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Russia: July 29 - August 17, 2002

The main focus of my trip to Russia will be to try to climb Mt. Elbrus. The trip is organized by Berg Adventures in Canada and begins August 3rd in St. Petersburg. We have a couple days of sightseeing in St. Petersburg and one in Moscow before flying south to the mountain. I’ve never been to Moscow so I decided to spend five extra days there before meeting the group in St. Petersburg.

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Tuesday, July 30, 2002
 
There is a five star difference between my room at The Hotel Ukraine and what I had become accustom to in China. The hotel is grand, but the furnishings leave a lot to be desired. There is no air conditioning although it is probably only needed for a couple of months each year - this being one of them.

 

After a buffet breakfast (devoid of duck eggs, cabbage & dumplings), I walked along the Moscow River for an hour. At 9:30 AM, my tour guide, Irena, and a driver picked me up at the hotel for a half-day tour of the city. After driving past several notable buildings, we parked at Red Square. We walked up past St. Basil’s Cathedral into the square where Irena gave me a brief 500-year history.  We are scheduled to go to The Kremlin tomorrow so we skipped that and walked through the GUM department store and got a view of Lenin’s Tomb. The rest of the morning was spent touring The Cathedral of Christ the Savior, The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier a nunnery and several monuments & parks I failed to write down or cannot spell.



At 12:30 PM they dropped me off at Rabat Street, a pedestrian street with stores geared for tourists. I found a nice restaurant but was denied access because I wasn’t dressed properly. I started walking in what I thought was the direction of my hotel. After a couple of hours, I came across Gorky Park which sounded familiar so I entered, only to remember that my familiarity was due to the song about Gorky Park. I walked for another hour and finally gave up and went to the nearest hotel to summon a taxi. The cab ride was almost twenty minutes in the opposite direction that I had been traveling. I bought two sodas and three bananas at a grocery store near the hotel for dinner and went to bed early.

Wednesday, July 31, 2002

At 5:00 AM I went jogging in Moscow. I crossed the Moscow River near my hotel, headed up and around the Moscow Zoo, then back to the river, up towards the Kremlin and was back at the hotel by 6:00 AM.

I did some laundry, ate breakfast and met Irena and my driver for a trip to The Kremlin. We started in the armory - currently a museum of carriages, armor, period clothing, Faberge Eggs and other priceless gold and jeweled objects. From there, we walked to Cathedral Square and entered one of the seven cathedrals. Afterwards, we walked around the grounds of The Kremlin where Irena pointed out many of the functional buildings, including the president’s office.

In the afternoon, I walked around the streets of Moscow - this time with a map - and got back to the hotel about 3:00 PM. I spent some time on the computer and planned to have dinner in one of the hotel’s three seafood restaurants.



Thursday, August 1, 2002

  Today I am scheduled to ride north out of Moscow for an hour to visit Sergio Posed, home of The Trinity Monastery of St. Sergio’s, which was founded in 1345. Although set in a valley, the monastery dominates the town. This is an active monastery and my guide upon entering told me that I might be denied admission to some of the churches because I was wearing shorts. When I told her this was no problem, she was pleased and said that I possessed one of the three virtues necessary to become a Monk - obedience. The other two are poverty and chastity.


We entered as many of the church buildings as possible. I recognized some of the Icons and Saints including St. Nicholas (AKA Santa Claus).

The churches have bells in the towers, which are rung often by hand. In one church, the stairs to the bell tower have collapsed so the monks must climb the outside of the building to ring the bells. There is much reconstruction going on including what appeared to be an archeological dig, which had unearthed some old crypts. Young archeologists were busy recording the exact location of their finds.

After the tour, I stopped for lunch at a local restaurant, and then headed back to Moscow. I asked my driver to stop at the Russian visa office so I could look into extending my stay in St. Petersburg after the Mt. Elbrus trip, but the lines were so long & I couldn’t find anyone who understood English that I gave up and went back to the hotel.

