Beijing
Dear friends, I safely got to Beijing today at 2:30 pm. The time difference between here and Poland is 5 hours and between here and NY is 11 hours. My journey on the Transsiberian train was an adventure, first being the fact that I almost missed that train! But let me start from the beginning.
Dorotka, Marcin and Karmelek drove me to the train station in Warsaw and installed me in my car. I was to share the compartment with Nadia - a Russian student who was visiting Warsaw since her parents work there. In Belorussia the train's bottom was changed to adhere to Russian standards - the Russian railways are wider than European and Chinese. The Belorussian customs officer checked our passports and wanted to return me to Warsaw since my Russian visa stated that the date of my entry to Russia was on the 7th of November and it was 6 o'clock on the 6th of November. The Russian consulate gave me the visa based on my train ticket so they knew what day and time I would be crossing the border - we crossed the Belorussian/Russian border past midnight. The customs officer wanted money to let me go but I told him that if he could let me stay on the train I would be grateful, and if he couldn't I would go back to Warsaw (in no event I would take part in corruption). He let me stay. I am writing this so that everyone taking the Transsiberian is cautious about the tricks one can encounter... Nadia and I met Daniel from California, who was in the different compartment but joined us for company since he heard us speaking English. We talked until midnight and then when Daniel wanted to go back he found the door to his cabin locked so, after some attempts to let him in, he joined us for the night and slept on the remaining unoccupied bed. We were telling each other jokes and about books and films until fe fell asleep. We got to Moscow's Bieloruskij train station at 12:30 pm, Nadia was picked up by her boyfriend Aljosha, and Daniel and I went to get my ticket to Beijing. Daniel was to meet with a group of tourists arranged by something called "Vodka train" service and he already had his ticket. I wanted to join the group but it turned out there were no tickets on the day they were to leave. I got the ticket for the following day which was Tuesday. I paid for the ticket $160 for the second class (the first class is $260 and the greatest benefit of it is the shower; there's no shower in the second class). We went toward the Red Square, eat a nice dinner - Mongolian barbecue - and from the restaurant observed the parade of enthusiasts of the revolution which used to the biggest holiday - November the 7th - but is not a holiday anymore. Many people still consider it the greatest holiday and all of them, with red flags, pictures of Lenin and even Stalin, went out the street to commemorate the revolution. The people who walked in the procession were usually old people, which cannot find themselves in the new system, I believe (and I understand why). The younger crowd was sitting in restaurants, sipping $4 cappuccinos (Moscow really is outrageously expensive)... Since I had no place to stay I decided to go with Daniel to a hotel, The Golden Colossus, where he was to stay and meet with the rest of the group. We found the Golden Colossus, which was neither
golden nor colossal, and in front of the entrance we met Murray from Australia who was rushing toward the taxi arranged by the hotel as it turned out the Vodka train group didn't have the reservation at Golden Colossus after all. We joined Murray and got to a hotel which looked like a student dorm transferred into a hotel but it was quite nice. I spent the night there. In the morning the group met in the lobby: Miloush and Irena from Holland, Angie and Holly from England, and Daniel and Murray. The "Vodka train" group was to be led by Irina - a very nice student of English. I joined them for breakfast and the visit to Kreml. More about Moscow and the "vodka train" tomorrow. I am going to take a shower, first since last Tuesday, hurrah!, and crowl into bed. Good night or good morning everyone!!!
Dorotka, Marcin and Karmelek drove me to the train station in Warsaw and installed me in my car. I was to share the compartment with Nadia - a Russian student who was visiting Warsaw since her parents work there. In Belorussia the train's bottom was changed to adhere to Russian standards - the Russian railways are wider than European and Chinese. The Belorussian customs officer checked our passports and wanted to return me to Warsaw since my Russian visa stated that the date of my entry to Russia was on the 7th of November and it was 6 o'clock on the 6th of November. The Russian consulate gave me the visa based on my train ticket so they knew what day and time I would be crossing the border - we crossed the Belorussian/Russian border past midnight. The customs officer wanted money to let me go but I told him that if he could let me stay on the train I would be grateful, and if he couldn't I would go back to Warsaw (in no event I would take part in corruption). He let me stay. I am writing this so that everyone taking the Transsiberian is cautious about the tricks one can encounter... Nadia and I met Daniel from California, who was in the different compartment but joined us for company since he heard us speaking English. We talked until midnight and then when Daniel wanted to go back he found the door to his cabin locked so, after some attempts to let him in, he joined us for the night and slept on the remaining unoccupied bed. We were telling each other jokes and about books and films until fe fell asleep. We got to Moscow's Bieloruskij train station at 12:30 pm, Nadia was picked up by her boyfriend Aljosha, and Daniel and I went to get my ticket to Beijing. Daniel was to meet with a group of tourists arranged by something called "Vodka train" service and he already had his ticket. I wanted to join the group but it turned out there were no tickets on the day they were to leave. I got the ticket for the following day which was Tuesday. I paid for the ticket $160 for the second class (the first class is $260 and the greatest benefit of it is the shower; there's no shower in the second class). We went toward the Red Square, eat a nice dinner - Mongolian barbecue - and from the restaurant observed the parade of enthusiasts of the revolution which used to the biggest holiday - November the 7th - but is not a holiday anymore. Many people still consider it the greatest holiday and all of them, with red flags, pictures of Lenin and even Stalin, went out the street to commemorate the revolution. The people who walked in the procession were usually old people, which cannot find themselves in the new system, I believe (and I understand why). The younger crowd was sitting in restaurants, sipping $4 cappuccinos (Moscow really is outrageously expensive)... Since I had no place to stay I decided to go with Daniel to a hotel, The Golden Colossus, where he was to stay and meet with the rest of the group. We found the Golden Colossus, which was neither
golden nor colossal, and in front of the entrance we met Murray from Australia who was rushing toward the taxi arranged by the hotel as it turned out the Vodka train group didn't have the reservation at Golden Colossus after all. We joined Murray and got to a hotel which looked like a student dorm transferred into a hotel but it was quite nice. I spent the night there. In the morning the group met in the lobby: Miloush and Irena from Holland, Angie and Holly from England, and Daniel and Murray. The "Vodka train" group was to be led by Irina - a very nice student of English. I joined them for breakfast and the visit to Kreml. More about Moscow and the "vodka train" tomorrow. I am going to take a shower, first since last Tuesday, hurrah!, and crowl into bed. Good night or good morning everyone!!!
posted by Asia Kabat at 6:26 AM
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