Fjords

From Trondheim, we took a train to Domblas and then changed to the train to Andlesnes. This is a small diesel motor train, modern and very comfortable. It drops through a dramatic valley between large peaks, with various waterfalls cascading from either side. The train is called the Raumla, and is one of the most attractive rail journeys in Norway.

At Andlesnes we had a four hour wait for our bus connection. Lunch fills some of the time, but there isn´t that much to see in Andalsnes. At 5:30 pm our bus arrived. This bus climbs from Andlesnes on a steep, narrow road cut into a cliff-face, making eleven hairpin turns as it winds its way up the mountain face. The road is called the Trolligsten (the Troll´s Way) and is quite spectacular and not for the faint hearted. The bus stops to allow you to take photos of the road and the 180m waterfall that cascades down the mountain face.

This road contains over the mountain top, with has larger pockets of snow remnants, which keep the streams and waterfalls running. The road runs down a valley and eventually reaches a fjord, where you leave the bus and travel across by ferry. Another bus meets you and continues the journey. It eventually comes out high on a mountain overlooking a superb fjord - Geirangerfjord. The view is fantastic, as Geirangerfjord is a narrow fjord with steep sides. The bus creeps down a narrow zig-zag road, with more Norwegian tight hairpin bends, and deposits you in the small villiage of Geiranger at the head of the fjord. Our room at the hotel, the Union, had a fantastic view down the fjord.

Next day, we travelled down the fjord on a ferry to Hellesyt. The ferry trip gives a great view of Geiranger fjord. This is a very popular fjord for cruise boats (the Queen Mary II was coming in a day after we were there). Waterfalls drop down to the fjord and small abandoned farms cling to impossible pockets on the sides.

While Norway is very expensive, particularly for food and drink, the Trolligsten bus and the Geiranger ferry are absolute bargains. They aren´t tours, but they do tell you what you are seeing and the bus photo stops are great. The views are fantastic and the bus and ferry are only about A$25 and A$15.

From Hellesyt, we took a bus to Bergen. This is a slow journey of 8 hours, but you wander through the fjord country and get a constant stream of great views. Glaciers on the mountain tops feed strong streams of blue-green water running into the fjords.

We arrived in Berger by 10:00 pm to find that our hotel is right in the heart of Bergen, fronting on to the waterfront, the market and across from the old Bryggen area.

In the land of the Sami

We left Rovaniemi on the bus and travelled north, mainly through lightly forested land with many lakes, to reach Inari. Things get more friendly further north and the bus driver went out of his way to drop us at our hotel. Inari is a small town on the large Lake Inari and is essentially the "capital" of Finnish Lapland. We stayed two nights and even tried out the sauna that is a standard addition in every Finnish hotel.

The local museum, called SIIDA, gives an excellent picture of the life and history of the Sami people.

The next day we caught a smaller bus, which took us to Kirkenes in Norway. The countryside became much more barren, with fewer trees and more rocks. We saw the occasional reindeer, singly or in small groups. The border crossing is simplicity after our Russian experiences - the bus driver was asked where we were going and was waved through; no passport checks, no stamps, no waiting.

The bus dropped us at the the Hurtigruten (the coastal steamer) - the MS Trollfjord. This is a large ship, of 16000 tons, carrying about 800 passengers. The ship calls into various local communities across northern Norway (the Finnmark) as it travels down the coast. We got as far as 71 N. The communities are small and clearly suffer a tough winter. Typically houses are wooden and brightly painted, with fishing the main industry, though there is a large LPG procesing facility being developed at Hammerfest. The ship is large amd modern, with comfortable cabins and large public areas. At each stop, the ship is beautifully handled to berth in a tight spot and there is a flurry of fork-lift activity to load and unload the required pallets of goods.

