Budapest2Beijing

Recovered

2006-09-20T13:34:00.000+02:00

A Krasnoyarsk vaig haver d'esperar 9 hores fins que va sortir l'avio. A mes es va retrassar 3 hores. No se que hauria passat si l'haguessin cancel.lat. Portava 2 dies sense menjar ni dormir, no podia parlar, no coneixia ningu i a ciutat estava a 45 km de distancia del petit aeroport. Finalment el vell Tupolev de KrasAir es va enlairar i em va dur a Moscou en 4 hores. Arina m'esperava, jo no podia parlar, ens comunicavem amb paper i llapis. Quan va arribar el metge i em va veure de seguida em va enviar cap a l'hospital a l'area d'infeccions. Alla em van tractar i analitzar durant 4 dies, al final, per sort, nomes va ser unes angines fortes. Ara estic a Moscou, totalment recuperat. Tot plegat ha estat una experiencia inoblidable. Durant 3 mesos he descobert una gran quantitat de llocs i conegut moltissima gent interessant. Si existis una Universitat de la Vida, aquest viatge en seria un curs complet.

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In Krasnoyarsk I had to wait 9h at the airport until the plane left. It was delayed 3h, I was afraid of cancellation. I don't know what would happen to me in the middle of the night at the airport, I couldn't speak, I knew nobody, I was 45km away from the city. 2 days without eating or neither sleeping. Finally KrasAir clunky Tupolev took off and brought me to Moscow where Arina was waiting for me at the airport. My throat was heavily inflamated, my face deformed, I felt terribly bad and weak. Doctor came to Arina's home and sent me directly to hospital where they treated me for 4 days. Finally, luckily, was only strong anginas. Now I am in Moscow fully recovered. All together has been a unique experience in my life, I enjoyed every single moment of these 3 months. I discovered many new places and met lots of interesting people. A trip like this is like a full course at the University of Life.

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D87 - Game Over

2006-09-20T13:04:00.000+02:00

SEP05 - Day 87 - Krasnoyarsk - Km9248

No tinc cap contacte a Krasnoyarsk. Gairebe no puc parlar perque tinc el coll ben inflamat i infectat. Porto 36 hores sense menjar ni dormir. Em trobo fatal. Aqui es on prenc la decisio d'agafar el proper avio i tornar a Moscou. Aixo significa el final del viatge. Han estat 87 dies i 9248 km. Nomes quedaven 13 dies per arribar a Beijing, aquesta vegada no sera possible. El Llac Baikal, Mongolia i Xina hauran d'esperar.

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I don't know anybody in Krasnoyarsk, I cannot speak and I haven't eaten/slept for more than 36 hours. I feel terrible. It's hard but here I decide to take the next plane back to Moscow. This means the end of the trip. 87 days and 9248km. Only 13 days to arrive to Beijing. This time will not be possible. Lake Baikal, Mongolia and China must wait.

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D87 - Krasnoyarsk

2006-09-20T12:54:00.000+02:00

SEP05 - Day 87 - Krasnoyarsk - Km9248

Ahir, mentre dinava, vaig notar que tenia el coll malament, em costava empassar el menjar. Sembla que he agafat mal de coll. Abans d'agafar el tren a Irkutsk passo per la farmacia i compro medicaments. Me'ls prenc regularment cada sis hores. Al tren em costa dormir, nomes puc beure aigua, m'es impossible menjar. Quan m'aixeco pel mati noto que gairebe no puc parlar i que la medicacio no ha fet cap efecte, estic molt pitjor que ahir a la nit. En aquestes condicions no vull estar-me 20 hores mes al tren i decideixo baixar a Krasnoyarsk al migdia.
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Yesterday having lunch in the irish pub I realised that something was wrong with my throat. It was difficult to swallow the bread. I am afraid I will get a soar throat. Later in the afternoon, before taking the train I go to the pharmacy to buy some medecines. At night I feel worst, I cannot eat. I take the medecines every 6h. I cannot sleep in the train during the night. In the morning I feel really bad, I cannot even speak properly, the medication didn't get me better. I don't feel like staying 20 more hours in the train. I get off in Krasnoyarsk at midday.
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D86 - Train to Irkutsk

2006-09-20T12:39:00.000+02:00

SEP04 - Day 86 - Novosibirsk - Km8493

M'he passat les ultimes 36 hores al llit amb febre. Aquest mati em trobo millor i decideixo que es hora de marxar de Novosibirsk i anar al llac Baikal, per aixo he comprat el bitllet de tren a Irkutsk que surt aquesta nit i arriba dos dies mes tard pel mati, 30 hores en el tren, un dia i dues nits. Esperem que el temps millori perque durant tota la setmana ha estat plovent i amb temperatures baixes.
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The last 36 hours I was in bed with high temperature. Today I feel better and I bought a ticket to Irkutsk for tonight. The train takes 30 hours, this means 2 nights and a full day in the train. This will be the longest journey by train since I started 3 month ago. The weather is still bad, rainy almost every day but the forecast for the weekend is better. Hopefully in Irkutsk and Lake Baikal there will be sunshine.
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D84 - Small World

2006-09-20T12:30:00.000+02:00

SEP02 - Day 84 - Novosibirsk - Km8493

Avui a l'Internet cafe coincideixo amb una parella de catalans que son a Novosibirsk en proces d'adopcio d'un nen. Estava assegut davant l'ordinador quan em sembla sentir veus parlant en espanyol, miro, m'aixeco i pregunto d'on son. Son de Barcelona. Parlant resulta que estiuegen a Palamos... Increible! mes de 7000km de distancia de casa i em trobo una parella de catalans que cada cap setmana passen per davant de casa meva amb el cotxe. Vagi on vagi sempre em trobare catalans viatjant pel mon. Aquest mon certament petit.
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Today I was sitting in internet cafe when a spanish-speaking couple entered and sat down in a computer next to me. I ask them what are they doing in Novosibirsk, that is very strange to find spanish tourists in this city, I also explain them my situation. They came here to adopt a baby. The funny think is that they are not only from Spain but they have a holiday home 7km from my hometown! 7000km from home, in the middle of Siberia I meet a couple that are almost my neighbours! Small world.
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D83 - Lida and Marina

2006-09-20T12:01:00.000+02:00

SEP01 - Day 83 - Novosibirsk - Km8493

Diuen que potser dema nevara, som a principis de Setembre i ja es parla de nevades, aixo es "l'estiu" a Siberia. Ahir estavem a +4C a la nit i avui durant el dia no hem passat de +8C. Aquesta tarda ens hem trobat de nou amb Lida (17) i Marina (16) que m'han ensenyat l'altra part de la ciutat, a l'altre costat del riu Ob, que es on elles viuen. Mes tard, al vespre hem anat a sopar en un restaurant mexica amb les seves amigues. Avui era el seu primer dia a la Universitat i estan animades per les noves experiencies.
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It's very cold in Novosibirsk, weather forecats is already talking about possible snow... at the end of August!! Yesterday there was a snowfall in Krasnoyarsk, the next stop in the Transiberian Railway. Here there are only cold showers and +4C at night, +8C during the day. This is truly siberian summer. Today I met with Lida (17) and Marina (16). They showed me around the other side of Novosibrisk, on the left bank of the Ob River and later we went together to eat in a mexican restaurant. They started University today.
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D81 - Stone House

2006-09-20T11:01:00.000+02:00

AUG30 - Day81 - Novosibirsk - Km8493

Tania em recomana un lloc anomenat "Stone House" on hi ha un bar irlandes a la planta baixa, 2 restaurants al primer pis i una discoteca al segon pis. Avui a la discoteca hi deu haver festa perque esta ple de gent fent cua al carrer, basicament gent jove. Mentre jo tambe faig cua per pagar l'entrada pregunto a les dues noies de darrera meu que perque hi ha tanta gent. Em diuen que hi ha una festa R'n'B i em regalen un flyer amb descompte per l'entrada. Un cop a dins les convido a un cocktail per agrair que m'han donat el flyer i elles em proposen quedar per dema que m'ensenyaran la ciutat durant el dia. Evidentment jo accepto.
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Tania said that the best place to go out is in the Stone House. Here there is an irish pub in the first floor, 2 restaurants in second floor and a disco in 3rd floor. Today at 10pm is full of young people. I follow the crowd and ask 2 young girls why is so crowded. They are surprised that somebody speaks english but explained to me that tonight there is a very good R'n'B party. They give me flyer to get discount. The place is very crowded with teenagers. I first go to eat in the restaurant downstairs and later I go back up to the night club. I invite Lida and Marina for a drink to thank them for the flyer + discount. They seem happy and propose me to meet next day to show me the city. I accept.
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D80 - Tania

2006-09-20T10:41:00.000+02:00

AUG29 - Day 80 - Novosibirsk - Km8493

Una altra sorpresa agradable. Fins ahir mateix no coneixia ningu a Novosibirsk, pero avui Tania (Moscou) m'ha escrit un sms explicant-me que la seva cosina viu aqui i que podem quedar aquesta tarda i m'ensenyara la ciutat. Quedem a les 7 de la tarda, quan ella surt de la feina i anem passejant fins el riu Ob. Tornem al centre amb metro i entrem en un bar per refugiar-nos de la pluja tenue pero incessant. Tania parla be l'angles tot i que no te oportunitat de practicar-lo amb ningu. A les 10 marxa cap a casa i m'explica on puc anar aquesta nit.
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Since yesterday I had no contacts in Novosibirsk. Tania from Moscow send me SMS telling that she has relatives here, so we tried to arrange meeting with her cousine Tania. We meet after her work, she works and studies at the same time. She speaks good enough english to communicate. Its raining outside and quite cold as well. Anyway, we walked along Krasny Prospekt, the main street, until the river Ob and back by metro to have a drink and talk in a warmer place.
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80 days

2006-09-20T10:30:00.000+02:00

D79 - Novosibirsk

2006-09-20T10:16:00.000+02:00

Aug28 - Day79 - Novosibirsk - Km8493

Ara si que puc dir que soc a Siberia. Novosibirsk n'es la ciutat mes gran i la capital. Fundada l'any 1893 durant la construccio de la linea de tren del Transiberia i despres consolidada com a nus ferroviari amb la nova construccio de la linea que uneix Russia i Kazakhstan al sud. Avui te gairebe 2 milions d'habitants i una gran oferta d'oci que sorpren agradablement. La ciutat esta dividida en dos pel riu Ob, un dels mes grans de Russia amb 3650km de longitud, neix a les muntanyes Altai i recorre Siberia de sud a nord fins l'Ocea Artic. Arribo a l'estacio a mitja tarda, el meu contacte no hi es, truco Olessia i al cap de 20 minuts arriba Maxim. Pel cami m'explica amnb poques paraules que ha estat a la Costa Brava 2 vegades, ja no em sorpren, es una destinacio popular entre els rusos. Maxim es callat i serios, quan arribem al pis em demana mes diners dels acordats, em queixo i es posa de mal humor i crida, finalment insisteixo i arribem a un acord. No es un bon comencament a Novosibirsk.
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Novosibirsk, now the biggest city in Siberia and considered its capital, was founded in 1893 due to the construction of the Transiberian Railway. It is a crucial transport link between Asia and Europe. Today is surprisingly bright and stylish city with 1.9 million inhabitants. Situated on boths sides of the Ob river, the country fourth largest with its 3650km length. I arrive in the afternoon, is cold today: +8C. Maxim is not at the train station, I call Olessia to tell her that I arrived already. Maxim will be there in 20 minutes. He brings me to the appartment but asked for 300 rubles (9EUR) extra per night. Is not a good beginning, I try to bargain and we get an agreement somewhere in between both of us. The flat is in the very center, a bit expensive but well located.
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D78 - Train

2006-09-19T13:46:00.000+02:00

AUG27 - Day78 - Ekaterinburg - Km6964

Julia i Vika venen a recollir les claus a les 7 de la tarda, el meu tren a Novosibirsk surt a les 9 del vespre i arriba a la capital de Siberia 20 hores mes tard. Aquesta vegada m'he decidit pel tren 026 que va de Moscow a Novosibirsk i que es diu SIBIRYAK. Els trens de gran recorregut a Russia tenen nom propi, el numero indica la qualitat del tren (numeros baixos major qualitat) i tambe indica la direccio, parells pels que van direccio est i senars pels que tornen cap a l'oest, direccio Moscou. Aqui sota n'hi ha uns quants exemples:
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Julia and Vika will come to the flat to pick up the keys at 7pm, my train leaves to Novossibirsk at 9pm and arrives to the capital of Siberia 20h later. It's raining today, I say bye to Julia and Vika and go to Uralskaya Train Station. This time I will take Sibiryak, train 026 from Moscow to Novosibirsk. Long distance trains have names in Russia. Even numbers are from Moscow eastwards, odd numbers go west. Let's see some examples below:
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001/002 - Rossiya - Moscow/Vladivostok (the longest train journey in the world, 9218km in 8 days, the famous Transiberian train)
003/004 - TransMongolian - Moscow/Beijing through Mongolia (this is my route)
005/006 - Okean - Khabarovsk/Vladivostok
007/008 - Sibir - Novosibirsk/Vladivostok
009/010 - Baikal - Moscow/Irkutsk
015/016 - Ural - Moscow/Yekaterinburg
019/020 - TransManchurian - Moscow/Beijing (without crossing Mongolia)
025/026 - Sibiryak - Moscow/Novosibirsk
055/056 - Yenisey - Moscow/Krasnoyarsk

D77 - Sneg

2006-09-19T13:29:00.000+02:00

AUG26 - Day77 - Ekaterinburg - Km6964

Dissabte nit i darrera nit a la ciutat, avui es el dia perfecte per anar de festa. Truco a Oleg i quedem tambe amb Igor i la seva xicota Alla en un bar del centre de la ciutat. El lloc s'omple de gent pero cap al tard decidim anar a Sneg (neu en rus), la discoteca de moda de la ciutat. Una mica lluny del centre, enmig d'una zona industrial. Em paren a la porta amb contundencia, jo intento parlar en rus i dir que vull entrar, quan noten que soc extranger els dos porters somriuen i m'obren la porta amicalment. Sembla que el fet de parlar angles obre mes portes de les que tanca en aquest pais. A dins conec Larissa, que em parla d'un amic seu danes, parlem en alemany que ella parla forca be, almenys millor que jo i m'explica que a Ekaterinburg encara es dificil trobar-hi extrangers.
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Today is Saturday, tomorrow I will leave the city, so it's time to meet Igor, Oleg and go party tonight. The most popular night club these days in Ekaterinburg is Sneg (snow in russian). It's not in a walking distance from the city centre, we take taxi and go there, industrial area. The place is big, full of people and nice. I meet Larissa that speaks only russian and german, is good opportunity for me to try to remind my german language skills. She explains about his friend (boyfriend?) from Denmark and how strange is still to find foreigners in Ekaterinburg.
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D76 - Golden Metro

2006-09-19T13:14:00.000+02:00

AUG25 - Day76 - Ekaterinburg - Km6964

Durant la construccio del metro d'Ekaterinburg es va trobar un filo d'or que va ajudar a pagar la construccio de la unica linea amb 6 estacions de la ciutat. Aixo demostra, com haviem dit, que els Urals son unes muntanyes intesament riques en minerals. Segons Oleg encara avui es possible trobar petites quantitats d'or que l'aigua del riu Iset arrossega.
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As I said in an older post, the Ural Mountains are extremely rich in minerals, downstream the city river (Iset) is still easy to find small quantities of gold. During the city's metro building works they found gold which helped to pay for the construction itself. Also, the halls inside the metro are decorated by the best marble, taking pictures is forbidden and air conditioning is working at full speed. There is only one line with six stops but the metro of Ekaterinburg is a luxurious one.
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D75 - The Last Tsar

2006-09-19T12:32:00.000+02:00

AUG24 - Day75 - Ekaterinburg - Km6964

L'ultim tsar rus de la familia dels Romanov, Nicolas II i la seva familia van ser assassinats pels bolxevics durant la revolucio el Juliol del 1918. L'esglesia de la fotografia va ser construida recentment al costat del lloc on van passar els fets. Avui visitem aquest i d'altres monuments d'interes aristico-historic de la ciutat amb Igor i a la nit anem a sopar amb la seva xicota i la seva germana (Alla i Lillia), que son d'origen tatar. Acabem la nit per error en una discoteca plena de gent jove (~16 anys)
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Ekaterinburg was the place where the last russian Tsar, Nicholas II with all his family was murdered by the bosheviks in July 1918. Today there is a memorial and a church built near the place where they were supposedly killed. Today we visit the church and other historical sites of the city with Igor. Later at night we meet with 2 friends for dinner plus night out. We go to "Park Inn", one the fashionable night clubs of the city, tonight is packed with teenagers (~16yo). We don't stay too long.
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D74 - Igor

2006-09-18T13:46:00.000+02:00

AUG23 - Day74 - Ekaterinburg - Km6964

Casualitats de la vida. Fa uns mesos, quan vaig anar de visita a Dublin, vaig retrobar-me amb Igor. Igor i jo vam comencar a treballar a Xilinx Ireland junts el Maig del 2000. Ell encara viu i treballa a Dublin. Parlant durant una festa a casa d'un amic li vaig explicar els meus plans de viatjar per Russia, quan em va dir que ell es d'Ekaterinburg i que hi va de vacances a l'estiu durant una setmana, que potser podriem arreglar les dates i coincidir. Doncs aqui estem ara, a milers de quilometres de la capital irlandesa, asseguts en una terrassa i bevent cervesa rusa junts.
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Today I meet with Igor. Igor and I started our work at Xilinx Ireland in Dublin at the same time in May 2000. Last April, during my short visit to Dublin, we met in a friend's barbeque party. I explained him my plans to visit Russia and we agreed to meet in his native town Ekaterinburg. Now we are here, thousands of kilometers away from Ireland, drinking russian beer together.
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D72 - Stomach Sick

2006-09-12T13:30:00.000+02:00

AUG21 - Day72 - Ekaterinburg - Km6964

Alguna cosa estranya vaig menjar el dia de la festa de la ciutat perque m'he passat 2 dies al llit amb mal de panxa, una mica de febre i malestar general. Com que durant dos dies no he fet res, aprofitem per parlar de Baltika, la cervesa mes venuda a Russia. Baltika te diferents graduacions segons el numero com es presenta. Baltika 0 es cervesa sense alcohol i Baltika 9 en te un 8.0%. La meva preferida es Baltika 3 amb un 4.8% d'alcohol i la que ells anomenen "classica". Per mes informacio, en angles: http://eng.baltika.ru/products/21.03.06/.
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Something went wrong in my body, I spent Sunday and Monday in bed with unsettled stomach, with a bit of temperature and very weak body. I couldn't eat for 24h, I could barely drink. Since I was sick, nothing interesting happened, so let's take the opportunity to talk about Baltika beer, the most popular beer in the country of vodka . Baltika has different numbers from 0 to 9 depending of the strength, being Baltika 0 alcohol-free and Baltika 9 the strongest of all them with 8.0% alcohol. Baltika beers with 25% market share in Russia is the indisputed leader. Its strong brand is getting more and more market in western Europe as well. My favourite is Baltika 3. For more information: http://eng.baltika.ru/products/21.03.06/ If you want to try Baltika 9 with your friends, be aware of what russians say: "nothing good comes out of baltika 9", you have my advice.
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D70 - City Day

