St. Petersburg

The first thing you think when you come to this city is: “there is to much to see and we have to little time". The whole city is like a big museum with cathedral’s, palace’s, parks, bridges and much much more. No modern skyscrapers in sight….
The first railway in Russia, a 17 miles long track, was built between St. Petersburg and Starskoe Selo under Tsar Nicholas I in 1837 and by the end of his reign, Russia had 650 miles of railways.

We where picked up by a really nice taxi driver, he also spoke good English. Our hotel is called Northern lights, the smallest hotel we have ever stayed in with only 5 room. It is on the third floor of an old brick building and as we walked up the big, old and dark staircase, we where wondering if this was  really the right place??? But inside the hotel doors it was nice and cozy, we had a big nice room with chandlers hanging from the ceiling.

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We had lunch just across the street, a cozy restaurant with a big playroom for kids. And the food was really good, if we could only take it with us……..
On our short stay here we saw St. Isaac’s Cathedral and the Hermitage Museum. Both very impressive. But Tiril and Lars was not of the same opinion so we had to find a toy store as a reward after. On the last evening we went to our cozy restaurant across the street, and had a good meal and a great time. The next day we left with the 7:17 am train for Helsinki and the boat to Stockholm.

Moscow

After the cold weather in Perm we where looking forward to some less cold days in Moscow. But unfortunately the freezing temperature followed us. The first day was not to bad but the second was – 20 and windy.

One our first day we went to the red square, there we rented ice skates and both Tiril and Lars had their first try at ice skating. They both loved it! In the evening we had tickets for Nikulin Circus, one of Russia’s oldest circus and named after the famous clown Nikulin. This was a great show with lots of acrobatics, clowns and animals. Lars had one of his greatest moments when he got to pet a tiger cub, his favorite animal.

The next day we took the Metro to Kremlin and walked around, but because of the cold weather it was not very pleasant and Tiril and Lars was eager to get inside. We had lunch at Gum shopping center next to Red Square.

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Our train, Red arrow,  for St. Petersburg left at 11:55 pm. This is the absolute best train we have had on our trip, very clean and spacious. To bad this trip was only 8 hours!!

Perm

In Perm we stayed at Ural Hotel for tree nights. Here we had a round – 15 to – 20 degrees C, so very cold. We have done some shopping, both Tiril and Lars got new shoes and we also got some souvenirs. Other than that we have had a relaxing time, trying not to spend to much time outside.  Tiril and Lars liked the big bear statue outside the hotel and we also found a playground which was popular.

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Our next stop is Moscow and the train takes about 21 hours. We heard that the higher the number on the train the older, and this was true. Now we took train number 109 and it was old and smelly, but since it was a short ride it was ok.

56

After having some trouble finding the right platform in Irkutsk we got on the train for our longest ride, 56 hours, crossing 3 time zones and 3749 km. Train number 9 also called Baikal going between Irkutsk and Moscow, we are getting of at Perm. This  is the nicest train we have taken so fare.

On the first evening we tried the restaurant, but again the menu is only in Russian, no pictures and the staff just go on and on in Russian, like we will understand in the end if they just keep talking. But it is a really nice restaurant and we got some very good Solyanka soup. Every carriage have a coal fired Samovar, so we get hot water for noodles and drinks. 

The next morning we woke up in winter wonder land and frost on the inside of our window. Threes where heavy with snow and small villages almost buried  under snow.In our compartment it is warm and cozy with Christmas carols in the background, despite the freezing cold Siberian winter outside. When the train stopped at Novosibirsk there was – 25 C. Ove got of to have a look at the biggest station in Siberia, a beautiful building that took 12 years to complete. There is a lot of nice scenery along the track to keep Ove and I occupied.

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Tiril and Lars use every part of the compartment for play and climbing. They now have a small collection of Kinder Eggs and some other toys they have bought along the way. But they will use everything from shoes to dress hangers to keep them busy.

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Irkutsk

This city with almost 600 000 people is one of the most popular stops long the Trans Siberian Railroad. Angara River run through the city and it is 70 km from the shores of Lake Baikal. The city has beautiful architecture and a cozy city center, and we can see why this is a popular stop. 

 

We are in the middle of the city center at Baikaler Hostel, with a very friendly staff. The temperature is around – 10 C and partly snowy. There is no wind so the threes are white with snow.

 

After only Russian food at Baikal we went for The London Pub. Here we got pizza and lasagna while watching Ole Einar Bjørndalen win the Biathlon sprint on TV….. the evening was perfect. Next day we walked around town and looked at the nice ice sculptures that they where making in the park. In the evening we went to a Sushi restaurant for the first time since Singapore, Tiril and Lars eat their favorite, Salmon maki!!!

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Tomorrow we will go back on the train for Perm.

Baikalsk

This small town at the south end of Lake Baikalsk have a round 16 000 people and a ski resort, and knowing Ove he did every effort to get a few days on skis. We stayed at a small hotel only 500 m. from the slopes. I think we where the only foreign tourist there, only one person at the hotel could speak English (and she worked in the office). And at the restaurant the menu was only in Russian and no pictures, so Natalie had to come with us to the restaurant every time to help us with the ordering….. Think the waiters where a pit scared of us, because they ran to get Natalie every time we entered.

 Renting skis was another big challenge, luckily there was another customer  that could speak English and translate for us.   Tiril had her first ski lesson with Ludmila, a Russian ski instructor how know a little bit English. But they most have communicated somehow because Tiril learned to go down by herself and also how to turn. Lars also tried but his skis lived a life of their own and just would not go where they where suppose to. In the end he could go down hill….he just didn’t know how to stop.  Both Tiril and Lars loved the snow tubing, and probably could have done that all day.    

 

After skiing all day, we had a nice relaxing time in the hotel’s private sauna. 

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Life with the nomads

After the car dropped us of at Terelj, two hour drive out of UB, we where picked up by Mr. Bolt on his ox cart and taken to his farm. As we where taken away from Terelj we left the modern world behind and entered into the world of the nomads of Mongolia. Except for a few mobile phones and some TVs people here still live the old way. Living of the land and their animals, they move their Ger and animals three times a year.

At Mr. bolts place we got to try ice bowling, horseback riding and archery. For the First time we got to try salted milk tea, which is used daily. The tea was much better than expected, and we started to enjoy it in the end.

After a long night of keeping the fire going, we where taken to the next Ger, Bogy and Amra’s place. This family have two kids, daughter 5 and son 1 years old. Their neighbor also had kids so here we got to play a lot. They play games with ankle bones, which was really fun, especially for Tiril. We played both horse race and some other games.

 

The last night we stayed at a bigger farm with lots of goats, sheep and cows. Here Tiril and Lars helped by picking up cow dung , which is burned to keep the Ger warm.

Their food is mostly meat and rice, onions and carrots are the most common vegetable they use. For breakfast they have a type of  bread, and of course salted milk tea….. to every meal. We had around –15 to –20 degrees Celsius so it was really cold, especially the ox cart riding. But we had a great time and very interesting. Must say that our simple guest house in UB felt like a palace when we got back. Going to a proper toilet felt nice after doing it behind a tree in minus 15 degrees. 

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