On my first winter in 2 years

After an unusually warm autumn, winter finally struck Moscow last week.  Whilst the UK and other parts of Northern Europe were engulfed in snow showers and plummeting temperatures of minus 6 I was enjoying a 15minute walk to some schools in temperatures ranging from minus 15 to minus twenty.  You know it’s cold when you are judging the temperature on how quickly your earphones and trousers freeze.  Yes, the gloves have come out, the hat is being worn and I am abandoning my Northern routes by wearing a coat; it is cold.  I never though that I would think that minus 10 was warm, but last week that was every new teachers thought.

For the last 6months of the 8months I was in Cambodia I waited and I prayed for the Russian winter I was expecting and now that it is here it is living up to expectations.  With one let down.

There is not enough snow.

Whilst Wolsingham, Newcastle and all other places in the UK have been getting record snow fall, snow depth in Moscow has barely reached 3inches.  It may stay for an incredible amount of time; the snow from last Saturday night has barely receded but there is still not enough of the stuff for my personal liking.

Anyway, here’s hoping and praying for some more snow and a long cold, but sunny, winter!

The pond by my house in October

And again taken on 4th December

Kids playing on the ice with the power station

chimney stack as a majestic backdrop

This weekend is only going to be about horses, isn't it?

At the beginning of November we had a long weekend with the Thursday and the Friday holiday days.  Needing a break from the rigours of teaching and to rest my weary body Ana proposed 2 nights sleeping on a train and one night sleeping on a friends couch; it seemed idyllic.  

The train left Moscow at 02:00 on Friday morning and arrived in at Saint Petersburg at 14:00 the same day.  The train itself was quite pleasant; clean, comfortable but incredibly, heartbreakingly slow.  The carriages were a mix of Thai and Chinese trains with 6 beds to every open compartment, but only two beds up in each case.  There was, as is standard on sleeper trains, hot water at the end of the carriage for noodles and a little tea and beer person if you needed to quench your thirst.  The same person also came round near the end of the journey to retrieve the bed linen.

The only qualm I had with the train, apart from the pace, was the heat.  It was stifling and very uncomfortable, but overall the experience was nice enough.

Arriving at Saint Petersburg we found the Metro station and bought the coins used instead of tickets.  These coins are similar to those found in slot machines the world over and are fairly easy to mistake for money and to lose.  The only other difference was that in some stations there were two sets of doors that acted as an anti-flooding device from the rivers above.  The metro trains, I can only presume, are the same ones from Moscow that just continue going when they leave the last Northern station in Moscow.  There was no discernable difference at all, same colours, same noise, same rollercoaster like feel when you stand up in them.

It was then a whistle-stop four hours of sight seeing until we met Ana’s friend.  In this time I was shown the main street in the city, the cathedral which is very similar to St Basil’s in Moscow but is a different colour (see below), some beautiful architecture, a Roman style church, the outside of the Hermitage museum, and another very big church.  Please forgive my ignorance but it was all very quick and I was very tired.

First word reads as "Shag"! oh the hilarity!

Pretty Buildings

Cathedral from the rear.

Hermitage at sunset.

And now a story for Nik; he knows why, there is no need for that anecdote here.  On a road bridge over one of St Perterburg’s rivers there are four horses positioned at every corner and on one of these horses you can find Napoleons face…but not where you would expect!  This is because his face is positioned, and rather hidden as it turns out, on of the horses genitalia. Yes Napoleon’s face is sat rather proudly upon a horses ball sack.  

One of the said horses

Said French General's face

The story goes that Napoleon stole the architect’s girlfriend.  The architect was somewhat perturbed by this and maybe after having one too many vodkas, decided to take his revenge by giving the wee emperor eternal mockery by Russian citizens, and now you lot.  

I can confirm that it was an odd experience checking out the undercarriage of several horses before stumbling upon the correct beast.

After this encounter we ventured off to meet Ana’s friend for a night of vodka fuelled drunkenness and then some more vodka.

Rear Window???

The next day may have started with a slight tingling in the head and minute fogginess around the eyes, but this may have been due to the snow that was falling outside giving the city a wintry beauty.

Saturday itself was spent drinking coffee and keeping out of the weather.  At some point after night fall we left the comfort of the flat to find a drinking and eating establishment and to mentally prepare for the journey home.  There was a small break when I was the shown the city by rooftop; there is nothing as bohemian as drinking gin from a bottle whilst sitting on a strangers rooftop just watching the twinkling of the lights below.

Vova and I not watching the world going by

And before I knew it we were back on the train, heading back to the city that I will never quite leave. And the week began again…

Busts of the Beatles...

...and a yellow submarine.

About to lose my second game of chess.

Moscow week one, posted in week 9

WOW MOSCOW! My initial disorientation is dissipating somewhat but the scale of the city appears to be similar to Beijing but with the windy twisty courtyards and smaller streets of London.

Travelling into the city by night from Domodedovo airport reminded of Bangkok; big 8 lane highways with the lights of advertising boards illuminating the roads (I also saw my first car crash!). When I arrived at the accommodation I was completely disorientated but thankfully I met my next door neighbour who explained which Metro station we were near and how to get into central: Thank you Minna!

The next day was a day of exploration; seeing The Red Square and The Cathedral, as well as getting lost up some random street which I’m still not sure which street it was. For those who know me I’ve been pretending to learn Russian since I got home from Cambodia and although I hadn’t learned many words I was able to learn most of the Cyrillic alphabet. This has to be the smartest thing I have done in a long time and if anyone is coming to Moscow I cannot recommend learning Cyrillic enough; it is invaluable!