2006-09-12T13:08:00.000+02:00

AUG19 - Day70 - Ekaterinburg - Km6964

Avui es celebra el 283 aniversari de la ciutat. Hi ha multitud d'espectacles musicals i esportius, focs artificials a la nit, etc... Tothom es al carrer avui. A la tarda quedo amb Oleg, enginyer. Ell havia treballat en el passat amb Igor, que a la vegada havia treballat amb mi a Dublin i, casualitats de la vida, es d'Ekaterinburg. Tal com haviem acordat, Igor arribara la setmana que ve de vacances i ens tornarem a veure. Descobrim que la policia ha prohibit vendre alcohol al centre de la ciutat per evitar disturbis. La unica cervesa que trobem es Baltika 0 (sense alcohol). Agafem un bus, com la majoria de gent, i anem una mica lluny del centre a comprar cerveses "normals", tornem al centre i mengem shashlik mentre escoltem muscia en viu en un parc.
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Today is the 283th anniversary of Ekaterinburg. The city is packed with people going to all the multiple events around the pond, the main square and along the river sidewalks. In the afternoon I meet Oleg, he used to work with Igor. Igor is my other contact in Ekaterinburg, we worked together in Ireland during 3 years. Igor is from Ekaterinburg but lives and works in Ireland nowadays, he will come for holidays next week. Meanwhile I meet only with Oleg, engineer too, he speaks good english and is happy to practice it with me. Alcohol is banned in the city center, the only beer in the kiosks is Baltika 0 (alcohol free). We, like most of the people, take bus to go a little bit away from the centre to buy "real" beer and then back to the "alcohol-free" zone to eat shashlik.
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70 days

2006-09-12T12:22:00.000+02:00

D69 - Julia

2006-09-12T12:18:00.000+02:00

AUG18 - Day69 - Ekaterinburg - Km6964

No ha estat senzill trobar contactes a Ekaterinburg, pero finalment n'he aconseguit dos. El primer, Tanya no es a la ciutat fins diumenge pero Julia i a seva filla Vika venen a l'estacio de tren a buscar-me. Llogare el pis on viu Vika i ella passara aquests dies amb al seva mare. El pis no es centric pero esta forca ben comunicat, el preu es assequible, no em puc queixar, a mes, semblen bona gent i Julia parla angles perfecte.
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Before arriving to the city I had 2 contacts. One of them is Tanya, a girl that I met online. She is not in town until the weekend, so she gave me the email of her friend Julia (in the picture with her daughter Vika) who can rent me a flat. Julia and Vika come to pick me up at the train station (Uralskaya) and go with me to the flat in Uralmash district, not very central but decently communicated by trolleybus + metro. I leave my luggage and we all 3 go for dinner.
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D68 - Ural Mountains

2006-09-12T11:59:00.000+02:00

AUG17 - Day68 - Ekaterinburg - Km6964

Urals: la divisio fisica entre dos continents, Europa i Asia. Avui passare a Asia sense haver de canviar de pais, curios. Les muntanyes dels Urals son les mes antigues del planeta, amb 2500km de longitud i una alcada maxima inferior als 2000m. Son riques en minerals com l'or i la plata entre d' altres.Ekaterinburg, amb els seus 1.4 milions d'habitants es la ciutat mes gran i l'autoproclamada "capital dels Urals"
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Train 026 goes from Moscow to Ekaterinburg through Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan. Initially I planned to stopped in Kazan, which is supposed to be a beautiful city full of history. Due to the late schedule I continue towards the self-proclaimed "capital of the Ural Mountains": Ekaterinburg. The Urals are, if not the most, one of the oldest mountains in our planet. Extremely rich in minerals, more than 2500km long, they lay from the Artic Circle un the north until Kazakhstan in the south. Due to their age they are not tall, the tallest mountain is around 1800m tall. Urals are also considered the border between two continents, Europe and Asia. So, today I will change continent without changing country, the only place in the world that one can do that by land.
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D67 - Bye Arina

2006-09-11T13:55:00.000+02:00

AUG16 - Day67 - Moskva - Km5150

Dia de dir adeu, no es la primera vegada pero aixo no vol dir que sigui mes facil dir adeu de nou. Han estat 3 setmanes junts i avui es el moment d'acomiadar-nos. No coneixia Arina de res, era un contacte alternatiu a Moscou i hem acabat construint una relacio intensa d'amistad. Avui ha agafat festa a la feina per poder estar junts. L'adeu a l'estacio s'omple de llagrimes pero tots dos sabem que un dia altre ens tornarem a veure.
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My train leaves today in the afternoon. Arina took a sick day to spend the last hours together. Once again, the hardest time of this trip is to say goodbye to somebody whom you have built a strong friendship. It has been more than 3 weeks together, in the lakes first and in Moscow later. My trip has to proceed towards the Urals in the east and the summer is ending quickly. I need to go. Is sad but deeply inside ourselves we know this is not our last meeting.
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D65 - Pushkin

2006-09-11T13:41:00.000+02:00

AUG14 - Day65 - Moskva - Km5150

El Museu Pushkin seria l'equivalent a l'Hermitage de San Petersburg, salvant les diferencies arquitectoniques. Ara l'han dividit en dues parts, amb la qual cosa, veure'l tot requereix pagar dues entrades De totes maneres aixo no em molesta perque tot plegat es massa gran per disfrutar-lo tot en un sol dia. El primer edifici conte les obres des de la civilitzacio egipcia fins a pintures i escultures del segle XVII. El segon edifici conte els darrers 3 segles i una bona seleccio de pintures impressionistes. Encara avui en dia, en els museus russos hi ha dos preus, un per extrangers i un per ciutadans russos, 5 vegades mes barat. Increible que encara l'any 2006 funcioni aquest tracte desigual. Tots dos museus son interessants i recomanables.

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Time for the cultured soul, let's go to Pushking Museum, now divided into 2 buildings, so to see everything you must pay 2 times. First building (for today) is up to the XVIIIth century, second building (for tomorrow) has the rest, including a great (and very recommendable) collection of impressionists. Double pricing is still used in russian museums today. This means that non-russians pay x5 times what a russian citizen would pay to enter the same place. Yes, this is true. The first day I pay the 10EUR entrance but the second day I remove the smile of my face to look more russian and say with my best language skills "adin biliet". Bingo! This time I only pay 2EUR to get in, they believed I am russian!

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D63 - Biking

2006-09-11T13:14:00.000+02:00

AUG12 - Day63 - Moskva - Km5150

Ens aixequem tard, despres de la festa d'ahir a la nit. Fa bon dia i despres d'esmorzar decidim agafar les bicicletes i anar al parc. Son 30 minuts creuant carrers i avingudes sense carril bici, una mica perillos en aquesta ciutat, pero finalment arribem al parc, gran, amb llacs i zones recreatives plenes de gent. Continuem pel bosc fins l'academia de policia que vigila el Kremlin. Aqui s'entrenen els cossos d'elit de la policia russa. Els vigilants no semblen gaire contents de veure dues persones en bicicleta al voltant de l'edifici pero no diuen res, nosaltres marxem rapid i ja esta.
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After last night party we wake up late but ready to do sports. Weather is great, so we take the 2 mountain-bike and ride them thorugh the Moscow roads until the big park with lakes, 30min away from Arina's district. Hidden in the park there is the academy of the special police that guards the Kremlin. You don't see this building in maps, neither signs on the road to get there. Is, let's say, a half-secret place. The 2 guards don't seem very happy to see 2 persons by bike appearing from the forest... Just in case, I don't take any picture and we disappear quickly back to the forest.
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D62 - Propaganda

2006-09-11T13:04:00.000+02:00

AUG11 - Day62 - Moskva - Km5150

Aquesta nit toca sortir de festa per Moscu, despres de molts dies de vida sana envoltats de natura, arriba el cap de setmana i el cos demana festa. Sopem tranquilament a casa i comencem la nit al pis 22 de l'Academia de Ciencies, Cosmos: un bar-restaurant dins la Universitat decorat com si fos un viatge espacial . Les vistes de la ciutat i del riu son expectaculars... tambe ho son els preus... A mitjanit agafem un taxi per anar a Propaganda una de les discoteques moscovites mes conegudes a Europa occidental. El lloc es popular entre la gent local i els extrangers pero encara mante una mica l'estil alternatiu. La musica esta be, no s'ha de pagar entrada i la gent te ganes de passar-s'ho be. Nosaltres tambe.

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Tonight is party night for us in Moscow. To start the evening no better place than the 22nd floor of the Academy of Sciences, with great views to Moscow River and most parts of the city. After midnight we go to Propaganda, one of the most popular, but still alternative, night clubs in Moscow. Entrance is free tonight and drinks are not expensive, music is great and crowd is perfect, what else can you ask? http://www.waytorussia.net/Moscow/ClubsDance.html

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D60 - Uzbek Dinner

2006-09-11T12:10:00.000+02:00

Aug09 - Day60 - Moskva - Km5150

Un cop feta la promesa s'ha de complir. Avui convido a Arina, la seva mare i la seva tia a un restaurant Uzbekistanes del centre de Moscou. No es gens barat, pero despres de la gran hospitalitat que he rebut per part d'elles i de l'oportunitat de poder anar de camping al Llac Seliger amb totes tres, crec que ho tenen ben merescut. No acostumen a frequentar aquests tipus de llocs i s'ho passen be. Al final del sopar demanem un "kalian", una mena de catximba tipica de les republiques del sud. Fumem tabac de maduixa durant mes d'una hora i, enmig de l'animacio, Alla, la tia d'Arina, decideix convidar-nos el dissabte a casa seva a sopar i ella ballara belly-dancing per nosaltres
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As I promised them during the camp, today I am going to invite Arina, her mother and her aunt to a special dinner in a Moscow restaurant. I have chosen an Uzbekistani restaurant near he Kremlin, is not cheap but I want to thank all of them for their hospitality here in Moscow and for inviting me to the Seliger Lake. We are lucky enough to get the last table. Food is excellent, music too. We also ask for "kalyan" (water pipe) which we keep for more than one hour after the dinner. Alla, Arina's aunt, decides to invite us to her flat to eat more typical Uzbek food next saturday night. She can dance belly-dancing and cook good uzbek food thanks to lots of friends that she has from the former soviet republic
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60 days

D52 - Russian Lessons

2006-08-30T12:59:00.000+02:00

AUG01 - Day52 - Seliger Lake - Km4770

Un dels entreteniments durant el dia es aprendre rus i castella. Arina m'ensenya rus basic i jo l'ajudo a conjugar els verbs en castella. Ella porta temps estudiant-lo i ja te un nivell bastant bo, tot i que li costa parlar per falta de practica. El meu rus es molt basic, pero ja consegueixo entendre algunes converses i construir certa base de vocabulari. Tot i aixo, la comunicacio meva es basicament en angles amb Arina i algunes persones mes del camp, no masses, que tambe parlen angles.
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One of my entertainments in the camp is to learn russian. Arina teaches me russian, I teach her spanish. We both brought books for it and spend many hours on the beach or near the fire, depending on the weather. Even if I learn russian and she learns spanish, our communication is still 90% in english. The other people of the camp also starts learning english and sometimes, for fun, they talk between them in english too. They said that the camp this year is not the "enviromental camp" like other years but a "language camp".
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D50 - Samogon

2006-08-30T12:48:00.000+02:00

JUL30 - Day50 - Seliger Lake - Km4770

Avui si que toca inaugurar la sauna, fem 4 sessions sempre seguides d'un bany al llac. S'ha d'anar en compte, quan es prepara una sauna rustica, a treure totes les cendres, perque una mica de foc crea CO2, que es toxic de respirar. Despres de la Sauna anem a beure vodka per celebrar l'aniversari de Sergei i els meus 50 dies de viatge, la festa es intima, nomes 6 persones, pero despres vaig al camp del costat on un grup de joves encara estan de festa. Ells beuen "samogon" un licor destil.lat en el poble del costat. Parlem i parlem i ja es de dia quan anem a les tendes a dormir.
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Sunday. Today after the volleyball match (I was with the "veteran" group) we will inaugurate the brand new built BANYA. The other 4 russian guys meet once a week in Moscow to take banya, they say that in winter they jump naked to the snow because there is no water, all is frozen of course. Here we have the lake where we swim in the dark, 4 times after the 4 sessions. They worry about me because there is always a bit of CO2 in the air, even if we have removed the ashes carefully there is always the possibility to leave something small burning.
After banya we celebrate Sergei's 54th birthday and my day 50 of the trip. Party is long. After party I join another party with the young neighbours, they drink Samogon, a local distilled spirit. We talk talk talk until 6am, I didn't know but in the silence of the night, all the camp could hear us.
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50 days

2006-08-30T12:10:00.000+02:00

D49 - Banya (Sauna)

2006-08-21T15:21:00.000+02:00

JUL29 - Day49 - Seliger Lake - 4770Km

Un dels luxes mes grans del camp es la sauna, o "banya" que es el nom rus. La primera nit em van convidar amb els jefes del grup, com a convidat d'honor del camp. Avui Sergei em proposa ajudar a construir-ne una de nova i mes gran. Sergei es Enginyer Quimic i parla bon angles, ell em va donant instruccions i jo l'ajudo tan be com se. Al final ha quedat una estructura consistent i l'interior pot acollir fins a 6 persones. Dema a la nit la inaugurarem i despres celebrarem el seu aniversari i els mes 50 dies de viatge, l'ecuador.
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The day of the arrival I was invited to take Banya (Sauna) with the bosses of the camp, like the "honor guest". Today Sergei asked me to help to build a better one, near the small beach. Sergei (54) is Chemical Enginner, now retired, the early retirement is due to dangerous working conditions during 10 years. Now she has other businesses in Moscow because the pension is not enough to survive. First we built the structure with consistent sticks, then the fire place with big stones and later the walls with old sails from catamarans and baidarkas. At the end looks wonderful, it can take 6 people inside. We will inaugurate it tomorrow in the evening.
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D47 - Baidarka

2006-08-21T14:53:00.000+02:00

JUL27 - Day47 - Seliger Lake - 4770Km

Primera nit a la tenda. Pel mati anem amb Arina, la seva mare i la seva tia a l'altre costat de l'illa, on hi ha l'unic poblet i on podem comprar algunes coses i prendre cafe. Es tarda una hora en arribar, pel cami mengem maduixes silvestres i altres fruits que creixen a l'estiu per aquestes contrades. A la tornada arribem just pel dinar de les 2. Els horaris de menjar son: esmorzar a les 9, dinar a les 2 i sopar a les 8. A la tarda agafem un parell de "baidarka" una mena de kayak tipic de Russia i anem a donar una volta pel llac tots 4.
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Today is the first full day in the island, we go to the other side, the only populated place, a small village with one shop and one bar. It takes 1h to walk there. The family that runs this bar lost their job when the factory where they worked closed after the soviet union collapse. Without jobs, they decided to move to this remote and lonely place. Nobody comes here in winter, which can be up to 9 months long, but summer time is full of tourists enjoying the nature of the island. In the afternoon we go by Baidarka, a boat similar to a kayak, this will be our main transport system during the next 2 weeks.
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D46 - Seliger

2006-08-15T12:30:00.000+02:00

JUL26 - Day46 - Seliger Lake - 4770Km

El tren ens deixa a l'estacio d'Ostashkov a les 7 del mati. Anem a la platja on truqem les organitzadors del camp que ens envien dos nois amb una barca que ens duran a l'illa. Viurem a l'illa mes gran del llac, davant del monestir. En el camp hi ha unes 20 persones mes els grups d'estudiants de diferents parts del pais. Nosaltres som turistes pero ajudem en la mesura que podem a organitzar les activitats. Hem de pagar 3EUR/dia i a canvi tenim esmorzar, dinar i sopar.
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We arrive at Ostashkov, the capital of the region at 7am. The taxi drive us 10km to the shore of the lake where many people is waiting for the boats to collect them. We will sleep in the biggest island of the lake, opposite Nil's monastery. We call the boss of the campsite and 2 young guys (friends of Arina) come with a small boat to pick us up. We are tourists in this camp, as opposite of trainers and the students. The cost is 100RUR/day (3EUR), we get breakfast, lunch and dinner for that price, we can use all facilities in the camp when they are free, but at the same time we are supposed to help to cook and organize events with the trainers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Seliger
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D45 - Go Camping

2006-08-15T11:23:00.000+02:00

JUL25 - Day45 - Moskva - Km4390

Avui ens diem adeu amb Tania. 8 dies junts i molts moments especials, no es facil, pero ella ha decidit anar a passar uns dies de reclusio en un monestir prop de la frontera ucraniana i jo m'he deixat convencer per Arina i anar de camping a uns llacs al nord de la ciutat amb la seva mare i la seva tia. Conec Arina nomes de dues trobades curtes als vespres, pero l'oportunitat de sortir de la ciutat i coneixer la naturalesa m'atrau i accepto la invitacio. Elles es quedaran 2 setmanes pero jo tinc intencio d'estar-hi nomes una i despres continuar el viatge cap a l'Est. Pugem al tren en vagons separats perque vam comprar el bitllet en dies diferents. Amb mi hi ha tres estuidiants que van de vacances al mateix lloc, un enginyer aerospacial, un enginyer electronic i un metge cirurgia. Arriba Arina i ells treuen una guitarra i comencen a cantar tots plegats, convidem la seva mare i la seva tia i tots 7 en un vago per 4 persones sopem, bevem cervesa i cantem fins que els veins es queixen, passada la mitjanit. Es hora de dormir.
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Today Tania goes to a monastery in the south and I have decided to accept Arina's invitation to go to Seliger lake to a campsite for children. I don't understand what will we do in a children's camp but she is very persistent and I believe that this will be a unique opportunity to see the countryside, the nature and meet new people with whom I will share new and interesting experiences. We go with her mother Elena and aunt Alla. Since I bought the train ticket later than them, we are in different wagons. In my compartment there are 3 young guys with a guitar. Arina comes to pick me up for dinner but we finally decide to call her mother and aunt and have dinner together with the guys in my place. We eat, drink and play guitar until the neighbours start to complaint after midnight. Time to sleep.
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D44 - Registration III

