TravelStream™ news feed for member pchun88 on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/pchun88 en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Fri, 07 Aug 2009 15:05:05 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pchun88/8/1249671810/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pchun88/8/1249671810/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pchun88/8/1249671810/tpod.html Fri, 07 Aug 2009 15:05:05 -0400 Around the World...Again 2009

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

St. Petersburg, North-West Russia, Russian Federation

The next two days we were in St. Petersburg, Russia.  Having spent two weeks in Russia, I knew what to expect.  The city itself sets itself along a river.  We visited some of the famous palaces and parks.  The dome churches are something to admire, many of them are plated with gold.  St. Petersburg is an international city filled with designer shops and ethnic restaurants.  Add Moscow to the mix and what you have our two cities that would compare to any major city in the world.  However, these two cities really separate themselves from all the Russian cities and I don’t think you really get the true Russian experience without seeing some of the smaller cities.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pchun88/8/1249670905/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pchun88/8/1249670905/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pchun88/8/1249670905/tpod.html Fri, 07 Aug 2009 15:03:09 -0400 Around the World...Again 2009

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Copenhagen, Zealand, Denmark

Hello All, Today we flew from Brussels to Munich, Germany.  We rented a car for 4 days and are headed to Salzburg, Austria (Beethoven's old hangout).  I wanted to fill you in on what happened during my cruise.  It's quite long, I will admit, a bit dull.  Nothing terrible exciting or jawdropping happened on the cruise.  Except for the fact that I became a camera toting tourist looking to take photo after photo.   So in some strange way, I kind of missed being in Russia.  Partly because it challenged my beliefs about people and pushed me to the edge.  Now, I'm all for living on the edge, but I need a guard rail to go with it.  Russia also had an element of danger in it.  It's like watching one of those Hitchcock movies that keeps you in suspense until the end.  Fortunately, I made it out alive.  Whereas, traveling through Scandinavia is like watching "Leave it to Beaver," everything here seems so orderly and perfect.  DenmarkAfter my 2-week excursion through Russia I flew to Copenhagen to meet my brother.  Now the Danish are also known to be quite reserve, but after Russia, anything seemed warm to me.  Just getting out of the airport I saw people smiling and willing to help me around.  It was great to see my brother.  We had traveled around the world together a few years back.  Now we were back again ready for a 12-Day excursion through Scandinavia.  But I had to change my role as the Chino Gringo and back to be part of a supporting cast as my brother’s “human mule.”  You see, if you don’t know this already, my brother is in a wheelchair.  Now, I am not his caretaker because he doesn’t need one.  He is much the independent type.  In fact, he had traveled through Spain and Italy for a month on his own before we met in Copenhagen.  However, I do run some of the duties including laundry service, luggage handling, and anything else that requires heavy-duty physical work.  But I don’t mind, its does my body good.CopenhagenFrom the outside looking in, Copenhagen appears to be a model city.  Apart from some graffiti, the city is clean and eco-friendly.  Bicycling is a popular form of transportation and people actually follow the crosswalk signals.  Copenhagen is also a pricey place to live U.S. standards.  For example, I paid $10 dollars for a Big Mac meal.  A 20-ounce bottle of Coke cost us $4!  Thank goodness we were only there for the weekend.  One thing I found quite interesting in Copenhagen and many of the Scandinavian countries was the strollers of babies and parents.  In Denmark, employers are required to give 12 months of maternity.  In Sweden, they give 18 months.  Not a bad deal.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pchun88/8/1249670779/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pchun88/8/1249670779/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pchun88/8/1249670779/tpod.html Fri, 07 Aug 2009 14:48:14 -0400 Around the World...Again 2009

