Mari El

The City of Yoshkar-Ola in Mari El Republic

Where can you visit Prague, Italy, Brussels and Moscow in one day? The answer may surprise you! All these cities and more you can see in a city full of replicas, the city of Yoshkar-Ola in the Republic of Mari El 762 kilometers east of Moscow. Yoshkar-Ola caught my attention when in summer a Facebook friend from Kazan posted pictures of her holiday in this small city with pictures of replicas of Moscow’s Savior Tower, Bruges embankment in Belgium and other landmarks that looked straight out of Italy. I instantly looked at a map and found that it was not far from Kazan, so I figured there was no way I could miss it!

My cab

I had two options to get to Yoshkar-Ola, either I could take the twice a week elektrichka (electric commuter train) for only a few dollars or I could hire a taxi for $50. If I were to take the elektrichka it would take around four hours, if I were to take a taxi it’d be about two. Having taken the elektrichka to many different places I knew travel on it was not easy and being that the train only departed twice a week I figured it may be rather crowded and miserable. So I opted to pay $50 and hire a taxi. True it was more expensive, but the price really was not that bad considering it would be a two-hour drive.

So, I logged onto Yandex taxi service and ordered a taxi. This time there was no drama as the driver pulled right up in front of my hotel. He greeted me and repeated the destination address to me. I confirmed saying it was in Yoshkar-Ola. He looked a bit surprised and said “Yoshkar-Ola….really”. I answered yes and he said “let’s go”. The drive north was not too eventful, we stopped for gas once, which gave me a chance to grab a candy bar and pop. It was snowing but unlike in Seattle where a little bit of snow sets people into a full scale panic, in Russia it’s business as usual.

We arrived to Yoshkar-Ola just before 4pm and the sun was already down. I paid and tipped him and dragged my stuff into the hotel. I only had about 24 hours in Yoshkar-Ola so I knew I couldn’t just sit around the hotel and rest. Therefore when I arrived I quickly unpacked my stuff, got back into all my layers and headed out on the town. No way was I going to waste a second here!

Having seen the pictures of all these replicas and since my hotel was in the center I expected everything to be nearby. But nothing was what I expected. I walked out of my hotel and there were just the usual assortment of low-rise buildings mixed in with apartment blocks. I wandered around for about 15 minutes expecting to see something familiar. Where were the row houses, where was the replica Savior Tower? I had google maps and remembered from the pictures and a TV show I saw about it that everything was located on the river. I looked at my map and headed toward the river. I got to the river and still nothing, only an ice hockey/skating arena. I was at a loss. I decided to turn right and sure enough I wound up in the right place.

Savior Tower Yoshkar-Ola

One of the six theaters

Puppet theater

I eventually started walking along the Bruges embankment with its row houses, which looked exactly like what I’d expect from Amsterdam or Belgium. I spent about two hours in the cold and the snow walking around taking in all the sights. The city was amazing, everything was nearly to scale and you’d never know you were in some small town in the middle of the Russian forest. Many of the buildings, especially the Puppet Theater, looked straight out of a fairy tale!! I eventually reached the city’s Savior Tower (The Kremlin’s most famous clock tower) replica. It was incredible! Although it was not quite as big as the real thing its chime was nearly the same. I was shocked at how such a small city could have so much going for it. But replicas were not the only thing unique to this city. Being such a small city of just shy of a quarter million people, you’d think they might have some culture but probably not a lot. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact the city has not one, not two, not three, but SIX different theaters! I always so appreciate Russia’s love of culture. The US could learn a lot from Russia’s intellectual and cultural life.

The next day my goal was to see the replicas in light. And they did not disappoint at all! The amazing thing about the replica row houses that were copied after Bruges embankment was how they were actually occupied. I thought when I first saw them from a distance that they likely were just empty shells, almost like a Hollywood set. But it turns out each one had some type of purpose, many home to different republic ministries and government organizations. I spent hours just walking along the frozen embankment and even enjoyed walking across the river. Who said you can’t walk on water?? It’s always soooo much fun when you can walk across frozen lakes, ponds or rivers.

Bruges Embankment

After walking around the Bruges embankment, I visited the Yoshkar-Ola kremlin. Yoshkar-Ola’s kremlin is one of the youngest checking in at about 100 years old. Much like its bigger cousin in Moscow it is also red. There was no charge to enter and that day there was a farmer’s market of sorts going on inside it. The kremlin was tiny compared to Kazan and especially compared to Moscow. One of the best parts of the Yoshkar Ola Kremlin was being able to walk along a sort of catwalks that hugged the side of the kremlin. 

Inside Yoshkar Ola Kremlin

The donkey and icon

 My next stop would be Nogotkova-Obolenskovo Square next to the Mari El National Art Gallery. The square and building looked something straight out of Italy and had a beautiful clock tower, which every hour on the hour would chime. This was no ordinary chime but the Mari chime and within a few seconds of the chime out comes a small little path with moving figures and a donkey carrying an icon from one end of the clock façade to the other. Quite a cool sight, which always draws a crowd!