2006-08-11T11:05:00.000+02:00

JUL24 - Day44 - Moskva - Km4390

Per fi aconsegueixo registrar el visat. Ja se m'havia passat pel cap abandonar el pais i tornar a Ucraina o potser anar als paisos Baltics en comptes de seguir cap a l'est. Pero tot surt be, no es facil pero ho aconseguim. L'agencia que em va enviar l'invitacio a traves d'una empresa falsa es qui ha de registrar el meu passaport. No ho puc fer jo personalment. Els deixo el passaport i tots els documents que hem hagut d'omplir per demostrar que viure a casa de Tania els propers 90 dies (cosa que tambe es falsa). Pago 50 dolars mes i en tres dies em tenen els segells corresponents en el passaport. He tardat 9 dies en poder ser legal al pais, oficialment nomes tenia 3 dies per fer tots els passos burocratics. Russia segueix essent un estat altament burocratitzat i qualsevol pas administratiu es un maldecap que complica el desenvolupament del pais. Tania m'explica que te ganes de trobar una feina a Moscou per estar prop de la familia pero que quan veu coses com aquestes se li passen les ganes de tornar.
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The only way to register the visa is to give all my documents to the agency. They sent me the invitation from the fake company and now they must register me in the general registration office. I pay 50USD more, give them my passport and all the papers proving that I will stay in Tania's place for 90 days. 3 days later I get 2 stamps in my passport. It took me 9 days to register, officially I had only 3 days, which is practically impossible. Bureaucracy is still a big problem in Russia, lots of people's time wasted to fill hundreds of forms. You can find yourself queueing for half an hour to get a form in one building, then go to the bank to pay as little as 0.50EUR and back to the original place with the prove of the payment, queue again and finally get the stamp you need.
With a tourist visa, if you move from city to city you must register everywhere you go. Luckily, with my business visa and my prove of residence in Moscow, I don't need to worry anymore about registration, my stamp is valid all over the country for the next 3 months.
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D42 - Dacha

2006-08-10T13:56:00.000+02:00

JUL22 - Day42 - Moskva - Km4390

La mare de Tania passa la meitat de la setmana a la casa que tenen al sud de la ciutat: a la "dacha", que es el nom que reben les casetes de vacances o segones residencies lluny de les ciutats. Avui hi anem per ajudar la seva mare i per passar-hi la nit. Dacha esta al sud de la ciutat, agafem el tren i pel cami Tania m'ensenya el seu antic lloc de treball i l'esglesia on la van batejar. Caminem uns 20 minuts des de l'estacio de tren, creuant boscos i altres dachas. La casa esta situada enmig del bosc de pins alts, un lloc ideal per desconnectar de la ciutat els caps de setmana. Mengem maduixes, ajudem a la seva mare a preparar conserves per l'hivern i sopem plegats mentre xerrem i juguem amb Magda (el gos) i Yulichka (el gat)
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Tania's family has a dacha (countryside house) in the south of the city. Her mother is doing some repairs in the building and we decide to go and help this afternoon. We take the train for 40 minutes and walk for 20 minutes, is a hot day. Dacha is in the middle of the forest, beautiful place to disconnect from the rush and pollution of the city. We eat strawberries from the garden, spend time watching pictures and preparing some food. Tonight we will sleep here and tomorrow Sunday back again to Moscow.
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D40 - Registration II

2006-08-10T13:30:00.000+02:00

JUL20 - Day40 - Moskva - Km4390

Registrar el meu visat porta encara mes maldecaps. Intentem que ens segellin un document a les 9 del mati perque a partir d'avui soc il.legal al pais, han passat 4 dies des de la meva entrada i encara no estic registrat. La dona que te el tampo amb el segell no hi es perque ahir a la nit van celebrar un aniversari i aquest mati arribara tard. Increible. Suposo que va veure massa alcohol, el que m'extranya es que el tampo no estigui a l'oficina... potser se l'endu a casa i dorm amb ell. Sigui com sigui hem de tornar a les 4 de la tarda. Un cop tenim el segell en el document anem a la policia per fer el darrer pas. Avui no sera possible, ens diuen que com que tinc un visat de negocis les coses s'han de fer d'una manera diferent. Hem perdut ja tres dies omplint papers aqui i alla, ingressant diners en el banc i pagant factures en diversos estaments... Molta energia i temps perdut i encara no estic registrat. Segueixo essent il.legal.
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My visa registration is not done yet, I am illegal right now. 9am we go to get a stamp in one document but the lady is not there because last night they had a birthday party in the office and she is going to be late in the morning. Nobody else have the same stamp, we must wait until the vodka goes away from her head and she decides to go back to the office. I am wondering if she sleeps with the stamp. From 4pm to 6pm the office is open to everybody, she seems to be back there and we got our stamp. With 4 different documents and after paying for each of them in different offices/windows we go to the police. We are told that business visas cannot be registered here. We have lost another day, many hours and lots of energy.
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D40 - Masha and Arina

2006-08-10T13:01:00.000+02:00

JUL20 - Day40 - Moskva - Km4390

Com que Moscou es una ciutat gran i cara, abans de venir vaig intentar trobar contactes en cas que Tania em falles. Gracies a Sandra (Equador) em vaig posar en contacte amb Masha i despres amb Arina, que estudia espanyol i li feia il.lusio coneixer-me. Avui deixo que Tania passi una estona amb la seva mare a soles i jo quedo amb elles. Una altra cita a cegues, jo no he vist mai una foto ni d'Arina ni de Masha. A l'estacio de metro ella em reconeix a la primera. Arina (21) estudia art a les nits i treballa de dissenyadora durant el dia. Estudia espanyol i frances i tambe parla angles. La conversacio es una barreja d'espanyol i angles. Passegem una estona per la ciutat i mes tard arriba Masha per anar sopar plegats. Ens caiem be i decidim que ens hem de tornar a trobar abans que jo segueixi el meu cami cap a Siberia
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I got the email of Masha through Sandra, a friend from Ecuador that studied in Moscow for 5 years. Today we are going to meet, first with Arina (21) friend of Masha and later she will join us for dinner in Mu-Mu. I don't know Arina, I have never seen a picture of her but she recognizes me very quick in the metro station. She is learning spanish and can speak english as well. We mix both languages in our conversation. Arina study arts in the evenings and works as designer during the day. We walk and talk for a while until Masha arrives. In the restaurant they help me to choose the traditional food and the waitresses seem to enjoy and try to speak english with me. I get more smiles in Moscow than I thought.
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40 days

2006-08-10T11:47:00.000+02:00

D39 - Passport Please

2006-08-10T11:40:00.000+02:00

JUL19 - Day39 - Moskva - Km 4390

La Placa Roja es un punt important en el meu viatge. Podria dir que es l'equador en quan a distancia i tambe gairebe en dies. El final d'una part del meu viatge, la part europea, i l'inici de la ruta del transiberia, a partir del qual ja gairebe no tinc contactes. Fem fotos amb Tania, visitem el mausoleu de Lenin, els magatzems GUM i despres passegem per la part antiga de la ciutat mentre mengem un gelat: Teatre Bolshoi, Petrovka...
Un dels perills de visitar la Placa Roja es la policia, estan com voltors esperant turistes. Demanen el passaport i si alguna cosa no els agrada et posen una multa... almenys aixo diu al meva guia de viatges. A mi em paren 2 vegades, els ensenyo el passaport i em fan preguntes perque encara no estic registrat. Per sort Tania esta amb mi i ella els explica tot en rus i em deixen marxar sense demanar-me diners.
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Today is for sightseeing. First thing to visit is the Kremlin and the Red Square. If Keleti (Budapest) and the Forbidden City (Beijing) are the start and end points of my trip, this is the equator. A big landmark and a special moment. We take pictures, go to Lenin mausoleum, GUM shooping center and then walk around the old areas of the city centre.
As Lonely Planet says, this is a place to avoid police, is full of them and they ask for passport and registration to tourists, trying to get some extra money with "false" fines. Tania and I try not to talki in english when police is next to us but they stopped me twice in less than 1 hour. I show (not give) my passport, they ask questions because I am not registered yet, but Tania explains everyhing in russian and they let me go "for free". I wouldn't come here alone, or if I come I must be sure I have enough 20USD notes in my pocket to avoid problems with police.
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D38 - Visa Registration I

2006-08-09T13:12:00.000+02:00

JUL18 - Day38 - Moskva - Km4390

Com ja he dit abans, viatjar per Russia no es facil, es necessita seguir uns certs passos burocratics gens facils. Per tal de venir amb un visat de 3 mesos he hagut de demanar un visat de negocis a traves d'una empresa falsa. Ara cal registrar el meu visat i el process es complicat. Primer he d'aconseguir un paper que demostri el lloc on viure els propers 3 mesos (a casa de Tania), amb aquest paper la meva "empresa" falsa anira a l'oficina on em posaran el segell al passaport. Tot aixo s'ha de fer en un termini de 3 dies des de l'entrada al pais o corro el risc de pagar una multa o fins i tot ser deportat a casa. El segell d'entrada es del dia 16, o sigui que tinc fins dimecres 19 (dema) per fer tots els papers.
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Every foreigner that enters Russia and wants to stay more than 3 days MUST register the visa within the first three days upon arrival. There are many different types of visa, being the most common the "tourist visa" for up to 1 month and "business visa". Since I needed more than a month I had to apply for business visa. Now is time to register. My entry date is Sunday 16th of July I must finish the process by Wednesday 19th. We go with Tania to the main registration office in the city center. They tell me that in order to register the business visa, somebody from my company must go there. My "company" is a fake one, only used for inviting tourists that want to stay more than 30 days. We call the agency which issued my visa. The process takes several steps. First I must get a paper showing where I live and then my "company" will go and register the visa for me with the cost of 50USD.
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D38 - Tania

2006-08-09T12:49:00.000+02:00

JUL18 - Day38 - Moskva - Km4390

Tania (Tatiana, 29) es el contacte mes important que em trobare en tot aquest viatge, ens coneixem des de fa mes de 2 anys. Ella es de Moscou pero ara viu i treballa a Suecia. Ens vam coneixer fa dos anys a Budapest i des de llavors ens uneix una forta amistad. Ella ha estat un parell de vegades de Nica a casa meva i jo tambe he estat a casa seva a Estocolm. Per primera vegada ens trobem al seu pais i a la seva ciutat amb la seva familia, a Moscou. Fa nomes tres mesos des de la darrera vegada que ens vam veure a Franca, tot i aixi, retrobar-nos ens fa una inmensa il.lusio a tots dos.
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Tania (Tatiana, 29) is my strongest contact in this trip. We met first time in 2004 in Budapest. I lived in the hungarian capital and she went there on a business trip from Sweden. She works as tax consultant and Ernst & Young in Stockholm and we have a common friend who introduced us. Since then, she visited me in France a couple of times and I visited her in Sweden too. Now, for the first time, we will meet in her home city Moscow. She has taken 3 week holiday and I have planned my trip to be here at the same time with her.
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D37 - Alone and Lost

2006-08-09T11:55:00.000+02:00

JUL17 - Day37 - Moskva - Km4390

Arribo a Moscou Kurskaia Vokzal a les 10 del mati, tothom es mou de pressa, signe evident que em trobo en una gran ciutat. Estic sol, Tania no arriba fins les 7 de la tarda. Primer de tot he de deixar les maletes en lloc segur i despres ja veure que faig. Canvio diners, 1Euro son 33Rubles, sera facil de calcular els preus multiplicant per 3. Compro SIM pel telefon i esmorzo. Ara que ja tinc una mica mes d'energia, pero no massa despres de les 15 hores de tren, decideixo endinsar-me en el metro. 13 linies amb mes d'un centenar d'estacions. Creuar la ciutat pot tardar mes de 2h. El sistema es bo, una linea circular que conecta amb totes les demes que van de nord a sud o de oest a est en forma d'un gran asterisc. Els trens arriben cada 50 segons a les hores puntes, rarament van plens. Passadissos amples, espais oberts, no hi ha sensacio de claustrofobia o malestar. La gent de la ciutat sovint decideix trobar-se a les estacions de metro quan han de quedar amb algu.

Arribo al Kremlin despres dels primers exercicis d'orientacio. El fet d'haver estat abans als metros de Kiev i de Minsk m'ajuda perque el sistema de canviar de linia es similar, amb passadissos llargs i indicacions no massa clares per als turistes. Vaig a la Placa Roja pero fa fred i no m'hi estic gaire estona. Torno a l'estacio de tren, recullo les maletes, compro flors i espero que arribi Tania.

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Moscow Monday morning. People everywhere moving quick in the train station. I have always a very special feeling when I arrive in a new city for the first time, its a mix of curiosity and respect. Everybody knows where to go, I don't. First of all I need to leave my luggage in a safe place but I have no money. I exchange 50EUR (1EUR=33RUR). Second thing to do is to buy a russian SIM card for my mobile. Easier than I expected. Now is time to relax, I go to a kiosk to drink coffee and eat something warm. I send SMS to my local contacts. Tania will arrive from Stockholm at 7:30pm, I have 9h to spend somehow in Moscow. Outside is raining, a bit cold as well. I buy a city plan and go to the metro, 3 lines cross here in Kurskaia I don't know yet how to get from one line to the other. Metro tickets are about 30 cent of Euro and can get you anywhere in the city. System is efficient, at rush hours there is one train every 50 seconds. Finally I get to the Kremlin, the very center of Moscow and Russia. I enter the Red Square but is too cold and I don't have warm clothes with me. I decide to go back to the train station, collect my luggage, buy flowers and wait for Tania.

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D37 - Russian Federation

2006-08-09T11:15:00.000+02:00

JUL17 - D37 - Moskva - Km4390

Russia o mes ben dit la Federacio Russa es, amb mes de 17000 quilometres quadrats el pais mes gran del planeta. Si la frontera entre Asia i Europa son els Urals, prodriem dir que es a la vegada el pais mes gran d'Europa i d'Asia. La poblacio, majoritariament concentrada a la part Europea no es massa gran en comparacio al territori que ocupa: 150 milions d'habitants aproximadament i en proces decreixent. El turisme no esta gaire desenvolupat mes enlla de Moscou i San Petersburg, l'economia gira basicament al voltant del enormes recursos energetics del pais. 15 anys despres de la desaparicio de la Unio Sovietica, Russia encara viu epoques de canvis extraordinaris. Es el 62e pais en renda per capita pero Moscu es la ciutat amb mes milionaris del planeta. Es considerat el 10e pais mes ric del mon i a la vegada un dels mes influents politicament i economica.
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The Russian Federation is the biggest country in the world in extension: over 17000 square km, 11 time zones and more than 8000km from west to east. It covers almost twice as much land as the second largest country in the world (Canada). Vast country but low density, its population is around 150 million, mainly concentrated in the western part and along the transiberian train route in the south. 150 different languages, 7.9% GDP increase a year, 10.9% inflation and 8.2% unemployement. Moscow (Moskva) the capital is the biggest city with over 10 million inhabitants, in second place in St Petersburg in the north-west with 4.5 million. Many things can be said about the Russian Federation, history, literature, politics, economy, etc... but is not the point of this blog, here I will explain what I encounter during the next days: landscapes, people, impressions, stories about normal day life, etc...
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D36 - Bye Ukraine

2006-08-08T13:12:00.000+02:00

JUL16 - Day36 - Kharkiv - Km3609

Diumenge. Ola va marxar ahir a la nit i jo no vaig tenir prou energia per sortir de festa sol, tot i que era dissabte nit i Kharkiv es un bon lloc per sortir a la nit amb molta festa i gent jove. Com que els meus contactes no son a la ciutat i Ola havia de marxar ahir, vaig decidir comprar el bitllet de tren a Moscu per avui diumenge. Finalment entrare a Russia.
El tren surt a les nou i Dmitry em deixa quedar al pis fins les 7 del vespre sense cap carrec extra. Ell mateix ve a recollir les claus i em porta a l'estacio de tren. Els 15 minuts dins el cotxe els aprofitem per intercanviar informacions, ell parla molts idiomes i ja porta 7 anys llogant apartaments i altres activitats turistiques a Kharkiv. El principi va ser dificil pero el boca-orella ha fet que ara tingui un munt de clients. Quan torni a visistar la ciutat contactare amb ell sense cap mena de dubte.
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Ola left last night, she could get only a ticket for Saturday night. She will be at home on Sunday morning ready for her grandmother 80th aniversary party. My ticket, which I bought in a special room only for foreigners, even though they could not speak any english, is for today Sunday.
I check out from the appartment in the evening with no extra charge, Dmitry comes to pick up the keys and offers me a lift to the station. He has been running this business for 7 years, now he has lots of appartments rented in the city. Dmitry studied foreign languages in Kharkiv, can speak perfect english, good german and some chinese and probably some other languages too. We talk about nightlife in Kharkiv. When I come back to the city I will definitely contact him again, he also has appartments for monthly renting at good prices.
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D35 - Ticket Nightmare

2006-07-24T19:00:00.000+02:00

JUL15 - Day35 - Kharkiv - Km3609

La primera cosa que hem de fer avui es comprar els bitllets de tren. Voliem anar a nedar a un llac als afores de la ciutat, potser hi anirem a la tarda. Anem amb Ola a l'estacio de tren a comprar els bitllets. No hi ha gaire finestretes obertes, i algunes son nomes per militars o per gent jubilada o per estudiants. Fem 40 minuts de cua inutil perque ens diuen que aquella finestreta es nomes per trens que marxen avui. Els bitllets per altres dies s'han de comprar en una altra oficina en un altre edifici. Anem al lloc on ens indiquen, una sala plena de gent i amb l'aire super carregat. Ola es comenca a marejar i jo em quedo a la cua, potser hi han 15 persones davant meu, pero les demes cues estan igual. Mitja hora mes tard, quan nomes queden 3 persones davant meu, una dona gran i grassa es cola dient que te pressa. Comenca a comprar bitllets i mes bitllets, tarda mes de mitja hora i la gent es comenca a indignar. Finalment acaba la "macro-compra" pero la mala sort no s'ha acabat. Es hora de dinar i la noia que ven els bitllets baixa la cortina davant els nostres nassos. Son les 2 i no tornara a obrir fins les 3. Increible.

