After a peaceful lazy day; a morning run, lazy long lunch and an afternoon boat cruise around the cliffs on icy waters we made our way down stairs to the transfer bus. We were to be preparing for a three night and four day train journey dissecting Russia through three time zones, and insane landscapes. To prepare we made a stop at a supermarket in Irkust stocking up on packet noodles, coffee, tea, dried fruits, and of course chocolate. During our shop we were unsure of the timeframe given to us by Costa ( the Russian cliche), he assured us we had plenty of time to make the train....
It wasn't until we saw the clock at 10:20pm with a departure time of 10:50pm that we asked costa how much further the drive was. He responded with " half an hour, you will need to run".... Ok, greaaat. The bus stopped to a halt outside the station and we worked as a team to sprint through the underground network of tunnels to find our platform. Chloe falling behind spilling her essential groceries as her ' I love Mongolia' bag did not return the feeling, breaking through the at the straps....packet noodles and essa everywhere.
We made it! With precisely three minute to spare, panting and exhausted the attending didn't bother checking our passports- I think out of pitty. Cans were cracked as the train started to roll.
The train trip was really a blur- the first 24 hours spent catching up on essential sleep the first evening with a ladies card game and drinks... Then came day number 2.
Day 2 - not too easily recalled, began with a midday bottle of vodka on the restaurant cart courtesy of a few locals. One shot. Two shots, three shots more... Tiff was in 'a whole new world', chloe went to 'never never land' and I ended up leaning over the train toilet. Charming..
Day three- delirious, unshowered, nothingness.
Day four- cabin fever, arrival in Kazan, a shower and reaaaal food!!!!
Kazan was an amazing city with a great vibe, fantastic weather, a youthful scene, beautiful parks and great coffee. We spent the first evening dining with the group trying dishes our honcho Kate had recommended. An evening stroll through the Gremlin, errr Chremlin.... Ummm KREMLIN allowed us to see Kazan at night. The skyline glowed in the northern evenings, peacock blue skies, still dark enough to see the stars, the clouds still visible as the sun never really left. It was quiet, still, and cold. And if that view did not make us fall in love with the place then our second day did.
After a quick breakfast we caught a bus in to the countryside 40 minutes from the centre of Kazan, we saw a mosque beautifully painted on the interiors with tulips and wild flowers surrounding. We made our way over to the lake and squeezed in a romantic row along the water. Us three girls crammed in with the delightful Vladimir ( my future husband) as he rowed us along.
We soon left for the most incredible lunch, a traditional BBQ, with the largest salmon steaks I have EVER seen or tasted, still salivating at the thought. As time was of the essence we caught the bus back into the city and wondered along the main stretch, had a few cocktails and made our way up to the meriton roof top bar for wifi, shisha and drinks as we killed time before our train.
It was another emotional good bye to Kate (they really seem to get attached) before our last (!) overnight train and a bus transfer to the little village of Suzdal. Getting off the train at 5am we were greeted by monster mosquitoes and lovely Nick, an international literature student who had decided to work as a honcho in order to improve his English. A few hours on the bus through the city of Vladimir we finally reached our destination.
We spent the day walking around the quaint town with nick. He showed us the high street and took us down to try some local produce- honey beer. The locals have a honey like cider which comes in a multitude of flavours. We stepped into a long room with bench tables and a rounded ceiling painted with vines in pastels and gold. The waitress brought out for each of us a tray with 10 ceramic cups, each containing a different flavour of honey beer. Nick talked us through each from honey blossom, to pepper, salt, sugar, barley and pine combinations. All of which tasted a little too good. We worked up an appetite and stepped into the cafe next door for a light lunch. The afternoon continued with further sightseeing and a much needed nap before dinner. After feeling like a night in I spent time planning my arrival for Leeds and tiff and chloe went with the group for a meal in a cute little restaurant.
After a real 8 hours sleep, tiff, chlo, Jane and myself rose at 8 for a morning bike ride through the village. We rode through muddy back lanes amongst some beautiful cottages. Nick had said earlier that the government had placed restrictions on building above one story in order to preserve the ancient town. This made for a great scenic ride. Tiff and I had a makeshift breakfast of yoghurt and banana and continued our ride through the park and beyond whilst chloe and Jane headed off for a real breakfast.
A long shower later tiff and I cruised down to the supermarket to buy bits and bobs for lunch and found ourselves with two guys from Chili??? We walked them down to a place they could try the honey beer and exchanged travel stories.
A makeshift lunch later and we're off again for a 4 hour bus ride to Moscow!
Cannot wait.
Xx Eric
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