My view from the Ferris wheel

I continued my day by walking over to the Park of Culture and Rest a common landmark in every Russian city. And just like nearly every Park of Culture and Rest the one in Yoshkar-Ola had a Ferris wheel. And of course wherever I see a Ferris wheel I have to take a ride. But you’re probably thinking how would a Ferris wheel be working in the middle of winter and in the middle of a snowstorm? Luckily the Ferris wheel had heated compartments so it was business as usual on a Sunday afternoon. From my cabin I could see all of Yoshkar-Ola and all the replicas. It was well worth the several dollar price I paid for the privilege! 

Eventually my ride came to an end and I would set out in search of food. My goal was to reach a café that I learned about on a Russian travel show called “All The Way”. The café was called “Café Sandal” and served traditional Mari food. I was looking forward to trying the puffed up bliny (thin pancakes). I wanted to make it there badly, but I had walked so much and it was so icy! I walked a bit further and passed a McDonald's. No way was I going to go to McD's, but hunger and fatigue got the best of me and I eventually surrendered to the Golden Arches aka McDonald’s. Yes, I was that desperate!!

I regretted my decision the moment I walked in, as the place was an insane mess packed to the gills with children and their parents. I eventually found a place to sit, but a parent eventually came along asking if her kid could sit down at my table. I said yes…..and then the entire family sat down at my table, kind of inadvertently kicking me out. I eventually found a free place all to myself.  

I later tried again to get back to Sandal Café. Although I did not have a lot of time I figured I had just enough time to have a good dinner and get back in time to catch my train. So I brought up Maxim car service and ordered a car to take me to the café and then I waited, waited and waited some more. I waited about 15 minutes until it popped up there were no cars available. I gave up! I guess there must’ve been a reason I didn’t get there or maybe I needed to save up something for next time. Eventually I settled for Russian pelmini (dumplings) at the hotel restaurant, which were fine but not puffed bliny :( !

The view from my room

Having finished up a nice dinner I went upstairs to pack. My bag was overflowing but eventually I got everything packed up. I was all ready to go to the train station to catch my 7pm overnight train to Moscow, all I had to do was go downstairs and check out. Easy…….! WRONG! I walked into the elevator, the door closed and I pushed “L” for Lobby. The elevator was not moving…….hmmmm…I thought, what was going on?

My hotel, Ludoviko Moro

Then a little digital message appeared above that read “elevator not working”. I quickly pushed the open button…..no luck….I pushed the close button……nothing!!! Then I pushed the emergency button and the call button saying I was trapped in the elevator. They responded that help was on the way. Five minutes went by and nothing. Time was ticking, my train left in only a short time. Then ten minutes went by! At this point I was panicked and told them I had a train to make and was worried about missing it. I started thinking out alternative scenarios about what happened if I were to miss my train. I basically came to the conclusion that if I missed my train I was utterly screwed! They assured me help was on the way. Eventually after about 15 minutes (it felt like easily 50) they somehow forced the door open manually. I was relieved, I would make my train after all and my trip would continue without interruption. To say the least my trips are never without drama and today was no exception!

Yoshkar-Ola train station

Russia's Third City

My journey to Kazan, Tatarstan aboard the new double decker train would take just under 12 hours. I was excited as I had been on all types of different trains throughout Russia, but this promised to be a different experience! The train was beautiful and my compartment on the second floor was gorgeous. Since I always travel with a heavy bag and don’t like another person in the cabin I bought out the cabin. Since I had it to myself I put my big suitcase on the other bed. When the stewardess came around to check on me she was a bit irritated that my bag was on the other bed saying that the spot must remain “clean”. After she saw that I’d bought the cabin out she apologized and was fine with my bag wherever it was.

Kazan's Railway Station

I visited Kazan several years earlier but since I never can do things just once, I had to go back and experience it again. Supposedly Kazan had changed some since I was last there in 2011 due to the 2013 Summer Universiade, a summer Olympics type games for university students. So I was looking forward to seeing the change. When I arrived in Kazan it was mid-morning and I was in fair shape having slept most of the night on the train. In order to get to my hotel I decided against using the taxis that were right there at the train station and instead used Yandex taxis and/or the car service Maxim.

I first tried Yandex taxi. I’d used the service before and it was pretty solid. I entered in my destination and pushed send. I waited a while for my taxi but figured everything was fine. Just when I was about ready to call the competition and cancel my order, it popped up on my screen that my taxi had come. Wait what I thought………I looked around for the license plate number and make of the car and I saw nothing. I looked everywhere and no sign of the taxi. Finally I received a call from Yandex saying they were connecting me with the driver. That’s always dangerous for me as the drivers always speak very fast and I have a hard time understanding them. This time was no different as the driver was nearly yelling into the phone asking me questions I could not understand. I explained to him in clear Russian exactly where I was. He said he’d try to find me.