 

Later in the evening, I went out to buy something to eat and to find a pair of nail clippers. I saw a policeman directing traffic at a large intersection. He was holding traffic from one direction and allowing traffic from the other direction to pass. One of the cars he was holding was apparently in a rush because it started blowing its horn. When traffic began flowing from his direction, the officer pulled him over and began questioning him for longer than I wanted to stand there and watch. It’s very common to have police officers point to a car and pull them over for no apparent reason. You’d think this would result in thousands of traffic tickets every day, but apparently you can just pay the officer and avoid the paperwork.

Friday, August 2, 2002

Today is Dad and Carolyn’s birthday. It is my last day at The Hotel Ukraine in Moscow and I must check out by noon. My train to St. Petersburg doesn’t leave until midnight so I’ll have to plan things to do all day. I’m hoping to learn the Moscow subway system.

I set off from the hotel after breakfast and walked to the nearest Metro station - about 10 minutes away. I bought a ticket for 5 rubles (about 15 cents) and joined the throngs of people descending an escalator that was so long; I could not see the bottom. After a few minutes I got to the ground and continued to follow the crowd looking for the brown line which forms a loop around the city. The subway was packed and it was difficult to read the names of the stations in Russian (my guidebook is printed in English and the English translation of the Russian words are not even close to how they actually appear - although they are not as difficult as Chinese). I ended up doing the easiest possible thing, one complete loop of the city and I got off exactly where I started.

I got back to the hotel and after learning it would be 'impossible' to extend my checkout time; I packed my stuff and took it to the luggage storage room. I'm planning on just taking a few things to St. Petersburg, as I'll be returning to Moscow with the group the next day. I'll leave most of my things at The Hotel Savoy in Moscow where we'll be staying Monday night.

Once I checked out, I had ten hours to kill so I headed back out to continue my exploration of Moscow. I thought I'd check out the Hotel Savoy and since I knew it was within walking distance of Red Square, I headed there first.

Wally Berg had mentioned in an email that 'everybody knows where The Hotel Savoy is', however, I can report that there at least 22 people in Moscow who have no clue as to where it is. (I later learned it was formerly known as The Berlin Hotel). After a couple hours, I found it myself - just around the corner from the former infamous Lublinka prison (headquarters of the KGB). It is a very nice hotel. I did not see the rooms, but the lounge and business center where I spent a couple hours was very comfortable. At 5:30 PM I took a taxi back to The Hotel Ukraine because it had started to rain, and had dinner at a small elegant restaurant in the hotel.

After dinner, I sat in the lounge for an hour listening to an excellent pianist, until my driver picked me up at 10:30 PM. We took two of my bags over to The Savoy, and then continued on to the Leningrad (St. Petersburg) train station. Train stations have the name of the final destination of the line, so in St. Petersburg, I will arrive at The Moscow station. My driver got me to my correct train and car then departed. I boarded and found my berth - a lower bed in a 4-berth compartment. I was pleased to find that two of the three other occupants of my compartment spoke English, but was forced to stay up conversing longer than I would have liked. The train left exactly on time - 11:55 PM and we all finally went to sleep.

Saturday, August 3, 2002

I slept well on the eight-hour ride to St. Petersburg. I was the first one awake in our compartment and walked up a couple of cars to the dining car for coffee, but was told it was closed.

We got into the station at 8:00 AM and one of my compartment-mates showed me how to walk from the station to my hotel - The Corinthian Newsy Palace - only about 10 minutes away. The hotel is on Newsy Prospect, the 5th Avenue of St. Petersburg.

I was able to check in at 8:15 AM, called Wally in his room and arranged to meet in the restaurant where three other members of the group (Jack, Jim and Cindy) had assembled for breakfast. We were all anxious to see St. Petersburg and Wally suggested that we drive out to Peterhoff - The Grand Palace, used by the Romanovs as a summer retreat. Jack negotiated a private tour for us and we agreed to meet in the lobby at 1:00 PM.

