Moscow and Murmansk, The City Above The Arctic Circle
It was time for another long train ride, 30 hours long to be exact. This time I was travelling from Yekaterinburg to Moscow in 3rd class. The thing about 3rd class is that it is truly a no-frills experience and it allows me to be up close and personal with local Russians and learn about the culture and mannerisms that is part of what it means to be Russian. Everybody is confined in a close space and will inevitably cross paths one way or another [when you take things from your bag, go to the toilet, eat meals, or in my case not understand Russian train conductors and need translation help], which makes things pretty intimate. I mean, imagine waking up to a bunch of strangers around you, some snoring and some washing up. They will see a side of you, not even your friends have seen.
It is raw, unfiltered, and just a beautiful scene of humans just doing what they do without the distraction of social media, work or studies [yes, there is no internet connection, let alone cell phone signal during most of the ride].
Moscow is truly beautiful, especially the metro stations. Central Moscow is where the tourists flock to, including myself, but it is hard not to. St. Basil’s Cathedral, the Moscow Kremlin, Lenin’s Mausoleum, the State Historical Museum and the GUM department mall are all worthy of your time even if your historical knowledge is limited, simply due to their world-class architecture.
I spent a full day just admiring the design work or the metro stations all over Moscow [crazy, right?] and I highly recommend it, even if it makes you look ridiculous. I love the entire idea of beautifying metro stations because not only does it become an attraction in itself, it also helps people slow down on their commutes and stop to appreciate the beauty around them.
The pace of life in Moscow, similar to Singapore, seems very fast-paced. The people walk really fast as if they have somewhere to go all the time. It might be just me, but I am a slow-paced kind of person, preferring to take my time to go through things because I believe in enjoying the process and not rushing through it.
Travelling solo allowed me to take a step back and observe without having to talk to anyone. I observed people going about their daily lives, how they interact with other people and reflected on it to learn about how I want to improve as a person moving on.
After 4 days in Moscow, it was time for my fourth Russian train ride. A 37-hour journey taking me from Moscow to Murmansk, the largest city above the Arctic Circle.
Murmansk is a massive port city in the Arctic, which gives it a distinct character when I was wandering around. It was different than the other Russian cities I’ve been, with modest architecture reminiscent of an industrial town and a tiny community of trendy cafés dotted around the city centre. Most people who end up in Murmansk are there for 2 reasons: to embark on Aurora hunting [Northern Lights hunting] or to participate in the numerous winter/snow activities around Murmansk.
However, I did none of that because I was travelling alone and activities like those become cheaper the bigger the group and I was there at the beginning of April, which was the end of the Aurora hunting season. Instead, I took the tram system around town, explored the only mall in Murmansk, had a haircut [above the Arctic Circle, how cool is that?] and ate at the world’s northernmost McDonalds [nothing too exciting food-wise, but still!].
A tip from me to you when visiting Murmansk: use Airbnb for accommodations because if you’re looking for hostels there won’t be many options [during the time I visited, April 2019] and Airbnb allows you to experience living in one of the many identical apartment complexes in Murmansk and experience local life without breaking the bank.
Accommodation I stayed in
Moscow: Godzillas Hostel
Murmansk: Airbnb, hosted by Olga [I really like her]
These were originally posted on my blog, which I found more tedious to manage than Medium. These are stories from a trip I embarked on in March to April 2019.