After several calls to clarify exactly where I was he never found me. I tried the next car service, Maxim, and ran into similar problems. It was not as if I was in a remote place, I was standing on the sidewalk nearest the train station. Finally I furiously gave up and decided to take a regular taxi that’d charge me many more times the rate I’d’ve gotten with Yandex or Maxim. It wasn’t that I couldn’t afford a taxi, it was pride and the feeling of not getting ripped off that made me avoid a regular taxi in the first place. But I figured the day was moving fast, so I may as well just eat the cost and my pride and get to my hotel.

To my surprise my hotel was only three blocks from the train station and in all the time I spent wrestling with the car services I could’ve been there. I guess that’ll teach me to do my research! I gave the hotel name to the taxi driver, which was an Italian name, Hotel Giuseppe. He had no clue about the name. I may as well have said Hotel California and maybe I would’ve had as much a chance of getting there. Luckily I had my phone and was able to read him the address.

Finally after a morning of extreme drama and the ordeal of just getting there I was finally in my room! Unlike in Moscow where I put down my stuff and took a nap I was not going to let time slip away from me in yet another city. So after a brief time in my room I set out to see the city. The location of Hotel Giuseppe could not be any better!! It is located only steps away from Kazan’s Kremlin and about two blocks up from the pedestrian shopping street. My first stop would be Kazan’s Kremlin.

 

Kazan's Kremlin

Kremlin or Kremel’ in Russian means fortress so although the most famous kremlin is located in Moscow, there exist dozens more kremlins throughout Russia. Unlike Moscow’s kremlin, which is red, Kazan’s is white, however there was a time back in medieval days when The Kremlin was white. Unlike Moscow’s Kremlin, which costs about $10 to enter, Kazan’s is totally free and easy to get into. It’s not quite as big as its sister in Moscow and maybe not as glamorous but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a lot of things to see.

The first highlight of Kazan’s kremlin is similar to Moscow, a famous clock tower, The Savior Tower. In Moscow The Savior Tower is best known for it chime and how on New Year’s Eve it rings 12 times to usher in the new year. But unlike in Moscow where their tower is red, Kazan’s is white. Once you pass underneath The Savior Tower, two buildings inside the Kremlin really stand out to you, The Annunciation Cathedral and The Qol Sharif Mosque. Both are stunning, but the mosque with its incredible blue and white minarets definitely takes the cake as the more incredible of the two. It is also the newest addition to Kazan’s kremlin having been built in 2005. One of the most incredible facts is that the mosque’s dome was so heavy that it had to be helicoptered in order to complete the mosque. Unlike many landmarks, which are beautiful on the outside and ho hum on the inside, the mosque’s inside does not disappoint, see picture at bottom. The beauty is absolutely incredible and costs nothing to enter. Even better you are free to take photographs wherever you like, which many orthodox churches prohibit. As for The Annunciation Church it is very beautiful but just does not have that wow factor that the mosque does. Besides the mosque and cathedral, the other real highlight inside Kazan Kremlin is what is known as The Leaning Tower of Kazan, Söyembikä Tower, just a few meters beyond the mosque and cathedral. It was built during Ivan The Terrible’s time and along with the mosque serves as the city’s most well known landmark.

Although Kazan is not quite as big as Moscow that does not mean it lacks a lot of the big city amenities Moscow has. One of its best qualities is a fairly new metro built in 2005. The stations are flawless with some beautiful Islamic art. The metro gets you to both of Kazan’s most well known landmarks, the kremlin and its pedestrian shopping street, Baumana Street. The price cannot be beat, about 30 rubles which translates out to about $0.50. For access to Kazan Kremlin from the metro, you need to ride to the end of the line to Kremlyovskaya station. Right outside of the station is a great statue of Kazan’s symbol, the dragon and a wonderful view of the mosque towering above the kremlin, an excellent spot for a photo!

That evening I decided to try something new food wise. I had noticed a Turkish Café on the pedestrian street and my friend from Turkey, Tulay, had always encouraged me to try Turkish food so I figured this would be a good choice. When I walked in I was rather amazed at the interior decorations. Instead of pictures of such famous Turkish landmarks as Istanbul’s Haga Sophia or Blue Mosque or the capital city of Ankara they had pictures of New York City landmarks!! What the hell I thought. Last I checked I was in a Turkish restaurant not an American one. Despite the confusing décor, my meal was delicious, Turkish kebabs with yogurt. To this day I still yearn for good grilled kebab drowned in yogurt. If you want to try some delicious Turkish food, the name of the café is pretty simple to remember, Turkish Café, on Baumana Street about halfway down the pedestrian mall. Prices are reasonable and seating is widely available.

The pedestrian street has some wonderful shops that have a wide array of Russian souvenirs and uniquely Tatar and Muslim like souvenirs. I picked up a small replica of Kazan’s Kremlin Savior Tower and a green prayer rug. I stumbled upon a gigantic huge life size matryoshka doll right outside the store. It was beautiful! I so wished could have bought it, but it was likely not for sale and would be just a bit hard to fit inside my suitcase since it was the size of about half a dozen suitcases. Someday maybe, who knows!