Jim is my roommate and had arrived without his luggage. Air France had no record of it, but when I learned he had started with Delta from Atlanta, I emailed Mike from my McKinley trip who works at Delta, and he quickly emailed back that luggage was backing up at the Paris airport, but he would do whatever he could. The luggage finally showed up at 10:30 that night - so thanks Mike for your efforts!

The tour of The Grand Palace took about 4 hours including travel time of an hour in each direction. Peter the Great conceived the palace after he visited Versailles outside Paris. It was completed just before his death, but remodeled by Catherine II. It boasts huge gardens and many opulent rooms. President Poutin's home is nearby and the whole area, as well as much of St. Petersburg is undergoing restoration in preparation of the 300th anniversary of the founding of the city which is to take place next year.



 

We arrived back at the hotel by 5:30 PM and met a few more people who were checking into the hotel. Our first occasion to meet the entire group was dinner at 8:00 PM in a very nice restaurant in the hotel. Leila had arranged a beautiful selection of appetizers and traditional Russian food. Our group totals eleven climbers plus Wally, Leila and a still to be determined number of Russian guides, helpers and cooks. We are missing one person, Donna, which no one has heard from. If she is not here by Sunday night, we will have to leave without her.

Dinner included music and singing by costumed entertainers. We all had a chance to meet and begin to get to know each other. Wally decided to hold off until morning before getting into any details of the trip. Dinner broke up at 10:30 PM and I went to bed, while several others went out to experience the nightlife in St. Petersburg.

Sunday, August 4, 2002

This morning I went jogging for an hour then spent a half-hour in the hotel's fitness center on the 8th floor. After breakfast we had our first team meeting discussing logistics of the trip to Moscow tonight, and the flight down to The Caucasus on Tuesday. Mt. Elbrus is near Georgia, just north of the Chechnya border, between the Black and Caspian Seas.

I spent a couple hours at an Internet café typing this journal. At 1:00 PM we all checked out of the hotel and went for a tour of the city with a guide. We walked down the Naves Prospect to the Hermitage where we spent several hours touring one of the best museums in the world.

 

We had dinner at a Spanish restaurant without Wally or Leila who were still trying to track down Donna. At 9:30 PM we went back to the hotel to pick up our baggage and head to the train station. We were in the number one car on the train, which was the furthest from the station in a seventeen-car train. I was surprised to find that we were in 2-berth compartments as opposed to the 4 berth compartments on my northbound trip.

We socialized for a few hours during the first part of the trip and finally went to sleep around midnight. Leila had stayed behind in St. Petersburg in the event Donna showed up there, while Wally would search for her in Moscow.

Monday, August 5, 2002

Our train arrived in Moscow at about 7:00 AM and we were met by our local guide with a large bus to transport us to our hotel. The guide informed us that Donna had been found and was actually on a train that would arrive an hour behind ours. Leila would fly to Moscow later in the morning.

We went to The Savoy Hotel and were able to check in, shower and eat an excellent breakfast in their opulent dining room. Donna arrived (without her luggage) and we learned the saga of her problems with Air France. It turns out she is from Stamford, CT!

After breakfast we boarded our bus with our guide, Olga, and went on a tour of Moscow. This was similar to the tour I had experienced the week before with a few new stops. We had lunch in the food court of an underground mall near the Kremlin, and then I went to find a place to develop my pictures while the others took a tour of the Kremlin with Olga.
 


 


 

I couldn’t find anywhere that would guarantee to develop my pictures before we left early tomorrow morning so I’ll have to wait until I get to Finland later this month.

We’re scheduled to have dinner together tonight than take an early flight south. This is the last chance I’ll have to write anything that will get uploaded before the end of the month, however, Wally will cybercast our activities each day on his website. Click here to be connected to the cybercast.

