Peter Metcalfe

21st July 2010

My London departure, fixed for 22nd July 2010, became endangered on the 21st with another visas delay, then suddenly CIBT had them for collection no later than 17.30 – without these precious documents, I would not be going anywhere! They were handed over with due detachment and I clutched them, emitted an audible sigh of relief when I saw that they carried the Silver Belarus and Gold Russian Federation visa emblems.

Upon arrival at my sister’s London abode, I was forced to reappraise the amount of stuff really needed for the 19-day trip to Vancouver, the first respite point of my journey. Minimum weight and ease of on-journey usage converged and led to a further jettisoning of what a couple of hours ago appeared as necessary – now became redundant and never missed.

22nd July 2010

I left London St Pancras station in sunshine at 08.27. Destination: Vancouver, Canada via Bruxelles, Köln, Berlin, Moscow, Irkutsk, Vladivostok, Tokyo and Beijing (transit only) to arrive at Vancouver on the 9th August – 19 days later!

Tinges of apprehension overcame me as the Eurostar smoothly sped its way towards the channel tunnel, though as always relieved by sunshine and texts from friends – Cate M (‘Glad you got away with all the necessary bumf in time, sorry not to be around to wave you off – give Belarus my love’) and Zsolt S (‘Everything OK, you can always update your blog from other PCs, enjoy your trip – Timi sends her love’) and helping hand Andrew of Yorkshire’s queries (‘Just checking Peter you are on the train and that everything going OK, have a good trip, keep in touch’). ‘Well’, I thought, ‘a touch of concern after Yorkshire’s visas chaos!’. To which I calmly responded ‘Yes on train, Cologne next, of course keep in touch’. A minor skirmish with Ant O’Flat then occurred due to unfinished business back in Bath that led to an exchange of usual sarcasm – Peter: ‘Too many tunnels’; Ant ‘Did you expect the train to skim over the water?’ – and so on…

Cologne gave me time for a beer, dump past photos before boarding the 15.48 to Berlin, which drew into the magnificent HBF station at 20.07.

Sent a text off to Zsolt S to reassure him that the blog would be used (‘on way to Berlin and will try to connect there’). Had one night in the budget Franke Hotel, Albrecht-Achilles Strasse, located in the Charlotteburg-Willmerssdorf neighbourhood with good U-Bahn links, allowing me to look around until zero hour for Moscow – departure 15.22 on 23rd July.

23/24 July 2010

The Russian Train 443 arrived and a retinue of uniformed staff descended onto the platform. I entered my allotted car clutching my phrase book. With the total absence of English speaking staff, getting sorted offered a perfect setting for a gesturing comedy, laced by scrutiny of my tickets. Fortunately, the finished jigsaw was accompanied by in-situ Russian smiles. Arrival at Moskva Belorusskaja was to be at 20.35, 24th July.  The route: Poznan, Warszawa, Brest (Belarus frontier), Minsk, Smolensk and Moskva – a distance of 1610km.

I suspected there would be many lost-in-conversation incidents over the next 29 hours. A of Y had persuaded me to take a couchette, in hindsight correctly. I managed to order the first grand mug of Russian tea, but as we travelled, a strange atmosphere of non-existence encompassed us, the passengers. At Poznan (a long stop), some staff suddenly disappeared and returned from an ALDI/LIDL shopping expedition, all bags clearly destined for home consumption. The sound of keys turning to secure the loot echoed down the carriage, while my standing in the corridor and gazing at the scenery/activity also became a bit of an irritating intrusion. I texted Ant O’F: ‘left Berlin for Moscow, all OK, grey skies, Russian train officials with gold braid have air of take care’.

Belarus Visa

Poznan saw a young man occupy the next berth, later joined by a beautiful young woman at Warszawa. The train crossed into Belarus at 02.45 with a shuddering halt at Brest. Border control, passport and visa for passing through Belarus (£120) and rail tickets were all taken, examined and returned 2 hours later to all those patiently standing in the corridor. Boredom relief came in broken English/German conservations with a young Russian architect student going home to Moskva after 2 years in Berlin; an ex-merchant Russian seaman who had been to Middlesborough; and then in perfect English with Olga, the beauty from Warszawa. She knew London and was surprised to see me travelling alone. After immigration the train shunted into a long shed; wheels were changed with an almighty bang to suit the Russian gauge and it left Brest at 06.00 with a rising sun. Upon leaving the train at Minsk, the beautiful Olga (with her man) gently said ‘Beware of Muscovites’!  Texted A of Y:  ‘In Moscow soon, ship to Japan ticket, will it be at Vladivostok’?  We pulled into Moskva Belorusskaja station one hour late at 21.35, with temperatures at 39°C!

Tired, I found the patiently waiting driver for trip to out-of-centre Moskva Vega hotel. Forgot to go first to the Belorusskaja Intourist Office to collect the Trans-Siberian rail ticket; driver not pleased, though still smiling through gritted teeth as he liaised robustly with a frustrated intourist official with me muttering ‘ have to get with it, no more slip-ups’.

Suddenly Ant O’ F responded ‘ How is it going with unchummy braided officers, 2nd question – do u want 10 raffle tickets?’. NO!