The following day I would visit a rather unusual landmark, The Temple of All Religions about 20 so miles outside of town in a small village. The temple is incredible with a combination of colorful copulas and domes. According to an article on the American news site, The Daily Beast, the eccentric architect and psychic supposedly saw Jesus Christ appear to him on the banks of The Volga. Christ gave him the order to construct this incredible temple and he devoted 20 years of his life to building this stunning landmark. Unfortunately the temple is not open to the public. Supposedly you used to be able to make an appointment to go inside, but appear those days are long gone. So, you will just have to enjoy the view from the outside. I recommend if you want to see the temple to take a taxi from town, which should cost a bit over $10 round-trip. Ask the reception at your hotel for a taxi to The Temple of All Religions or find the address and enter it into Yandex car hire or Maxim car hire.

Another eccentric landmark I hit up on my trip to Kazan was The Kazan Family Center viewpoint. The name sounds benign enough, but the actual building itself looks like a huge and very tall UFO that landed out on a spit of land. It was not exactly central to the city itself so it’d take some planning to get to. I really did not feel in the mood to take a taxi and it looked pretty far to walk so I figured I’d take the Kazan Metro and walk the 15-20 minutes from there.

After taking the metro and walking 15-20 minutes in the cold wintry Kazan weather I finally arrived at my destination. My goal was to go up to the top of the UFO the Family Center to the viewpoint for an excellent look at the city. Last time I was in Kazan this building wasn’t yet constructed, so this would be a new experience. I was excited and looked forward to getting a great view of the city. I arrived and noticed several limos in the parking lot. Then I noticed a bride and groom walking around taking pictures. No big deal I thought. That is until I got inside. There in the lobby area was a huge party going on. I noticed a security guard and asked how I got to the viewing deck. He said it was closed for the wedding! CRAP I thought, I walked all the way here and it is closed for a wedding. WTF! I was quite angry. Not sure why I was surprised, in Russia it seems everything is always difficult. Things are always either closed, forbidden or just impossible. I could’ve retraced my steps back to the metro but I decided I’d use my angry energy to walk the two miles back to town instead.

 

Inside the mosque

Kazan's leaning tower

Kazan is an incredible destination and should be on the top of everyone’s must see list when considering a trip to Russia!!! If you want to go to Kazan, check out the city’s information site at http://kazantravel.ru/en/. I can guarantee, you will not regret your decision to visit Russia’s “third city”.
 

Polar Night

Leningrad Station

My journey north to the Port of Murmansk, home of Russia’s Northern Fleet and north of The Arctic Circle began quite late at night, 12:40am or so to be exact from Moscow. I had once again stayed at The CityHotel in Kazan’ Station like I had a few days before when I was leaving for Kazan, see my entry “Should I Stay or Should I go” for more information about my stay then. However this time my train was departing from across the street in Leningrad Station. This meant I had to lug my bag down the stairs from the hotel into Kazan station, then down into an underpass, back up the underpass stairs and up some more stairs just to get in the door of Leningrad station. No wonder I always come back from these trips a bit trimmer and stronger. Nothing builds up strength like dragging a 20kg + bag through Russia!

One of the many stations along the road to Murmansk

The road to Murmansk was going to be a long one, well over 24 hours by train, but luckily I had bought out the entire cabin, all four places, so the journey would be a lot more pleasant. No way was I going to be stuck with three strangers in a cabin the size of a medium sized coat closet. Plus the amount of luggage I was lugging around, one heavy bag and a backpack, I likely would have needed to sleep on top of my luggage if I somehow wanted to fit into a cabin with three other people.

Early the next morning we arrived at our first major stop, St. Petersburg Ladozhskiy Station, for a record 90-minutes. Normally stops are no more than a half hour or at very max 60 minutes, so I was a bit surprised by the length. Ladozhskiy Station, is the only station in St. Petersburg that is not a terminus meaning trains can go straight through without having to stop. Our time at Ladozhskiy was a welcome one as I was able to get a nice breakfast at a coffee shop and stock up on some groceries before we started our long haul all the way north to Murmansk.

Ready to go north!

There are many things I love about riding the rails in Russia, but it’s probably the journey and all the stations you stop along during that journey. I guess that old saying “it’s not the destination, but the journey” really rings true in this case. Stations along the journey come in all

Kandalashka Station

types of different colors, shapes and sizes. But not all stations are created equally. Some are rather ordinary and bland with nothing more than a boring Soviet like building with a few platforms, whereas others can be masterful pieces of architecture. My favorite station by far on the route to Murmansk has to be Kandalashka station just north of The Arctic Circle. I enjoyed it most due to its beautiful red building that resembles more of a ski chalet than a plain old train station. Even the train stations in the biggest city of them all, Moscow all have very unique features and holds high architectural value.

Murmansk train station

After a very long 36 hours of riding we finally pulled into Murmansk. Although it was cold, the temperatures were not all that frigid considering that we were at 69° north. To put Murmansk’s latitude into perspective the US-Canadian border in my home state of Washington is at 49° north, so I was quite a bit far north. Thanks to the Gulf Stream though Murmansk stays pretty warm during the winter and its waters stay ice-free thus serving as the perfect base for Russia’s Northern Fleet.

