3rd Sept - Moscow

I woke up with the daylight and no idea what the real time actually is. Russia is so huge that I have passed through about 3 or 4 time zones on one train ride! I was tired but I could not get back to sleep again as there were too many people in and out of the door right next to my bed so I just got up and had some cereal and my normal 1 cup of coffee for the morning (yes mother - I usually only have 1 or possibly 2 cups in a day so I can't be THAT addicted, but I do really enjoy it :-)) and wrote my diary.

The train arrived in Moscow at 11. It took me some time to put my bike back together and leave the station but I managed to bike straight to Asida's flat (about 10km away) without any difficultly using google maps. It was interesting to see the city as I cycled to her flat.



It was the first real civilisation since Beijing. The traffic was polite and I did not have a problem biking on the main roads even though they were busy. I did not get beeped at once. There were many lovely old buildings of European style. It was strange for me to see them having been out of Europe for the last year. It seemed very wealthy with many nice cars.

Asida kindly let me drop off my things but she needed the flat for some work until about 3.30. She left gave me a copy of the keys and said I could return and have the flat to myself for the evening after this point. She would be back (along with her cousin Dima who shares the flat) about 3am.



I really enjoyed walking to the nearest Starbucks and sitting using the Wi-fi connection to speak to friends online and use Skype although I was feeling to knackered after 3 days on a train and ill with a cold and did not feel like catching up on my blog.

I loved treating myself to 2 pieces of cheesecake and coffee - although it was the most expensive I have ever had in my life! It was £8 for a cake and coffee. However, after the gruel of Mongolia and Siberia it was nice to have something lovely.

I bought a Subway salad on the way back and some fruit and had a chilled evening doing my washing and having a very long shower. I managed to get myself to bed for 9.30. I was too tired to have the energy to get myself to bed earlier....

Excited about being in Moscow but feeling over tired with traveling so much... I need some down time....