Do You Enjoy Travel Stories?
This website chronicles our trip around the world in 2006. It has lots of photos, videos and stories. We invite you to come in, relax and enjoy the scenery.
~Lee and Sachi LeFever
To see what we're up to now, check LeeLeFever.com or CommonCraft.com
Our Recent Dispatches Are Below.
A Dispatch is a report from our trip. Browse via keywords or global map.
Arctic Circle Bound
Since I've met Lee, he's had a dreamy look in his eyes when he describes cold places above the Arctic Circle. Our overnight train leaves for Rovaniemi, a town 6 miles from the Arctic Circle, in a few hours and we're both excited to head north. However, we're not sure what we will do after we cross it. Readily available summer transportation has slowed its frequency at this time of year, and some ferries and busses may not be running at all in the Northern wilderness of Finland and Norway.
We are just going to arrive, head to the tourist office and see what lodges or cottages we can get to and talk to local folks from there. We might be heading to the fjords and Lofoten Islands of Northern Norway, or we might be heading right back to Helsinki. Either way, we'll see some reindeer, the official Santa and soon-to-be-frozen lakes along the way.
The Russian Customer Service Handbook
On a personal level, we have met wonderful people in
The Russian Customer Service Handbook
As a person who is about to enter the customer service industry in
- Under no circumstances should you smile or laugh.
- When someone approaches you seeking help, feel free to ignore them for as long as possible. Finish what you are doing first and quickly look for other items to make you appear busy.
- If they speak a language you don't understand, the most effective response is to roll your eyes and sigh while turning away.
- Do not greet a customer or recognize their presence until they demand your attention.
- A cold scowl is the standard facial expression- use it effectively.
- When a transaction is complete, slide the money to the customer and walk away. "thank-yous" are not recommended.
- As you are completing a transaction, ask yourself "Am I being as efficient as possible?" If so, slow down or stop completely. Efficiency only matters to the customer.
- If your friend calls your mobile phone while you work, by all means answer it and do your best to complete the transaction while talking.
- Eye contact should only happen by accident. Try your best to make the customer feel as if they are inhuman, like a robot.
- Remember that foreigners are a nuisance and should be treated as such. They deserve no special treatment whatsoever.
- Because foreigners have not taken the time to learn the Russian language, their method of pointing and gesturing to communicate should be viewed with contempt. Remember: ROLL THE EYES - it is the perfect response.
- Foreigners do not understand how to deal with money and never provide exact change. When this happens, raise your voice a bit and hope that someone else can translate.
- If a foreigner cannot provide exact change, snatch the money from their hand with an aggressive motion. After you've gone to all the trouble to make change, slap it onto the counter forcefully and walk away. Perhaps, over time, they will understand.
If you should have any questions or concerns about this handbook, please don't contact me.
~Your Russian Customer Service Manager
Mostly Mixed Moscow
It’s quite apparent that the Russians have mixed feelings about
Of course we had friends in the city that showed us around their neighborhoods and homes, which was a perfect introduction to the city. The warmth of the personal connection with people in
Suddenly I found myself in center of the former Communist stronghold, surrounded by reminders of the Bolshevik Revolution, the
And it is beautiful. Tiananmen has nothing on
It is said that
One of the important things that travelers must remember in
On the other side of the coin, the personal experiences we had with random Muscovites were more positive. While looking at a map on a street corner one night (the “tourist distress call”) a friendly young woman pointed us in the right direction. It seems that in general, the young people represent a new generation of Muscovites who are more likely to smile, provide great service and welcome foreigners. I would love to come back to
Into a New World
It's clear that in the short trip from Russia to Finland, we have entered a different world. Being hungry right off the train, we quickly found a cafe close to the station and walked in. We are used to struggling through menus in other languages and this one was in Finnish. However, what happened next did not happen for the last few months - a smiling gentleman approached us and said, in a slight Scandanavian accent "would you like me to translate for you?" Whahhh? It was true - we are now in a different and more familiar world.
The issue right now, however, is exactly which part of this world we'll see. Right now we have a place to stay tonight in Helsinki and that is the full extent of our future plans. Before us lies the whole of Europe and where we'll go next depends on which hour you ask us. Currently, we're considering at trip to Finnish Lapland - inside the Artic Circle. From there, maybe Sweden and/or Estonia and Latvia.
Things Have Moved Too Fast
Phew! The Trans-Siberian Railway trip is officially over - we arrived in hip and modern Helsinki, Finland yesterday. Despite all the writing and videos on the train, we've fallen a bit behind - and we haven't even talked about Moscow and St. Petersburg.
We'll say more soon, but we both want to say a BIG thanks to Lilia, her sister Diana, and her friend Olga for showing us their Moscow. Lilia is from Moscow but lives in Holland and recently did an internship at Microsoft in Seattle, where we got to be better friends. We can't say enough about the generosity and hospitality of our Muscovite friends.
This is Sachi and Lilia over the Moscow River:
This is Olga with Matt (a fellow American traveler) and Sachi in Moscow.
And how can we forget Kuzya,the resident parrot, who can be bribed into speaking a few words for a pomegranate seed.
Trans-Siberian Railway - Leaving Siberia
From the moment we arrived in Yekaterinburg, Russia, I had the song "The Cold Part" by Modest Mouse playing in my head, which is a dark and desolate song that sings "so long to this cold, cold part of the world". I don't think the city is as cold and dark as I chose to display in the video, but I do think the video fits with the soundtrack that was playing in my head at the time.