When I arrived at around noon I noticed there was not a lot of light, but I assumed that was because it was cloudy plus it’s in the north and there’s not much sun light during the winter anyway. Later on when I got to my hotel I looked up when sunrise and sunset was. I googled “Murmansk sunrise” and it popped up “sunrise January 11^th, 2017”….. WAIT…..what? January 11^th??? No way…I mean I knew we were north but really? Sure enough after doing some more investigation it turns out that the sun had set a few days before I came and will not rise again until January 11^th, which is where the term “Polar Night” comes from. And people back home complain about how “dark” it is during winter! Next time I hear people complain about how “dark” Seattle is during winter, I’ll tell them it could be worse, just consider Murmank, where the the sun is down for an entire month and a half. However, just because the sun never rose did not mean we were without light. Some beams of twilight came through just like what you’d expect before sunrise making for semi-light day, but that wasn’t much, about three hours.  

Murmansk at about 2pm

After recovering from what I like to call “train lag”, the next day I went out to explore. The city was quite small and very compact with not a lot to see. The main drag, Leninsky Prospect or basically Lenin Street stretched for about a kilometer and made up the center. Unlike in Moscow there were no fancy luxury stores or restaurants, not like I need any, just the basics. There was amazingly enough a McDonald’s to which I guiltily admit to eating at. Hell, I was tired and didn’t want to spend a lot of money so I gave in and went across the street to the world’s most northern McDonald’s. Say what you may about McD’s but the food is always reliable and the price can’t be beaten. 

Leninsky Prospect

 My first stop on my three-stop tour would be The Memorial Complex to the Soldiers and Seamen Who Died in Peaceful Time about a mile north of town. This memorial was obviously dedicated to those who served in the navy and to soldiers who died during times of peace and was in the shape of a giant lighthouse. Inside were marble plaques with the words “Forever Memory” inscribed on them with the Russian and the flags of St. Andrew next to each other. The lighthouse structure was a bit odd sitting there in the middle of a Russian neighborhood with giant gray apartment blocks surrounding it. Not exactly the type of place you’d expect to find a lighthouse! But then again Murmansk was not exactly St. Petersburg with grand European architecture and magnificently beautiful palaces! 

Alyosha Monument

The next stop was another somber memorial, Alyosha Monument dedicated to those who died in The Great Patriotic War (aka WWII) defending the Arctic. As I was walking there it suddenly hit me that all the places I was going to see were memorials of some kind or another. Yet, I was not about to sit in the hotel all day and watch TV or surf the Internet. 

***EDITOR'S NOTE: the following text turned out double spaced due to a bug in the program, apologies in advance***

The final stop along my tour of Murmansk would be “The Waiting Woman” statue, likely dedicated to the many women who await their husbands to return from being at sea. There was no formal address to the statue and I couldn’t find it on google maps, but after some real digging I found a website that did provide an address, so I plugged it into google maps and started walking. I kept following the instructions, but eventually came to the address, which was no more than a giant cluster of huge Soviet block apartment houses. I looked and looked and looked some more but never could find it. I eventually gave up and called a cab, as I was way too tired to walk back the three or so miles to town. In hindsight I should’ve asked a local, but I guess I’m just a typical guy……doesn't like to ask for directions!

My next adventure wouldn’t come until the following day when I visited the nuclear icebreaker Lenin. The Lenin had been in service from 1959 until 1989 when it was retired eventually being converted into a museum in 2005. Every day at 12 and 2pm there are guided tours in Russian, so I decided to take the 12pm tour. It was not a long walk from my hotel to the port, after all I could see the port from my room. Unfortunately because I used Google maps to go there by foot it routed me the long way around to the ship through the rail yards of Murmansk and through the port area. It was not exactly a problem, just that there was a much simpler and quicker way.

The Sea Station

I got down to the area with a fair amount of time before they started the tour at noon. When I reached the Sea Station where cruise ships and ferries depart from, a Chinese girl frantically came running up to me and said in English, “do you speak English”. I said yes and she said that she had lost her phone in the snow and could I help her. I said sure and started hunting around in the deep snow. It seemed hopeless, like finding a needle in a haystack, but we kept looking. Eventually I found a small glow on the edge of a snow bank and sure enough it was her phone! She was overjoyed and hugged me.

After finding her phone in the snow we both moved onto join the tour of the Lenin nuclear icebreaker. Along with around a dozen people we stood out in the snow waiting for them to let us on board. Eventually after a good ten minutes of freezing they finally opened. I asked for one ticket in Russian and amazingly enough was given the Russian Federation Citizen rate even though I’m not a citizen. Not sure why as usually they’re pretty strict on who gets the Russian rate and who does not. And even though I speak pretty good Russian my Scandinavian-American looks somehow give me away. 

