in a fire on 27 August 2000, which killed 3 people. Fortunately the fire broke out above the observation deck and restaurant, so most people were safely evacuated. This occurred soon after the Kursk submarine tragedy on 12 August, with which non-Russians are probably more familiar. Not a good month for Russia.

The observation deck is now open for guided groups, though there is no sign of the restaurant reappearing.

May Day

Lunchtime at Sparrow Hills last week produced the first evidence of Spring in the form of a worker enjoying a lunchtime sunbathe beside the Moscow River. Personally I don't think 15 degrees is quite warm enough to shed my shirt, but it has been a long winter.

Oh my, that feels sooo good!

Today is May Day. Traditionally a worker's holiday, it seems to be as much, if not more, a celebration of the arrival of Spring. The length of Tverskaya Ulitsa (a couple of kilometres) was blocked to traffic and access to pedestrians permitted only after passing through security checks. Ever security conscious, I expect the Moscow authorities are even more jumpy after recent events in Boston.

No sign, though, of anyone doing anything other than enjoying the day.

Excuse me, has anyone seen my balloon?

  

All right, you lot, just wait for the signal

 

Always on the alert for unauthorized interplanetary beings, a Man in Black mingles unobtrusively with the sunflower squad at the May Day parade.

Igor, put the kettle on, love. The family's arrived

No dear, I really haven't seen your balloon.

 

Tsaritsyno Park

We have just returned from a couple of weeks in Greece – the winter in Moscow has been particularly long and we had to do something to get rid of our persistent colds. We also just need to feel the sun and warmth. 

Something I have consistently noticed is that many Russian passengers clap when their plane lands. The applause is possibly due to the rise in Russia’s rate of outbound tourism, which has grown from being one of the world’s lowest during the USSR years to ninth. There are currently 40 million tourists a year departing Russia and this number is growing rapidly. Most of them would therefore be inexperienced and nervous air travellers. Hence the clapping. Relief, I suppose.

The paradox of this, to me at any rate, is that flying in large commercial jetliners is quite safe, whereas catching a Moscow taxi to the airport would be very hazardous indeed. Do taxi drivers also get applause for a safe arrival at Sheremetevo airport? 

Back in Moscow and the weather has finally warmed up. Sunny days the past week and those piles of snow are finally disappearing. The trees still look like sticks, but the birds sitting in them seem quite chirpy now.

To mark the change of seasons I have photographs from Tsaritsyno Park taken at various times of the year. This park is about 10 kilometres south of Red Square and easily accessed from Tsarisyno metro station on the dark green line number 2.

Catherine the Great's palace at Tsaritsyno

This is a park I enjoy very much. It has some magnificent buildings set in a charming mix of landscaped grounds and forest. 

The park passed through the hands of several noble families before being bought by Catherine the Great in 1775. Catherine ordered a palace complex built, but decided she didn’t like the centrepiece mansion and ordered it pulled down. Another architect designed a new mansion, but, not surprisingly I suppose, with that sort of frivolous approach to money, Catherine ran short of funds. It was unfinished at the time of her death. 

 

Church of Our Lady of the Life Giving Spirit, Tsaritsyno

Autumn at the lake in Tsaritsyno

Red squirrels are quite common in Moscow forests

Gulag Museum

I know I put a similar picture in a previous post, but I couldn't resist adding this one. The building is 7 stories high and although the worker is wearing a harness, it is not connected to anything.

I probably shouldn’t write today, as I am feeling a bit sour. Almost being run over by a young woman at a pedestrian crossing (what’s unusual about that?) didn’t help my mood.

A Canadian friend, also a geologist, said to me many years ago that he couldn’t figure out why the British had sent their free-settlers to an ice-box (Canada) and their convicts to paradise (Australia). In this Russian ice-box it has been snowing again these past three days and I have been feeling a bit homesick for paradise. No doubt I’ll perk up when spring arrives, but these Moscow winters are so darned long.

My topic for today suits my disposition – the Gulag Museum. This museum is located at 16 Petrovka Ulitsa. People say it is hard to find, but it’s more a matter of it not being obvious. One has to walk down a short tunnel almost directly opposite Stoleshnikov Pereulok. The museum is small, with thoughtful and poignant displays showing the lives and meagre possessions of individuals who went through these awful labour camps.

Entrance to the Gulag Museum, only visible after passing through a short tunnel.

 I’m not going to say anything more about the gulags. You can read about them on Wikipedia if interested. Nasty places. Interestingly, Stalin, who instigated the gulag system, is now becoming increasingly admired in Russia (just Google ‘Stalin popularity’). 

Stairway up to the museum.

Stalin's picture might be shown, but this is one place where he is not admired.