We saw the midnight sun - in fact, we did`t see any darkness in our two days on the ship. Our ship journey ended at Tromso at about midnight, in bright light. The next morning, we had a quick look at Tromso and then flew to Trondheim. Trondheim seems a prosperous and attractive city, with a compact centre. It has a large and interesting cathedral church and retains rows of old wooden warehouses bordering the river.

In the Arctic Circle - Rovaniemi

Yesterday we took the train north from Helsinki to Rovaniemi. Trip is about 10 hours and quite comfortable. We passed through neat fields and then forests. Based on an extensive sample, we suspect that there is a national agreement to paint all farm buildings dark red/brown, with white surrounds on windows and doors.

Rovaniemi is a metropolis of 39,000, but we will find some smaller stops as we move on.

Last night we had a lovely dinner of reindeer at our hotel (that's the end of Rudolf) and Berna has realized that she should have taken more interest in the details of this trip - too late now!

Rovaniemi is on the Arctic Circle (nearly). At this latitude, polar bears wander in Greenland and Siberia is in perpetual winter; here it is warm enough (nearly) to walk around in a t-shirt. Currently, the suns sets at 11:30 pm and rises at about 3:15am, though I'm not sure that it really gets properly dark.

We took the #8 bus out to the Arctic Circle (Napapiiri in Finnish). There is a tourist complex out there, including a Santa Claus Village and souvenir shops. It is all reasonably well done and quite friendly, though all of Finland seems a friendly place. Everyone takes their photo at the Arctic Circle marker and all the kids (of all ages) meet Santa Claus and have their picture taken. It's a popular place to send postcards from and the post office is smart enough to have a special postmark for them.

We came back to town and looked around for a lunchtime snack. Because it was there, we went into the most northerly McDonalds in the world - the food's no better however.

Rovaniemi (pronounced with a rolling "R") has a great museum called Arktikum, which covers this regional specifically and the Arctic areas generally. The exhibits are excellent and give a real insight into a very different part of the world and the lifestyle of its people.

Tallinn - Estonia

There are a number of large ships that make the crossing between Helsinki and Tallinn. The trip takes about 100 minutes on a fast ship. The trips are very popular, so the ships are generally full.

We booked the 10:00 am trip over and the 19:30 return. The ship is large and comfortable, carrying both passangers and vehicles. It is well equipped with bars, food stalls, poker machines, currency exchange and a large duty-free shop - any room left is for the passengers.

The old town of Tallinn is World Heritage listed, it is a well preserved medieval city with cobbled streets and a city wall. We had an Estonian meal (wild boar meatballs!) and then wandered around. There are old churches (Lutheran and Estonia's only Anglican church) and a newer Orthodox cathedral. The castle area is on higher ground and traditionally had different administration and laws to the lower town. Estonia's parliament is the old castle building. The town hall dates from the 1400's, as does a pharmacy opposite.

The old town is a compact place and attractive to wander around. It's full of tourists, but is quite easy-going. The museum is well worth a visit - it is in the house of a medieval merchant, over three levels. It gives a great understanding of how such a house functioned, as well as explaining the history and development of the old town. The museum also makes it clear that there is no fondness for the Soviet occupation (their words) from 1940 to 1992.

One reason that the trip from Helsinki is so popular is that it is an opportunity for Finns to do some duty-free shopping - particularly for alcohol. By the way, they can bring any amount of alcohol back, as long as it's for personal use. In Finland, as in much of Scandanavia, the sale of wines and spirits is a state monopoly. In Finland, this is through a chain of shops appropriately called Alko.

Helsinki

Train trip from Saint Petersberg was fine, except for the drag of the border crossing. It's much faster than Mongolia to Russia, but it's still about 90 minutes, half of the Russian side than then again on the Finnish side. The nuisance is that the ventilation doesn't work when the train is stopped and the train heats up considerably, so it's quite uncomfortable.

Our hotel in Helsinki is 50m from the train station and very well located in the city. Helsinki is a compact and attractive city. People sit at open cafes having coffee or a drink, particularly in the evening.