Tuesday, August 6, 2002

 

Our group consists of twelve climbers and three guides. The climbers are Cindy (WA), Larry (ONT), Hynek (IL), Julie (GA), Leila (ALB), Alex (GA), Alex (NC), Jim (GA), Jack (CA), Ryan (CA), Donna (CT) and myself. The guides are Wally Berg, Uri from Moscow and Vladimir from Kiev, Ukraine. Uri is the manager for the Russian travel organization, www.goelbrus.ru that helped Wally organize the trip. Vladimir works full time as a scientist at the Ukrainian station in Antarctica and guides during his two-month vacation in the summer. Vladimir’s wife is also with us as assistant cook.

I had dinner last night with Jim, Larry and Cindy at a traditional Russian restaurant around the corner from The Savoy Hotel. I went back to the hotel after dinner while Jim walked down to Red Square to meet some of the other people on our trip.

We got up early, had coffee at a local coffee shop, packed and checked out of the hotel by 7:00 AM. The bus ride to the airport was one hour where we unloaded our gear and hung out until our 11:00 AM flight south to Mineralniye Vody. There was an Internet café at the airport and I was able to spend an hour online sending email.

The flight was two hours and very smooth. We arrived at Mineralniye Vody’s airport and found it very old and ‘third world’. We boarded another bus, which was waiting for us for a five-hour ride to the Mt. Elbrus area, which we will use as a base for the next ten days. There has been major flooding in The Caucasus and many bridges were washed out forcing us to take several detours.

At about 6:30 PM we turned off the road and entered a forest where our lodge was located. The lodge (Elbrus 5642) is newly built, and we were all amazed to find we each had our own rooms with mini-bars, TV’s with CNN in English, and telephones. It is almost embarrassing to encounter such luxury on an expedition like this.
 

We had a great dinner together in the dining room and Wally discussed our plans for tomorrow. After dinner we went downstairs and checked out the bar, although no one stayed. We seem to be the only people in the lodge. I watched TV for an hour before going to bed at 9:30 PM.

Wednesday, August 7, 2002

Today, after breakfast, we’ll go on an acclimatization hike. The hotel served a buffet breakfast between 7 and 9:00 AM, and then we took full packs and got bussed to a trailhead where we planned a full day of hiking.

We climbed about 2500 feet up a valley to a glacier where we changed into our double plastic boots & crampons practiced walking on ice. At about 3:30 PM we started down and returned to the pick up spot about 1 ½ hours early at 5:00 PM. Rather than waiting for the bus some of us started walking down the rest of the mountain towards the lodge. The bus picked us up en route at about 6:30 PM and we were at the lodge a few minutes later.

Dinner is at 7:30 PM in the hotel’s dining room. After dinner, Hynek, Ryan and I played cards for awhile before going to bed.

Thursday, August 8, 2002

Today after breakfast we boarded the bus for a short ride to another trailhead in the same valley for another acclimatization climb. Julie’s knee was bothering her so she elected to stay behind.

The trail started off steep and got steeper. We started hiking at 10:00 AM and did not return until 7:00 PM. The trailhead elevation was 7500 feet and we climbed to about 12,000 feet. Most of the climb was switchbacks on dirt & gravel but higher up we were hiking on rocks. There was no snow or ice today but we had great views of the glacier that we climbed on yesterday on the other side of the valley.

We were all pretty tired by the time we got back to the lodge. Dinner was postponed an hour and although we had made plans to play cards in the lounge after dinner, I’m sure everyone will pass and go to sleep instead.

Friday, August 9, 2002

After breakfast we packed our gear for a two-day climb. We didn’t leave the lodge until 10:30 AM and took the bus to the same drop off place as the previous two days. Uri had arranged for a half dozen porters to carry our group gear (tents, food & kitchen equipment). Julie, whose knee had improved a little, hired a porter for $10 to carry her pack and give her knee one more day of rest.