The Metro system is relatively easy to use, as long as you know Cyrillic, and the trains are clean, quick and regular with the last train being at 01:00am. I have yet to properly explore the majestic palace like stations but I did manage to get lost in a station on Monday night where I experienced at least some of the grandeur of the central stations. Something that has surprised me is the genuine respect shown to older people riding the metro. People of all ages get up from seats and allow the aged to sit down even if it’s just for one stop. I can’t remember if this happened in China but I know that it rarely happens in London.

As for the school itself, well Monday was all about orientation, including being picked up from my room to be taken into school, thank you Anya. For me personally this was a bit of a waste of time because I had already found my way to the school on the Saturday but it was nice to get to know a local. The school I’m working for is a massive organisation comprising over 30 satellite schools spread throughout Moscow. There are four or five central schools and one central office which house most of the resources. The school where I am teaching at the minute is four metro stops north of my house but I will teaching in more schools as time progresses.

The area where I live is quite a quiet one. There appear to be no, or at least very few bars (although I haven’t had a good explore yet) but it is very near a park and an artificial water, pond , reservoir thing which will undoubtedly be very pretty in the winter. The weather itself is definitely cooler than home but not drastically so…yet! Apparently the weather has just taken a change to the colder and some people I’ve talked to think that by the end of this month it will be much colder.

A pond near the flat

I am very excited for a “good” winter!

Surprisingly I haven’t drunk any vodka yet but will endeavour to rectify that situation this weekend.

Cambodia Part bi

Okay. I’m going to be honest. I have no idea how to tell you about the seven months I spent in Cambodia. I could do it by places I visited. I could do it through time order. Both of these are quite sensible I think….but I was there for 7 months and I took no notes…crap.

Okay here goes.

I arrived in Cambodia on the night of the 10^th December 2009, after flying from London town to Bangkok on the 8^th, having a night in Bangkok (I never enjoy those) and then catching various buses and bikes to the border town of…where the Cambodian dust roads, stray dogs and general craziness were a welcome relief to clean, fresh cold air of home.

Partying on the streets of Bangkok

 Christmas tree in the hotel in Bangkok

The strangest motorway toilet I've ever been to...

The next day was another bus journey to Sihanoukville which was done on a surprisingly good road (see previous Cambodian blogs). Here I met my friend Grant who I’d met in Beijing in 2008 but who was now called Harry and who was living and teaching in Phnom Penh. I then spent the next week chilling out on a beach, watching the sun set while swimming in the sea, eating my fill in freshly caught sea food and indulging in the odd beachside massage.

And so, the standard was set for a very hard life in the next 7 months.

A quick aside on Sihanoukville before moving North. I have already said in Cambodia Part Mui that I visited Sihanoukville for the first time in 2006. I stayed on what was then known as Weathertop Hill but is now known as Victory Hill. Back in 2006 there were very few people staying there and the beach that was almost private compared to the bigger beaches in the main part of town. The main street in Weathertop Hill was little more than a few bars, guesthouses and restaurants with the hill walk down to the beach completely empty.

Arriving there in 2009 for a few night time drinks and some games of pool it had completely changed. Building work has changed one street into many and bungalows and high rise hotels follow the track down to the beach. The main drag itself is now somewhat…girlyfied.

Travelling from Sihanouville to Phnom Penh was like being in a different country to the one I had seen in 2006. The land grabs that were beginning to take place then were everywhere with massive Korean and Chinese clothes factories being very prevalent on the road into Phnom Penh. Massive sections of roadside land had had walls built around them but no building work had yet taken place. What has happened to the farmers that once cultivated this land I can only guess at and I would hazard a guess that there payment for the land would not have been substantial.

There is probably a better place for a rant at Cambodian political ways and this perhaps not it.

I only went back to Sihanoukville once during my stay in Cambodia and that was for International New Year’s Eve.

There were three of us who went to Sihanoukville on New Year’s Eve; Harry and I had bought bus tickets previously having presumed that it would be busy. Our friend Barry had not. Getting to the bus “station” (little more than a side street next to the Post Office with a few private bus operators on it) Barry asked for a ticket. No, the bus was full. Okay, can I sit in aisle. No, today this would not be possible.

With 5minutes to go until the bus left Barry talked to the bus driver and said he would give him $7 if he could please get on the bus.

You pay the bus driver, but that corruption, and this Cambodia. Hahaha. Eight dollar okay?

And with that Barry got on the bus quick sharp before the people whose seat he had taken turned up, and with that, we were off.

Five hours later we arrived in Sihanoukville to meet Harry’s girlfriend and to attempt to find some accommodation. Everywhere was full. Shit. Having searched the main drags we made our way up the hill, to find a bungalow place with female Cambodian manager fuming that her clients were already late in turning up and she was delighted to check us in, take our money and head off to the beach to join the party. Leaving the bungalows our selves after showers and what have you we saw a taxi turn up with four rather annoyed people in it.

After a few beers in a few bars we made our way down to the beach for the New Year countdown and this is what we experienced.

And so, life stayed like this for three days before we made our way back to Phnom Penh to start work, and life, proper.

Belated musings...

Apologies for the lack of contact over the past couple of months, I promise to do better in the next couple.  Can you forgive me????