Research questions about Russia, part 1

Zdrastvoyte pa Ruski,

… Within a flash of a second I’m in Russia. No sign of customs… yet, but the officials don’t ask anything and give me the necessary stamps. “So far so good, and stay good”, I always say. And nervous that I am when I arrive in St. Petersburg, unbelievebale! I’m in Russia! Whoehoe 😀

Now the 29 days of travel starts with some strange questions or goals I have in my mind:

  1. How Dutch feels St. Petersburg?
  2. Meeting Peter in Moscow.

  3. Standing in front of my ice cream church!

  4. Experiencing the lux Trans Siberean (TB) train, The Rossiya.

  5. Finding out what hides in Yekaterinburg.

  6. How to make a snow angel?

  7. Knowing if it is good to go to non-touristy Omsk.

  8. Finding out what keep the people busy in the Siberian capital, Novosibirsk.

  9. Do people speak English?

  10. How many of the cities I’ll visit have ugly Soviet-style (concrete) appartment blocks?

  11. Will I get to Stolby and its gorge in winter time?

  12. Is the TB electrified and is it double tracks?

  13. Same question for the Baikalo Amurskaya Magistral (BAM-railway line)

  14. How cool is BAM?

  15. Is Siberia really that cold?

  16. Try ice fishing in/on Lake Baikal.

  17. Can you really see fish swimming through the 1 meter layer of ice of Lake Baikal?

  18. Will I find the mysterious black-eyed nerpa?

  19. Will I encounter bears?

  20. How many tourists go to Tynda… so how off the beaten track will I get?

  21. Feeling how it is travelling without taking showers for a couple of days 😉

  22. Is it possible to visit 13 places in 29 days?

  23. Finding out about the last remaining Amur leopards

  24. Meeting a Siberean tiger if not whiped out before that time.

  25. Getting eye in eye with the Pacific Ocean at the end of the TB in Vladivostok.

You’ll find the answers in the upcoming blogs about Russia. From a kind of ‘warm’ Russia (-2 degrees celcius)

Da svidanya,

Amar