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Today we must buy the ticket for Ola to go back to Donetsk tomorrow, plus my ticket to Moscow for the day after (Monday). We go to the station by metro. After 40min queueing we are told that this ticket office is only for trains departing today, for other days we have to go to another building across the road. The new ticket office is not easy to find, no indication no nothing. Finally we found a gray dirty place packed with people queueing. The shortest queue is about 15 people long. We stay in line, is hot and boring. Ola goes outside because she doesn't feel good with the heavy air in the room. I keep in line for 30 min. The queue moved slightly only. When we are 2 places from the window one old fat lady goes to first position saying that she is in a hurry. She starts buying tickets and more tickets... probably for half an hour or 40 minutes she keeps buying tickets, more than 10. I cannot believe what is happenning, everybody is angry but she doesn't care. Finally she goes away but the bad luck is not over. Is 2pm, time for lunch, the lady selling the tickets close the window and disappears. She is back at 3pm.

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D34 - Ola

2006-07-23T18:58:00.000+02:00

JUL14 - Day34 - Kharkiv - Km3609

Es curios, pero aquesta es la tercera vegada que visito Kharkiv, ciutat poc turistica pero on hi tinc bastants amics. Desafortunadament Sergey i Ludja no hi son, van marxar el mes de Gener a Dinamarca amb un contracte de feina d'un any a recollir flors en granges, la unica feina que ofereixen als ucranians. Tanya, estudiant de dentista em diu que no es a la ciutat, que ha marxat a fer les practiques d'estiu lluny de Kharkiv. Iryna i Andrew no contesten els emails ni els sms. Marianna m'estimo mes no trucar-la. A falta de contactes locals aviso a Ola (Olga, 26) amb uns dies d'antelacio per si vol venir a passar el cap de setmana amb mi. Vaig coneixer Ola a Nica fa mig any, quan ella treballava en un bar a la part vella de la ciutat. Ens vam intercanviar els telefons i ara ens veiem de nou en el seu pais. Ella es de Donetsk, a unes 7h en tren de Kharkiv. Arribara amb el tren de les 8 del vespre. Ens comuniquem en frances de la manera que podem.
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This is my third time in Kharkiv but my contacts are either away or unreachable. Sergey and Ludja, my best friends in the city, left to Denmark to work for a year, Tanya is out of the city, Iryna does not answer sms/email. Fortunately I could convince Ola (Olga, 26) from Donetsk to take the train and spend the weekend together here in Kharkiv. I met Ola in France last year, she was working in a bar in the old town of Nice, we exchanged phones and we have been in contact since then. I promised to go to Donetsk to visit her but I am running out of days, so we decided to meet here before I go to Russia. She arrives by train in the evening. We communicate in french with difficulties.
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D33 - Kharkiv

2006-07-17T12:32:00.000+02:00

JUL13 - Day33 - Kharkiv - Km3609 (+850)

Despres de 17h de tren sense aire condicionat, arribo rebentat a Kharkiv, la segona ciutat de Ucrania en numero d'habitants: 1.5 milions. Vaig al centre a recollir les claus del pis de la ma de Dimitry. M'explica que tenen gairebe tots els pisos llogats, porta 7 anys en el negoci i el boca-orella ha fet la seva feina. Kharkiv va ser la capital d'Ucrania durant gairebe dues decades al primer terc del segle XX, ara es una ciutat que energetica gracies a les seves Universitats i la quantitat d'estudiants que hi viuen. Te el centre forca verd, amb el Parc Schevchenko que s'acaba on comenca la placa mes gran d'Europa dins d'una ciutat: Placa de la Llibertat (Svobody Ploscha), segona del mon despres de la de Tiananment a Xina. Destaquen l'arquitectura comunista que envolta la placa i una inmensa estatua de Lenin.
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I arrive exhausted to Kharkiv after 17h on the train, extremely hot day. I go to meet Dmitry in the office to get the keys of the appartment, I plan to stay 3 or 4 nights, depending on the train schedules to Moscow.
Kharkiv (in ukrainian), Kharkov (in russian) is the second largest city in Ukraine with its 1.5 million inhabitants. Only 40km away from the russian border. The population is mostly russian speaking, compared to the ukrainian speaking west of the country. Kharkiv was the capital of Ukraine during 17 years: 1917-1934. Has lots of green areas in the city center and the largest inner city square in Europe, the second largest in the world after Tiananmen in China. Is called Svodoby (Freedom) and has a huge Lenin monument in the middle.
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D32 - Good Bye Minsk

2006-07-17T11:37:00.000+02:00

JUL12 - Day32 - Minsk - Km2759

Ahir dimarts vaig tenir la primera "cita a cegues". Tania (Tatiana, 24), ens vam posar en contacte per internet i ahir a la nit ens vam coneixer en persona. Ella parla una mica d'espanyol, esta enamorada del sud d'Europa i te ganes de marxar del pais pero ja li han refusat dos visats. Treballa a l'Hotel Jubilenaya, curiosament el mateix on vaig estar a la meva visita l'Abril passat.
Avui dimecres es el darrer dia a Minsk, el tren surt a mitjanit, gracies a Jenya aconsegueixo que ens deixin quedar al pis fins les 9 del vespre pagant 20 dolars extra. Encara ens queda un munt de menjar i begudes. Decidim organitzar una festa a ultima hora, pero al final nomes Nasdja i Natasha venen (a la foto).
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Last evening I had the first "blind date" in Minsk, Tania (Tatiana, 24), we found each other in internet. She can speak some spanish and perfect english. Tania works in Jubilenaya Hotel, the place where I stayed for 4 days in April. As many other young people in Minsk she doesn't see her future in Belarus, she wants to emigrate but has been refused 2 visa applications so far.
My train is at midnight today Wednesday. I must check out from the appartment at midday. Thanks to Jenya's persuading skills I get until 9pm paying 20USD extra. Since we still have food and drinks from the previous days we decide to make a GoodBye party to finish off everything. Jenya calls many people but only 2 show up: Nasdja and Natasha (picture). We drink some juice and vodka while I pack everything.
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D30 - Lena

2006-07-17T11:19:00.000+02:00

JUL10 - Day30 - Minsk - Km2759

Ahir vam anar Lena, Inna, Jenya i jo a veure la Final del Mundial de Futbol. El lloc on anem es ple i decidim anar a casa a veure'l tranquil.lament des del sofa. Vam coneixer Lena (Elena, 19) una nit a Max Show, aquesta nit ha vingut amb Inna, estudien juntes a l'insititut on es preparen per entrar a l'Universitat de Medicina. Despres del partit, que guanya Italia als penalties, anem a West World Club, uns discoteca al costat de l'Hotel Belarus. Es la nit the R'n'B, no es la nostra musica preferida pero ens hi estem un parell d'hores. Torno a quedar per sopar amb Lena avui. Parla prou angles per comunicar-nos pero despres d'unes quantes hores perd la concentracio i la comunicacio es fa mes dificil. Va estudiar-lo fa uns anys pero darrerament no ha tingut oportunitat de practicar-lo.
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We met Lena (Elena, 19) in Max Show. Last night we went together with her friend Inna and Jenya to watch the World Cup Final. Vienna was full of people, so we had to go to my place. Lena studies in college, next year she should enter the Medical University. Inna wants to become a doctor too. She likes dancing and is very good at that, she is currently learning belly-dancing. We all 4 go together to West World Club, a disco next to Hotel Belarus, tonight is R'n'B night... we don't really enjoy dancing this type of music for too long, 1 or 2 hours is enough. Today we meet again and go to Lido, in Yakuba Kolasa, a typical belarus food restaurant. Lena's english is acceptable, she studied in the past but didn't have much chance to practice it. She will spend 1 month this summer in Kiev learning natural medicine with her uncle.
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D30 - Change Plans

2006-07-17T10:59:00.000+02:00

JUL10 - Day30 - Minsk - Km2759

La idea inicial d'aquest viatge era canviar de ciutat cada setmana. Viatjar en tren el dilluns a la nit per poder aclimatar-me a la nova ciutat a principis de setmana, disfrutar del cap de setmana i canviar de nou al seguent dilluns. Ja porto a Minsk 7 dies i encara no tinc clar cap on anar. M'ho estic passant be, tinc molts amics aqui, pero el viatge ha de seguir endavant. Decideixo comprar el bitllet a Kharkov pel dimecres mentre espero que Tania agafi les seves vacances i ens podem trobar a Moscow d'aqui a 7 dies.
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Originally I wanted to change cities every week, this means, 1 night on the train + 6 nights in the city. I have been in Minsk 7 nights already and I still don't have plans to leave. I try to talk to Tania in Sweden, she is my main contact for Moscow. I will plan according her holiday's schedule. She will be in Moscow starting 16th of July, so I have one more week before entering Russia. I decide to buy the ticket to Kharkov, back to Ukraine, for Wednesday night. It's fun to be in Minsk surrounded by good friends but I must move forward.
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30 days

2006-07-16T15:39:00.000+02:00

D29 - Ira

2006-07-14T17:42:00.000+02:00

JUL09 - Day29 - Minsk - Km2759

Ira (Irina,20), es potser una de les noies mes atractives que he conegut a Minsk. 175cm, ulls verds, cabells rossos, somriure amable, parla espanyol i italia. Quedem per sopar avui perque dema marxa cap a Roses (Alt Emporda) on hi passara 3 mesos vivint amb la seva tia i intentant trobar feina. Diu que si troba una feina bona potser s'hi queda i no torna a Minsk. Parlem de la vida i dels preus alla, intento avisar-la que una noia com ella sera el centre d'atencio vagi on vagi, pero com que ha viatjat per Italia ja sap del que estic parlant, no es res nou per ella. Ira s'ha passat l'hivern treballant i estudiant per poder estalviar diners per aquest viatge, els ultims mesos tenia 2 feines i examens a la Universitat, ho ha aprovat tot. Li dic que es SuperWoman i es posa a riure. Quedem que ens trucarem quan torni a casa despres d'aquest viatge.
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Today I plan dinner with Ira (Irina, 20), we go to the spanish restaurant in Nemiga. Early in the afternoon because she doesn't want to miss her favourite team, Italy, in the WorldCup final. I met Ira and her friend Nika (19) in April, they are both friends of Jenya. This time we meet alone because she wants to talk about her trip to Spain. Tomorrow she will take to train to Poland and then the plane from Warsaw to Barcelona. She goes with her sister and mother to visit her aunt in Roses, north of Barcelona, 50km from my hometown. It's funny to meet somebody in Minsk that will be next week and for the next 3 months very close to my hometown. She speaks spanish, not perfect but all the conversation is in spanish during the dinner. She studies economy at the University in Minsk, she travelled to Italy in the past and now wants to discover Spain and probably find a job there. We decide to meet in Spain if I come back before she leaves. I told her that a tall, blonde, green-eyes girl like her won't be alone when I come back :-)
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D27 - Afternoon Party

2006-07-14T16:38:00.000+02:00

JUL07 - Day27 - Minsk - Km2759

Truco Kat per quedar, proposa dinar junts prop de casa, esta estressada per la feina, intento animarla pero no es facil. Despres de dinar passegem una estona pel parc i decidim visitar una amiga seva. Lena, viu a Nova York pero ara esta de vacances a Bielorussia visitant la familia. Va coniexer el seu xicot america a Bulgaria en unes vacances d'estiu i van decidir anar a viure a NY fa una mica mes d'un any. Ella es enginyera pero treballa de dissenyadora. Comprem un parell d'ampolles de vi i convidem Jenya al meu pis, Natasha tambe ve. Parlem de moltes coses, sobretot de la situacio politica i dels familiars que han estat expulsats de la Universitat per raons estupides. La realitat es que eren a les manifestacions en contra de Lukashenka, just despres de les eleccions. La policia els va filmar, els va fer fotos, inclus un d'ells va estar a la preso 15 dies per disturbis al carrer. Ara els han fet la vida impossible, els han fet fora de la Universitat o han perdut la seva feina. Alguns han emigrat a Polonia, on han rebut el visat de "refugiats politics" i una placa a la Universitat o facilitats per trobar feina. Lukashenka, al qui anomenen "el darrer dictador d'Europa" continua mantenint el poder amb l'us de la por als seus ciutadans.
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Today I have lunch with Kat, she is upset due to some work special situation that she won't explain to me. We go to meet Lena, she is one of her best friends. Currently Lena lives in New York with his boyfriend, they met in Bulgaria during holidays. She studied Structure Engineering in Minsk and works as Designer in NY. She came to Belarus for holidays to visit her family and friends. I call Jenya, Natasha will join too, we all go to my flat with a couple of bottle of white wine, some cheese and bread. We talk about politics, about their relatives fired from the University for no reason after taking part of the rallies against Lukashenka back in April... They are now studying in Warsaw (Poland) with the status of Political Refugees. This is the situation of many students right now. After the "elections" in Belarus in March, people went to demonstrate to the streets, specially young people, police was filming everything and taking pictures of the participants. Now some of them lost their jobs or don't get scholarships to study at the University... this is the way Lukashenka keeps the power, with fear among the population. The international community knows it but is difficult to prove and/or intervene.
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D25 - Registration

2006-07-11T16:13:00.000+02:00

JUL05 - Day25 - Minsk - Km2759

El proces de registrar-se es obligatori tan a Bielorussia com a la Federacio Rusa i s'ha de fer abans de tres dies despres d'entrar al pais. Per fer-ho necessitem el passaport de la mare de Jenya, que es qui m'ha convidat oficialment al pais. Amb el passaport ens dirigim a l'oficina del registre que esta en un dels suburbis de la ciutat. Per registrar-nos hem d'omplir uns formularis, anar al banc a pagar i fer una fotocopia de l'asseguranca. Omplir els formularis no es gens facil ni pels que parlen rus, per descomptat no hi ha res escrit en angles. Per sort les parets estan plenes d'exemples que ajuden a la gent a omplir els formularis. Anem al banc mes proper, com que estem als afores, aixo son uns 20 minuts caminant. En el banc, per fer un ingres tambe s'han d'omplir papers no gens facils. Ens equivoquem dues vegades, tardem 20 minuts en fer l'ingres pero al final ho aconseguim, son 8 Euro pel registre mes 1 Euro per entrar les dades a l'ordinador. Ara hem de buscar una fotocopiadora, preguntem a la gent, el lloc mes proper esta a 15 minuts caminant. Veiem la mateixa gent fent fotocopies que a l'oficina del registre... seria bona idea que compressin una fotocopiadora a l'oficina mateix. Pero a Bielorrussia el temps no importa pel que sembla, la burocracia es llarga i dificil. Quan ho tenim tot tornem a l'oficina del registre i em posen un segell en un paper escrit a ma, he de tenir-lo dins el passaport fins que surti del pais. Ha costat un mati sencer registrar-se, en un hotel m'ho haguessin fet en 30 segons. La millor opcio es passar una nit en un hotel i despres marxar un cop t'han registrat. Per celebrar l'exit anem a dinar Jenya i jo al costat del llac.
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Once entered Belarus is mandatory to register your visa and address within the next three days, this is the same procedure in Russia, already abolished in Ukraine and in Moldova. If the visitor stays in a hotel, they will do it untomatically at check-in. In my case, since I am in the country formally invited by Jenya's mother, we have to do all the bureaucracy ourselves. We take a taxi in the morning to collect Jenya's mother passport and then to the registration office in the outskirts of the city. We got the forms to fill up and the bank account to put money, a photocopy of my insurance is also required. there is no photocopy machine in this office, and the nearest post office with photocopy machine is 20 minutes walk. First we go to the bank to pay the money, this requires also lots of forms to be filled, 20 minutes to understand and put the information. We see the same people in the bank as in the registration office, everybody is going throught he same process. After the bank we need to find the post office to make a photocopy, we ask 3 times until we get there, in between the laberynth of buildings. Known faces here too making photocopies. Now with all the papers we go back to the registration office. the guy complains because we didn't write my name in cyrillic, we make the correction. He gives me a small paper with s stamp. This si all, it took the whole morning. Is time to celebrate, let's go to the lake to have lunch and beer.
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D25 - Natasha

2006-07-11T00:17:00.000+02:00

JUL05 - Day25 - Minsk - Km2759

Avui he quedat amb Natasha (22). Ens vam coneixer un dia de festa i des de llavors hem mantingut el contacte per email i per sms. Ella just ha acabat els examens i unes practiques de 2 setmanes a la universitat. Estudia Dret a la Universitat Russa de Minsk. Aquest cap de setmana anira a casa a passar l'estiu i ajudar a la seva mare que ha estat hospitalitzada dues setmanes. La familia viu al sud del pais, la zona mes afectada pel desastre de la central nuclear de Txernobil ara fa 20 anys. Natasha va passar 1 mes a Alemanya en el programa dels "nens de Txernobil" i per aixo sap algunes paraules d'alemany. Ens comuniquem en angles que ha estudiat a la universitat i classes particulars. Anem a sopar a un restaurant del barri vell de la ciutat i a la nit quedem amb Marina, una amiga seva de la universitat i Jenya per anar a la discoteca
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I meet Natasha (22) in the afternoon and later we go for dinner to the old town. Natasha studies law at the Russian University of Minsk. She is from the south of Belarus, the most affected part of the country during the Chernobyl disaster 20 years ago. She speaks some german because she spent 1 month near Bremen as part of the Chernobyl Children Exchange programs. She also learned english at the university and taking private lessons, we can communicate correctly. I met her in a party my last night in April, we kept contact by email and SMS. Her mother is in hospital these days, she is worried, she will go home the weekend to help her with domestic duties. Natasha finished the exams recently, now has free time until September, she wanted to find a job but the market is not easy in Minsk for a 2-months job. At night we meet Marina, her friend and I call Jenya. We all 4 meet in my flat and then go to MaxShow to dance until late.
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D24 - Kat

2006-07-10T23:52:00.000+02:00

JUL04 - Day24 - Minsk - Km2759

Ahir vaig estar parlant amb Kat (Ekaterina, 28) per telefon, ens vam acabar discutint i li vaig penjar el telefon sense dir adeu. Ens vam coneixer, igual que Jenya. ara fa tres mesos. Eren els dos unics contactes que tenia Minsk quan vaig arribar la primera vegada. Kat es una noia intel.ligent, potser massa pel lloc i epoca en que li ha tocat viure, de vegades te un caracter dificil que es suavitza quan ha begut alguna cervesa. M'agrada parlar amb ella, te un punt de vista cru i fred de la realitat, critic amb la situacio a Bielorussia i dura amb ella mateixa. El seu avi era un cientific famos de Ucraina i el van trasl.ladar a Minsk per raons de feina. Ara ella viu amb el seu xicot en un petit pis prop del meu i treballa freelance des de casa. Diu que, degut al seu caracter, no podria treballar en una oficina amb altra gent. Tot i la discussio de la nit anterior decidim quedar per tornar-nos a veure despres de tres mesos, em passa a recollir al pis i anem a beure Kvas, una beguda refrescant feta de blat sense alcohol. Despres de passejar pel parc anem als afores de la ciutat a visitar Sasha, una de les poques amigues de Kat que queden a Minsk.
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I call Kat in the morning, we had an argument on the phone. In the afternoon we meet for Kvas around the corner. Kvas is a soft drink made of wheat very popular in summer in Belarus. I know Kat (Ekaterina, 28) since 3 months ago. She and Jenya were my 2 main contacts when I came to Minsk first time. Kat works freelance from home as a webmaster and writing text for internet advertisement. Her roots are ukrainian, her grandfather, a famous scientist, moved to Minsk for work reasons. She is a smart girl always interesting to talk to. Kat spent some time in the US when she was 16, her english is perfect, always using the right words with the correct meaning to express herself. We go to the suburbs of the city to meet Sasha, one of the few friends of Kat still living in Minsk, if not the only one. Sasha has a 5yo son, lives with her husband and nowadays, with a smelly guest that she wants to quick out soon.
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D23 - Minsk

