Graeme:
Last night we both required services of the outhouse, several times each. We suspect it was the result of lukewarm meals we had for lunch at a cafe. It's difficult to tell what was the cause because we usually share meals, drinks and snacks. I'd remarked several times through the trip on how fortunate we've been to not get the slightest bit ill. Oh well, it could have been worse. The rain held off and we had running water to wash with.
When we woke this morning, we thought: 'hey, we're only 78KM out of Tynda. Lets go for a hotel tonight in Tynda to have showers and toilets whilst we get well again. It will also provide us with wifi to upload the pics and videos we promised.' We arrived in Tynda at maybe 10 o'clock and wasted two hours trying to find a hotel. Five different people pointed us to this same hotel. It turned out they only had share rooms, which nulled out private shower and toilet requirements... and no WiFi. We also figured we'd use the internet cafe/gaming lounge we saw last time we passed through to find a hotel or at least upload the photos/video, but nyet, gaming lounge does not have internet!
After having lunch we felt on top of the world so off we headed for Bolshoy Never. No doubt spelt wrong. I also think I'm going to stop excusing my hopeless spelling from here on. I can't spell at the best of times but it's made a whole lot worse by translation, memory and miles. The road was better than we remembered, a heap less traffic was great. Interestingly enough, the scenery was prettier going north, but maybe we're just getting harder to please :)
We stopped by a little cafe this afternoon that we stopped in on the way to Tynda. It was bittersweet sitting there drinking coffee as we had changed so much yet not much else has. The car in the same park as it was roughly 6000KM ago. It's exactly the same - our little piece of consistent wherever we go - We love it so much. The lady seemed to recognise us which felt special. As we left I said 'ochin priyatna' (nice to have met you) but so sad inside knowing we'll not see her again - ever. Extinguishing these little micro-relationships is one of the hardest things for me.
This trip has been a great opportunity to look inward. Mindlessly dodging pot-holes keeps half your brain busy while the other half is open to explore. One trait I've identified with me, is that I take a long time for emotions to develop. At points on this trip where I should be emotional, I feel nothing. Hours or days later, it will finally sink in. Weird I know. Only when we got to back to Yakutsk after leaving Magadan did I realise we actually made it to Magadan, some several days earlier. The joy of seeing the mask of sorrow is only really sinking in now. Cassie was ecstatic to reach the town where the new adventure begins or put differently the point at which we are no longer back-tracking. I'm pleased, but nothing more just yet. I find reviewing photos and videos helps with this, I'm not sure why.
We're staying at a motel on the outskirts of town. We have a private room, but shared toilet and shower. Not so bad, oh wait, the shower doesn't have a lock. 1500r or ~$45 for this is a bit hard to swallow. Especially as dinner for two cost less than $5. I think it's hard to swallow because our car is so much nicer, but no shower or toilet. In that sense I feel a bit cheated. Like in the same way that when you go out to a restaurant for a meal, and it's worse than the most basic thing you could make at home. You're worse off for the expense. Our idea of staying at a hotel tonight was to achieve private relaxed bathroom time with no mosquitoes, and hopefully a little wi-fi. Neither of which eventuated. Oh well. Two more days to Chita, provided the highway stays as good as it was.
Speaking of being cheated at a restaurant, we just returned from dinner next door. I enjoyed mine, but Cassie feels deflated by not being able to order anything. Anything we can read, they never have. We went through three selections until the waitress suggested borsh. I was OK with it but Cassie was deflated. That's virtually three in a row now for her. I pointed to pineapple juice and was obviously given the display one. A 500ml 'popper' of pineapple juice which was more than a year out of date. 'Nar marla', but when it came to paying, I softly said, 'nyet horishaw' (not good) whilst pointing to the use by date of April 2011. We went back and forth a little, between my confusion and her insisting we were not charged for the juice. I certainly wasn't rude.
In an entierly passive-aggressive way, she gave me my change of 37r in a total of 18 coins, on the counter. Which by itself is was poor form, but she put the change right next to the coin tray. Her objective of humiliation accomplished as I scraped them off the bar like I was piss-poor. What a darling!