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Tallinn, Estonia

Cruisin'On Monday, Tom and I headed to the port to embark on our cruise. It was my first time, which always makes for an interesting experience.  Cruising is almost a too easy way of traveling.  It’s kind of like visiting your grandma’s house for the week.  Meals are always ready to go, the beds are made for you in the morning, and so on. In fact, I would say the most difficult task I had so far was deciding on whether to have the chocolate soufflé or caramel peach tart for dessert.  Yes, it’s a tough life.  However, just like grandma’s house you have to follow her rules.  Each day we disembarked the ship we also had a curfew to get back on it.  So really, we only spent half a day visiting each city.  So the truth is, I couldn’t tell you much about the cities I visited, although, I will try to give you a short synopsis.Tallinn, EstoniaOne thing that cruising takes away from the travel experience is that you can’t seem to get away from each other.  Our first day off the ship began with a herd of aging men and women sporting their khaki zip coats and camera on their necks.   The part of the city we visited was the historical medieval town.  However, it had a Disneyland feel to it with some locals dressed in medieval garb.  Add a McDonald’s and some tourists and this place loses something in the end. 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pchun88/8/1249670586/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pchun88/8/1249670586/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pchun88/8/1249670586/tpod.html Fri, 07 Aug 2009 14:46:09 -0400 Around the World...Again 2009

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Copenhagen, Zealand, Denmark

Hello All,Today we flew from Brussels to Munich, Germany.  We rented a car for 4 days and are headed to Salzburg, Austria (Beethoven's old hangout).  I wanted to fill you in on what happened during my cruise.  It's quite long, I will admit, a bit dull.  Nothing terrible exciting or jawdropping happened on the cruise.  Except for the fact that I became a camera toting tourist looking to take photo after photo.   So in some strange way, I kind of missed being in Russia.  Partly because it challenged my beliefs about people and pushed me to the edge.  Now, I'm all for living on the edge, but I need a guard rail to go with it.  Russia also had an element of danger in it.  It's like watching one of those Hitchcock movies that keeps you in suspense until the end.  Fortunately, I made it out alive.  Whereas, traveling through Scandinavia is like watching "Leave it to Beaver," everything here seems so orderly and perfect.  DenmarkAfter my 2-week excursion through Russia I flew to Copenhagen to meet my brother.  Now the Danish are also known to be quite reserve, but after Russia, anything seemed warm to me.  Just getting out of the airport I saw people smiling and willing to help me around.  It was great to see my brother.  We had traveled around the world together a few years back.  Now we were back again ready for a 12-Day excursion through Scandinavia.  But I had to change my role as the Chino Gringo and back to be part of a supporting cast as my brother's "human mule."  You see, if you don’t know this already, my brother is in a wheelchair.  Now, I am not his caretaker because he doesn’t need one.  He is much the independent type.  In fact, he had traveled through Spain and Italy for a month on his own before we met in Copenhagen.  However, I do run some of the duties including laundry service, luggage handling, and anything else that requires heavy-duty physical work.  But I don’t mind, its does my body good.CopenhagenFrom the outside looking in, Copenhagen appears to be a model city.  Apart from some graffiti, the city is clean and eco-friendly.  Bicycling is a popular form of transportation and people actually follow the crosswalk signals.  Copenhagen is also a pricey place to live U.S. standards.  For example, I paid $10 dollars for a Big Mac meal.  A 20-ounce bottle of Coke cost us $4!  Thank goodness we were only there for the weekend.  One thing I found quite interesting in Copenhagen and many of the Scandinavian countries was the strollers of babies and parents.  In Denmark, employers are required to give 12 months of maternity.  In Sweden, they give 18 months.  Not a bad deal.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pchun88/8/1249670409/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pchun88/8/1249670409/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pchun88/8/1249670409/tpod.html Fri, 07 Aug 2009 14:42:42 -0400 Around the World...Again 2009

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Vladivostok, Far East Russia, Russian Federation