We started hiking at 11:15 and within fifteen minutes encountered the boarder guards between Russia and Georgia. These were Russian guards and although the boarder is several kilometers away, this was the official checkpoint where our passports were examined. There is a possibility that we may walk along the ridge that separates Russia from Georgia tomorrow, but it is too high for anyone to bother us at that point. It took about an hour to get through the checkpoint, which is located in the middle of the woods. Our Russian guides warned us against photographing Border Guards.

A half-hour later, we experienced some excitement when a patrol of guards, brandishing Kalashnikov’s (AK47’s) came running up from behind us and ordered us to stop. After a heated conversation with our Russian guide, Uri, we were allowed to proceed. Apparently, the number of passports and the number of people that went through the checkpoint differed – but they had miscounted.

We continued on up the valley for a few hours and got to a wide area full of wild flowers where we planned to camp for the evening. This area is known as ‘The Green Hotel’. Our porters had gone ahead & set up tents so we sat around and did nothing until 5:00 PM when lunch was served, followed by dinner at 7:00 PM. The tents were crowded with three of us, but I was fortunate to have Cindy & Donna – neither of whom snored enough to keep me awake.

Saturday, August 10, 2002

We were woken up at 4:00 AM, had a light breakfast, and set off for Gumachi Peak at 5:30 AM. We walked along the lateral moraine and reached the glacier by 7:00 AM where we put on crampons and continued up.

The ascent was not too steep but it was long. We passed a few crevasses, but nothing compared with Alaska. At 11:30 AM we stopped for lunch at about 10,000 feet, then removed our crampons for a short scramble along a rocky ridge. From there the climb got steeper and we roped up for the final portion of the ascent. At 2:00 PM we stood at the saddle, about 200 feet shy of the summit, electing not to continue due to time restraints. Three Czech climbers who were coming down also told us the balance of the climb was very dicey due to inclement weather, which was fast approaching.

The climb down was slower than I expected. We continued with the rope teams until we reached the bottom of the glacier. By 7:00 PM we had reached camp where we packed up and continued another two hours to the valley where we got on the bus and headed back to the lodge. Most of us carried our heavy packs down the rest of the valley, the only exceptions being Julie who was still nursing her knee, Leila and an unnamed Canadian Advocate who each hired porters.

After unpacking and a shower we had dinner at 10:00 PM then went to bed.

Saturday, August 11, 2002

We checked out of our lodge after breakfast and took the bus to Treks, where we would start our climb of Mt. Elbrus. There, we boarded the first of two gondolas that took us from 9,000 feet to 11,000 feet. At the top of the second gondola, there is a memorial to the hundreds of Russians that died trying to retake Mt. Elbrus from the Germans in WWII. Uri explained that Russian troops were ascending the glacier using clouds for cover when a sudden wind blew the clouds away, exposing the Russian troops to German machine gun nests hidden in the rocks above.

 

After the two gondolas, we each boarded a one-person chair lift, which took us to 12,050 feet. Leila hurt her back at the base of the chair lift. Our assistant cook Laura gave her an injection of something and she was able to make it up the lift, but she is moving very slowly. Our original plan was to sleep in ‘The Barrels’ at the top of the chair lift, but we discovered that although we had reservations, there was not enough room for us. Instead, we boarded a snow-cat which took us up another 1150 feet to 13,200 where we moved into a Refugio where we sill stay for the next 3-4 nights. Our group of 12 climbers, 3 guides and 5 support personnel are sharing three rooms, each with one large platform for sleeping bags.
 


 


 


 


 

For lunch we had chicken or duck pate sandwiches with tomatoes and cucumbers and chicken soup (Later learned that we would have this for lunch every day). The Refugio where we are staying was built a few years ago to replace the one just above it that burned down in August of 1999. Our Russian guides were here when the old Refugio burned and helped many of the occupants escape, although many lost their belongings, money and passports.

Dinner was at 7:30 PM and consisted of pasta, beef, cheese and peas. Wally has been hounding the Russians to provide us with more drinking water but it seems to be very slow in coming. Russians apparently don’t believe in drinking large quantities of water at altitude, preferring, in some cases, vodka. I’m glad I brought a couple bottles of water from the hotel. We went to bed early at 8:30 PM.

