Recently I have begun taking pictures of doors -- to some of you it might sound odd, but over the past year or so I have become fascinated with them. Not just any random door, mind you, but doors that stand out as unique or different or even beautiful. This fascination started last year whenI went to Israel. It continued on my return trip in April, and then became even more of an interest on my trip across Russia (I'll get to that momentarily).Doors are entryways -- into rooms or houses or buildings, but in our lives we have many doorways presented to us, what I think of as doorways to a life of adventure. Life should absolutely be lived for the adventure that it holds. I'm not just talking about bungee jumping or training across Asia. I recently came across a quote by Helen Keller: "Life is either a great adventure or nothing." I like that a lot. How often are we presented with amazing opportunities to follow God in the adventure He has prepared for us? I don't think we should live a boring life just sitting around doing nothing all the time. We need to walk through the open doors even if we aren't sure exactly what is on the other side. We need to take advantage of ministry opportunities and the chances God gives us to invest our lives in others. What doorways has God presented to you recently? Are you living the adventure that He has offered?
“My Journey Across Russia”
On June 3, 2009, four of my friends and I began an amazing journey. We flew from Moscow to Vladivostok – the easternmost city in Russia. My first impressions of Vladivostok were not good ones. The city was dirty, and the weather was awful. It was rainy and windy and cold. We spent one night in a small hostel that was adequate – the beds were not very comfortable, but we were all tired and suffering from jet lag, so we slept well. The next day we spent walking around the city. The city is a port city so there are many ships and the city itself is very industrial. We walked along the water for a while and then went up to the top of the city where we could look out over everything. It was peaceful but so very cold! And in one sense that is how I will remember the city – cold both in the weather and in the feel of life there.
That night we got on a train and went about 16 hours to the city of Khabarovsk. What a difference from Vladivostok! Everything about the city seemed cleaner and fresher. We arrived early in the morning and found our hotel. That also was quite different from where we had stayed in Vladivostok. The beds were so comfortable! And the showers were hot. We spent two days and two nights in Khabarovsk. The first day we walked down to the river. The sun was shining and the air was cool and pleasant. We got on a boat and went up the river for a while. We were all so tired from jet lag that we fell asleep on the boat. After that we walked back into the city and looked for a place to eat lunch – the blini restaurant seemed like the best choice. Then we walked further until we saw the large memorials to those who died in the wars. The second day we took our luggage to the train station and left it there. Then we walked through a park that took us almost from one end of the city to the other. It was a beautiful day, but the pukh was thick in the air. We also walked through a typical Russian renok which had its own section just for selling pets.
We boarded the train that evening for the longest part of our journey – a 52 hour trip to Ulan-Ude. The hardest part of that for me was that the trains were hot and we could not open the windows. I did not sleep well those two nights. While on the train we slept, we ate, we read, we played cards, we journaled, and we talked to the soldiers. Many of the soldiers on our wagon had never met Americans before, so we were like celebrities to them. When we reached Ulan-Ude we were ready to get off the train. Two men met us at the train station and took us to our hostel which was located in a village outside the city.
The hostel was a dacha used specifically to house guests. It was so interesting to see life in the village. There were cows wandering around outside our front door! The hostel was not so comfortable as the beds were very hard and the shower was sometimes out of hot water, but it was better than being on the train.
The next day we went to a Datsan – a Buddhist temple. Ulan-Ude is the center of the Buddhist religion for Russia. The temples were colorful and it was interesting but sad to see people lost in a false religion, and even some people not knowing what they truly believe. We saw one lady in the Buddhist temple cross herself (as Orthodox do) as she was leaving. That afternoon we went into the city itself and walked down to the main part of town. There was a street just for pedestrians and tourists (Much like Arbat in Moscow). There was also a beautiful Orthodox cathedral under renovation. We had supper in a Mongolian/Russian restaurant. The soup and the chebureki (fried pastries w meat in them) were quite tasty.
The second day in Ulan-Ude we went to the Ethnographic Museum. This was an outdoor museum with many houses built as they would have been hundreds of years ago. Some of them we could go in and view how the people lived – it was much like living on the frontier in the old West in America. There was a small zoo there that was sad to see. The animals were not taken care of well – they were dirty and mangy and not well fed.