I'm just going through the motions.  Life without a scratch.   The next day I woke up to find the girls having breakfast right across from me.  I got myself up and worked on breakfast myself: beef jerky, yogurt covered peanuts, and a generic Rice Krispie treat.  This is living.   I sat there looking out the window.  No words were spoken.  And for the first time in a long time I felt a loneliness.  I didn't speak Russian, nor they any English.  I tried to speak to them using my Russian phrase book, but they however did not match my effort or willingness to connect.  But I guess they didn't need to.  They were a group of three.  I was one.  So I spent much of my time looking out the window, listening to music on my headphones, and enjoying the scenery of Siberia.   But that same day I was standing in the hallway when I met a young Russian man in his mid twenties named Sergei.  He was tall, skinny, and into rock music.  He stopped to ask me, in broken English, if I was Thai.  Apparently, he had visited there before and ended up loving everything about it.  I told him I was Chinese, but born in Laos.  He didn't seem to care, Laos was close enough to him.  As we got to talking he invited me over for a beer in his cabin.  And since he was the only one on that train that could at least muster a few complete sentences, I decided to join him.   We had walked through a couple of carriages before we got to his cabin.  Inside were three men passed out on their beds and a bunch of empty beer and vodka bottles all over the place.  I took a seat at the bottom bunk as the two guys on the top bunks slowly started to wake up.  The other man sitting across from me was a shirtless, hairy large man, who was out cold.   Sergei and I were drinking beers and talked as much as his limited English and my lack of Russian would take us.  But in walked two more fellows, one was a tall, built man and the other was a big fellow with a beer keg for a belly.   I had recognized both of them earlier that morning as they passed by my carriage with a bottle of vodka in hand.  One of them said something to me in Russian, but I just dismissed it.  They both sat down and closed the door, leaving a slight crack open.   Sergei introduced me to everyone, but the one man that striked me the most was Viktor, the XXX-Large man.  I went to shake his hand but it was so huge I could barely get a good grip.  He also had these squinty eyes that looked right through you.  He was an intimidating guy to say the least. Small talk was exchanged between Viktor, Sergei, and me as we continued to drink our beers.  I'm starting to fill a bit uneasy knowing that the two guys that walked in looked like trouble from the start.  Yet, through our conversation they appear to be friendly.   But then, Viktor, says to me.  "Paul, you are with three girls, right?" "Uh, yes,"  I replied. "Paul, those three girls.  You bring me one," he says as he makes a one with his index finger.  He was very calm about it yet it was clear that he was serious.   Stop, pause, eject.  Immediately, I shake my head and hands and tell him that I don't even know those girls?  I start to think of an exit plan, but the door was nearly shut.   Fortunately, Sergei starts talking to me and Viktor goes back to his conversation with his other friend.   We continue to talk some more when Sergei makes a sign with both hands using his index and ring fingers.  I look confused.  He then pulls me by the neck and leans toward me.  He says in his thick Russian accent, "You see my friend Viktor over there.  He's Russian gangster."  Then he pauses, "but just a little," he says and starts laughing.   I give him my fake smile, like the kind you give on picture day.  Sergei offers me another a beer but I politely refuse.  Yet he adamantly insists.  So now I was stuck there drinking another beer when I all I wanted to do is to get out of that cabin.  Viktor starts talking to me again.  He doesn't speak much English at all so he just says openly, "Paul.  Those three girls.  You bring me one."  Again, I shrug my shoulders.  Fortunately, this time Sergei backs up my story.  Viktor forgets about it and starts talking to his friend again.   Now, I've never been much of a scrapper, but there was no way in hell I was going to let that guy go near those girls.  Thank goodness I didn't have to go that route.  The train had stopped and Sergei asked me if I wanted to go out for a smoke.  I told him no but said I should be heading back to my cabin.  He shakes my hand and says goodbye.  And in the end, I leave without a scratch along with my own personalized Russian gangster story to tell. 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pchun88/8/1249670144/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pchun88/8/1249670144/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pchun88/8/1249670144/tpod.html Fri, 07 Aug 2009 14:37:07 -0400 Around the World...Again 2009

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Vladivostok, Far East Russia, Russian Federation

Set on top of rolling hills was about all the charm Vladivostok had.  Another gloomy day with fog so dense that a view from the bay was impossible.  My tour guide showed me around the many war memorials and museums.  Nothing terribly exciting for my taste.   However, what I did find strange an uneasy were all the people staring at me.  I would smile at them, trying to get them to smile back.  But with no such luck.  As we walked through train tracks and sidewalks, everyone seemed to give me a cold look.  It was something in their eyes.  I guess someone forgot to tell them that the Cold War is over.   I spent the next day with a friend I met through Couchsurfing.com.  Her name was Maria Baranova and she was the sunshine I needed on another cloudy day in Vladi.  Witty, smart, funny, and cute she charmed her way into my heartstrings.   We talked for hours over cups of tea and California rolls.   Finally, I had to ask her about Russian people and why they never smiled.  She told me that they prefer to keep to themselves and frankly they find it annoying if you smile at them.  Plus, they think it's an artificial smile.  I mean really?  Why would anyone smile at a stranger?  Besides, no one can be happy all the time, right?  Obviously they've never been to Disneyland.  But then again, with 8 months snow, I guess there really isn't much to smile about.   We left it at that and I told her about my Trans-Siberian trip.  She simply laughed at me. "So you want to spend 3 nights on a train with a bunch of drunk soldiers?  And don't you know the train is not very hygienic, and it also can be very dangerous.  You should hide all your money and be very careful," she said.  Thanks Maria, up until then I was feeling great about trekking through the Trans-Sib.  Now, I was a bit unsure.  Oh well, what's done is done.  To be continued...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pchun88/8/1249669906/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pchun88/8/1249669906/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pchun88/8/1249669906/tpod.html Fri, 07 Aug 2009 14:34:32 -0400 Around the World...Again 2009

