Diary Travelogues | Eastern Europe | 1994 | September 16 to 18 | Part 6 – Russia

Hi Friends,

This is the sixth part of my 1994 travels through Eastern Europe: Poland - Belarus - Russia - Estonia - Latvia - Lithuania - Poland.

If you are just coming on board, here are links to earlier parts in this series on Eastern Europe 1994:
Part 1: Poland | Part 2: Poland | Part 3: Poland | Part 4: Belarus | Part 5: Russia

If you'd like to switch to a different series of travel writings:
The Levant | 1996 | May 05 to May 08 | Part 1 – Egypt

If you have been following along from the beginning, welcome back 🔆

Thanks for reading
🚣

^{An overview of my travels between 28 August - 27 September, 1994. The red line is my route.}

Friday, 16 September 1994 | 16.00 | Leningrad / St. Petersburg (Russia)

I'm sitting on a small strip of beach on the banks of the Neva, on the island where Peter the Great's fortress is. I'm looking across to the rather majestic riverside avenue, with grand buildings and various bridges and monuments.

The river must be a good 300 metres wide here. It's a nice city and I wonder if Leningrad (although still named after one person) isn't a more appropriate name, though less picturesque, standing as it does for a better ideal than the monarchy of Peter the Great!

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The train journey ended peacefully. I met an electrical inspector in his mid-40s from St. Petersburg, who spoke pidgin German. He informed me quite learnedly of various facts about the history of the city and of Russia. He did natter on though, and I got tired of concentrating. But he was a decent fellow and put me on the Metro to the address of a student hostel that I had got when in Moscow.

It was 00.30 by the time I arrived. A friendly, drunken Russian guided me there saying I could stay at his place if the hostel was closed. I felt a lot safer here walking around at night than in Moscow. I paid $7 USD for two nights and got my own room. Compare that with $15 per night for a 6-bed shared room in Moscow!

Not much chance of getting an extension. I could try but would be told to wait 2-3 days and even then might be refused a second time. So I'm going to risk staying on until tomorrow evening, when I'll get the 21.28 train to Talinn. I paid 16,000 Rubles for my ticket, which I think is the 'Russian' price. I don't think I need an Estonian visa, but I'm not certain. If I do, I should be able to get one at the border.

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Uniforms everywhere in Russia – on the streets, in the Metro stations, and I never know which ones are which, ie. Army, Police etc. I was asked for 'Documents', but fortunately the man either didn't notice, or chose not to give me hassle about my passport being a day without a valid visa. I am wary of them and expect to be called over every time I see a uniform. Imagine what it must have been like 10 years ago, especially if you had something to hide! I'd consider myself lucky to get across without having to pay a fine, but even on that point I have some vague reassurance – there was a notice in the youth hostel in Moscow saying that the authorities aren't too bothered if you leave the country by train with a visa overstay of a couple of days. Let's see!

I'd like to spend a couple of weeks here in Leningrad. Perhaps I could study a bit of Russian at the start of next summer, go up North and then across to India on the trans-Siberian express.

...later | 17.30

In the summer gardens now, very peaceful and there is a big church with onion domes, similar to the one in Red Square and partially concealed by a museum-type building that I'd like to visit. Such a lovely building, pity it's a religious one! I wandered around the fortress for a bit, but it's very touristy. I bought a beautifully painted little bell, done by the seller's wife (so he said).

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The Russians read a lot. In the Metro there are always people reading, seated or standing. Same in parks. You find bookshops everywhere and most of the Metro stations in Moscow had 5-10 tables with books for sale laid out. I also noted quite a few women tram drivers, especially in Minsk where they seemed to be the majority, some strikingly beautiful! I wore my earring for 10 minutes this morning then took it off. Bad vibes and I don't want to attract attention to myself. Another thing I have noticed is the absence of people whistling¹. I sometimes whistle or sing to myself, and I can't remember having noticed people East of Poland do so.
_{1. Apart from at the Kremlin where it was non-stop :D (see episode 5)}

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Saturday, 17 September 1994 | 17.45 | Leningrad / St. Petersburg (Russia)

I'll be leaving in a few hours – 21.28 and getting in to Tallinn for 5.30am. A long time for a mere 360 km! I don't need a visa thank goodness, but wonder if the Russians will let me through without a fine.