But in fairness, everyone else has been lovely. In every form. From truck drivers, waitresses, road-workers and just strangers on the street. I don't know how many times I've been told I've left my headlights on as I don't bother turning them off when refueling. It's the o'l Russian contrast. So hard on the outside, so warm on the inside. Twice when we asked for directions today, people left their places of work, or positions in the line to walk us TO the destination, or point it out from the street. I know we would do the same, but it's nice to be on the receiving end of it sometimes.
A little dot point about toilets in Russia. There is a strong trend (>90%) of toilets where you are not to flush toilet paper. It's not all that hard to change the habit on it's own, but compared to the reality of sitting next to an aromatic bucket of other people's soiled toilet paper is the greater challenge. Time spent in the facilities could not be considered quality time by any stretch of the imagination. Oh, and toilet seats are not to be relied on. Their presence is occasional but even if it's there, they are not likely to be attached, or the lid rests against your back as it doesn't stay up.
I often fear that we look like whingers, but I assure you the rest of our day has been terrific. It's just something to have a laugh about. I think in some sick way you want to hear all the bad stuff!
Looking for more motels, we drove into Bolshoy Never. Although we didn't find a better motel, we did find mile marker '0'! We drove the whole M56! Woah, sense of accomplishment! Lol as I write this, we can hear a cat somewhere in the motel... omg this place is a zoo! Someone is consistently snoring in the room next door, people are walking noisly and talking loudly out in the hallway and the TV in the room has an attitude problem because no matter what button you push, it just does it's own thing (eg: it turns on but if you want to change channel it'll forget that it knows how to and just drop all channels - so no tv).
Last night we both required services of the outhouse, several times each. We suspect it was the result of lukewarm meals we had for lunch at a cafe. It's difficult to tell what was the cause because we usually share meals, drinks and snacks. I'd remarked several times through the trip on how fortunate we've been to not get the slightest bit ill. Oh well, it could have been worse. The rain held off and we had running water to wash with.
When we woke this morning, we thought: 'hey, we're only 78KM out of Tynda. Lets go for a hotel tonight in Tynda to have showers and toilets whilst we get well again. It will also provide us with wifi to upload the pics and videos we promised.' We arrived in Tynda at maybe 10 o'clock and wasted two hours trying to find a hotel. Five different people pointed us to this same hotel. It turned out they only had share rooms, which nulled out private shower and toilet requirements... and no WiFi. We also figured we'd use the internet cafe/gaming lounge we saw last time we passed through to find a hotel or at least upload the photos/video, but nyet, gaming lounge does not have internet!
After having lunch we felt on top of the world so off we headed for Bolshoy Never. No doubt spelt wrong. I also think I'm going to stop excusing my hopeless spelling from here on. I can't spell at the best of times but it's made a whole lot worse by translation, memory and miles. The road was better than we remembered, a heap less traffic was great. Interestingly enough, the scenery was prettier going north, but maybe we're just getting harder to please :)
We stopped by a little cafe this afternoon that we stopped in on the way to Tynda. It was bittersweet sitting there drinking coffee as we had changed so much yet not much else has. The car in the same park as it was roughly 6000KM ago. It's exactly the same - our little piece of consistent wherever we go - We love it so much. The lady seemed to recognise us which felt special. As we left I said 'ochin priyatna' (nice to have met you) but so sad inside knowing we'll not see her again - ever. Extinguishing these little micro-relationships is one of the hardest things for me.
This trip has been a great opportunity to look inward. Mindlessly dodging pot-holes keeps half your brain busy while the other half is open to explore. One trait I've identified with me, is that I take a long time for emotions to develop. At points on this trip where I should be emotional, I feel nothing. Hours or days later, it will finally sink in. Weird I know. Only when we got to back to Yakutsk after leaving Magadan did I realise we actually made it to Magadan, some several days earlier. The joy of seeing the mask of sorrow is only really sinking in now. Cassie was ecstatic to reach the town where the new adventure begins or put differently the point at which we are no longer back-tracking. I'm pleased, but nothing more just yet. I find reviewing photos and videos helps with this, I'm not sure why.