The scenes at the end are from our homestay in Yaketerinburg. We stayed with a local named Eleana for two nights in former Communist housing blocks. She was nice, but was caring for a friend who was sick at the time and we have both become ill after staying with her. The housing was warm on the inside, scary on the outside.
Yakaterinburg is famous for the deaths of the last czarist family in Russia, the Romanovs, who were killed in a cellar in the city by the Communist Revolutionaries as a symbol of the end of their imperial rule. A sad and controversial story.
Yekaterineburg is at the imaginary border between Asia (and Siberia) and Europe, so the song even fit as we left...
so long to this cold, cold part of the world
Video: Trans-Siberian Railway - The Vodka Train
It is a Trans-Siberian right of passage - drinking vodka with Russians on a train in the middle of Siberia. This video shares a few of the moments I'll never forget and a few that I can't really remember.
Read the story from this night
Too Much Vodka with the Russian Locals
Given the opportunity, we will choose to hang out with the locals and in nearly every instance. The vast majority of the time, it has been a rewarding and interesting experience. However, on the Trans-Siberian Railway we’ve learned that there are Russian locals that you don’t necessarily want to “experience” for 2 days on a train.
Peer pressure is an issue on the Trans-Siberian train with consistent reminders from other travelers that this is the “vodka train” and you must drink Russian vodka. This pressure is lost on the Russian locals though as they need no pressure whatsoever to drink on a train. It is a requirement for them and when mixing with foreign travelers the requirement is shared by all.
So we found ourselves in the dining car on the second night of a 48 hour journey from Irkustk to Ekaterineburg.
Between Slava, the gigantic ex-Russian Army captain with bullet wounds and Victor, the pudgy Belushi-esque ex-Mafia family man, we had our hands full. While our English friend Paul was busy being pressured by Slava into drinking more vodka than he wanted, I got a dose of vodka with Victor and his fellow Russian friends, who seemed to be complete blockheads. We drank more, became friends, toasted to health, arm wrestled and looking back I can say that I have never witnessed so many scars on so many people. I think these guys have had a hard life.
For some reason I accepted Victor’s invitation for me and Sachi to come to his room and drink more vodka. Not only did this end up with me losing a few hours of memory, but it caused Sachi to end up babysitting Victor’s Coke-spewing 4 year old child “Sergei” for over an hour. She was not happy and I had no idea why. What I did remember was Victor telling me at some point in the night that the wolf tattoo on his arm was from his 3 year prison term. Apparently had “only killed one person” while in the Russian mafia. Had I had my wits about me, I may have escaped at that point, but I didn’t.
The next day I awoke to a hangover, an upset wife and a half-drunk Russian ex-con banging on the door at
Later Victor hooked back up with the Blockheads and they formed a roaming band of drunk-in-the-morning Russian annoyances. They went from one end of the train to the other, peer-pressuring everyone from the night before to drink with them. One of them even forced his way into the compartment of understandably shaken American and Canadian girls. He would later be quite accurately called a stalker.
This band of drunks eventually caused the revelers from the night before to close their doors and hide out for the majority of the morning. Many, including Sachi and I ignored knocks at our doors. The foreigners on the train tried to memorize compartment numbers so we could visit one another without keeping a door open. There was talk of passwords being used. We were held hostage by the locals.
By about
Watch the Video Here.
The Siberian Village of Bolshoe Goloustnoe
We were greeted in the "Siberian Capital" of
The tiny
For the first time since visiting small villages in
The town on the South Eastern shores of
The homes themselves are remarkably similar, with dark wood and ubiquitous, but unique window dressings called Siberian Lace. The Siberians believe in spirits who are able to enter homes through windows and the windows are designed to prevent the spirits from entering. The windows are colorful works of art that beg for photos and appear too good to be true. If they were plucked from this Siberian location and appeared in a city, you could imagine flag-bearing tour groups ooohing and aaahing at the traditional designs. Yet, here they are surrounded by gardens, livestock and splashed mud. These windows are an example of the reality of travel that I long to experience.
Another Siberian experience is the use of a “banya” or sauna. The tradition works like this… The banya is prepared by building a fire in a furnace-like compartment of a small wooden structure. The fire heats water that is used for bathing and the “sweat room” where you sit naked and relax. I have decidedly mix reactions to the sweat room. I don’t like heat and I already sweated enough for 5 years in
Bolshoe Goloustnoe, more than any other village we’ve visited on the whole trip, seemed to take us back in time. Here are a few examples.
- The toilets are located outdoors and over a deep pit in the earth near the garden. When it fills up, they cover it and dig another hole. Yes, despite pulling fresh, clean water from an aquifer that is associated with the lake, the homes in the village do not have running water.
- Only a few weeks ago mobile phone service arrived in the village. Prior to that, the only phone in the village existed in the Post Office and even it was often in disrepair.
- The village does not have Internet access.
- The villagers are very curious about foreigners, described as a look at someone from another world.
- Few vehicles exist in the village and some of the old-timers have never left the village in their lives.
- Many of the farmers in Bolshoe Goloustnoe are subsistence farmers, growing food to eat rather than sell.
- The village lacks tourist infrastructure – no restaurants or souvenir shops.
I didn’t realize it until we arrived, but
We didn’t expect it, but Bolshoe Goloustnoe and
Video: Incredible Lake Baikal, Russia
To look at Lake Baikal doesn't do it justice - it is just a big lake in a beautiful and peaceful setting. Only by learning a little about it can you appreciate what a special place on the Earth it really is. You can learn more via Wikipedia too.
Music: Yo La Tengo - You Can Have It All
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