We did a 1 hour city tour, which is a good orientation. We've wandered the streets, been to the marketplace and we took an afternoon trip to Soumenlinna. This is a World Heritage listed area - a group of fortified islands in Helsinki harbour. Built by the Swedes as a defense against the Russians in the 18th century, they later fell to Russia in the early 19th century (as did all of Finland). The fort was actually bombarded by the British & French during the Crimean War (I thought that the Crimean War took place in the Crimea, not the Baltic!). The islands are are popular picnic spot, with various old buildings, paths, parks, beaches and fortifications.

We've had a look at the shops and have just seen the Finnish Art Gallery (the Ateneum) - interesting to see the story of Finnish art. We'll see a little more this afternoon and then we go to Tallinin (Estonia) for the day tomorrow.

Saint Petersberg

We have taken the opportunity to see a little more of this city. Nevskiy Prospect is a broad avenue that is the major city street. It is lined with older buildings, including palaces and churches. We have strolled down Nevskiy and looked in on various buildings. These include the only Catholic Church in St Petersberg, which is in a pretty sad state following the destruction of the Soviet years - however, it is once again a church. The Kazan Cathedral looks a little like a mini-St Peters, with arched collonades to two sides. It has been restored and is a functioning church - in fact, we saw a young couple being married when we visited.

We also visited the Church on Spilled Blood - built on the site to commemorate the assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881. It is a museum and is now fully restored - it was a warehouse for potatoes in Soviet times. It has impressive mosiacs outside and inside.

Yesterday we travelled outside St Petersburg to Peterhof, the grand palace and retreat of the Tsars on the Gulf of Finland. We successfully navigated local metro and buses to make the journey. The gardens are extensive and the fountains are spectacular. The palace itself is beautiful, based mainly on a rococco style with lots of gilded scrolls. However, the gardens and the fountains are the masterpiece.

It was a popular day there (a Saturday), with large numbers of locals enjoying a day out in the warm sunshine. There was quite a festive atmosphere.

We successfully got ourselves back to the city and went out to the suburbs to see the Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad. This consists of a large obelisk and monumental sculptures of soldiers, workers and mothers. It commemorates the victims and the survivors of the 872 siege of this city in 1941-44. An underground memorial hall includes exhibits, marble tablets and mosiacs recording aspects of the siege, including a display of a small 125g piece of bread that was the daily ration at one point. It is said that every family in Leningrad lost someone in the siege - over 1 million died.

We had dinner at a local Russian restaurant. To celebrate our last night in Russia, we had blinis with caviar and vodka and chicken Kiev, with a cold Argentinean white. The white was a treat - it is very difficult to get cold dry white wine.

Today, we will take a look at St Isaac's Cathedral, before departing on the late afternoon train for Helsinki. Time to put away the Russian phrasebook and dig out the one for Scandanavia - pity, we've got the hang of the cyrillic alphabet now!

Saint Petersberg

Well- we've made it to Saint Petersberg.

The city is just over 300 years old. While it suffered terrible destruction in the 41-45 War, it has been largely reconstructed or restored in the same style. This means that the city is largely of 19th century design, with no building taller than the spire of Sts Peter & Paul Cathedral. This makes for a beautiful city.

The city is built on islands in the delta of the Neva River. The river is quite wide, but there are also a number of smaller canals that make attractive views ("the Venice of the North?").

We have toured the city to check the buldings and sights. We walked through the Peter & Paul Fortress and Saint Nicholas Cathedral (which has continuously been a working church).

We have toured the Hermitage - a museum on a vast scale, the buildings themselves are treasures, being based on the Winter Palace of the Tsars and their adjacent private galleries. The contents are outstanding, but far too expansive to see in any sensible time. The paintings alone represent an extremely impressive and extensive collection from old masters to post-impressionists.

