Frunze Sochi

... It is the usual story with the socialist regimes - lots of officialdom, multilayered processing, lack of grace and politeness and duplication seem to be the order of the day. We were given a guide called Anna, a very attractive young lady of 24 from the Ural area who and wasn’t shy about telling of her personal life when questioned by nosy guests. We took a trip out to the future Winter Olympic site at Krasnaya Polyana in the Caucasus ...

... at least I wouldn't freeze). We took the tube to Red Square with our guide and she showed us all the main things to see so we could visit them inside when we wanted to spend more time there. The stations looked very impressive and Jenya highlight a few "must see" stations on our map. It was so cold though I couldn't muster the enthusiasm to take pictures. The tour finished at about 12pm and we decided to head back to the hotel and check on the ...

... arduous journey to our accommodation both Anna and I were exhausted, but the excitement of seeing a new city quickly perked us up after we were dropped off and we checked in and met the group of Trans Siberian travellers that had been a part of the journey since St Petersburg. An eclectic mix of people comprised of Australians, Kiwi's and a small number of Brits and a more friendly, open minded group of people you could not hope to meet. We went to the local pub ...

... all my life.  They are amazingly beautiful in real life and a lot bigger than I thought they would be.  It was really cool.  After, we saw the eternal flame and stopped at a stand in Alexander Park and had hotdogs.  They were so good!  Yum!             We went back to hostel and made dinner and then made friends.  There was this couple there from Australia.  It seems that everywhere we go there is always someone in our hostel from there but they were so nice.  We ...

... tai jotain). Vahan siina pystyttiin jotain heittamaan, vaikka ma paaosin pitaydyin sivustakatsojan roolissa. Ystavallinen omista tarjoaminen alkoi heti ja siina sitten yhteiset oluet ja iltapalat nautittiinkin. Onneksi meilla oli salmiakkia ja suklaata. Matka meni mukavasti ja puolen paivan aikaan saavuttiin Moskovaan. Oli aika laittaa reput sailoon ja suunnata keskustaan katsomaan Kremlinia seka ...

Kazakhstan improved drastically for us after I wrote my last blog. We had been stuck in a hotel that was actually costing over ten dollars a night and didn't have any hot water. Actually, I think that they refrigerated the water, because it gave us brain freezes. Alban e-mailed local Adventists to see if we could stay in a church. We finally got an answer Thursday evening, and met some Adventist on ...

... us again. The bus couldn't get to the square to pick us up, so we walked and walked and walked. It wasn't so bad, but there's one old guy in the group who is 86 years old and walks very slowly, and it was pretty tough on him. As we drove away, we passed miles of trucks full of race cars. 080714 Kremlin and Armory We spent quite a bit of time in Red Square, this time in the daytime, but not enough time to wait for the GUM ...

... to bang into you. Not only the drivers behave this badly, it is the people too. Everyday, going to work, I see people crossing on red light very dangerously, the drivers getting furious, tooting... Metro system in Moscow is great. Some of the stations feel like galleries with the paintings, statues, mosaics and frescoed ceilings. Stations are huge and I wonder every time, how it is possible that the platforms fill up so quickly. The trains go very frequently - one is disappearing in the ...

... really skinny and I was scared of falling off. The worst part, though, was that it was just dirty. We found an extra hole way up to put luggage in, but it was scary to look in there. Instead, we tossed the blankets in there. The sheets were clean enough but it was quite apparent that the blankets hadn't been cleaned in the last 10 years. There was also a packaged breakfast for us. I didn't touch it, but I heard from some people most of the stuff ...

... to help the locals. . learn to like beer - it's the cheapest drink around ($2 for a big bottle), learn to smoke (50cents a packet so it must be good for you) and learn to eat up big (their servings are generous). But most important of all, learn to be patient. Things don't happen quite so quickly and as efficiently as back home, but hey, that's what travel is all about. We have still found ...