Monday, August 12, 2002

We woke up at 6:00 AM and had breakfast at 8:00 AM. Leila is feeling better this morning, but still decided to take a day off to further recuperate.

We left the lodge at 9:30 AM heading for Poshnikov Rocks which is at about 15,300 feet. The weather is spectacular and there was not a cloud above us, although there were some in the valleys below. We had great views of the east and west peaks of Mt. Elbrus, as well as The Caucasus as far as the eye could see.

There were a lot of other people hiking today. We got to our objective at 1:00 PM and Wally called in a report for the BAI simulcast via his satellite telephone. The trip down was fast and although we tried to slide, the snow was too wet and we did not get too far.

Lunch was ready when we returned (chicken or duck pate sandwiches with tomatoes and cucumbers and chicken soup). We are planning to go to bed early & wake up at 2:00 AM for our first summit attempt tomorrow.

Thursday, August 13, 2002

Wally had convinced me to start taking 125 mg of Diamox every 12 hours starting yesterday. I had not used Diamox on Denali and had hoped to avoid it this time, however, our rapid mechanical ascent meant that our acclimatization was not as reliable as I had experienced in Alaska when we had hiked the entire route over two weeks.

Our snow-cat was rescheduled from 3:00 AM to 4:00 AM so we got up at 2:45 AM, ate breakfast and got dressed. The snow-cat will take us just short of where we hiked up to yesterday, the base of Poshnikov Rocks. Ryan, Hyena & Donna decided to hike to the Poshnikov Rocks so they left the Refugio at 2:00 AM. Our snow-cat passed them about 500 meters short of the Rocks, so we started climbing without them, knowing they would catch up soon.

There were probably 200 people on the mountain at 4:00 AM all going for the summit. Everyone had headlamps and it was difficult to tell the headlamps from the stars in the sky. The weather was perfect (for the second day in a row), except for some wind that forced us to hike in down jackets for the first few hours.

The sun came up at 5:30 AM and we stopped to put on sunglasses and sun tan lotion. We reached the saddle between the east and west summits at 9:45 AM and took a break before heading up the west summit, the highest point in Europe at 5642 meters. The east summit is 18 meters lower than the west summit. As we started up the west peak, the sun was blazing and we had to stop to strip down to a single layer of clothing. I think Ryan would have peeled away his skin if he could.

It took 2 ¾ hours to reach the first of three false summits where we dropped our backpacks and continued another 20 minutes to the top. At 1:00 PM our entire group stood at the summit and spent a half-hour taking pictures and congratulating each other before starting back down.

We hiked down as a group through the difficult sections to the saddle, then Wally gave us the go ahead to descend at our own pace. It took me only 3 ½ hours to descend because I was able to glissade some of the steeper sections. Everyone was back at the lodge by 5:30 PM.


 
 
Wednesday, August 14, 2002

We had arranged for the snow-cat to pick us up at the lodge to take us down to ‘The Barrels’ at 10:00 AM where we would ride the lifts down to the base of the valley. I was ready to go at 9:00 AM so I decided to walk down.

The group didn’t arrive at ‘The Barrels’ until almost 11:00 AM and I had a chance to investigate this housing facility more closely. They are huge round barrel shaped buildings that have been outfitted with bunks where climbers can sleep. There are about eight of them in a row, each of which could shelter a dozen people.


 

We descended the chair lift and two gondolas to the bottom of the valley by noon and walked around the tourist stalls until 1:00 PM when our bus arrived to take us the on the 20 minute ride back to the lodge. After showers, we had a great lunch of fried chicken. I had a chance to do some laundry in the afternoon. Dinner of lamb was at 7:30 PM and some of the others walked to a local bar/restaurant to experience the local nightlife.