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Moscow, Central Russia, Russian Federation

The next day I was on a one-day train to Moscow. From 3 to 2 to 1 day on a train, this was a walk in the park.  My cabin mate was Nikolai, a 19 year-old business major going to Moscow to attend University.  He was a mini version of Boris Becker who had dreams of starting his own elite, modeling agency.  As well, he spoke English fluently.  We had an interesting conversation as I asked him about Russian culture.  Surprisingly, he agreed with me.  Turns out Nikolai grew up in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.  He told me that that even though he was Russian, he thought that the Uzbeks were much more friendly.  It was great to get a Russian perspective from someone looking from the outside.Yet the more I dug deeper into Russia, the more I realized that the people really weren't cold and distant.  Yes it did take time to get to know them.  Looking at their history in the past century, I started to understand why this is so.  During the Soviet time, open acts of smiling would have probably caught a person unwanted attention or landed him in a KGB office for interrogation.  As well, the Russian people had endured many hardships during World War II, losing over twenty million people, the largest out of all the countries that fought.  Take into consideration the long subzero winters and it starts to make sense.  That day I also met up with Ian, who was on the same train as me and was staying in Moscow the same days as well.  We agreed to meet up in Moscow when we arrived.  MoscowThe day after I arrived in Moscow I met up with Ian at the front gates of the Kremlin.  We visited the State Armory Museum to see the crown jewels and a few of the famed Faberge eggs.  I think the Russians invented "bling" because some of the gold chains I saw made hip-hop artists look like nickel and dime street acts.  Russian may be the reason why gold is so expensive; they have about half of it displayed in museums and domed churches.The Kremlin is the heart of the city and Russia itself.  However, if you look outside of it, you can see the lifeblood of Russia changing rapidly.  Since the fall of the Soviet Union nearly twenty years ago, capitalism is alive and everywhere.  Gone are the days of waiting in line for a piece of bread.  Now are the days of waiting in line for McDonald’s.  I once read that the first day McDonald’s opened in Moscow, the line was 5 kilometers long!  Fact or fiction, the magnitude of capitalism has gone overboard.Russians have always had an appetite for materialism.  Peter the Great had modeled Saint Petersburg after the Europeans but wanted it to be more extravagant.  You can see this just by looking at the domes of some of the most prestigious churches and cathedrals in St. Petersburg and Moscow.  All of them are plated with gold.  Now fast-forward to the present and you will find women dressed up as if everyday was a fashion show.  They walk along the streets as if they were on a catwalk and even strike poses like models do.  If you hear the click of the heels from concrete or cobblestone, you are sure to find a lovely Russian woman dressed to the nine.  Yes, Moscow might as well be Milan, or Paris.   Capitalism, like in the states, seems to have no boundaries.  A great example was when I was walking to the Red Square.  Three men were dressed up as Lenin, Stalin, and Trotsky.  At first I thought they were part of some historical play or something.  But as I got closer, I realized that they were standing they ready to take a picture for any tourist willing to pay a fee.  This was capitalism at it’s best.  Twenty years ago they would have probably been jailed for such an act.  Now they’re making a few Roubles off of their once revered leaders.  When I first arrived in Russia, my tour guide asked me why I wanted to visit her country.  I told her I didn’t know.  I guess it was because I knew very little about it.  Russia might as well have been moon.  But finally making it to Moscow after 7 days on a train, I stood in the center of Red Square admiring the beauty of Saint Basil’s Cathedral, one of Russia’s most famous buildings.  And even though I endured some hardships during my travels, it was all worth it.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pchun88/8/1249669759/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pchun88/8/1249669759/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pchun88/8/1249669759/tpod.html Fri, 07 Aug 2009 14:31:25 -0400 Around the World...Again 2009