2006-07-10T23:11:00.000+02:00

JUL03 - Day23 - Minsk - Km2759

El tren arriba a Minsk a les 6 del mati, no he dormit i estic cansat, pero l'excitacio de tornar a ser aqui m'anima i em sento be. Jenya (Evgeny) arriba puntual. Ens coneixem del meu viatge a Minsk fa tres mesos, ell treballava a l'agencia de viatges que em va tramitar el visat i ens vam fer bons amics durant els 10 dies que vaig passar a Bielorussia. M'ha trobat un pis centric pero no ens donaran les claus fins las 9 del mati, anem a casa seva a esmorzar per fer temps, el seu germa dorm al menjador, la seva mare es desperta i ens prepara un cafe mentre ell m'ensenya fotografies a l'ordinador.
A les 9 agafem un taxi i anem al que sera el meu pis durant els propers 6 dies. Conec la zona, es molt a prop del mercat i vei de Kat, un altre contacte de la meva darrera visita a Minsk, pero d'aixo ja en parlare mes endavant.
Avui es el Dia de la Independencia de Bielorussia, hi ha festa per tot arreu a la ciutat pero tant Jenya com jo estem cansats i decidim dormir una estona i quedar pel vespre.
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I arrive at Minsk early in the morning. Jenya (Evgeny) is waiting at the train station. I met him in my last trip to Misnk, he used to work in the travel agency that helped me with the visa and paperwork. He lived in Sweden for 4 years, now is back to Minsk to develop an art project related to TV. He knows everything about Belarus history, Minsk nightlife and speaks perfect english, he is the perfect partner to discover all sides of the city and the country.
At 9am we go to my new appartment 45USD/night located in a part of Minsk already familiar to me, not far from a food market. We buy new local SIM card for my phone not without difficulties. Foreigners cannot buy SIM cards, only holders of Belarus passports, so we have to buy my card with Jenya's passport. If I want to fill up the card with money I have to give his name all the time.
Today the 3rd of July is the Independece Day in Belarus, is free day, everybody is in the street watching the Parade or eating shashlik in the parks. I am tired because I didn't sleep much in the train, Jenya is tired of last night open air party in the lake near Minsk, so we go to sleep for a few hours and decide to meet later for the night.
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D23 - Belarus

2006-07-10T22:37:00.000+02:00

JUL03 - D23 - Minsk - Km2759

Entro Bielorussia en tren per Gomel, es mitjanit i el meu visat ja es valid, no tinc cap problema tot i que l'agent d'aduanes es queda mirant amb una lupa especial el meu passaport durant uns quinze minuts pagina rere pagina.
Bielorussia, igual que vaig dir amb Moldavia, es un dels paisos mes desconeguts d'Europa. Dirigit per Alexander Lukashenka, del que diuen que es el darrer dictador que queda a Europa i que va guanyar les darreres eleccion del Marc passat amb un 91% dels vots despres de fer empresonar liders de l'oposicio per disturbis als carrers. Tant ell com alguns dels seus ministres tenen prohibida l'entrada a la EU. Tenen carrecs per atentar contra els drets humans. Amb 10 milions d'habitants i amb una economia debil sustentada gracies als baixos preus de l'energia procedent de Russia, Bielorussia te una renda per capita un mica superior a Ucraina i just per sota de Turquia o Iran. Minsk es la capital del pais amb mes de 2 milions d'habitants, una arquitectura totalment sovietica amb avingudes amples i pisos grans i grisos.
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I enter Belarus at midnight for second time in my life, first time by train. Belarus is again one the most unknown countries in Europe, ruled by the so-called "last dictator or Europe" Alexander Lukashenka, who won the "democratic" elections last March with 91% of the votes, eventhough nobody believes the figures. He and many of his ministers are banned to enter the EU, the US and many other countries. Belarus with its 10 million inhabitants has a GDP af around 7500USD, slightly higher than Ukraine and lower than Iran or Turkey. Energy heavily dependant on Russia. The capital, Minsk, with over 2million people, is also the capital of the CIS, the Commonwealth of Independent States, formed by the new states of the former Soviet Union. MInsk is one of the cleanest cities I have seen in my life, soviet-like buildings everywhere, not many tourists around.
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D22 - Good Bye Kiev

2006-07-10T21:53:00.000+02:00

JUL02 - Day22 - Kiev - Km2139

Al final em decideixo a anar a la discoteca de l'illa del riu Dnipro, aquesta nit hi ha festa especial. Sento dues noies parlant espanyol darrera meu, son Esther (Madrid) i Maria (Valencia) que treballen a l'ambaixada espanyola i han vingut convidades per l'organitzacio, xerrem una estona de la vida a Kiev. Mes tard les busco per quedar per dema abans d'agafar el tren, pero ja no les trobo.
A les dotze del migdia arriben Nasdja i despres Sveta a recollir les claus. Nasdja parla perfecte l'angles perque va passar uns mesos als Estats Units. Proposo d'anar a esmorzar tots tres. Gracies a les traduccions de Nasdja, descobreixo que Sveta es professora d'aerobic i s'hi dedica professionalment, i va sovint a competicions internacionals. Va viure un any al la Republica Checa i ara es una de les directores de l'empresa que m'ha llogat el pis, en tenen mes de 100 per tota la ciutat.
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Last night I finally went to Hydropark, there was a posh party held by the ex-pat newspaper of Kiev called "What's On". Entrance to Sun City was 100UAH (15EUR). It's an open air disco near the river Dnipro, with swimming pool and private beach. There were fashion shows going on when I arrive. By chance I met Esther and Maria from Spain, they work in the spanish embassy in Kiev. I don't really like meeting spanish people when I travel abroad, I prefer to get to know locals but this time I decide to ask their phone to meet next day... I don't see them anymore, so opportunity lost.
Nadja comes to the appartment at 12 to collect the keys, she speaks good english, after 5 minutes Sveta comes too. I propose to have breakfast together. They explain me that the business of renting appartments is going down compared to last year, I think by myself that they should decrease the prices to compete with hotels but I don't say it. They are part of a group of young business people that hold over 100 appartments in the city of all level of comfort, from 30USD/night up to +200USD/night.
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D20 - Italy vs Ukraine

2006-07-08T15:05:00.000+02:00

30JUN - Day20 - Kiev - Km2139

Dima em truca a mitja tarda, em passa a recollir i anem al seu poble, a uns 20 km al nord de Kiev, prop de la central hidroelectrica. Anem a banyar-nos en un llac perque el riu Dnipro es brut i a mes sembla que l'aigua es freda. Els seus amics ens truquen i ens intenten convencer d'anar en cotxe a Odessa a passar el cap de setmana, jo no puc o perdria el tren a Minsk. Finalment Dima decideix anar amb ells i a mi em deixen en una parada de metro per tornar a casa. A la nit truco a Sasha (Alexander), un altre contacte de Kiev, Treballa a Ericsson Kiev i parla angles perfecte. El partit el perd Ucraina i Italia passa a les semifinals. Era un somni que no s'ha pogut realitzar.
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Today is very hot in Kiev +33C. I plan to go swimming to HydroPark, island in the Dnipro river. When I walk out the door I receive a call from Dima, he will collect me by car to go together to his town in the north: Vyshgorod. First to swim and then watch the match Italy vs Ukraine. His friends try to convince us to go together to Odessa by car, they made me thinking about it, but if I go with them I will miss the train on Sunday. Dima is undecided. Finally he goes with them.
I decide to call Sasha (Alexander). Sasha used to work in the fashion industry, travelled around Europe in the past, actually he works at the marketing department of Ericsson Ukraine, he speaks perfect english. I join him and Kolia to watch the WorldCup match. When I arrive to the pub, Ukraine is already loosing 0-1, people is sad, they dreamt about the semi-finals but this year is not possible.
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D20 - Train Full

2006-07-07T00:35:00.000+02:00

30JUN - Day20 - Kiev - Km2139

Comprar bitllets de tren a Ucraina es sempre una aventura que sovint et fa sentir impotent. Ho porto tot preparat, el dia i l'hora, el numero de tren i el desti. Despres de mitja hora de cua em diuen que el meu tren ja esta ple, en comptes de dilluns demano dimarts, la noia jove ja em mira amb mala cara, diu que nomes la classe mes baixa, demano diumenge i em diu el mateix. Ja no ho intento mes. Vaig a la finestreta del costat, mitja hora mes de cua, la dona em diu el mateix i comenca a posar mala cara, per sort dos nois joves darrera meu m'ajuden i al final aconsegueixo un bitllet pel diumenge. M'ha costat 90 minuts i un munt de cares enfadades, pero finalment tinc el meu ticket.
Intento contactar amb Yulia, sembla que no li va agradar el meu SMS a les 12 de la nit, aquesta vegada no ens veurem. Svetlana esta al Mar Negre de vacances despres dels examens, Inna tambe... gairebe no em queden mes contactes a Kiev.
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Last night I send SMS to Yulia, I met her in my last trip to Kiev, she works as interpreter, her english is perfect. She was not happy about receiving the SMS at midnight. We won't meet this time. I try to contact Svetlana, she is in the Black Sea on holidays, the same with Inna. I am running out of contacts.
Buying a train ticket in Ukraine can be a long and disappointing adventure. Many people move by train in this country, in fact you can go anywhere you want by train, you just need time. The selling process is slow and inefficient. I wait 30 minutes for my turn, the young lady tells me that the train for Monday is full and gives me back my passport, she is not even trying to find alternatives for me, I ask for Tuesday, only Platskar available (lower class with 6 people in each compartment), I ask for Sunday, she says is full too. No luck, I don't buy anything. I go to next window, 30 more minutes waiting. I ask the same questions, is full on monday, platskard for Tuesday, the old lady gets angry because I ask too many questions in my awful russian, she has to put some imagination to understand... Finally the two young guys behind help me and I get a ticket for Sunday night. I spent more than 90 minutes, lots of angry faces but I have what I wanted.
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20 Days

2006-07-02T13:06:00.000+02:00

D19 - Belarus Embassy

2006-07-02T12:50:00.000+02:00

29JUN - Day19 - Kiev - Km2139

Ahir era el dia de La Constitucio a Ucrania, aprovada l'any 1994, 3 anys despres del col.lapse de la Unio Sovietica. Fa bon temps i la gent passeja pel carrer, Kreschatik, el carrer principal esta tancat al transit rodat i la gent hi passeja. Com que tinc temps lliure aquest mati decidexio buscar on es l'ambaixada de Bielorusia, tinc 2 adreces diferents i un dels carrers esta repetit 3 vegades en el meu mapa, o sigui que tinc 4 possibles llocs per visitar. Encerto a la segona, l'ambaixada obre dema a la tarda per visats.
A la nit vaig a sopar a Rio, davant de l'ambaixada alemanya, hi ha jazz en directe pero el local esta gairebe buit. Despres de sopar agafo un taxi per anar a Shooters, una discoteca no gaire lluny del centre. Esta ple de gent jove, la majoria noies de 18-22 anys que han acabat els examens i surten a celebrar-ho. Parlo amb 3 d'elles, txetxenes, van emigrar a Kiev amb la familia al principi del conflicte. S'han passat tota la nit amb una beguda entre les tres. Les convido a un altre cocktail i ballem fins les 3.
Avui m'aixeco tard i vaig directament a l'ambaixada de Bielorusia a demanar el visat, ja som a dijous i dilluns voldria agafar el tren, no em queden gaire dies i no tinc ni visat ni bitllet de tren encara. Puc demanar el visat "express" per 115USD a l'instant o demanar-ne un de normal que tardara 4 dies, no tinc prou dies. He de demanar el car.
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Yesterday was the Constitution Day in Ukraine, the centre of the city was full of people enjoying the good weather. Knowing that the embassies are closed I decide to check where is the Belarus one. I have one address in my guide but a different one from internet. One of the street names is repeated 3 times in my map, so I have 4 possible locations for the Belarus Embassy in Kiev. I mark all 4 in my map and decide to walk first to the closest to my appartment. Wrong attempt, the second is also on a walking distance, this time is right, I see the red-and-green flag. I check the openning times for visa applications, tomorrow is from 14:30 until 17:00.
At night I go for dinner to Rio, opposite the german embassy, a jazz band is playing, very few people. At midnight I take a taxi to Shooters, a pub on the hill between Kreschatik and the river Dnipro, not far from the Rada (the ukrainian parliament). The place is full of young people, mainly women, the exams period is over, they are celebrating it. I talk to three chechen girls, they don't speak much english. They have been all night with one drink between all three, I invite them for another one, 3EUR, they are happy.
Today in the afternoon I have to go to the Belarus embassy, everything is very easy, I give the address of my friend's mother (giving a female name is more credible when a foreign man visits Belarus). I buy the mandatory insurance for 10EUR and get the "express" visa, more expensive but ready in 10 minutes, instead of 4 days waiting for a regular one.
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D17 - Kiev

2006-07-01T15:44:00.000+02:00

27JUN - Day17 - Kiev - Km2139

Arribo a Kiev on Dima (Dmitry,23) i Yura (23) m'esperen a l'andana del tren. Conec Dima d'unes vacances anteriors a Kiev.
Kiev (Kyiv en ucrania), te a la vora de 3 milions d'habitants, la ciutat esta dividida pel riu Dnipro, el mateix que alimentaba la central nuclear de Chernobil. Actualment esta considerada la 21a ciutat mes cara per viure-hi d'una llista de 144 ciutats de toto el mon, al mateix nivell que Roma o Viena. La ciutat esta repleta de catedrals ortodoxes, places inmenses, parcs i avingudes amples... alguns dels meus amics em diuen que es com "una petita Moscu".
El pis on em porten es molt centric, Sveta ens espera per donar-me les claus, es una mica car, pero la situacio del pis em compensara els diners que m'estalviare en taxis. Conec la zona i no sera dificil orientarme els propers 6 dies que passare a la ciutat. Yura i Dima m'expliquen que la nit anterior es van quedar fins les 5 del mati celebrant la victoria de l'equip nacional al Mundial de Futbol, per primera vegada a la historia Ucrania arribava als quarts de final. Diuen que no s'havia vist la ciutat tan repleta de gent desde la Revolucio Taronja del Gener del 2004.
A la nit tornem a quedar, aquesta vegada venen amb Sergey (23) i Katja (17). Mirem el partir de futbol, Espanya-Franca i anem a passejar per Kreschatik, el carrer principal de Kyiv.
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Kiev (Kyiv in ukrainian), the capital of Ukraine, with over 3 million inhabitants, crossed by the river Dnipro. Beautiful golden cathedrals, big avenues and squares, lots of parks. My friends say that is like a small Moscow. In Kiev one can feel like in any other european capital, the same is not true for the other big cities of Ukraine. This year Kiev ranked the 21st most expensive city to live in, up from the 50th position last year. Prices are high due to the appreciation of the Hrivna against de US Dollar, energy is up since russia increased the fees early this year, the country is developing, properties rocketing...
Dima (23) waits for me at the platform, he is with Yura (23). They bring me to the appartment where I will stay the next 6 days, very close to the Independence Square, the heart of the city. The house is opposite to O'Briens one of the most famous irish pubs in the city, often visited by ex-pats. The place is acceptable, a bit expensive but I take it. I met Dima few months ago in PaTiPa, in my first holiday trip to Kiev, he finished university last year, now he is having a break in between jobs.
At night they want to meet to watch the World Cup match between Spain and France. They both come with Sergey (23) and Katja (17).
They explain the celebrations last night when Ukraine soccer team defeated Switzerland and reached the 1/4 finals for the first time in history. The city was crowded by people everywhere celebrating the victory, my friends stayed up until 5am, tonight they are all tired. It was the biggest celebration in the city since the Orange Revolution in January 2004.
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D16 - Moldovan Wine