Thursday, August 15, 2002

Last night it rained heavily and there was thunder and lightning. I got up early and went for a run up the road to a little village where people were walking their cows and feeding their chickens. The village looked like the set from ‘Fiddler on the Roof’. Every house was either under construction, under repair or should have been under repair. I got back to the lodge at 7:45 AM and had breakfast. Wally covered the tipping guidelines for our Russian staff, which he will pass out at our farewell dinner tonight.

The news is full of pictures of the flooding in Eastern Europe, particularly Prague and Germany where I was hoping to visit in the next few weeks. I may have to alter my itinerary to avoid distressed areas or areas that are closed due to flooding. Wally has encouraged me to climb Mt. Blanc in southern France and I need to investigate that possibility as soon as I get to Helsinki on Saturday.

At noon we boarded a bus which took us to a local market where we browsed the various stalls for woolen goods. It started raining so we abandoned the shopping and went to a local karaoke bar for lunch. Nadia, our cook from Mt. Elbrus, was there entertaining another group of local tourists on the karaoke system, and it didn’t take too many drinks for many of our group to join in the fun. After watching Alex & Jack sing ‘Stand by your Man’ and Larry, Hynek, Ryan & Alex attempt ‘YMCA’ I began thinking that I should investigate a different sport.



Lunch was chicken, potatoes & salad. We finished at 3:30 PM and waited ½ hour for the bus to take us back to the lodge where we played cards in the bar downstairs for a couple of hours, Jim being the big winner.

We had a farewell dinner at the lodge with Vladimir, his wife Laurisa, Yuri and Nadia. Wally passed out the gratuities and our thanks & compliments to all those who helped us during the trip. After dinner I went upstairs to begin organizing my gear for the flight back to St. Petersburg tomorrow.

Friday, August 16, 2002

Breakfast was at 8:00 AM and we finished packing afterward. The bus arrived early and we were loaded and on our way back to the airport in Mineralniye Vody before 11:00 AM. We stopped half-way at the same roadside stand which we visited on the way down. I bought some bread and bananas, but many people ordered lamb.

We arrived at the airport, checked the baggage and went to the VIP lounge, formerly the Intourist Lounge. We played cards for an hour or two until our flight was called. The bus which took us from the gate to the plane delivered us to the wrong plane, but someone discovered the error before we boarded & flew off to who knows where.

The flight left on time and we arrived at St. Petersburg's domestic airport before 10:00 PM. A bus picked us up and took us back to the Nevesky Palace Hotel well before sunset. Many people went upstairs to what was billed as 'the best restaurant in St. Petersburg', but I was exhausted so I went to sleep.

Saturday, August 17, 2002

I was up and showered by 7:00 AM and anxious to get down to the hotel's excellent buffet breakfast. All of us were present by 8:00 AM, except Jack who had an early flight and had left at 5:00 AM.

By 9:00 AM people were saying their good-byes and leaving for the airport or to do some last minute shopping or sightseeing. I went to the Internet café down the street to type up my journal and send & receive some email.

At 1:00 PM I went back to pack and checked out of the hotel by 2:00 PM. I spent 1 ½ hours walking the streets of St. Petersburg waiting for my scheduled cab ride to the Helsinki train station which was at 3:45 PM. When the cab dropped me off at the station, I only had to wait a few minutes before boarding the train and was delighted to find that the conductor spoke English - although by that time, I was sure I was in the correct place. My reservation is for a seat, as opposed to the berths available on the Moscow train, but the ride is a few hours shorter and with daylight now extending past 11:00 PM, I should be able to find my hotel in Helsinki before dark.

Russian Boarder Patrol came aboard as we approached the boarder with Finland to check passports and customs declarations. An officer made me open one of my duffel bags, but lost interest when she got to my dirty laundry. At the next station the Russians got off and the Finnish customs people got on to stamp our passports.

We lost an hour traveling west and arrived in Helsinki at 9:30 PM. After getting my bearings, and changing some money into Euros, I walked to the Raddison SAS Hotel and checked-in.

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