Moving On

Day 480
In the morning Anna very kindly made me some breakfast and I did the dishes.

During communist times there often wasn't enough food to be bought. To fix this a lot of people bought small plots of land outside of the city to grow veggies. Anna was heading to her families dutcha to help out and I was headed to the city center to explore.

After hunting for an atm I headed to the Regional Museum. The architect was obsessed with Egypt and it looked more like Luxor than a museum. I also couldn't figure out if I could take pictures or not, eventually I just started taking them and no one said anything.

After getting thru the dead animal section I found some dinosaurs and a boat. There were also displays on log homes and tools that we're used. It was really more interesting than it sounds. There was even a small room of icons. The basement had a large section on some of the indigenous tribes up north.

When I was done I walked for some time before finding the SV Nikolay, the boat that Lenin was transported to exile in in 1897. The man who worked there had some type of speech impediment but desperately wanted to give me a tour. He spoke very limited English but I kept nodding and thanking him. It was the only way I was going to get out of there in a timely manner.

I then wandered down Mira St. looking for a Lenin statue. This was the main drag and they had music playing on the loud speakers. It was kinda weird in a good sort of way.

Next up was an attempt at updating the blog. Both of the internet cafes that I tried where really crap though and I ended up just giving up.

I left the city center early because I wanted to make sure I was on time and stop at what I thought was a large supermarket. I was right about the market, sorta. It was more like a liquor store with some food and cleaning supplies thrown in. After waiting in line for some time it was finally my turn. I was then told that the line was closed and had to wait all over again. By the time it was my turn the woman had gotten off break from the first checkout. It was rather annoying.

After a short walk I was back at Anna's. I showered and packed up. We chatted for a while. Anna was really nice. I really need to do this courchsurfing thing more often.

Around 7 pm I left for my train. As soon as I could get on I put a movie on my ipod and fell asleep.

Happy 4th, Comrade

Day 479
I woke up just about an hour before my rain pulled into Krasnoyarsk. The provodnik told me thru the people in my annex that he loved me and asked if I would like some tea. I said thank you but no. Instead I asked if he could tell me when me when to get off, he agreed.

Once in Krasnoyarsk I bought my onward train ticket. At this hostel in Irkutsk one of the women had written me a note for the person so it was easy. Outside the train station I waited for my bus. Several gypsy women kept asking me for money, it was like they had forgotten that they had just asked 2 minutes before. Eventually the bus came and I asked the attendant to tell me when to get off. She did and I was greeted at the station by Anna who I had met thru Couchsurfing.

After a short walk to Anna's apartment she understood my immediate need for a shower. When I was done I was surprised to see that she had made eggs for the two of us. Anna grew up in Krasnoyarsk and works for an advertising agency where she photographs anything from food to Russian MTV stars.

We hit it off immediately and headed off for a hike up the wooded hills that surround the city. On the way up the hill Anna told me that she could still remember how good her first Snickers bar was and how exciting it was to get even one stick of gum a month during Soviet times. Anna added that kids today take the things they have forgranted and asked if growing up in the States meant that I had everything. I have no idea what dumbass answer I gave. I really did have everything I needed and more. It's only know that I understand how lucky I was.

The views were really pretty and Anna managed to catch a lizard. I've never been able to do that despite many attempts. I was then given the option of a 7 km up hill hike or heading back. I picked the later.

We stopped at the market to pick up some food for a late lunch. I offered to help make it, but was refused. I did insist on doing the dishes though!

Anna wasn't feeling well and laid down for a nap while I figured out a plan for Krasnoyarsk and read. Later on Anna still wasn't feel well and didn't want to go out, but encouraged me to check out the nightlife. Time was limited as the buses don't run very late so I ended up at the first place I found, an English pub/pool hall called Winston Churchill. I ate dinner and wrote in my journal.

On the way back I over shot the stop by one and had to walk a bit. Anna surprised me with some local beer to toast to the 4th of July. After chatting for a bit we both went to sleep.