We're staying at a motel on the outskirts of town. We have a private room, but shared toilet and shower. Not so bad, oh wait, the shower doesn't have a lock. 1500r or ~$45 for this is a bit hard to swallow. Especially as dinner for two cost less than $5. I think it's hard to swallow because our car is so much nicer, but no shower or toilet. In that sense I feel a bit cheated. Like in the same way that when you go out to a restaurant for a meal, and it's worse than the most basic thing you could make at home. You're worse off for the expense. Our idea of staying at a hotel tonight was to achieve private relaxed bathroom time with no mosquitoes, and hopefully a little wi-fi. Neither of which eventuated. Oh well. Two more days to Chita, provided the highway stays as good as it was.
Speaking of being cheated at a restaurant, we just returned from dinner next door. I enjoyed mine, but Cassie feels deflated by not being able to order anything. Anything we can read, they never have. We went through three selections until the waitress suggested borsh. I was OK with it but Cassie was deflated. That's virtually three in a row now for her. I pointed to pineapple juice and was obviously given the display one. A 500ml 'popper' of pineapple juice which was more than a year out of date. 'Nar marla', but when it came to paying, I softly said, 'nyet horishaw' (not good) whilst pointing to the use by date of April 2011. We went back and forth a little, between my confusion and her insisting we were not charged for the juice. I certainly wasn't rude.
In an entierly passive-aggressive way, she gave me my change of 37r in a total of 18 coins, on the counter. Which by itself is was poor form, but she put the change right next to the coin tray. Her objective of humiliation accomplished as I scraped them off the bar like I was piss-poor. What a darling!
But in fairness, everyone else has been lovely. In every form. From truck drivers, waitresses, road-workers and just strangers on the street. I don't know how many times I've been told I've left my headlights on as I don't bother turning them off when refueling. It's the o'l Russian contrast. So hard on the outside, so warm on the inside. Twice when we asked for directions today, people left their places of work, or positions in the line to walk us TO the destination, or point it out from the street. I know we would do the same, but it's nice to be on the receiving end of it sometimes.
A little dot point about toilets in Russia. There is a strong trend (>90%) of toilets where you are not to flush toilet paper. It's not all that hard to change the habit on it's own, but compared to the reality of sitting next to an aromatic bucket of other people's soiled toilet paper is the greater challenge. Time spent in the facilities could not be considered quality time by any stretch of the imagination. Oh, and toilet seats are not to be relied on. Their presence is occasional but even if it's there, they are not likely to be attached, or the lid rests against your back as it doesn't stay up.
I often fear that we look like whingers, but I assure you the rest of our day has been terrific. It's just something to have a laugh about. I think in some sick way you want to hear all the bad stuff!
Looking for more motels, we drove into Bolshoy Never. Although we didn't find a better motel, we did find mile marker '0'! We drove the whole M56! Woah, sense of accomplishment! Lol as I write this, we can hear a cat somewhere in the motel... omg this place is a zoo! Someone is consistently snoring in the room next door, people are walking noisly and talking loudly out in the hallway and the TV in the room has an attitude problem because no matter what button you push, it just does it's own thing (eg: it turns on but if you want to change channel it'll forget that it knows how to and just drop all channels - so no tv).
Ah, the toilets! Treasure your "aromatic' ones with the basket of soiled paper, lest you find worse. You could catalogue all the different kinds you encounter.
ReplyDeleteMy little meander around Russia's southern neighbour brought me into contact with such ones, but in the squat form. I was in a posh place if they were of the porcelin variety. I even had to use one at the train station in a provincial city which was nothing but a trench. And then there's the communal ones and the "where's the toilet?" experiences. A toilet block built in a park during 2010 in the city I lived in was no more sophisticated, apart from the besser blocks, than that which could have been built there centuries before.