Our tour began in a giant very official looking conference room with a large wooden table and a nice looking hardwood floor. There we’d be briefed about all the information about the ship and its history. The tour guide described in detail the ship and its long history and gave an overview of what we’d be seeing that day. One of the most interesting facts was that it only took the ship a few days to reach the North Pole. He also told us all about Fidel Castro’s visit aboard the ship many years ago, which was appropriate since Castro had just passed away a few days before. 

Once we finished with the orientation we moved onto look at other parts of the ship. Our first stop was to take a peak down inside the room where they actually used the nuclear material to power the ship. To make it look real they even had some mannequins covered in HAZMAT suits.  Other highlights included looking at living quarters, captain’s quarters (which were quite spacious), the engine room and up to the bridge. 

 
But one part I found the most interesting was the on-board hospital. The hospital was not exactly spacious but had a full operating room and a place for patients to recover. The equipment they used looked fairly ancient even for 1980s standards. The guide told us that the hospital was used not only for those aboard but as a sort of mobile hospital for villages and different missions along the ship’s route. To top things off there was also a whole dental office next door. It really emphasized to me that the ship was like its own self-contained floating village. 

When I arrived in Murmansk the day before I was pretty distraught over the fact that there was nothing to do and I even contemplated flying to Petersburg a day or two early . But after seeing all the monuments, the nuclear icebreaker and having survived a day trip out to the Arctic Ocean I was convinced, Murmansk was a real diamond in the rough and a place I was overjoyed that I had visited. For anyone with a desire to get off the beaten path and see a different sort of place I highly recommend Murmansk!

Murmansk

 

The Arctic Coast

After two days of looking around Murmansk, I had pretty much maxed out all there was to do there. I hadn’t traveled 2,000+ some miles from Moscow to just sit around my hotel room and wait until my train to Petersburg came at 7pm, so I started searching for tours around the area. I scoured the Internet for excursions and even inquired with one company about visiting a reindeer farm and a place with sled dog huskies. But unfortunately nobody returned my emails. So I figured I should ask the front desk if they had any suggestions. Luckily they did have suggestions.

The nice girl there, Anastasia, provided me with a card of a local tour guide. I figured since it was winter and I wanted a tour the next day I may be out of luck. Nonetheless I figured I might as well try and shot off an email hoping for something. Within about a half an hour I got an email back asking what type of tours I’d like stating, I could choose from seeing the huskies, visiting a reindeer farm and going out to an Arctic Ocean village. Since I am a Husky…….that is a proud graduate of the University of Washington whose mascot is a husky, I contemplated seeing the dogs. But this just didn’t have the wow factor that going to The Arctic Ocean had.

So, after thinking it all over I signed up for a tour to a village called Teriberka on The Arctic Ocean. I was unsure exactly what it entailed, maybe looking around the village, some light walking around, maybe a visit to a museum, some cultural program and that was it. Neither did I realize what I was getting myself into.

I met up with my tour guide, Yuri, in the hotel lobby. He was a tall thin but well built guy with long hair tied back in a ponytail. It took us a good two and a half hours to reach the village. After a quick stop at the local café for a bathroom break and a chance to look around the village we headed further up the Arctic Ocean Coast. 

Eventually we got to a point in the road where the snow got pretty deep. Yuri tried several times to get some traction and go forward, but we just sat there spinning our wheels. We couldn’t go forward or backwards, the van was stuck. And this was no ordinary van, this van had high clearance and was built for the snow, still we may as well have had a Lada from the 1980s as it didn’t matter we were stuck! Yuri hopped out of the car after several futile attempts and started shoveling. He shoveled for a good 10 minutes and then got back in and still nothing! We were stuck. He repeated this for about a half hour. Eventually as luck would have it he was able to shovel out just enough to be able to back out but unfortunately we would not be going forward and had to park the van. So, at this point our only option to go forward was to walk.

The wind was howling and I do mean howling! The air temperature was not that bad, about -3 to -4 centigrade or around 28-30 F. But combined that with the frigid wind chill, blowing snow, ice, brutal headwinds and even some sand to mix in with it, it was difficult at best to walk. We walked and we walked over rocks, through snowdrifts and over ice. I could see the Arctic Ocean over to my right with its violent crashing waves against the rocks. It was thrilling to finally see the Arctic Ocean, which now meant I’d been to all four oceans, the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Indian and now the Arctic. And even more thrilling to imagine was that at that point I was closer to the North Pole at 2,000 kilometers than I was to Moscow!

After a few pauses to look at some of the scenery and some of the rocks, we continued on. I was struggling mightily as I had not brought the proper footwear since I had no idea we would be doing so much hiking! I only had tennis shoes on and not my “arctic grip” boots, which put me at a real disadvantage, as the snow was DEEEEEP! At times I would be going along and suddenly I’d drop down a foot or two into a snow bank. But I kept going until I fell into a hole and severely bruised my leg. After a moment or two of expletives and assessing any damage, I was able to pick myself up and continue. We were going to go down to the beach, but seeing how I was struggling Yuri decided we’d instead stop at a rock that was not covered in snow and have some tea. He brought with him some pads for us to sit on. We sat down and in true Russian fashion sat there surrounded by snow with howling winds and drank tea. With the winds screaming and the frigid wind chill I was quite grateful that I’d layered to the max!