I love the city. Sat down just off Nevsky Prospect, the main commercial street in the city centre. It's sad though that it's so westernised and almost everything is simply miles beyond the dreams of most people. Shops like 'Baby Care' and 'Lego' and just outside, poor people with their kids desperately begging. But that's the choice that the elite make and the rest have to follow to their own discomfort – how heartless and selfish is man, really! I read for a while and drank some bottles of beer that I bought off a street peddlar, of which there are many selling cigs, ice-cream and other obscure items that they hold up in the vague hope of selling. 3 beers down and it started to drizzle. As darkness was clawing away at my eyes I got up, but I was loathe to leave for I was feeling good.

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Watched a couple of buskers play, feeling quite tipsy. Got talking to Igor, who asked me for a cig and I gave him a beer. He is a musician himself and we walked along getting drunker and drunker and I bought some more beers for 1000 Rubles each. He spoke some English and I remember him calling himself a hooligan. He seemed ok, rough as you'd expect, but I didn't feel threatened in any way. I condemned the Capitalism surrounding us and gave him some money for which he was rather grateful. I backed out when he suggested we go for a walk to the bridge, for he had been pointing to some flower-sellers and then tried to take my hand. In any case, our conversation was drying up. I bought another 4 beers, gave him 2 and 5000 Roubles. I then went for a piss and fished out a further $5 bill to give him. I was feeling a contempt for money just then, especially US Dollars, but when I returned from the alleyway, he had disappeared.

I stumbled back to the hostel and amused the caretaker with my drunken requests for the key. Very wobbly indeed. Slept around 11pm. I had funny dreams and woke up at 6.30am, bought some orange juice, read a bit and then slept again until 11.30am. I must have had two sets of dreams about India although I can't remember much of them.

Crime and Punishment¹ is so good and so powerfully written!

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Wandered around today with nothing specific in mind. Sat down in front of the church where there was a caravan-cafe where I had bought a coffee yesterday - it had been a pleasant experience. The girl who had served me yesterday, said that there was no coffee available. I asked for a Fanta and she said it cost 2000 Rubles - I'm certain it was priced at 900 yesterday. Weird behaviour, for they closed 2 minutes later! I sat down instead with a beer that I bought off a peddlar. Perhaps it's a cover for something else, like a brothel! Funny stuff, but who cares it's all random, as is life and fate. I'm off, might sit and read for a bit later on.

I managed to speak to Igor in Moscow, and clear my conscience on that matter. I'll write and explain in full. Another observation on the Russians is that they drink and smoke an awful lot. Cigs are very cheap and I like the beer here. Most people are drunk on the trams and the Metro always smells of Vodka. There are also a lot of facial scars in Russia!
_{1. Crime & Punishment is set in St. Petersburg. It is darkly psychological. I found it utterly fascinating at the time and would re-read pages because they were so good!}

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Sunday, 18 September 1994 | 00.30 | on train at the Russian – Estonian border

They have gone off with everyone's passports saying “15 minutes” and it's been at least that! I am in a compartment with an elderly Russian lady. We first had customs come along asking for our 'declarations' and looking through passports. Then we were visited by a female officer in her late 20s or early 30s, and with about an inch of pink makeup over her eyes. She asked me for the declaration form which I would have received on arrival, but which I have long since lost or discarded. She said the most ridiculous things, perhaps a weird half-hearted attempt at intimidation. Half jokingly, she asked me if I had any weapons or drugs, to which I replied 'no' with a smile. She then said I was only allowed to take $50 USD or 77 DM out of the country, and asked to see my money. I half-believed she would confiscate it and showed her a subset of what I had. She then wished me luck and left!

If I thought that that was that with Russian international beaurocracy, disappointment wasn't long coming. I now await, as do we all, the return of our passports and for me, perhaps questions, fines etc as a result of my 2-day overstay. Let's see! There is an Argentinian on the train who was also at the youth hostel in St. Petersburg and, taking the uncertainty and randomness of it all into consideration, I gave him my details for the British embassy should something happen to me.

This also explains the 9 hours that the train takes. As the Russian lady informed me, an hour or so at each border point, Russian and Estonian!

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If you would like to carry on reading click here for Part 7