Gtk Rizalit Suzdal

Hey guys,<br><br>Some of the more memorable moments from our trip:<br><br>Live fish brought to the table at dinner our first night...tobogganing down the hill from the Great Wall...the Forbidden City...walking through hutongs at night...bargaining...looking for camera batteries...looking for soldiers in Tienanmen square...border crossings...bogie changing...dinosaur bones in Ulaan Baator...illegal photos...horseback riding...ger camp...buuz making...archery ...

After spending 4 days in the busy Moscow, it is nice to come out to the country side for a change. Suzdal is another one of the Russian UNESCO treasure. It is one of the former capital of the old Rus empire back inthe 1100's. The old capital of Rus empire is located in the southern part of the city called the Kremlin. This is a cluster of churches and cathedral on top of the hill and ...

... me off to Andrew, ignoring the fact that my dad insisted on speaking in very poor, loud Russian to a dog and waving at every babushka he saw, and finally realizing that Andrew's "classical" music was actually the string quartet tribute to Nirvana of all things, we arrived in Ivanovo.

Nous voila a Vladimir chez notre 2e hote, de nouveau tres accueillante. Irina est donc venu nous attendre a la gare puis nous a emmene faire un tour de Vladimir by night. C'etait tres sympatique. La ville est beaucoup plus petite que Moscou et St Petersbourg, et aussi beaucoup moins touristique ! Nous sommes partis sur la ...

... states, to Japan; he had been working for Price Waterhouse Cooper's for the past year, until he got fired due to the financial crisis; he finished his salad and beer at our table, and retreated to his hotel next door; I didn't believe a word he said. Before going to bed, signed my host Sarah's guest book. Apparently, numerous people have slept on her couch, since she is a member of the "Couch Surfers" club, a network of travelers offering their couches for free.

... me the way to my wagon. During this journey, I have met many guys who tried to rip me off. However, I should get used to the fact that the clear majority of the people that I will encounter will mean no harm. As expected, the Vladimir train station was much smaller than any of the 3 Moscow ones. Inside, I bumped into a drunk who asked for money. You have to act relaxed with these guys. If they notice you are scared, you become an ...

After Moscow we drove out to a small town called Suzdal for one night to stay in a wood lodge. The town was very quiet with one main street and about 30 cathedrals....and dont forget the museum of wooden architecture!! So not much to report, but it was nice to see parts of Russia away from the main cities. We also stopped in Vladimir for lunch at a soviet era packcake house (Yum).

... could not get it in the morning. The whirlwind tour of Suzdal was full of splendor. Blue sky was dotted with the odd cloud. The only challenge was getting the angle to take the pictures. Walking round I decided there were more religious establishments per capita here than Louth (hometown England) has drinking holes. Not surprisingly the amount of churches here make it a popular choice for Russians to Wed. The evening I pampered my self with a bath and all the extras they provide you with.

... bunk (hooray). Sharing cabin with Sarah and Gerry (English couple on way to visit Sarah's mother who is teaching in China) and Dave from Australia. 21 degrees on train and straight into the shorts for rest of the journey. Windows all sealed up and Bora saying most modern carriage of Trans Siberian stock. Slept OK tonight but a lot of swaying. So here we go - 3 days, four nights and 5 time zones before get to Irkutsk! The train is always on Moscow Time.

... through the pitch-black through back streets and on for ages, but everyone had seemed so nice so far that I gladly didn't give it any thought. Finally, we arrived! And now, now I could bask in the sweet warm light of gloating, for we had been provided with a very nice, cheap bed in an old couple's house. I had been jokingly saying 'Well, it's the countryside, we'll just rock up and get a room a some farmer's house for the night' all along when confronting Charis ...