We spent about ten minutes drinking tea until Ivan, the other group member, decided he wanted to go to the beach after all. So Ivan got up and started hopping effortlessly over all the rocks, snow and ice making his way toward the beach. As I sat there huddled on a rock with a teacup in my hand trying to stay warm I wished that I’d have had that type of energy. I guess having been born and raised in Seattle I just wasn’t cut out for Russian winters. Yuri eventually got up and told me to wait on the rock and that he was going somewhere, where I didn’t know! He said he’d be back and left his stuff. I really did not question thinking he was just going out for a bathroom break or somewhere. Looking back on it, I should’ve asked him!!

About ten minutes went by and I started to wonder where he’d gone, so I climbed up to the top of one of the mounds to take a look at the scenery around. No sign of Yuri! I thought it was odd, but figured he’d eventually come back. Another few minutes went by and still no sign of Yuri. Ivan was down at the beach playing around, so I was alone, not a soul for miles!!! I started to get worried, calling for him thinking maybe he was just over the next rock. Nothing!! Eventually my worry turned to all out panic. I had no idea how to get back to the van! I yelled some more and still nothing but howling wind.

What now? I did not want to leave my place in case he came back, but the weather was starting to get even worse and visibility was shrinking rapidly. I looked at my phone and by some miracle I actually had decent mobile coverage out there in the middle of nowhere!! Yuri had called me earlier that morning to make sure I was coming so I quickly dialed his phone number. But no luck! I then realized the tour organizer had written me on Facebook, so I quickly wrote him a message that Yuri was nowhere to be seen and that I was panicked. Within about a minute Yaroslav, the tour organizer called me on Facebook to tell me not to worry that Yuri is extremely trustworthy and you can trust him like your brother. He told me that if he did not show up to find a place that was not windy and to start following my footprints back to the van. The only problem with that advice was that this was wide-open tundra!! There were no trees or places I could find that would shield me from the cruel Arctic wind!

Just as I was ready to give up and try to maybe walk back to the van, I spotted someone!!! At first I thought my eyes were deceiving me. I thought maybe it was just a rock that looked like a person, but sure enough out there on the snowy tundra it was indeed Yuri. I waved profusely and he waved back. I was relieved to know that he was on his way. I wrote Yaroslav telling him that I’d found Yuri. He was relieved and said it was easy to get lost out there.

Yuri eventually made his way back to my rock. I frantically asked him where he had been. I said to him that he’d been gone for what seemed like at least a half an hour. He looked at his watch and said, “I was gone just about 15 minutes”! 15 minutes………no way! Maybe Arctic time is longer than back home, but there was no chance he was gone only 15 minutes. After my story about how I was worried he’d abandoned me out in The Arctic he told me he’d gone back to the van to retrieve some boots that I could slip over my tennis shoes. These would help me walk through the snow easier. I slipped them on and they did help, but there was no taking away from the fact the wind still was brutal and the conditions were rough at best.

Eventually Ivan returned from his side trip to the beach and we were ready to continue our adventure. We walked over some more terrain then hooked up with what was the road, albeit totally covered in snow. We continued walking for about another 15 minutes until I got to the point where I had to ask Yuri how much longer we would be going for. After all we’d been out there a long time, plus conditions after getting better for a bit were again rapidly starting to deteriorate. Yuri stated we’d be hiking for another half an hour. No way was I going to continue to brave these conditions for another half hour. By that time Ivan had already raced out ahead of us by about a kilometer. Yuri said he’d run ahead to try to catch up with Ivan to tell him we were heading back and to return with us. He told me to head back on the road and that I’d eventually find the van. He said he’d catch up with me once he found Ivan. I was a bit skeptical but I figured if I kept walking I’d find it.

After about 15 minutes of hiking Yuri caught up with me but he was missing Ivan. Where was Ivan I asked? He said he refused to come back and wanted to walk out the full half hour. We got returned to the van despite the harsh conditions of blowing snow, ice and hail. It was good to be back in the van and be warm especially after about 2 or so hours of hiking in the frigid conditions. Although I was happy to be back in the van, I was a bit worried as I had train to make to St. Petersburg at 7pm and we were leaving rather late. Who knew what type of conditions lay before us on our way back. After a good half an hour of sitting in the van huddling around the van’s heater Ivan finally returned! We were finally ready to go back to Murmansk!

My guide, Yuri, forging ahead despite the white out conditions

The conditions on our return trip were nasty at best, blowing snow, times of near zero visibility and very bumpy conditions. It was a good thing we had a UAZ- 2206, a cross between a VW van, 

Our trusty UAZ-2206

a cross between a VW van and a huge 4x4 truck or we’d’ve never made out of Murmansk. We arrived into town about 5:30pm with just enough time for me to pack my bags, go to the grocery store below to pick up some Coke for the road and check out of my hotel. I made the train with no problem but was sad to leave The Arctic and all its adventure behind. I may have left the Arctic behind, but the memories and impressions of my three days in the Arctic will never ever leave me!

