russia dances shadows through the windowpane

we awoke to another moscow. it was monday and back to the office for the civilians. it was just london at rush hour with thousands of teams heading to work. we joined school trips to the kremlin, for the first time i felt like a tourist instead of a nomad. i prefer the nomad thing.

the kremlin unfortunately failed to excite beyond the regular armoured convoys charging in and out of the fortified walls. the armoury was closed for maintenance or something and therefore the enormous government complex only provided a selection of small cathedrals. very nice, but let's admit it... cathedrals ain't that interesting; especially when offered in bulk.

all over moscow there are people attempting to sell wares or somehow earn some pocket money. there is a big chunk of poverty in this city. the "everyone is equal" part of communism saw that beggars were receiving regular and sizeable donations, you don't see that in london. the ipod generation struggles with generosity.

we bid a fond and thankful farewell to the folks at the hostel. they asked if i could deliver a package to a sister hostel in irkutsk. i gladly agreed pretending it to be some sort of russian spy thing. in truth, i'm just taking them some fliers, but boys will have their fun.

unbeknownst to the blog readers, my handwriting takes a spectacular turn for the worse at this point. a frightful level of quality, even by my standards. it is because i write this on The Train.

the train

the journey has begun! 9.25pm on the dot we pulled out of one of moscow's stations accompanied by the russian national anthem belting out of crackly horn speakers along the platform. this train service leaves only once every 2 days and it will travel constantly for nearly a week through mountains and forests and deserts until it reaches vladivostok on the east coast, 9500 miles away. matt and i will be getting off in about 4 days time.

we have opted for second class 4-berth cabins. the cabin is tiny, maybe 6 feet by 6 feet, 2 bunks, 4 beds and a 'sort of' table. it could've been a terrible, awkward time but the strangers we have ended up sharing this cell with are fellow travelers about the same age. they are amelie and mariam - french-canadians from toronto, and thankfully they speak good english.

socialising with strangers was easy, we began like true brits and opened conversation with the subject of weather. we learnt today, you see, that this is the hottest moscow has been in like... ever! it is even beating their summer records. over 30 degrees today.

so we will share this tiny tiny space with two girls until we alight at irkutsk on thursday. russia skims by in utter darkness. i have no idea of the time and don't need to. i know it's well after midnight because we've had our first stop and that was scheduled for 0021hrs.

i will now attempt to sleep on a moving vehicle, something i haven't been able to do since i was a baby. it's hot in here, claustrophobic and moving. i'm on the top bunk and the bed is 6 inches shorter than me.

wish me luck.