Nikol Hotel Perm

Well I have done my first of 4 straight days on the train. I muse admit I am starting to fell a little bit stir crazy already and will deifnatley be looking forward togettingoff the train on the 5th day. All of us sleept really well last night it has been the best night sleep of my journey so far. Even though the train was rocking I slept for a good 8 ...

... gekauft und dann gefragt, ob wir ihn nicht auf 100gr Wodka einladen wollen. Okay - kein Problem. Nur dann ist der Typ nicht mit 100gr dahergekommen, sondern mit einer ganzen Flasche, die er sich mit dem Kommentar "That can only Russian man, no american boy" mit einem Zug zur Hälfte runtergehaut hat. Das ist dann ungefähr zehn Minuten gutgegangen , aber dann war der Typ so betrunken, dass er alle begrapschen wollte und keinen Meter mehr grade gehen konnte.

... Kaverimme Fen ja Du ovat kylla ihan mahtavia heppuleita. Hopottavat meille kiinaks jotain ja sit kattovat ihmeissaan, et ettekste nyt noin yksinkertaista asiaa tajua. Ne syo ihan helvetin paljon nuudelia. Syo ne kyl kaikkee ihmeellistakin kanan varpaista alkaen ja tarjoovat aina meillekkin. Ulkonaosta riippuen joko maistan tai en. Annika tietysti ei, jaa paitsi kurkkua. Huomaatteko miten jannaa. Syomista... Kirjoittelen kohan on jotain asiaa. Pistanpa kuvia nyt ainakin.

... which made the whole experience ten times better, as it is our first snow this year and our first snow in Russia. We were like little kids at Christmas! We only had 2 days in Perm, so we spent our time walking around the town, and checking out the sights as we came across them. The guide book was not very detailed when it came to Perm, so it was a case of finding things for ourselves. We found a beautiful little church, which we went inside of, only to come face to ...

... be a a bit less intense as we visit the Kungar Ice Caves, to see the caves and all the staligtites and staligmites.......if anyone needs a reminder as my mother would say Staligtites hang down....like a pair of tights on a washing line!!!!!!! We are staying at a "Homestay" which is a 6th floor apartment of a Soviet-era apartment block. The Sheraton it certainly isn't, but the family are lovely, and after arriving we discovered ...

... quick learner, unlike merlin. We soon realised that the air conditioning didn't work in our carridge and on one day the temperature reached 36c, after a day of this we had had enough and we ventured out up the train to see if there were any other english speakers on board and also to find the restraunt cart. We met 3 lovely girls Sophia,Julia and kate and we ended up playing scrabble in there air conditioned carridge. When we finally got to the ...

... The sides of the roads were mud and in one service area, where we stopped for coffee, we clouted the sumpguard on the way in! All the coffee here is served black with sugar added. Requests for milk, even in hotels, is met with a firm NYET! Where are all the cows we wonder, there is a plentiful supply of good cheese but little milk.

... for about 40 roubles - 80p). As we head east you start to get this weird time effect. The train schedule stays permanently on Moscow time, but we've already crossed a couple of time zones, and of course evening arrives earlier and earlier with each passing day, but keeping track is kind of odd. In a way the sudden jarring jetlag of air travel is easier to deal with, or maybe its just that I'm more used to it.

I have skipped a couple of days here and I will try to give you a brief look at the Trans-Siberian railway. The excitement of being on the rail wears off very fast! The scenery is very nice, trees, fields, rivers - but after 4 days it all looks the same. The cabins are really quite small, and when you are 4 to a cabin you get a little sick of the people around you - especially the snorers! There are no showers on ...

... themselves with the Fuji FInePix. Firstly, a piece of dust has found its way into the lens mechanism and now leaves a blotchy watermark on any landscape photo I take. Booo. Secondly, the mode lever has malfunctioned so I can only take Auto focus pictures with it - no video or special setting photos (e.g. 3 second exposures) are now possible). Since it's less than four months old this is a little disappointing ...