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk, Russia

I dreaded the next two days on that train to Ekaterinburg. With my previous experience being a bust, I had just assumed that I wasn't going to meet any English-speaking people.&nbsp; Thank goodness for Australians.&nbsp; As I was boarding the train, I actually heard someone behind me say something in English.&nbsp; It was a 6 foot 2 balding man who was slightly over weight.&nbsp; Ian was an Australian expat living in Denver, Colorado.&nbsp; He was also a middle school science teacher, served in the Royal Australian Air Force, and had traveled to over 80 countries.&nbsp; But it wasn’t just that we spoke English that we ended up getting along so well.&nbsp; We both had many travel stories and commonalities to share.&nbsp; We spent much of our time hanging out in his cabin eating salami and crackers and sipping on Russian vodka and then when we got bored we headed out to the dining cart for a few Russian beers.&nbsp; My cabin mates were just as friendly.&nbsp; Larissa and her 12 year-old daughter Polina were a gentle pair.&nbsp; They spoke English well enough to converse with me and even invited me to have breakfast with them the next morning.&nbsp; And later on, Larissa taught me how to play a Russian song as she sang the verses.&nbsp; My luck started to change in Russia and I could sense a more open-minded attitude in me.&nbsp; It was what I needed.Even our <i>provodneesta (carriage attendant) was a spunky woman.&nbsp; She wore these signature red glasses, spoke three words of English, and had the charisma of a waitress in one of those diners on the old Vegas strip.&nbsp; Everyday she would make a fist at me and teasingly threatened to beat me up.&nbsp; I would put up my two hands in return and flex my muscles.&nbsp; I think I could of taken her.&nbsp; And everyday she would look after me, checking to see if I needed an extra blanket or some coffee.Yes, life on Train #9 was a piece of cake.&nbsp; When I wasn’t off chatting with people, I would often spend my time playing my ukulele, channeling the spirit of Israel Kamakawi’ole and the Green Rose Hula.&nbsp; Passing strangers would linger around my cabin enjoying that lovely, laid back Hawaiian.&nbsp; Coincidentally, I even had a Russian man wearing a painfully ugly blue Hawaiian shirt watch me play, his belly sticking out as he listened to my good vibrations.&nbsp; It was great to share that Hawaiian sound to everyone.&nbsp; Normally I bring a guitar when I travel but this time I wanted to share something uniquely from the west.&nbsp; And it truly was.&nbsp; Everywhere I went people would do a double take and turn their heads when I played.&nbsp; Not that I’m a great ukulele player, but because it made such a beautiful rhythms.So that was it.&nbsp; Two days on a train.&nbsp; Piece of cake. EkaterinburgThe next day I arrived in Ekaterinburg.&nbsp; The city is well planned with wide roads and well-groomed gardens.&nbsp; The city is also known for being one of the more friendly cities and is the third largest city in Russia (1.5 million).&nbsp; The city was built in honor of Catherine I.&nbsp; Unfortunately, the Germans in World War II destroyed much of the buildings.&nbsp; But despite, all the buildings have been restored.&nbsp;
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pchun88/8/1249669331/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pchun88/8/1249669331/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pchun88/8/1249669331/tpod.html Fri, 07 Aug 2009 14:29:04 -0400 Around the World...Again 2009

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Irkutsk, Siberia, Russian Federation

