Россия. Some thoughts.

I thought I would reflect a little on Russia, as I probably wont be going there for a while.

The first thing that I think about Russia when I look at a map is that it is huge, but I still crossed a big chunk of it in a matter of weeks. I guess this just shows how small the world has gotten. Sounds stupid saying this, but it really has. Going overland from Finland its possible to get deep into Asia in a little over a week, doing nothing but sleeping and eating.

Life on a train was a fairly large part of this trip, even though I was stopping a in cities along the way. But even with the stops I cant say I've seen more then a small fraction of what there is to see. One thing that I really enjoyed was watching the locals board the train. Every one of them had certain routines of their own, and just about all had a few in common. Everyone would board and place their bags in the right places. Then started the routines. Every person made the bed (sheets are given in a sealed plastic bag) and then set about folding the towel and carefully placing it on the small rack provide. Next was preparing for the meals. Bags with food were always left under beds or tables, but every time a mug and a box of tea were places on the table next to the window. Usually a spoon also. This was even if the person didn't drink tea during the entire trip. I was fascinated in a way by this, and after a while I started to make mental notes. I think all this showed that, where in most countries people drive or fly, in Russia people spend days or weeks on trains, and they naturally have a certain way of doing it all.



Another thing that I noticed was the amount of law enforcement personnel. Its hard to go more then a few minutes in a city without seeing either police or military personnel. As a random fact generator I was going to count how many I saw in a day in Yekaterinburg, but forgot counting a few hours into the task. My guess is that it would be around 200, with the day spent walking around the city, going about the business a traveler usually does. Still, I never had any problems (except registration), and none stopped me, contrary to all the warnings in guides and from friends.

One thing is for sure: Russia is a beautiful country. It is, however, sad to see that Russians themselves don't want to keep it that way, and garbage is a big problem everywhere where there are people, or where they have been.



Lastly I do need to mention one big thing about the Russian experience: beer. Forget vodka as the drink everyone is drinking, now its beer. Russians drink beer everywhere, all the time. From when they are sitting in a park to when they are walking to work, all this is done with a beer in hand.



So, to end the Russian episode, visit Russia if you like any or all of the following: lager, sleeping on long train rides, beautiful women, cyrillic letters, Volga's, beautiful nature, interesting cities or friendly people. I loved it, and will definitely be going again. But now I am in Mongolia, and tomorrow I leave on an eight day trip to the Gobi desert. That I'm really looking forward to.



RANDOM FACT GENERATOR

Russia, rough estimates:

• 7440 minutes spent on trains
• 6,662,700 meters traveled by rail