The next morning, our driver took us to the train station. We left our bags there and walked back into town for a few hours. Then we got on our third train going to Irkutsk. Irkutsk was definitely my favorite city of all the places that we visited. We stayed in a Russian flat that was being used as a hostel, so there were a lot of people coming and going. Irkutsk was so beautiful! It was clean and friendly and the weather was excellent. There were so many old houses and buildings mixed in with the modern city. Many of these houses had painted doors or shutters that made them stand out to me.
The first day we walked around the city. We walked down to the river and then we found a large group of people celebrating the Day of Russia. We ate shashleek and listened to the music. The next day we got up early and took a bus to Lake Baikal. It is hard to put into words the beauty of that lake. We walked about 8 km up and down the lake. We then took a boat ride for an hour. It was so peaceful and relaxing, and I was reminded of what an incredible Creator God is.
After our boat ride, we swam in Lake Baikal, though it was a very short swim – less than a minute. The water was so cold that we were not able to do more than submerge ourselves and quickly get out again.
The third day in Irkutsk was spent walking around the city, again. Sunday afternoon we walked back down to the water and sat in the park listening to a small orchestra and watching people dance by the river. Then we got on another train and went to Krasnoyarsk.
It was raining when we arrived in Krasnoyarsk and it took us a while to find our way to the hotel. The hotel there was very Soviet in style – old rooms, toilets at the end of the hall, and showers in the basement. We then found out that the hotel itself was actually a “pay by the hour” hotel, often used for prostitutes. We were quite surprised at this, but we settled in for one night. It turned out to be a fairly comfortable hotel. The first night we ate in a Ukrainian restaurant and then played cards in our rooms.
The next day we walked around the city which was fairly beautiful. We hoped to get on a boat that would take us to the big dam that the city is known for; however we found out that those boats only run on weekends and this was Tuesday. So we walked some more. We took a tour of a boat that had been built by the last Emperor of Russia for his son. Later it was used to take Lenin into exile. After our walk around the city we went back to the hotel, took showers, gathered our luggage and checked out. We found an Internet cafe and then an amazing coffee house where we hung out for a few hours to stay out of the rain and kill time until our next train.
Train number five took us to the city of Yekaterinburg. We got there around 5:30 am. We wandered around looking for our bus. We found it and rode into the city. About 7:00 am we called the people that were going to house us for two days. The husband and wife were so kind to let five of us stay in their apartment for two nights. We showered and then began our usual walk around the city. We went to a church that was built on the site where the Romanov family was killed. After our tour of the city we went back to the apartment and cooked dinner for our hosts. That evening we went to another fun coffee house while the wife led a woman's Bible study in their home. We went to the top of one of the tallest buildings in the city and were able to see the entire city as well as the Ural Mountains in the distance. The second day in Yekaterinburg we hired a taxi. First he took us to the place where the remains of the Romanov Family were found. We hired a young seminary student to give us a tour. It was very interesting to learn about the history of where we were.
After that our taxi driver took us to the Europe Asia border and we were able to stand on two continents at one time. That evening we had dinner with friends of mine from college who are now missionaries in Yekaterinburg.
Early the next morning we got on our last train and rode 26 hours back to Moscow.
This trip was one that I will never forget. I can say now that I have truly seen Russia. The landscape is breathtaking, and the people are amazing. I am so thankful that I took this opportunity. I am not sure that I would do it again, but I would recommend it to anyone who has an adventurous spirit and who does not mind spending a lot of time on trains. In the future I would like to return to Irkutsk and definitely spend more time at Lake Baikal – that was the highlight of the trip for me.
We spent 18 days traveling, visited 6 cities, rode on 5 trains for a total of 6 ½ days, and saw the incredible beauty of the world's largest country.
1 comment:
I happen to share your fascination with doors! For me it started 3 summers ago in Hungary. My friends and family now know that a door pic is one of the best souvenirs they can bring me when they return from overseas travels of their own:) I have a growing collection & look forward to adding some Russian doors to the mix! I also look forward to meeting you in a few weeks!
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