The next day I took an 8-hour train ride to Irkutsk.&nbsp; The main purpose was to drive to Listvaynka to see Lake Baikal.&nbsp; The lake is famous for having the largest volume of water of any lake in the world.&nbsp; It constitutes 20% of all unfrozen fresh water.I met my tour guide, Vera, the next morning.&nbsp; We toured the lake and visited an open-air museum full of log cabins that showed the way people lived in Siberia.&nbsp; On the way back to Irkutsk she asked me why I looked so sad.&nbsp; I told her I was trying to be more Russian.&nbsp; The truth was I was tired of this not smiling or laughing rule the Russians were all in on.&nbsp; Three days on a train had gone by without me speaking two words of English.&nbsp; And although yesterday's excursion with Tatiana was great, my spirit was <i>nyet, no, nada.&nbsp; The excitement of exploring was gone and all I could think about was meeting up with my brother Tom in Copenhagen for our 12-day Scandinavian cruise.&nbsp; But Vera was a lovely half Russian-half Buriat woman who I quickly warmed up to. She was homesick for her hometown in Ulan-Ude while I was homesick for a good conversation in English.&nbsp; We had a great time together that I decided to ask her to meet me later that evening.Seven o’clock.&nbsp; The elevator door opens.&nbsp; She sits on the sofa looking like a piece of heaven.&nbsp; I walk out looking like a piece of pork fat.&nbsp; But hey, nobodies perfect.&nbsp; I’m also twenty minutes late.&nbsp; And she looks twenty times pissed.&nbsp; But I give her my trademark dimple and a smile and we’re good again.&nbsp; Thanks mom.&nbsp; We spent the evening walking along the embankment of the Angara River.&nbsp; The weather was just like back home, sunny.&nbsp; And for the first time since I arrived in Mother Russia, I felt at ease.&nbsp; I felt like I was back home, living, laughing and loving.&nbsp; Later on we sat down on a park bench watching people go by as we listened on my headphones to the classics, Louis Armstrong and Etta James.&nbsp; She taught me about Russian culture.&nbsp; I taught her how to pinky swear.&nbsp; She apologized for her poor English.&nbsp; I apologized for my poor English too.&nbsp; Things were going great until later that evening, something happened that made her cold and distant.&nbsp; As to what, I have no idea.&nbsp; By then I was getting used to the coldness of the Russian people, but this was getting personal.&nbsp; Is this how Russian women date or did I not wear enough deodorant?&nbsp; Either way, I wasn’t about to try to figure out the reason let alone what goes on in a woman’s mind.&nbsp; So I slept the night off watching a marathon of Russian cartoons.The next day was a bit awkward since Vera was my tour guide for my city tour of Irkutsk.&nbsp; But I decided to just pass last night off, take my losses, and make the best of the day.&nbsp; However, the fun, easygoing atmosphere was gone and much of the tour felt awkward and business-like.&nbsp; Finally, I decided I needed to break the ice so I asked her about last night.She resisted at first.&nbsp; But I persisted.&nbsp; Her answer was pure gold as she turned to me and said, "In Russia, we have a saying:&nbsp; that even if a man is fat and ugly, even if he is poor, a Russian woman will still fall in love with him if he makes her laugh, if he makes her smile, if he makes her feel like the most beautiful girl in the world."I turn to her and shake my head.&nbsp; “So you’re calling me fat and ugly?” I say.“Yes,” she responds. The heart sinks.&nbsp; The dimples are gone.“And…” she pauses, smiles and says, “you are also funny.&nbsp; You are also charming.&nbsp; You make me laugh.&nbsp; And I like you very much.”The dimples are back up again.&nbsp;&nbsp;“And if you lived here, I would go out with you,” she continues, “but you don’t so what does it matter?”She had a good a point.&nbsp; So I let it go.&nbsp; An hour later I saw her off at the train station as I boarded for Ekaterinburg.&nbsp; Two days on a train.&nbsp; This should be good.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pchun88/8/1249668573/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pchun88/8/1249668573/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pchun88/8/1249668573/tpod.html Fri, 07 Aug 2009 14:12:13 -0400 Around the World...Again 2009

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Ulan-Ude, Siberia, Russian Federation

The next day I arrived in Ulan-Ude. The city is distinctly different from what I believed would be Russian.&nbsp; The majority of residents are Buriat, who are descendants of Mongolia, and had occupied the land before the Russians.&nbsp; However, eventually they ceded their sovereignty and became part of Russia.&nbsp; My friend Tatiana showed me around the city along with a visit to Ivolginsky Datsan Buddhist Monastery.&nbsp; The monastery was the highlight of the day, with its vibrant and contrasting colors of reds and yellows.&nbsp; I will let the photos speak for themselves.Afterwards, we spent the day touring the city.&nbsp; There are two things I have noticed about Russian cities.&nbsp; One, there is always an <i>arbat (main pedestrian walkway).&nbsp; And lastly, there are cottonwood trees that let out a white cotton-like substance that floats around the whole city.&nbsp; They call it summer snow.&nbsp; I liken it to being in one of those snow globes you shake around.
]]>