We went out to Pushkin, the site of the Catherine Palace, This was one of the summer palaces of the Tsars, which includes the magnificent (rebuilt) Amber Room. This is a room lined with worked amber! The rest of the palace is very impressive, set in beautiful gardens and built in a roccoco style (mainly by Elizabeth and later Catherine the Great), with much use of plaster scrolls and gilding.

We have had big doses of culture. On our first night we went to the Mariinskiy Theatre (once called the Kirov) to see Madame Butterfly. A great production with excellent staging and singing. The following night to the same location for Swan Lake. This was a magic performance, with a big corps d'ballet and a big orchestra. Sublime music and great dancing.

Our hotel is small, comprising two floors in a converted older apartment building. It is very comfortable and well located.

Today is the end of our Sundowners tour and we have been saying farewell to our companions of the past three weeks. We feel a little alone now.....

Moscow

Moscow has been fascinating. We expected a Soviet city and found a European city, with buildings that reflect the 18th century mostly.

Red Square isn't as large as we anticipated. Of course, we have been in Beijing and Ulaan Bator, where they know what a big square means. But it's also those memories of the newsreels with the Kremlin "heavies" reviewing the massed military parades from the balcony on Lenin's mausoleum. It's isn't that big - in fact the Lenin Mausolem is only about 5 metres high. It must have been quite a crush to get all that Soviet military hardware into the square.

We did a tour of the Kremlin, including the various churches within (Assumption, Annunciation and Archangel) and then to the Armoury. This contains the treasures of the Kremlin, including lots of gold and silver plates, various historical armour and costumes and items like Faberge eggs.

We found a couple of interesting places for lunch ("business lunches" are good value), we took our own tour of the Metro (fantastic stations), we saw the rebuilt Church of the Holy Saviour, we went to the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, we strolled down Arbat Srtreet and we took a cruise on the Moscow River. The Bolshoi Theatre is closed for renovations, but we managed to see the company perform the opera Yolanda in a smaller (newer) adjacent theatre. We even found time to call in to see V.I. Lenin (after some queuing). We had a busy time, but we got some sense of this city.

Then it was one more train ride - the overnight to St Petersberg. This is an 8 hour trip, which leaves just before midnight. It was one of about six trains to St Petersberg that night. First class gave us a comfortable night's sleep.

Across Russia to Moscow

Following time in Irktusk and Lystyvanka (including a boat trip on Lake Baikal) it was time to board the train. We were on train #9, the "Baikal".

We had a first class compartment, which means that it was a two-berth only. It was very well appointed, even including a flat-screen video, to watch movies provided by the provinitsa. As it happened, we had a few English-language videos that we had picked up in Beijing, so we didn't have to limit ourselves to the Russian language titles on the train.

The trip of about 6000 km took 77 hours. It was quite good. We read, we watched the scenery, we had parties (including one to celebrate crossing from Asia to Europe), we dosed, we ate and we slept. The train wasn't completely full, so this made things easier. We ate in the restaurant car (fair), we bought food from vendors on the stations (great for fresh things) and we cooked the mass of food that we had bought.

After the 6000 kms and five time zones, the train rolled into Moscow on time.

Moscow is a surprise in a way. We weren't expecting Moscow to be this attractive. The buildings are often quite beautiful and the city has limited itself to six or so stories mostly, so it isn't dominated by skyscrapers.

Our hotel is the Rossiya. It is very large (reputedly the second largest in the world) and is looking a bit tired. Apparently it will be converted or demolished to become apartments. However, it has an excellent position a short walk from Red Square and St Basil's. It's amazing to have breakfast looking out on the Kremlin.

We've done a bus toup around the Moscow sights and had a good look around Red Square. We have tickets for the opera tomorrow night, though unfortunately the main Bolshoi Theatre is closed for three years for renovations. There is lots to see, so we will be busy.

In Siberia

We took the train from Ulaan Bator to Irktusk. This is a 36 hour journey (two nights and a day). Siberian train travel is not for the impatient - particularly the border crossings. We waited 6.5 hours at the Mongolian side and then 4.5 hours on the Russian side. These weren't delays - they were the scheduled times. Most of the time was doing nothing - the actual activity by border police was under two hours in both cases.

