Bryan Echo

Entering Russia

Last time I wrote about Latvia.  Tonight I'll start talking about the time in Russia.  It was an amazing time that I still struggle to explain.  Looking back I have so many experiences that it seems surreal. 

We left Latvia and boarded the coach early right after breakfast.  This was the first of many long bus rides.  It was going to take us all day driving to reach Va Liki Luki a small Russian town where we'd sleep that night. 

This was the hardest day of the trip.  It was the day of the biggest changes.  It was the day of bumpy roads that made myself and others motion sick.  It was the worst hotel of the trip. And almost the worst food. :)

We reached the border around 2 p.m. and our tour manager briefed us on the procedure.  We'd have eight checkpoints to go through, the border is a neutral space in limbo between countries. About a kilometer wide.  There were trucks parked along the border for miles leading up to it.  They were waiting sometimes for weeks to enter Russia. We were told to expect about three hours to get through.

The Latvian part of the border took us no time and then we entered the Russian side.  Most of it was taken care of by our bus driver but eventually we all had to get off the bus and go through passport control.  One at a time we had our passports and visas inspected.  Then they wanted to inspect our bags so we had to get them off the coach.  Then they wanted the dogs to sniff them.  Then they wanted to inspect the bus with the dogs.

I don't know if it was all standard procedure, but it all felt pretty arbitrary. 

Then we hit a problem.  Everyone was fine except the bus couldn't come.  The Russians explained it like we could just leave the bus and walk to Moscow.  lol.  It was because our driver had been to russia with a bus a few weeks earlier and had left through a different border which they didn't have records of.

It was basically a bureaucratic nightmare.  The Russians didn't know what to do.

All told we spent 7 hours sitting at the border.  I still don't know how they figured it out, or if we just were told to go. lol.

Va Liki Luki was a strange place.  It was a small town that doesn't get tourists.  We got lots of suspicious looks.  Most of the buildings were built in the seventies, along with most of the cars.  The buildings were really run down and it was a bleak place. 

Latvia.. a beginning

The trip started in Latvia...Looking back I knew next to nothing about Latvia and it wasn't on my list of places I thought much about visiting.  But it was the perfect place to start the trip.  Its a place between worlds.  Its civilized and western but hugely influenced by being part of the Soviet Union.  It was an easy place to travel and a wonderful place to begin the adventure.

I arrived around 1 p.m. after three plane rides and no real significant amount of sleep.  In the airport in Frankfurt I got lost trying to find my gate.  I went through three different security checks and then rode on a tiny, noisy airplane for the last leg.  I recognized a few Russians on the plane, one wearing a suit and reflective sunglasses.  I couldn't place where most of the other passengers were from.  I felt out of place and very far from home. 

The hotel was nice and the city of Riga has a certain charm to it.  Its a busy city but not too big.  The first afternoon I was jet lagged but wandered the streets by the hotel.  I found a lot of casinos and clothing stores.  Most people in Riga were very well dressed, and the women were very beautiful.  But like many cities everyone was in a hurry to get somewhere. 

I met the rest of the tour that night.  I made some friends that would last the whole tour and beyond. :) It was a good group, I think about thirty of us started there.  After dinner we went to a hotel that had a bar with good views of the city.  I remember lots of laughter that night.  It was a feeling that I was sitting at the top of the world.  The city was gorgeous and the everyday stress of work was literally thousands of miles away.  I met Dempsey that night, a funny Australian that I'd hang out with a lot. Also beautiful Roxanna who was classy and eloquent.  And our tour guide Matt who was knowledgeable and a real pro but you could also tell he knew how to get crazy. 

The next morning we toured the city.  We had a walking tour through the old town.  Riga has several old churches and a nice Old Town center.  Lots of cobblestones and personality.  :)

During the day we had free time and I went with a group to the Occupation Museum.  Latvia was in a bad place during World War II.  It was stuck between Germany and the Soviet Union and was occupied by both.  During the periods of German and Soviet occupation Latvia lost 550,000 people, or a third of its population. 

For dinner I convinced a few others to come out with me to a place called The Steiku Haoss.  It was western themed steak house, complete with country music.  The food was amazing and it was a wonderful time. 

We had another day in Riga and I went to a mall with some others on the tour.  Went to the top of church and took beautiful panoramic shots of the city.  It was wicked cold on the top and the elevator took forever to come back up.  :)

I should also mention my roommate at this stage was John from New Zealand.  We got along alright but he snored pretty bad.  But he also stayed out late drinking most nights so I was able to sleep before him and sleep through it.  I made fun of his accent a little, at first I could only catch the cursing and the fuck this or fuck that's that accented everything. lol.

The next day we left for Russia, and the trip would get interesting. :)

More pictures of Latvia on Flickr