2006-07-01T15:07:00.000+02:00

26JUN - Day16 - Kishinev - Km1434

El tren 065 de Kishinev a Moscu surt a les 22:08 . Hi ha dos trens diaris en ambdues direccions que connecten la capital russa amb la moldava. Anem forca plens. El tren tarda 3 hores mes en arribar a Moscu comparat amb uns mesos enrere, degut als problemes amb la republica de Trabsnistria. La ruta es desvia cap al nord fins la frontera amb Ucraina i despres cap a l'Est direccio Kiev i Moscu. En el mateix compartiment arriben 2 nois moldaus, no parlen angles pero ens presentem en rus basic. En venen dos mes i tambe em volen coneixer. Em pregunten si m'agrada el vi i desapareixen rient. Al cap de mitja hora tornen mb 4 litres de vi moldau en botelles de plastic. Nomes tenim un got que ens anem passant un rere l'altre. Tots 4 van a Moscu a treballar, dos d'ells amb la familia sencera. Son gent humil, un no sap llegir ni escriure i quan parla sembla que crida, el amics li omplen els papers per quan arribem a la frontera. Passada la mitjanit, quan tothom ja dorm, em quedo pensatiu mirant les estrelles per la finestra. Em noto felic pero trist al mateix temps, es dificil descriure les sensacions. Deixo enrere Moldavia, un pais nou per mi, dues amigues que probablement ho seran per tota la vida. Dues vides completament diferents a la meva. Es com passar pagina, rememoro els instants viscuts a Moldavia pero he de mirar endavant, ara vaig cami de Kiev i mes gent i histories m'esperen a la capital Ucraniana.
A les 5 creuem la frontera, el policia de l'aduana em fa preguntes amables i encuriosides, amb els moldaus no son mes rigids, els fan pagar un visat de transit de dubtosa legalitat. En general, als ucranians no els agraden els moldaus.
A les 7 em desperten els companys de la nit anterior per saber si tinc ressaca, jo els dic que podriem prendre un te, que els convido, ells s'estimen mes una cervesa pel mal de cap. En compro 5 i les bebem en el nostre compartiment. Unes hores mes tard tornen a venir amb una botella de whisky, no paren... Aquest cop jo no col.laboro a la festa, d'aqui a dues hores serem a Kiev, ells encara tenen 15 hores mes per davant.
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The train 065 starts at 22:08 from Kishinev and arrives at Moscow at 4:36 day+2, stops in Kiev 13:26 day+1. I will spend the next 15h on the train. It's always a mistery what will happen inside the train when you start a journey like this... what type of people will be in your compartment, on the wagon... will I be alone or busy all the time? will I have any problems with customs when crossing the border? I get the lower bed, 2 more guys will sleep in my compartment, they don't speak english. I take the gift from Cara and show it to them, they seem to like it, specially when they find a foreigner saying words in moldovan. 2 more guys come to our compartment, they all go to Moscow to work, 2 of them with the family. We make the presentations and quick after that they ask me if I like wine. Half an hour later they come back with 2 bottles filled with 4 litres of moldovan wine. We drink with only one glass, one after the other, eat bread and sausages. The wine is not very much elaborated but is real wine, probably directly from the farmers. The 4 guys are very interested about me, they ask about Barcelona, my profession, etc... They are about the same age as me but they look older. Soon after midnight the bottles are empty, is time to go to bed. It's hot inside the train, I decide to stay near the window with fresh air, looking at the stars. I feel happy and sad at the same time. Happy because the trip is going well and full of adventures, sad because I leave behind 2 good friends in Moldova, Olesea and Cara. I think about the 4 guys with whom I was drinking wine, they are plain people, for a while I think that money makes people less human.
At 5 am we cross the border, this train used to cross Transnistria but due to the political problems now goes to the north of Moldova and then east to Kiev, taking 3 hours extra than in the past. The officer is surprised to see a spanish person, he asks me questions in russian that I am able to understand and answer. When he asks how much money I carry I try to say 500 but I say 105, he smiles and understands. He asks more questions, I guess is for curiosity rather than security. He is not that friendly with the moldovans, they go away and come back angry, they had to pay a bribe. Ukrainians don't like moldovans.
At 7am the guys ask me if I have headache, I don't. I try to invite them for tea but they prefer beer, I buy 5 beers for all of us. Later they will come with a boittle of whisky, this time is too much for me and I refuse. They have to travel 15 more hours, I wil be in Kiev in 2 hours.
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D16 - Cara

2006-06-30T19:36:00.000+02:00

26JUN - Day16 - Kishinev - Km1434

Ahir no vaig fer massa coses, descansar, llegir i escriure en el meu diari personal. De tant en tant ja toca descansar, aixo no son unes vacances de 2 setmanes, aixo ha de durar mes de tres mesos i no puc seguir un ritme del 100% dia i nit.
Avui dilluns es el meu ultim dia a Moldavia, he de tornar les claus del pis abans de les 3 pero el tren no surt fins les 10 del vespre.
Quedo amb Cara (Carolina) un cop deixades les claus. Ella ha estat ocupada tot el mati amb la seva primera classe de massatge. Anem a dinar junts prop de l'agencia i em regala una ferradura de fusta amb la paraula "norod" inscrita que vol dir "sort" en moldau. Cara parla be l'angles, te un bon sentit de l'humor i es molt facil passar-s'ho be amb ella. Va passar 2 anys vivint a Dinamarca pero va arribar un punt que no hi volia estar mes i va tornar cap a casa amb la familia. M'explica que ara el seu xicot belga esta preparant el papers perque ella pugui marxar del pais i anar a viure junts a Belgica. La majoria dels seus amics tambe han marxat, la majoria al Canada... l'emigracio es molt comu entre la gent jove de Moldavia
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Yesterday Sunday was a relaxing day. Some days like this are necessary, it's impossible to keep the high rythm every day when travelling. This is not a holiday, this is a long journey and some days must be quiet. I was writing memories, reading books, walking around the city parks and sleeping long.
Today is my last day in Moldova, I have to check out from the apartment before 3pm but my train leaves at 10pm. I meet Cara (Carolina), she had the first massage lesson in the morning. Cara was the first and my main contact in Kishinev. One week before my arrival she had to leave to Bucarest for personal reasons, she is back only since Friday so we had little time to meet. She lived in Denmark for over 2 years, her english is perfect, has good sense of humour and is a very easy person to get along with. We stop to have lunch at Gambrinus, she has bought a present for me that will bring me luck during my trip, with the moldovan word for luck written on it "NOROD". Most of Cara's friends emigrated to Canada or somewhere else, this is a common situation in Moldova, many young people left the country in the recent years. She is planning to move soon to Belgium with his boyfriend too.
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D14 - Flamingo

2006-06-26T19:00:00.000+02:00

24JUN - Day 14 - Kishinev - Km1434

Arribo a l'hotel Edeman a mitjanit, just en el mateix moment veig una parella que surt d'un taxi. Ell es voluminos, samarreta negre sense manigues, tatuatjes per tot el cos, fort i cara de pocs amics. Ella va vestida de vermell, faldilla molt curta, figura esbelta, sabates de talo alt. Tothom es gira a mirar-los, jo intento dissimular, no voldria tenir problemes. M'imagino que es un esportista famos amb la seva xicota top model.
Espero 15 minuts pero Romy no arriba. El truco, em diu que es alla... ni tan sols se m'havia passat pel cap, Romy es el musculos tatuat que anava amb la noia espectacular de vermell.
Pugem els 3 al taxi i anem a Flamingo. A la porta hi ha un Rolls Royce, Romy em diu que es del propietari de la discoteca, amic seu. A la porta tothom el coneix, no m'extranya, no es facil passar desapercebut. Em demana diners per entrar, em diu que normalment el deixen entrar gratis, que ja em tornara els diners a dins. La discoteca es al aire lliure, una piscina al mig, un sushi bar a un costat i la pista de ball a l'altre. Tothom es gira i ens mira, o millor dit "els" mira a ells. No para de demanar-me el telefon per fer trucades, al cap de mitja hora rebo un parell de trucades preguntant que qui soc, una d'elles em sembla una veu modificada electronicament. Li ho explico a Romy i em diu que eren per ell. Li pregunto si la noia de vermell es la seva xicota, em diu que esta casat pero que la seva dona esta de viatge. Veig que parla amb un home gras d'uns 50 anys, camisa de flors i sabates de cocodril, es l'amo de la discoteca. Vaig a ballar rodejat de noies espectaculars, no intento establir cap tipus de comunicacio, se que qualsevol tipus de conversa acabara amb un preu en dolars. De sobte recordo una conversacio del dimecres a la nit entre Andy i Sean, deien que tenien un amic que sempre els demanava diners, un america que havia estat a la preso de Nova York tancat 10 anys i que ara estava a Moldavia des de feia 1 any i no sabien exactament que hi feia aqui. Tot encaixa. Li pregunto a Romy quina feina fa aqui, em contesta vagament dient que ja porta un any vivint a Moldavia. Truco a Valery, el taxista, i desapareixo de la discoteca sense dir adeu. El diumenge pel mati encara rebo trucades de numeros desconeguts, no contesto. Un dia mes i ja sere fora d'aquest pais.
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I arrive in front of Hotel Edeman at midnight. I see a couple getting off the taxi. A fit tattooed big guy, with a top-model-looking sexy-dressed young girl. I try not to look to much to avoid problems with the unfriendly-looking guy. Everybody in the street notice them, the guys turn their head to look at the red girl, the girls turn their head to see the fit big guy.
Nobody comes to meet me, after waiting for 15 minutes I decide to call Romy to his mobile phone, he says he didn't see me. I realise now, the tattooed guy with the red girl is Romy!
We take a taxi to Flamingo, is not in the centre, it looks like a residential area. When we arrive I see all the people and taxis waiting outside. A big Rolls-Royce parked in front of the entrance. "This is the owner's car, he is my friend" says Romy. Everybody welcomes him in the door, he is a popular guy, for sure he is not unnoticed wherever he goes.
Romy takes my phone to make some calls and ask me for money to get in. He promises to give me back the money when somebody pays him some debts. I pay my entrance as well, there is no price, I give 100Lei, I get no change back, that was the price (6EUR).
The place is very nice, open air swimming pool, a sushi bar on one side, on the other side the dancing floor.
Romy talks to a fat guy, probably the owner, he has a shirt with flowers and crocodile shoes. I get a drink for all 3, they take a shot of cognac. He keeps asking again and again for my phone to make calls, he seems nervous tonight but when I ask he says that everything is cool. At some point I get calls back to my phone, strange voices asking who am I, one of the voices seem to be electronically modified. When I explain this to Romy, he takes my phone again and tells me that the calls are for him. I ask if the red girl is his girlfriend, he replies with another question: "do you fancy her?" I don't reply, I go dancing surrounded by female beauty, more top-model-looking sexy-dressed girls everywhere, even some of them dancing inside the pool. I do not feel too comfortable in this place, too poshy, I don't even try to make friends, I know that any conversation with those girls will end up with a price in dolars, so I decide to call Valery, the taxi driver. On the way home I tell him that I will write a "nightlife report" of Kishinev in Internet, if I can put his name and phone as a reference taxi driver that speaks english. I can see his happy face, he doesn't accept my money this time and says thanks 3 times.
On Sunday I still get unknown calls, I don't answer any of them unless I know the number.
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D14 - Capriana

2006-06-26T18:08:00.000+02:00

24JUN - Day 14- Kishinev - Km1434

Aquest mati he quedat de nou amb Olesea. A les 11 del mati ens trobem al centre de la ciutat, sota l'estatua de Stefan cel Mare. Passarem el dia junts fora de la ciutat, a Capriana, a 30km de la ciutat, un poblet famos pel seu monestir. Agafem una furgoneta, que es com un taxi gran o un autobus petit. A Moldavia, Ucraina i Bielorusia es el transport public mes popular. L'anomenen maxi-taxi, mashrutka (rus) o routiere (romanes). Dins de la ciutat, qualsevol distancia val 2Lei (15cent), pero per anar a Capriana paguem 9Lei cadascu (65cent). El conductor ens diu que quan s'hagi omplert marxarem, hi caben unes 12 persones. Pel cami Olesea m'explica coses de la vida els pobles, de quan era petita i anava a visitar els seus avis fora de la ciutat. Els pobles no tenen aigua corrent i per aixo hi ha pous a tot arreu, sempre pintats de blau. Tambe hi ha moltes creus de fusta a les entrades i sortides dels pobles, la gent es molt religiosa a Moldavia. El monestir no esta reconstruit del tot, nomes un edifici i la catedral (a la foto), entrem i encenem dues veles mentre pensem un desig i les posem juntes. Mengem a la sombra d'un arbre i ens tombem a l'herba mentre contemplem les vistes del poble i les muntanyes verdes. Tornem aviat perque ella ha de ser a casa a les 5. No ens tornarem a veure, es trist dir-se adeu pero dins nostre sabem que potser ens retrobem un altre dia en un futur no molt llunya.
Quan arribo a casa truco a Cara (Carolina, 25) que esta amb la seva germana Kristina (17) mirant el partit de futbol del mundial. Ens trobem al centre de la ciutat, la germana ha de marxar a casa pero nosaltres seiem a prendre una cervesa mentre mirem com Suecia perd contra Alemanya. Decidim anar al parc botanic abans que es faci fosc, es prop de casa seva. A l'entrada li preguntem al vigilant a quina hora tanca, ell ens diu que tancara quan els mosquits ens facin marxar. En el nostre cas son uns 30 minuts de passejar i xerrar sobre les nostres vides. Quedem pel dilluns.
Quan arribo a casa em truca Romy (US) amic de Sean i Andrew, els altres dos americans amb qui vaig sortir el dimecres. Em diu que aquesta nit anira a Flamingo, al discoteca mes exclusiva de Kishinev, quedem per les 12... pero aixo es una altra historia pel proper blog.
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Today Olesea and I go to Capriana, a village 30km from Kishinev. Is my first trip to the countryside. To get there we took a mini van, like a small bus or big taxi, some people call it maxi-taxi, marshrutka (russian) or routiere (romanian). This type of transportation is the most popular in the cities of Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus. They go to the countryside but also across the city, the price within the city is 2Lei ( 0.15EUR) no matter the distance. We pay 9Lei each to go to Capriana and wait until the maxitaxi is full for the departure. Luckily it doesn't take long to fill up. On the way, Olesea explains me how things work in the villages. I ask why there are so many wells in the main street of the cities. They don't have water in the houses.
The main attraction in Capriana is the monastery. The main building and the main church have been reconstructed already. They are beautiful, specially the church (see picture). We light 2 candles, ask for a wish and put them together. After the visit we eat something, go for a walk and lay on the grass watching the spectacular view of the town and the hills. She has to go home at 5pm, we won't meet again before I go to Kiev. Is sad to say goodbye but we know deep inside that we will meet again in the future somewhere.
Back to Kishinev I meet Cara (Carolina, 25). She is watching a WorlCup match with her sister Kristina (17) in the city centre. Kristina goes home but we stay for a drink. She lived in Denmark for 2 years, back to Moldova 6 months ago. Before it gets too dark we decide to go to the botanical garden near her place. We walk and talk until the mosquitos scare us away.
When I get home I receive a call from Romy (US) a friend of Sean and Andy, the other two americans guys that I know in the city. He proposes me to meet at midnight and go to Flamingo, the most exclusive disco in Kishinev... but this story requires a complete new post...
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D13 - La Taifa

2006-06-26T17:58:00.000+02:00

23JUN - Day 13- Kishinev - Km1434

A les 6 de la tarda he quedat amb Olesea per sopar, ella ha de ser a casa a les 8, per aixo hi anem tant aviat. La Taifa es el restaurant tradicional mes tipic de la ciutat. Arriba gairebe una hora tard a la cita. Demanem una ampolla de vi negre moldau del 1990. Molt bo i no gaire car. Ella, sense mirar el menu, pregunta als camarers i em demana menjar tipic de moldavia. Una mena de pure fet de massa de blat de moro, carn picada enrotllada amb verdures i formatge fresc de cabra. Tot molt bo.
Despres del sopar vaig a veure el final del partit de futbol, tothom anima Espanya, no entenc la rao, pregunto encuriosit per si tenen alguna mena d'hispanofilia. Em diuen que animen Espanya perque han apostat diners. Ara ho entenc.
Busco un pub que m'havien recomanat pero no el trobo, entro en un altre que sembla bastant alternatiu, no te gaire bona pinta pero m'hi quedo una estona a veure si s'anima. La gent comenca a beure begudes "flambejades", cada cop van mes beguts i alguns em miren no se si amb curiositat o amb ganes de bronca. La persona mes amable del local, curiosament, era l'encarregat de seguretat. Truco Valery, el taxista que vaig coneixer el dilluns i em porta a People, una discoteca molt prop del pis. A l'entrada hi veig 2 preus. People:60, Caligula:180. Pregunto que es Caligula, es un strip club. Pago 60 i entro a la discoteca. Es gran i ben decorada, la musica esta be pero no hi ha massa gent.
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Today I go for dinner with Olesea to "La Taifa" the most popular restaurant with traditional moldovan food. She arrives late and have to leave early but we have enough time to enjoy one bottle of red moldovan wine, 15 year old cabernet sauvignon. She orders traditional food for both of us. Everything tastes very good. The musicians are playing next to us traditional moldovan music, too loud for me.
At night I decide to go to the Black Elephant, "Chorney Slon", a sort of alternative pub that plays jazz and other life music events. I walk and walk but I don't find it. 2 days later I was told that is closed nowadays. Tired of walking I enter to another pub, underground, nobody speaks any english, this makes me feel better, I don't want any touristic place for tonight. Mostly guys in the dancing floor, drinking hard drinks after burning them for a few seconds. Some of them look at me with curiosity or probably they don't like me. I don't care, is boring anyway. Only the security guy seems friendly in this place. I call Valery, the taxi driver that speaks english and we go to People (ex-Soho) a disco near my place. There are 2 prices for the entrance: People - 60MDL, Caligula - 180MDL. I ask what is Caligula, "a strip-club" they say. I pay 60 and go to People. The place is nice decorated, big and the music good, not very full though.
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D12 - Kishinev II

2006-06-23T20:36:00.000+02:00

22JUN - Day 12 - Kishinev - Km1434

Ahir dimecres va ser un dia tranquil, pel mati vaig a l'estacio de tren a comprar el bitllet a Kiev de la setmana que ve. Abans d'anar a l'estacio miro els horaris de tots els trens, la millor opcio es el que va a Moscu i que para a Kiev a les 2 de la tarda, l'altra opcio seria arribar a Kiev a les 3 de la matinada, que no es la millor hora per estar a una estacio de tren perdut i amb una motxil.la. Apunto totes les dades en un paper i l'ensenyo a la noia que ven els bitllets, parla una mica d'angles, tot i aixi no fa falta parlar perque el paper que porto explica clarament el que vull, el numero de tren els horaris i el desti.
Dono una volta per la ciutat i rento roba per guanyar temps abans que arribi Svetlana per les classes de rus. Arriba puntual, tindra un 35/40 anys, es professora professional, ensenya forca be tot i que continuo pensant que 6 dolars per hora es massa car.
A la nit he quedat amb la parella que vaig coneixer el dilluns, Andrew i Olesea. Anem a casa d'un amic d'ells, Sean, tambe america que esta treballant aqui com a auditor d'empreses americanes. Bebem una cervesa en el seu apartament del dese pis d''un edifici bastant precari i anem a City, una discoteca del centre. Tothom sembla coneixer a Sean, especialment les noies, agafem una taula amb una botella de vodka, mirem el show, ballem i a les 4 del mati tornem a casa.
Avui m'aixeco tard i quedo de nou amb Olesea, la noia que vaig coneixer el dimarts, anem a passejar per un parc de la ciutat amb un llac gran on la gent es banya, cosa que jo no recomanaria veient el color de l'aigua. Nosaltres ens asseiem en un banc i xerrem de les nostres vides, families i plans de futur. M'explica histories del pobles de de Moldavia, de la violencia domestica encara socialment acceptada i el seu viatge a Polonia ara fara un any.
A la nit tinc la segona llico de rus amb Svetlana, em queixo pel preu i em proposa 5 dolars en comptes de 6, li dic que avui si pero que es l'ultim dia.
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Yesterday was a quiet day. I went to buy the train ticket to Kiev for next week. Since I don't speak much russian, everytime I want to buy a train ticket I check the schedules first. Then I write in a piece of paper the origin and destination cities in cirylic and latin letters, below I write the train number, the departure time and the full date. With this paper I go to the train station and generally I have no problems.
In the afternoon I go for a walk alone in the city center before the 2-hour russian lesson with Svetlana. She comes to my place at 7pm, I would say she is around 35 years old, she is professional teacher for english tourists, she can speak some spanish too but most of the time we talk in rusian and english.
At night I meet Andrew and Olesea again (the moldovan-american couple), we go to Sean place. Sean (USA) works in Moldova as an auditor for american institutions. We have a drink in his new flat in the 10th floor of an old building, he explains that the elevator gets blocked often but walking up and down 10 floors is too much, so we take the risk. Nothing wrong happens this time. We head towards City, a disco near Pushkin Street. Many people knows him there, specially the girls. We stayed all 4 until 4am in the morning, is wednesday night but the place is crowded.
Today I meet Olesea again and go to the park with a big lake. Is a hot day again, over 30 degrees. Some people swim in the lake but looking at the color of the water I wouldn't recommend it. We seat in a bench and have a drink while talking about our families and future plans. She explains me about life in the countryside, she has her grandparents there and also a summer house. We decide to do a 1-day trip outside the city on Saturday.
2 more russian lessons this evening with Svetlana, I tell her that 6USD/h is over my budget, she offers to do the same for 5USD/h. I tell her to do it one more day but the last.
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D10 - Kishinev

2006-06-23T15:56:00.000+02:00

20JUN - Day10 - Kishinev - Km1434

Chisinau es el nom romanes i Kishinev el nom rus de la capital de la Republica de Moldavia. Pais poc conegut i un dels mes pobres d'Europa. Amb 4.5 milions d'habitants i sense sortida la mar. 3 llengues son oficials, el moldau (basicament romanes escrit en lletres llatines), rus (cirilic) i gagauz (dialecte turc que es parla al sud del pais i que tambe te una escriptura especial). A Chisinau la majoria de cartells estan escrits en rus i en moldau.

