Russia – Travelogue
St Petersburg
The world’s biggest and world’s coldest country, spanning 11 time-zones – home to the planet’s deepest lake, largest plain, most expensive city (Moscow), home to every mineral on the periodic table – and, for a short time, home to yours truly!
Much of my 6-hour train journey from Estonia was spent at border control. Sniffer dogs, beady-eyed officials and guards swept through the carriages, scrutinised my visa, raised eyebrows at the hard-drive I was carrying, grilled me on my finances and eventually awarded an entry stamp. St Petersburg was only just getting dark as I arrived around midnight. I’d heard that ‘any car’ is a taxi, you simply had to flag down a passing vehicle – probability of death and kidnap was minimal if there is just one chap in the car, and if you’ve checked the back foot well for hidden nutters…
