Friday 3 October 2008

Railway I - Moscow to Perm

As a non-native travelling the railways in Russia, you go through as many states of mind as you do towns. As I've mentioned already, Moscow's train stations are an unwelcoming place...home to many outcasts, and intimidating to navigate alone. As a westerner it's impossible to not stand out. The station building itself is nothing more than a glorified waiting room, massive in size and ornately designed, but only home to timetable boards and metal benches to give the commuters a final seat before their journey. The actual trains themselves leave from the platforms situated out the back of the station and after a quick consultation of the boards I found my train left from platform 1a so made my way there.

Once on the platform, it's no clearer which way you are to turn for your carriage - despite frequent reference to my tickets and asking numerous fellow passengers (all of whom responded only in Russian) I was no clearer as to where to go. I had noticed the number "3" on my ticket so I chanced upon that being my carriage and got it right. Getting aboard is muhc like going through customs and again you have to be made of stern stuff to fight your way through the train doors past the crowds. After some deliberation I made my push and got onto the train, found my bunk and sat down.

The person sitting opposite me at my table spoke not one word of English and looked somewhat surprised that I was on the train making this journey on my own. Through a few hand signals and a little bit of broken Russian I have picked up from the hostel and my phrase book I found out he was called Alexi and was heading to Vladimir, only about 2 hours away. I, however, had a mammoth 24 and a half hours in store on the train... looking around I couldn't understand how this was possible.

Igor at the hostel has advised me take 3rd class (Plaskartny) since I was travelling alone. This is comprised of a completely open carriage, but he assured me it was safer as I couldn't be locked in a berth alone with 3 unsavoury characters... it was also about half the price. Once on board the train becomes a sea of bodies and belongings as the commuters colonise their surroundings. Clothes, food, alcohol, games and bedclothes are littered around with abandon, no-one bothered if people are using their space and not thinking twice about using another persons. Again, as a westerner this is slightly startling at first, but you soon acclimatise and join in on the fun.

At the table opposite me a group of 4 men in good spirits (and by spirits I mean vodka) sat playing games and laughing out loud at eachother. However, they had no extra alcohol with them on board and one by one fell asleep quite quickly, as do most of the passengers. I couldn't manage that immediately though, these new surroundings and the new scenery rushing by the window kept me awake so I just lay listening to my music and trying to take it all in. It's difficult not to be intimidated at first I think, but this feeling quickly wears off and you settle down into your niche in the travelling community you're part of for the next while.

Through the dirty window I looked out Russia seems to be a country in constant conflict between industrialisation and nature. They strike a remarkable equilibrium, each vying for a larger piece of land than the other will afford it. As the train pulled away from one of Russia's many train stations and the sheds and pylons morphed into birches and pines my walkman threw up Stanley Kubrick from the Mogwai Live in Rekjavik recordings and it gave me a fantastic feeling of calmness... my favourite part of the trip so far.

The journey itself becomes somewhat monotonous once you've been underway for a few hours. Drifting in and out of a slumber induced by the train's rhythmn it feels almost like a dream, especially as you have little chance to engage in prolonged conversation. I have to say, the previously drunk men at the table opposite me did their best to take me in and fed me watermelon and cracked jokes I didn't understand, but which I laughed at anyway... they could well have been about me, but it seemed to endear me to them so I kept it up! One of them in particular took a liking to me and chatted away to me in Russian as I half-listened and half gazed out the window (the scenery continues to hold your attentions despite being mainly forest and the odd ramshackle house). His name was Alexi and he called me Anatoly - as I mentioned I had came from Belfast he made the universal signal for "crazy" by pointing his index finger at his temple and rotating it. It's nice to know everyone sees Belfast as the same! t one point further on, Alexi stood up and said something to the woman sitting behind him. She nodded and took out a hypodermic needle and injected him with something, after which he started to roll his shoulders and said to me, "injury". He showed me his jacket that he'd brought with him and on it was the Russian flag and the olypmic symbols, along with "JUDO TEAM".

Sleeping on the train snuck up upon me. One moment I was lying just listening to my music, the next it was light outside again and I'd been sleeping for about 7 hours. As I woke up, Alexi and his friends all laughed at me and waved then passed round more watermelon. I was getting used to this way to travel and was enjoying it alot. From there, not much else changed, not even the scenery by the window. 2pm approached and I was told that Perm would be the next stop... I got my stuff together and said my farewells, only just in time as the attendant barked at me for not getting off quickly enough!