A les 3 de la tarda quedo amb Olesea (21), parla molt be l'angles i una mica d'espanyol, li agradaria poder viatjar i vol que li expliqui les meves aventures, parlem de la situacio politica i economica de Moldavia. M'explica que un dels problemes mes grans es el trafic de noies moldaves a paisos de l'Europa Occidental i a Turquia. Passegem pel centre de la ciutat i visitem una catedral ortodoxa, el parlament i el parc del centre de la ciutat, creuat pel carrer principal que rep el nom de Stefan Cel Mare, rei de Moldavia del segle XV, contemporani i amic de Vlad III Dracula de Transilvania.

Truco a Svetlana per posar-nos d'acord per el curs de rus. Vol 6 dolars per hora, una mica car per Moldavia pero accepto 2h al vespre cada dia comencant dema dimecres.

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Kishinev in russian, Chisinau in romanian, is the capital of the Republic of Moldova, a landlocked country with 4.5 million inhabitants. One of the poorest and most unknown countries in Europe. Visa is still required for EU citizens, althought they are talking about releasing it from summer 2007. Nowadays tourists can enter without visa during 3 weeks in autumn for the wine festivals. The official language is moldovan, basically the same as romanian, russian and gagauz (a turkish dialect spoken in the southern part of the country).

In the afternoon I meet Olesea (21), she speaks very good english. We walk around the city and talk about religion and politics of the country. She explains me the problem with trafficking human beings, specially young girls to Turkey and western Europe.

In the evening I call Svetlana, she will be my russian language teacher, she wants 6USD for 45 minute lesson, this is very expensive for Moldova, we arrange 2 lessons every evening in my appartment starting tomorrow. I found her through Marisha www.marisha.net

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10 Days

2006-06-23T01:04:00.000+02:00

D9 - Moldova

2006-06-23T00:45:00.000+02:00

19JUN - Day9 - Kishinev - Km1434

Entrem a Moldavia despres d'haver creuat 2 fronteres i perdut prop de 2 hores entre els 4 controls. Arribem a Chisinau, la capital de Moldavia, a les 4 de la tarda. Trec diners del caixer i agafo un taxi per anar a l'oficina que em llogara el pis al centre de la ciutat. La moneda de Moldavia es diu Lei, aproximadament 1 Euro son 16 Lei.

Vaig a comprar una tarjeta pel mobil i truco a Andrew (Estats Units). Quedem per la nit i ve amb la seva dona Olesea (Moldavia). Es van coneixer a Florida on ella estaba amb una beca en un projecte de recerca. Ara se li ha acabat el visat i per obtenir-ne un de nou s'ha de passar dos anys a Moldavia. D'aquesta manera s'intenta evitar l'emigracio de cientifics. Andrew te intencio de quedar-se aqui amb ella durant aquests dos anys i despres marxar junts de nou cap a Florida.

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We enter Moldova, after crossing 4 border stops. I arrive to Kishinev in the afternoon, take money from the ATM and get a taxi to the agency that rents me an appartment in the city centre. The local currency is "Lei", 1 Euro is 16 Lei.

In the afternoon I call Andrew (US). We meet in the evening, he comes with her wife Olesea (Moldova). They met in the US where she was doing a research funded by the government. Now her US visa has expired, in order to get a new one she has to spend 2 full years in Moldova. Andrew moved here with her 1 month ago, they plan to spend those 2 years here together and then move back to Florida.

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D9 - Trans Dniestr

2006-06-23T00:17:00.000+02:00

19JUN - Day 9 - Kishinev - Km1434

Avui fa calor, l'autocar surt a les 10:20 del mati, no te aire condicionat, per sort la porta no tanca be i entra una mica d'aire mentre es mou. Anem plens. Natalia, la noia del meu costat parla una mica d'angles i m'ofereix una xocolatina per esmorzar. M'explica que passarem per Transnistria, lloc que volia evitar pero al comprar el bitllet no vaig saber-me fer entendre.
Transnistria es una republica no reconeguda internacionalment. Tenen parlament, aduanes i exercit pero els seus habitants tenen passaport de Moldavia. El pais esta dirigit per Igor Smirnof, ex-alcalde de Tiraspol, la capital. Es segurament la regio mes corrupta d'Europa, plagada de crim organitzat i contraban d'armes http://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/TransnÃstria Es recomana als turistes no entrar-hi. Alla es on es dirigeix el bus on soc jo ara.
Arribem a la frontera, la sortida de Ucrania es lenta pero sense problemes. A l'entrada de Transnistria l'oficial de les aduanes es posa el meu passaport a la butxaca i em demana que el segueixi. Fan pagar a tothom l'equivalent a mig euro per un visat de transit, excepte els ciutadans de la republica. Quan ja ha pagat tothom demano el meu passaport i em porten en una oficina nova. Tothom esta al bus esperant-me. Alla m'aten un oficial que parla una mica d'angles i en un paper en blanc hi escriu: 35$, em volen per pagar 60 vegades mes que als demes. Se que m'estan enganyant i em queixo. Em diu que si vull puc tornar enrere i entrar Moldavia per un altre lloc. Pago i marxo de l'oficina sense dir absolutament res, enfadat.
A l'autobus veig que el rebut que m'ham donat es de mig euro. Ho explico a Natalia i durant la seguent mitja hora soc el centre de les conversacions de tot l'autocar.
El pais sembla realment pobre, les cases en mal estat, tot gris, carreteres amples sense cotxes. M'expliquen que just avui es l'aniversari del comencament de la guerra amb Moldavia l'any 1992, veig flors en alguns monuments i poca gent pels carrers.
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I have the seat number 2 in the bus, just behind the driver. Next to me seats Natalia, she can speak some english. The bus is full, the air conditioning does not work, fortunately the door doesn't close very well and I get some air when the bus moves.
Before buying the ticket to Kishinev (Chisinau in romanian) I was told to avoid Trans-Dniester, now I find that this bus goes through Tiraspol, which is the capital. Natalia says that my Moldova visa should be OK to cross the new republic.
Transnistria had a 2-month war in 1992 against Moldova, since then they claim the independence of this Republic, lead by Igor Smirnov, pro russian ex major of Tiraspol. According to one BBC article "The region is plagued by corruption, organised crime and smuggling. It has been accused of conducting illegal arms sales and of money laundering. Poverty is widespread" http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/country_profiles/3641826.stm
When we leave Ukraine, the custom officials take everybody's passport to a closed room and gave them back to us slowly first the ukrainian ones, then the moldova, one russian and mine are the last to come. No problems but we spent 45 minutes stopped there.
20 more meters and we stop again in the Transnistria border. The official enters the bus, checks all the passports and takes only mine to his pocket. I follow him apart from the rest of the passengers. Everybody is asked to pay 3UAH ( 0.50EUR) for a "transit visa", everybody except me. Everybody is back to the bus but I don't have my passport, the bus driver tries to help me. 15 minutes later one of the officials start talking english to me. They want 35USD (30EUR) for a "transit visa", I know this is not legal, I complain about the high price, he says that I can go back to Ukraine and cross the border somewhere else avoiding Transnistria. When I pay he tries to be nice with me and talk about Spain and the World Cup. I take my passport, I don't even look at his face, neither say goodbye and I go back to the bus. In my passport I find a piece of paper which is supposed to be the transit visa and a receipt. The receipt says 3UAH ( 0.50EUR), I have paid 60 times that price. Probably they are still drinking vodka with my money.
In the bus I explain what happened, I am the subject of the conversation of everybody for about half an hour.
The place looks poor, wide roads, no cars, all grey. We stopped for a while at the train station, some passengers leave. As a souvenir one of them give me a local coin: 25 copecs of a Transnistrian Ruble.
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D8 - Odessa II

2006-06-20T23:45:00.000+02:00

18JUN - Day 8 - Odessa - Km1251

Ahir dissabte, ens vam aixecar cansats de la nit anterior. No fa gaire bon temps pero hem quedat amb Kristina i Oksana a la platja de Fontana 10, a uns 15km al sud de la ciutat. Quan arribem es posa a ploure i elles ens diuen d'anar a dinar prop de la seva "dacha", o casa de vacances, les convidem a dinar amb vi moldau bastant dolent i elles ens proposen que anem amb elles a la dacha. La casa on viuen no te mobles, nomes matalassos al terra per dormir, acaben de llogar la casa. Alla coneixem Nasdia, la filla d'Oksana i Mikhail, el fill de Kristina, 13 i 9 anys respectivament. La mare de Kristina ens prepara borsch, la tipica sopa ucraniana i ens quedem al pati de la casa xerrant i tocant la guitarra fins les 8 del vespre. Aquesta es la darrera nit per Arnaud. Tornem a casa i ens preparem per una altra llarga nit a Arcadia.

Avui diumenge la ciutat esta mig buida, fa bon temps i decideixo provar una altra platja una mica mes lluny del centre... aprofito per llegir, dormir i remullar-me una altra vegada al Mar Negre. A la tornada el taxista m'explica que la gent jove d'avui en dia no te voluntat per estudiar i nomes busquen el diner facil, m'explica que quan ell era jove les universitats ruses eren molt bones i s'hi aprenia molt. Em pregunta si la situacio a Espanya es la mateixa.

Dema a les 10 del mati surt el meu bus a Moldavia, decideixo no anar enlloc aquesta nit, em troba Rock pel carrer i m'intenta convencer inutilment qu evagi amb ells a Arcadia un altre cop.

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Yesterday we woke up late, the weather is very changeable but we decide to meet Kristina and Oksana in Fontan 10, a beach about 15km south of the centre. When we arrive starts the rain, they propose to eat something near their "dacha" (summer house), we invite them for lunch with a horrible bottle of moldavian wine. After the lunch we go together to their appartment without furniture. Nasdia (13), Oksana's daughter, and the mother of Kristina are in the house. We prepare some chairs in the garden and eat a delicious home-made borsch. Some more friends of them join us, Arnaud plays the guitar while I lay in a bench and the ladies talk in russian. We finally leave at 8pm back home. We will meet them tonight in Itaca, the disco in Arcadia. Is the last night for Arnaud

Today sunday the city is less crowded, most of the people went to the beach, is even difficult to get a taxi ride to the seaside resorts. I decide to go to Fontana 13, Riviera Beach, 20km from the center. I stay there until 6pm, swimming, reading and sleeping. After the weekend I needed a full day of relax before leaving tomorrow morning to Moldova.

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D6 - Arcadia

2006-06-20T23:03:00.000+02:00

16JUN - Day 6 - Odessa - Km1251

Arcadia, a uns 10km al sud de la ciutat i a la vora del Mar Negre, es un complexe ludic amb multitud de bars i restaurants. A l'estiu es on es troben tots els turistes amb ganes de festa, de Kiev, Moscu, San Petesburg i arreu dels paisos de la ex Unio Sovietica. Tambe s'hi poden trobar alguns europeus i americans pero no gaires encara. Ibiza i Itaca son les dues discoteques mes famoses, les dues a l'aire lliure i amb vistes espectaculars del Mar Negre, sobretot pel mati quan surt el sol.

Hi anem Arnaud, Rock, Xavier i jo. Rock (EUA) esta viatjant des de fa mes d'un any i te intencio de quedar-se a Odessa 3 mesos abans d'anar a Estambul, Paris i de tornada a Nova York a finals d'any. Xavier (Franca) viu a Odessa amb la seva xicota i te una feina en un bar-restaurant de la ciutat.

No es dificil veure entre les taules mes ben situades de la discoteca (i per tant les mes cares) americans de mes de 50 anys rodejats de xampany i noies de 18-20 anys.

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Arcadia is a place south of Odessa where all nightlife happens during the summer. A resort near the beach with restaurants, bars and discos. The most famous discos are Ibiza and Itaca, both open air where you can dance looking at the sunrise in the Black Sea.

I go there with Arnaud, Rock and Xavier, we take a table for all four with a bottle of vodka. Once you get a table in a disco is all night for you, if somebody else tries to seat there, the waiters will move them away. Rock (USA) has been travelling long time in Ukraine and other countries, now is in Odessa for 3 months. Xavier (France) moved to Odessa with his girlfriend and got a job in a bar-restaurant in the city centre.

In these discos you can also meet people like http://www.buzzle.com/boards.asp?board=227&message=147641

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D5 - The Black Sea

2006-06-20T22:18:00.000+02:00

15JUN - Day 5 - Odessa - Km1251

Quan arribo a l'estacio de tren els taxistes em demanen 30UAH pel trajecte al centre, jo se que el preu normal es 10UAH pero com que no parlo rus intento negociar per 20UAH. No accepten. Vaig a la carretera i paro un cotxe normal que accepta els meus 20UAH a la primera (aproximadament 3EUR). Els taxis oficials son sempre els mes cars a Ucraina. La manera mes barata de moure's es anar parant cotxes normals que passen pel carrer, donar-los l'adreca i el preu que estas disposat a pagar. El millor es parar cotxes vells i, per raons de seguretat, mai agafar-ne un on hi ha mes d'una persona.

Al pis m'espera Arnaud (Franca) que compartia pis amb un amic pero que ara esta sol. Conec Arnaud d'un viatge anterior i quan vaig saber que estaria a Odessa la mateixa setmana que jo vaig trucar-lo i vam acordar compartir un pis amb dues habitacions.

M'explica que durant el principi de la setmana ha fet mal temps, pero avui fa sol i anem a la platja, a Otrada Beach, no gaire lluny del centre, alla em banyo. L'aigua es freda pero em senta be la remullada despres d'una nit llarga de viatge.

A la nit em truca Svetlana (30), amiga de la filla d'un dels meus contactes a la ciutat: Galina (49). Parla forca be l'angles i decidim que passare a recollir-la a casa seva, als afores de la ciutat. Svetlana es mare soltera, amb una filla de 11 anys i divorciada dues vegades, primer del seu marit ucraines, el pare de la seva filla, i despres d'un bulgar. Ara viu sola i treballa dur per poder pujar la seva filla. M'ensenya una mica el centre de la ciutat i cami de casa seva de tornada em porta a un bar-restaurant amb Karaoke i una pista de ball on hi posen musica dels anys 80. Ballem tots barrejats amb la resta de clients fins les 3 de la matinada. Ha estat un dia llarg

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At the train station I am the target of all the taxi drivers, they ask for too much money, I smile and keep walking. In general, in Odessa, the official taxis are expensive, specially if you don't speak russian. It is very common to go to the road and stop normal cars, give them the adress you want to go and the money you want to pay, if happens to be in the same way they will take you, otherwise you stop the next one. It is recommended for safety not to get into a car with more than one person. The older the car the cheaper the price you can ask.

Before planning the trip to Odessa, Arnaud (France) told me that he will be there on holidays around the same dates. I called him yesterday from Uzhgorod before taking the train. He was sharing a 2-bedroom flat with a friend in the city center but now he is alone, so I decide to move in to the appartment with him during the rest of the week. The weather was awful in Odessa the last days but today the sun is shining, that's why we decide to go to Otrada Beach, not far from Schevchenko Park. The water is cold but I swim, after the long journey last night, the cold water makes me feel good again.

At night I got a call from Svetlana (30), a friend of the daughter of one of my contacts in Odessa: Galina (49). She wants to meet and show me around the city. I collect her in the outskirts of the city. Single mother of a 11 year old girl, divorced twice first from ucrainian guy and second from a bulgarian one. We go to a local pub with restaurant and karaoke, near her house. We dance music from the 80s until late at night.

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D5 - Odessa

2006-06-18T22:17:00.000+02:00

15JUN - Day 5 - Odessa - Km1251

El tren blau es el que em portara a Odessa. 19 hores de cami, 892 quilometres per 15EUR amb llitera. Aixo ens dona una velocitat mitjana de menys de 50km/h que es mes o menys la dels trens que em trobare durant tot el cami.

Al tren conec Rita, de la minoria hongaresa de Ucraina, marit i dos fills viuen a Budapest pero ella esta passant una temporada a Mukasheva, una ciutat prop d'Uzhgorod. M'explica, mig en alemany i mig en hongares/rus que va a Odessa amb una parella amiga que tenen un fill de 18 anys a l'exercit que va ser agredit sexualment per un oficial. El noi esta a l'hospital militar en tractament psicologic i els pares no tenen recursos per viatjar a veure'l. Ella els paga el viatge en tren i alla es posara en contacte amb una periodista per anar tots junts de visita a l'hospital. Tambe em parla molt de la seva filla de 22 anys que viu a Budapest i que anira aquest estiu a Londres, quan li dic que jo tinc amics a la capital anglesa, insisteix en donar-me el seu numero de telefon.

A la nit no dormo gaire, el meu unic vei del compartiment del tren rep trucades al telefon fins les 2 del mati, em poso els taps a les orelles i no sento res mes que les sotregades del tren sobre les vies.