Blue dot marks the spot! My location at my furthest point north!

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Shortly after I completed my abandoned buildings tour I came down to reception to talk to Vanda about staying a few extra hours at The Pushkin Hotel until my train left that evening to the legendary city of Kazan, Tatarstan. She told me the other day that we’d try to think up some solutions so I did not have to pay too much to stay till that evening. When I came down she did not look like her usual happy self. I asked her “how are things”……..she paused and said “bad”. I asked her what the matter was. She said I would kill her when I heard the news. She said The Pushkin was all full up for several days and that I’d have to leave at checkout, which would mean I’d have about 10 hours of time without a place to stay. She was quite disturbed, worried and did not want me homeless for ten hours. Vanda frantically tried to think up all types of different scenarios but to no avail.

I was a bit panicked too, but luckily I had a solution in case there were no cancelations and I was forced out of The Pushkin. For my return trip from Kazan, Tatarstan through Moscow I had a 15 hour layover between trains and I had booked a hotel at the train station called “Gorod Otel’” or “City Hotel”. Their check in and check out time was pretty flexible, so I suggested that I stay there in case I needed a place to rest. Vanda quickly called them and indeed they had room, so we made a reservation. She said she’d try her best to get me a room at The Pushkin so I did not have to move.

The next morning came, but there were still no cancelations, but she still was hopeful she could pull something off. An hour or two later after breakfast there was a knock at my door it was Vanda. She said she had found me a room but that I’d have to move from my nice suite to a much smaller room. I was open. We went upstairs and she showed me two different rooms and indeed they were small…………no bigger than a nice coat closet. Plus, they would cost a lot more than “CityHotel” over at Kazan Railway Station. I said I’d give it a thought. At that point her shift was over and she was leaving which meant it was time for one final goodbye. I gave her a big hug and kissed her goodbye………feeling sad that I wouldn’t see her for another few months.

After a fair amount of time weighing my options I figured I may as well save the money and move across town to the Kazan Railway Station. So after a week of being at The Pushkin I somehow gathered up all my stuff cluttered around the room and headed to the railway station. I got to the railway station and after going around and around trying to find the hotel entrance I finally found it tucked away in a remote corner of the station. I was glad I found it………..the bad news though………it was up at least several flights of stairs and my bag weighed at least a ton! They had a little ramp on the side of the stairs to help you, but that did little good just made my bag tipsy and fall over. So like the famous Greek legend of syphisis, who kept rolling the rock up the hill only for it to fall down, I kept rolling my bag up the stairs and the small ramp only for it to fall over and for me to try it again. After several attempts I finally made it up the stairs to the hotel! The staff there was very welcoming and I was glad I spoke Russian because without that skill, I’d be in deep trouble, as they spoke zero English!

I checked in and they escorted me to my deluxe room. It was a nice room and would do well for my 9-hour stay. It had a view over the train station, which was ok since I was only going to be spending a few hours there anyways. I actually enjoyed my view, as it was entertaining to observe from above all the people scurrying around the station and listening to the non-stop announcements on which trains were arriving and which ones were departing. I’ve been to a lot of different train stations in Russia in my life, but for some reason Kazan Station just felt a bit different. It was more frantic and had a unique atmosphere to it. It may have been due to the fact that all the trains from the south come into Kazan Station, i.e. Chechnya, Dagestan and Ossetia, three places that fair or unfair have a reputation as being bad places.

Kazan Station

VDNKH Fountains in summer

Once I got settled into my room I went out to one of my most favorite places in all of Moscow, VDNKH. VDNKH is a type of Soviet world’s fair like park with all types of buildings, exhibits, statues and relics to remind one of bygone times. There you have different pavilions from the ex-Soviet republics, which profile the republic’s native culture. Some of the other highlights include a fountain with 15 golden statues in a circle to represent the ex 15 republics. During summer months when the fountains are on it is quite the sight to see.

Unfortunately, the fountains were off and they were constructing an ice skating rink around it, so I only caught a glimpse of them from afar. But the other buildings were still there in all their glory. However, it wasn’t always so glorious. Shortly after the USSR collapsed in the early 90s the park began to decay and many buildings were left to rot. Only recently did the government start to take an interest in revitalizing the park and bringing it back to its former glory days. To me this park holds a certain nostalgic value, as it was the first place I ever visited when I first came to the Soviet Union in the summer of 1991. Today I can safely say VDNKH is back to its past glory days and serves as a favorite place for Muscovites to visit during their free time and during summer when its jammed with people!

I returned to my hotel room tired from all my walking around and freezing from the chilly weather. After coming back so cold I learned that it’s better to air on the safe side and layer than under layer. What seemed like a century’s worth of time quickly evaporated to no time and before I knew it, it was time to pack up my bags and hop aboard the new double decker train to Kazan that would take overnight. I looked forward to my next adventure! My journey was just starting!

Kazan Station entry