We were on train #233. One of our group maintains "the higher the train number, the slower the train" - seems true to me.

For much of it, the two carriages that are making the trip from Mongolia to Russia sit isolated at a station (the diesel and the other carriages having disappeared). Of course the train toilet is locked and it isn't easy to get to the station....
This was somewhat compounded by the fact that half our group caught a 24 hour stomach bug...

The two carriages that cross the border become a twenty carriage train by the time you add carrages on the Russian border side and then later at Ulan Ude.

Mongolia was rolling steppes and the occasional ger camp. Moving into Russia (strictly, into the Buryat Republic in Russia) the steppes continued, though with a little more shrubby vegetation and then some small trees. There was still little sign of life, beyond the power poles and dirt tracks, other than around the stations.

Siberian houses are generally wooden, with painted (blue) windows and doors.

Steppe gave way to taiga - dense beech and pine forests. We passed a small (by Russian standards) lake and then (during the night) rounded Lake Baikal to come into Irktusk at 8:10 on Monday morning.

Irktusk is claimed as the "Paris of Siberia". It is the largest town in this part of the world (500,000 people), with various industries and universities. It has tree-lined streets and bears evidence of past wealth as the key trading city in Siberia.

The city has a faded charm. The wooden houses were once beautiful, but none seem to be renovated or well kept. There are some civic buildings that are excellent, but others that need considerable restoration. The tough Siberian winters probably cause buildings to deteoriate much faster.

It's all rather European, with Irtusk citizens promenading in the long mild evenings, though the food isn't always great.

Our hotel (Baikal Intourist) is surprisingly good, having been recently renovated. We have two nights here and at a local Baikal village before we have the long train haul to Moscow.

Terelj - In the Ger Camp

On Thursday 30th, we spent the morning looking around Ulaan Bator. We saw the Gandan monastery, a collection of Buddist temples. While Buddism was suppressed under the Soviets, it has had a resurgence since independence. This monastery seems to have numbers of monks, including numbers of young boys. They have an associated Buddist University. We saw their library, which contains over 1 million Buddist texts in Tibetan, Sanscrit and the old Mongolian script. Mongolian Buddism is largely based on the Tibetan practices; indeed the last reincarnated king/chief lama was a Tibetan (he died in 1924).

Then to the National History Museum, where our guide took us on a tour and explained the history of the country.

Lunch at the Modern Nomads restaurant - good food and good Chinngis beer.

Then by bus to Terelj National Park. We were to stay in a ger camp for two nights.

Terelj is beautiful. Lines of rocky mountains border beautiful rolling valleys. Conifer and beech forests hug the lee of the hills. There are ger camps scattered in different parts, though largely isolated and unseen from each other. The gers are comfortable and extremely practical accommodation.

We walked in the clear skies and fresh air. We climbed hills and enjoyed the wildflowers. We bussed to see Turtle Rock (no big deal) and then to a Buddist Meditation centre recently built high up in the slope of a mountain (excellent).

We visted the home of a nomad family. We drank fermented mare's milk (very sour), Mongolian tea (milky and salty), had buttermilk with Mongolian bread and yogurt (all excellent). We learnt of the life of the family (seven children, 30 grandchildren). The old lady was 68 and had lived in that ger since getting married at 20. One grandson had three words of English - "hello", "goodbye" and "horse". In fact, these people's lives is bound to their stock and particularly to their horses. They are great horsemen from very early ages. Competitive races involve distances of 30 to 50 km bareback, with children of 6 to 12 as the jockeys. We saw mares being milked.

July 1st was Canada Day. Lyn had balloons and Canada pins, so we had a celebration in the "dining ger".

Altogether, a fantastic time.

Then back to UB. We did a little shopping and now are off to the train.