Pel mati, quan el tren para mitja hora, pugen dones del poble oferint begudes i menjar, moltes maduixes i cireres que ara es el temps. El vago esta ple de botelles buides de cervesa i de vodka, com si durant la nit hi hagues hagut una gran festa.

Arribem a Odessa al migdia, fa bon temps.

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The train from Uzhgorod to Odessa takes 19h for 892km, an average speed of less than 50km/h which is about the average speed I will get in all the normal trains in the CIS countries. The price is 15EUR for "coupe" class, which means a compartment with 4 beds.

I meet Rita, ukrainian from hungarian roots, she leaves now in Mukasheva, a city not far from Uzhgorod but her husband and 2 kids live in Budapest. She cannot speak english so we mix german, hungarian and russian in our conversation.

She is in the train to help a couple that have a son in the army in Odessa. The 18 years old son was sexually agressed by a 50 year old superior of him. Now their son is in psychological treatment in the army hospital in Odessa but the parents could not afford to travel there, so Rita is paying for the tickets and also getting a journalist to go with them to hospital and publish an article about it. She talks all the time about her 22 years old daughter that leaves in Budapest, speaks 5 languages, plays piano and is going to work in London for the summer. She offers me the mobile number of her daughter.

The only other guy in my compartment goes to Odessa for holidays to meet her wife and daughter that are already there. We talk again in Hungarian and russian, very little because of my poor skills. He is truck driver with a 100EUR/month salary, he says is average salary in Ukraine

In the morning, after hardly any sleep, what brings my attention is the bin full of bottles of beer and vodka. I didn't hear any big party last night, it seems to be a normal night train trip. Some old ladies (babushkas) enter the train in the morning offering food and drinks... Vodka is officially forbidden in the platforms but I saw one getting to my neighbours.

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D4 - Uzhgorod

2006-06-18T21:29:00.000+02:00

14JUN - Day 4 - Uzhgorod - Km359

Ahir hi va haver canvi de plans, en comptes de marxar el mateix dia cap a Odessa, decideixo quedar-me a Uzhgorod, la capital de Transcarpatia, que vol dir "mes enlla dels Carpats", si es mira des de Kiev o Moscu es aixi, pero per mi es la regio abans de creuar els Carpats. Vaig canviar d'opinio perque feia bon dia i la gent semblava amable i oberta, a mes estava cansat del cap de setmana a Budapest i tenia ganes de passar un dia tranquil. Em quedo a l'Hotel Atlant on conec Kate (Ekaterina), la unica persona de l'hotel que es pot comunicar fluent en angles i que treballa a l'agencia de viatges, no a recepcio tot i que la hi criden sovint. M'ajuda amb el bitllet de tren i m'explica coses de la ciutat mentre passegem per la ciutat. Nascuda a Moscu va emigrar a Uzhgorod amb els seus pares fa 10 anys quan ella en tenia 10. No parla ni hongares ni ucrania i em diu que de vegades la gent no es amable amb els ciutadans que nomes parlen rus. Em parla molt dels Estats Units on hi te un munt d'amics i on sembla que ella tambe te ganes d'emigrar aviat.

La ciutat es petita i la part vella peatonal podria ser qualsevol altre ciutat hongaresa si no fos pels cartells en cirilic per tot arreu. M'assec a sopar i soc la victima persistent dels nens del carrer mal vestits i bruts que els pares m'envien demanant diners... Hrivna es la moneda de Ucraina. Aproximadament 6UAH equivalen a 1EUR.

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Yesterday, when I left the train station in Tchop, was a sunny day, I felt happy to be again in Ukraine, good mood. I wanted to eat something in Uzhgorod, a much nicer city 15km north of Tchop, which is basically a hub for trains and little else. The plan was to buy the ticket to Odessa for 5pm and eat something in the city while waiting. Talking to the taxi driver that brings me to the city and looking around I decide to spend one night in this lovely town and delay my arrival to Odessa by one day.

Uzhgorod (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uzhgorod) is the capital of the Transcarpatia region, still looks like a hungarian village, the taxi driver says that 99% of the people speaks hungarian. I had the feeling that he exagerated after I talked to some locals and heard the coinversations in the street.

I check-in at Hotel Atlant for 30EUR. Kate, 20 year old from the travel agency comes with me to buy the ticket to Odessa. Born in Russia she arrived with her parents to Uzhgorod 10 years ago, she teaches dancing on weekends, study to be book-keeper and work in the hotel travel agency but she is the only one that can speak fluent english in the hotel, so she does "reception" work as well. I hear american-english in the street, its a turistic town full of terraces along the river, small shops in pedestrian streets and people walking on the old town all day. Brazil was playing that night in the WorlCup, I watched the match with a bunch of teenagers on the street.

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D3 - Ukraine

2006-06-18T20:53:00.000+02:00

13JUN - Day 3 - Tchop - Km345

Ucraina, desconegut gran pais a l'Est d'Europa, gran en extensio i amb aproximadament els mateixos habitants que Espanya: 45 milions. Pais independent de la Unio Sovietica des del 1991 que ha abolit visats per als europeus per tal d'incrementar el turisme i per tant, dinamitzar l'economia que ja no esta sustentada pel gegant rus. Kiev i la costa del Mar Negre son les dues grans destinacions turistiques que els turistes dels ex paisos de la Unio Sovietica coneixen be i que el europeus comencem a descobrir.

Ja hi tornem a ser, per cuarta vegada en menys de dos anys torno a entrar a Ucraina, per primera vegada ho faig en tren i no hi ha cap problema. A mida que ens hem anat acostant a la frontera el tren s'ha anat dividint i al final ens hem quedat amb nomes dos vagons que son els que arribaran finalment a Tchop, on els oficials s'asseguren que del tren anem a l'aduana on em controlen el passaport em fan algunes preguntes i em deixen entrar sense complicacions.

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Ukraine, one of my favourite countries in Europe. Still very much unknown in the west. With its 600 thousand square kilometers, makes it the largest country of Europe, followed by France. In terms of population is similar to Spain and Poland, around 45 million. In 1991 became independent after the collapse of the Soviet Union, in 2004 people pretested on the freezing streets of Kiev, in what is today know the "Orange Revolution" which gave power to Viktor Yuschenko with the help of the photogenic Yulia Tymoschenko More pro European than his predecessor, the government abolished the visa in summer 2005 for EU citizens and other nationalities.

I left Budapest at 7am, arrived to Ukraine at 12:30 local time, +1h from Hungary. The train staton in Tchop is the custom border. No problem, easy questions and I put my feet in this country for the 4th time in my life.

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D2 - Moldova Visa

2006-06-13T17:09:00.000+02:00

12JUN - Day 2 - Budapest - Km0

Dilluns pel mati, he d'aprofitar avui per comprar el visat de Moldavia. Segons m'havien informat, es pot aconseguir el visat a l'ambaixada el matex dia pagant 60USD. Vaig a l'adreca que em donen amb els meus dolars acabats de treure del banc, resulta que son 60 mes 5 per la feina d'oficina :-( Una feina que, tot sigui dit, mal feta perque hi ha un error en les dates del visat que el consul arregla amb una correcio amb boligraf a sobre del visat mateix... espero que la setmana que ve a la frontera no em posin problemes.

Despres de l'ambaixada vaig a veure Irene (Barcerlona) i David (Budapest) que porten vivint aqui junts mes de 4 anys. Dinem junts i m'acompanyen a l'estacio de tren a buscar el bitllet per marxar dema cap a Ucraina. Els horaris que em donen de Budapest a Odessa no m'agraden i acabo comprant nomes el bitllet fins a Tchop, a la frontera, dins ja d'Ucraina. Si tot va be, alla mateix podre comprar el bitllet fins a Odessa.

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Today is Monday. In the morning I went to the Moldovan Embassy to get the visa. The building is situated in the District II, on the Buda side, the same street where I lived my first month in Budapest, back in April 2004. Easy to find but the door is locked :-( I know today is bank holiday in Russia, I am wondering if they close too... I ring the bell the second time, no answer. I have their phone number in my agenda, I call from outside, they are in, they work but the bell doesn't. The consul goes outside and opens the door for me. He has an office on the back of the house, dark wood furniture, lots of moldovan passports on the table, a big picture of a man in the wall, probably the Moldovan president or prime minister... Skype "peeps" constantly in his computer. I fill the papers, he prepares the Visa very quick for 65USD... There is a mistake, is a 30-day visa but the entry date is 12/ 06/06 valid until 11/06/06, he put June instead of July. I complain. He smiles and write a side note with pen correcting the mistake... I am wondering if the customs police will accept it. I have been told that Moldova is open to tourism more and more but I also heard that police is corrupt and ask for bribes at any excuse. I will find out in 1 week time.
I met David and Irene in the afternoon, their little dog "Luna" likes new visitors, for the first half an hour she was requiring my attention with plenty of energy. We had lunch together and they came with me to Keleti, the train station on the East part of the city. We asked for tickets to Odessa (Ukraine), the lady at the information counter could not give me a good schedule, the one I found myself in internet doesn't seem to exist anymore. Finally I buy the ticket only until Tchop, at the ukrainian border and I will try to get luckier there. Unfortunately is not possible to buy a one-way ticket, only return. 30EUR for less than 300km.
Everything is done, not perfectly but ready to take the train tomorrow at 7am to go to Ukraine.

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D1 - Budapest

2006-06-12T20:38:00.000+02:00

11JUN - Day 1 - Km 0 - Budapest

Hongria, pais de 10 milions d'habitants que va ingressar a la UE l'1 de Maig del 2004. Aquí vaig viure durant 8 mesos quan encara treballava per Duolog. Budapest, ciutat imperial amb arquitectura semblant a la de Viena, travessada de nord a sud pel Danubi, que divideix la ciutat en dues parts. Buda amb el castell i les zones residencials i els parcs, i Pest amb les zones comercials i més densa.
Vaig arribar Dissabte procedent de Barcelona amb un vol d'SkyEurope. Els dies que estigui a la ciutat em quedaré amb Anna i Colm en el seu renovat pis del centre, parets altes, distribució curiosa i pati interior compartit amb la resta de veïns.
Gràcies als partits de futbol del Mundial puc quedar amb la resta de companys de Duolog i xerrar envoltats d'un ambient distès.
A la tarda quedo amb Tünde per passejar per la ciutat, avui fa sol i certa xafogor, anem a Margit, una illa del Danubi dins de la ciutat, plena de parcs i complexos esportius, ens estirem a la gespa i parlem de la situació política i econòmica d'Hongria i també del seu pais natal, de Romania que, si tot va bé, l'any que ve també entrarà a formar part de la UE juntament amb Bulgària.
Demà dilluns toca burocràcia.
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Arrived yesterday to Budapest from Barcelona with SkyEurope, big temperature drop, from 25C to 12C. Anna and Colm were waiting in their flat in the city Centre, I will stay with them while in Budapest. Anna, Environmental Engineer from Hungary and Colm, Electronic Engineer from Ireland. We had a birthday party at Dave's place, overlooking the Danube, the same night. I could meet again most of my ex-colleagues from Duolog Budapest office.
This morning Anna prepared a lovely FULL IRISH BREAKFAST, which contained all hte energy for the rest of the day :-) Today is Sunday, day for relax. I met with Tünde in the afternoon, we went for a walk along the Danube and to Margit Island. She moved to Budapest a few years ago from the hungarian speaking part of Romania, in Transilvania. She is happy with her job, the company is growing and she is getting more responsabilities. We talked about the economic problems in Hungary at the moment, right after the elections, the government is planning to increase direct and indirect taxes due to the growing annual deficit. The entrance to the Euro Zone was scheduled 2008-09, probably will need to be delayed if the economics don't get more stable.
Tomorrow will be a day for paperwork.
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D-5 Getting the Russian Visa

2006-06-06T23:31:00.000+02:00

Finalment avui he pogut anar al consulat de Barcelona (ahir dilluns era festa) a demanar el visat de "negocis" per 3 mesos, l'empresa fictícia rusa que em convida es diu Dizar (invitació a la foto). Poques paraules intercanviades amb el cònsul, una factura de 114EUR i d'aquí a dos dies he de tornar a recollir el passaport, esperem que amb el visat i sense problemes. El consulat està situat a la part alta de Barcelona, Avinguda Pearson, rodejada de grans mansions i escoles de negocis. De moment tot sembla que està en marxa per poder agafar l'avió a Budapest aquest dissabte sense problemes.
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Yesterday was some sort of religious holiday in Barcelona, today was the first day I could go to the russian consulate, placed in one of the most expensive areas of the city. Mr Roman, with who I talked several times in the past, accepted all the papers and told me to collect back my passport with the "business" visa in 2 days. 114EUR was the bill. All the rest is running on time, Saturday I should be on the plane via Budapest without problems.
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W-3 Preparations

2006-05-26T21:18:00.000+02:00

Porto ja uns dies, fins i tot setmanes preparant la ruta, les dates, els contactes, els papers... això és més complicat del que semblava. Els trajectes en tren son llargs, els dies curts. Una setmana aquí i una altra allà, serà impossible visitar a tothom si vull arribar a Sibèria abans que comenci el fred. La burocràcia russa és complicada, per obtenir un visat de 2 entrades i 3 mesos necessito una invitaciò formal al pais (www.visatorussia.com), una prova (negativa, és clar) del SIDA i una asseguranca de viatge aprovada. Un cop obtinguts tots els papers, que ja estan en marxa en el dia d'avui, s'ha d'anar al consulat de Barcelona (www.rusbar.com) i esperar uns quants dies més per obtenir el visat.
Espero poder aconseguir-ho tot abans del dia 10 de Juny, dia en que SkyEurope em portarà, en un viatge només d'anada, a la capital Hongaresa, inici del trajecte. Tornar a Budapest és com tornar a casa, ciutat que conec a la perfecció perquè hi vaig viure 9 mesos i on hi tinc moltíssims amics que de ben segur em donaran ànims el dia que els digui adéu des de Keleti, l'estació de tren de l'Est de la ciutat.
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Lots of things must be done before the start of the trip. Select the route, the dates, people to visit, paperwork... Much more work than I expected. Train timetables that don't always suit me, every week has too little days... Visiting friends here and there, city after city, trying not to miss anybody can delay my arrival to Siberia too much and get the first cold days after the summer.
Invitation for the russian visa is on the way (www.visatorussia.com). Since I need 90-day visa with 2 entries and the toursit visa is limited to 30 days, I had to ask for a "business" visa which requires much more bureaucracy: #1 invitation from a russian institution approved by some sort of ministery in Moscow, #2 approved travel insurance, #3 negative AIDS certificate, #4 go to the consulate in Barcelona (www.rusbar.com) with all these papers to get the visa, which of course, will take some days more. Everything is on the way right now.
Even the one-way flight to Budapest with SkyEurope is booked already for que 10th of June. Going back to the hungarian capital will be like going back home, it's a city where I worked and lived almost for a year in 2004, still many friends live there and I will be very happy to meet them all before leaving towards the East from Keleti train station.
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W-7 Minsk

2006-05-05T16:42:00.000+02:00

Acabo de tornar de 10 dies de vacances a Minsk (Bielorrússia). 15h de curs de rus no han donat gaire de si, pero almenys puc pronunciar alguns sons completament desconeguts anteriorment. Com pronunciarieu una L sonora a diferencia d'una L sorda? Ja puc dir frases senzilles, entendre i llegir una mica mes. Jenya (a la foto un dia de festa) va ser la meva professora.
Diuen que Minsk es mes comunista que la pròpia Russia, els edificis i els carrers, sota la dictadura de Lukashenko, no han canviat en els darrers 15 anys. El joves, que protesten al carrer sota el risk de ser detinguts per la "milizia", diuen que un bar o restaurant es "democràtic" per dir que està de moda i que els agrada.

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I have spent 10 days in Minsk, getting a little bit more familiar with the russian language (my teacher Jenya in the picture). Beautiful people, not so interesting sightseeing. Lukashenka, the so-called "last dictator in Europe" took power when I was there, streets where closed by the army, noone could approach the October Square, he seems afraid of "his" own citizens. Freedom and Democracy is not far away, nobody can stop what >80% of the population want.
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W-10. Mapa Inicial (Initial Map)

2006-03-22T22:45:00.000+01:00

Només queden 10 setmanes per començar el viatge, no estic dedicant massa temps a estudiar rus, hauré d'espavilar-me durant les properes setmanes. Ja tinc els diccionaris i el curs d'autoaprenentatge a casa, nomes falta posar-hi temps i ganes. Com a única novetat, l'itinerari marcat en el mapa de GoogleEarth.
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10 weeks for the departure date, russian language skills not progressing as quick as desired, I will need to catch up in the following weeks. Only news is the initial itinerary drawn in a GoogleEarth map.
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Presentacio (Presentation)

2006-03-03T00:09:00.000+01:00

Hola, el meu nom es Lluís Ribas i Biadiu, nascut a Castell d'Aro (Baix Empordà) el Juny del 1973. Enginyer de professiá i viatger per vocaciá.
Amb aquest blog comenca a agafar forma una idea que ja fa mesos, per no dir anys, que està voltant pel meu cap. O potser aquesta sigui una deformació de la idea original de recórrer Sibèria amb el Transiberià, el tren mátic que creua tot el continent asiàtic des de Moscou a Vladivostok en la seva versiá más llarga (más de 9000km) o de Moscou a Pequin en la seva versió més popular avui en dia.
En el meu cas, i aprofitant la idea original, l'empresa que em disposo a fer comença a Budapest, ciutat on vaig viure l'any 2004, arriba a Russia passant per Ucraaïna i acaba a la Xina tot creuant les estepes de Mongòlia. Podriem parlar d'un Transiberià fet a mida amb suficient temps i llibertat per canviar d'itinerari tantes vegades com calgui.
budapest2beijing@gmail.com

Hi all, I will try to write in English for the ones that cannot read catalan, my mothertongue. The text above and the one below do not necessarily correspond exactly, so feel free to read both if you can because I can put new ideas here that are not part of the catalan version. In general this one will be shorter but is a way to expand the number of readers of this page. In fact, today, more than half of my friends are not from Catalonia
My name is Lluis Ribas, I was born in a small town north of Barcelona, on the Mediterranean coast. Born in 1973, today Engineer and eventually Traveller.
The reason for the publishing of this blog is to explain a trip that I am planning for this summer. It is an old idea, in fact is a trip developed from the idea to take the Transiberian train from Moscow to Vladivostok (the original), finally it has become a trip from Budapest, where I lived in 2004, to Beijing using, partly, the transiberian railway but stopping along the way as many times as necessary, slowly.
budapest2beijing@gmail.com