Alighting at Perm I was excited. Bryn Thomas' guide romanticised the town as "nestled in the foothills of the Urals". I was expecting some great scenery and rustic charms, however this wasn't to be. Perm is an unwelcoming place, filthy with pollution and with locals who do nothing more than stare at you coldly. I rushed my way along the 3km to my hotel and checked in. That night I felt my decision to stop here was a poor one. The hotel itself is nice enough, but as it's a hotel it's nearly impossible to interact with other lodgers and for the first time on my adventure I began to feel lonely. However a quick chat with Jenny got me into better spirits and I woke up this morning determined to make the most of my time here.

I spent the morning in Perm's art gallery - one of the biggest in Russia. I'm unsure if it's due to the opression they've suffered or that tortured-dark-inner-soul that Russians are famed for, but they make some fantastically effecting art. One man in particular, named Vasily Vereshchagin had painted a picture of travellers from previous times making their way through the snow covered Ural mountains. The foreground of the painting was littered with frozen corpses of those not as lucky on their trek. Putting this in context with modern time it show how valuable the railway has become to travellers in this area, and despite the pollution it has brought along in the form of industrialisation, it has vitalised many communities.

I continued my wandering from the art gallery and found myself standing on the banks fo the Kama river looking out in the direction from which my train had arrived. At various spots on the horizon you could see the legacy of the communist era, living through industrial towns which pumped pollution into the air. As a somehwat hippyish person this made me sad, and brings to mind that Russia is way behind in terms of fixing environmental problems. However, walking along the banks cheered me up as I exchanged Hello's with dog walkers and other people out for a stroll. Even small interactions and pleasantries take on a greater meaning when you're alone.

The rest of the morning I spent looking for little and finding even less. Perm is not a town I would recommend to the lone traveller... or really anyone who was looking to make this trip. Bar the art gallery there's little of interest, and it wasn't for lack of trying! It is a University town, but I see little reason why people would relocate here to spend three years of their life.

I leave at 3.25am this morning (Moscow time, which is what the trains all run on. Local time is 5.25. Get it?) to make my journey of 36hours to Krasnoyarsk - deep in asian Siberia. I'm excited to move on, and even more excited as I arrive in Irkutsk on the 8th of October. My credit cards now work however, and I celebrated by buying myself a pizza and some matte tea. I was very proud of myself for my ability to order from a wholly Russian menu, my reading of cyrillic is improving eachday as a necessity. But, something got lost in the translation as the pizza that came back was big enough to feed me for 3 days.

This blog was longer and better... my apologies for the hurried end to it. The computer failed to connect to the internet and gave me a hideous cyrillic warning which I didn't understand really(despite me having claimed to be getting to grips with their alphabet), but half of the blog disappeared. I think Perm was sent to test me.

Anyway, I'll write again soon.

Love,

x

4 comments:

Pearl said...

Hello Anthony
Your mam and dad have forwarded your blog and it entertained us for the evening. I hope you are going to save these and write your first book..remember us when you're rich and famous!It's very brave of you to be doing what you are doing but be careful. There are some nasty people out there!Chris and Phil did the GNR yesterday and needless to say, they will be moaning for the next week. Chris text me this morning to say he was feeling very sore and quite unwell. There again, he feels like that most mornings when he has to raise his head off the pillow and get out of his pit. bye 4 now. Take care. Pauline x

Theresa Green said...

24.5 hours on a train!!! thats nearly how long it took me to get along the shore road to work this morning.
Looking out across the rainy lough, I wonder if I would swap it for your journey - don't think I'd have the guts though.
Its brave and exciting what you're up to mate, and to be able to read a russian menu this quick makes me think you must really be quite clever after all ;)
I'll wave at nico's house for you as I drive past it tomorrow.

take care bud!
look forward to reading more!!

Steve.

Anthony said...

Thanks! I've been trying to make sure I do this place justice... it's just a fantastic adventure. Glad you're all well though and thanks for reading the lengthy entries!

music is my hot hot sex said...

I still can't believe you met Cliff and Gloria!