@lewd good luck!
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Day four slowly comes to an end : The
Elron train brought me to Narva at the Russian border. The Estonian officials were quite fast but yet strict at the border check : even my remaining 20 EUR bill was not permitted.Walking over the snowy border bridge decorated by NATO fence and tank blockers was quite a weird feeling.
The border is closed for vehicles, officialy due to construction work at the bridge - which has never been carried out. The railway crossing also is no longer in use since the trains from Moscow to Tallinn are paused since the beginning of the COVID pandemic and obviously there is no political willing to reopen it any time soon. So for now, only pedestrians are allowed to cross the border.
@lewd what's the bit about the 20 EUR bill? No cash allowed?
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@lewd what's the bit about the 20 EUR bill? No cash allowed?
@tops Yes, the EU sanctions only permit European cash for personal use and the Estonian position on this is personal use means coins only.
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@tops Yes, the EU sanctions only permit European cash for personal use and the Estonian position on this is personal use means coins only.
@lewd 🤯
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Day four slowly comes to an end : The
Elron train brought me to Narva at the Russian border. The Estonian officials were quite fast but yet strict at the border check : even my remaining 20 EUR bill was not permitted.Walking over the snowy border bridge decorated by NATO fence and tank blockers was quite a weird feeling.
The border is closed for vehicles, officialy due to construction work at the bridge - which has never been carried out. The railway crossing also is no longer in use since the trains from Moscow to Tallinn are paused since the beginning of the COVID pandemic and obviously there is no political willing to reopen it any time soon. So for now, only pedestrians are allowed to cross the border.
It's -21 °C right now
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It's -21 °C right now
.@lewd brrrrr
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Day four slowly comes to an end : The
Elron train brought me to Narva at the Russian border. The Estonian officials were quite fast but yet strict at the border check : even my remaining 20 EUR bill was not permitted.Walking over the snowy border bridge decorated by NATO fence and tank blockers was quite a weird feeling.
The border is closed for vehicles, officialy due to construction work at the bridge - which has never been carried out. The railway crossing also is no longer in use since the trains from Moscow to Tallinn are paused since the beginning of the COVID pandemic and obviously there is no political willing to reopen it any time soon. So for now, only pedestrians are allowed to cross the border.
@lewd The railway crossing seems still to be in use for freight trains, though. At least last August, that was, when I witnessed one freight train coming from Russia passing through the station. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to take a picture of it as I was waiting for my train back to Tallinn in the station building. Would have been cool if the train passed when I was taking a picture of the border railway bridge!
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It's -21 °C right now
.Good morning !
The night was short but I finally arrived in Russia and made my way to St. Petersburg. I got all my connecting tickets and I'm looking forwards to spending the rest of the day in a comfortable
wagon-lits compartment sleeping my way to the Kazakh border.At this point, the mandatory reminder : Do not travel to Russia as a European citizen. We are in a difficult political conflict. Border and diplomatic regulations can suddenly change at any time, it's therefore not safe and reliable to travel between Europe and Russia these days.
Also a brief reminder : This is a publicly visible thread and I'll therefore limit my contributions to railway postings rather than writing any other content related to the current situation.
I hope despite the situation you will enjoy my travel report
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@lewd The railway crossing seems still to be in use for freight trains, though. At least last August, that was, when I witnessed one freight train coming from Russia passing through the station. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to take a picture of it as I was waiting for my train back to Tallinn in the station building. Would have been cool if the train passed when I was taking a picture of the border railway bridge!
@mikey179 Oh, interesting. Good to know at least freight is still running. At all the sanctions, we should try to at least use ecologically viable transport means for all the few remaining trade.
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Good morning !
The night was short but I finally arrived in Russia and made my way to St. Petersburg. I got all my connecting tickets and I'm looking forwards to spending the rest of the day in a comfortable
wagon-lits compartment sleeping my way to the Kazakh border.At this point, the mandatory reminder : Do not travel to Russia as a European citizen. We are in a difficult political conflict. Border and diplomatic regulations can suddenly change at any time, it's therefore not safe and reliable to travel between Europe and Russia these days.
Also a brief reminder : This is a publicly visible thread and I'll therefore limit my contributions to railway postings rather than writing any other content related to the current situation.
I hope despite the situation you will enjoy my travel report
!Bomb russian cities into ruble with all women and children (non politicaly and respectfully)
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Good morning !
The night was short but I finally arrived in Russia and made my way to St. Petersburg. I got all my connecting tickets and I'm looking forwards to spending the rest of the day in a comfortable
wagon-lits compartment sleeping my way to the Kazakh border.At this point, the mandatory reminder : Do not travel to Russia as a European citizen. We are in a difficult political conflict. Border and diplomatic regulations can suddenly change at any time, it's therefore not safe and reliable to travel between Europe and Russia these days.
Also a brief reminder : This is a publicly visible thread and I'll therefore limit my contributions to railway postings rather than writing any other content related to the current situation.
I hope despite the situation you will enjoy my travel report
!@lewd glad you made it! Thank for the updates and good luck on РЖД
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Good morning !
The night was short but I finally arrived in Russia and made my way to St. Petersburg. I got all my connecting tickets and I'm looking forwards to spending the rest of the day in a comfortable
wagon-lits compartment sleeping my way to the Kazakh border.At this point, the mandatory reminder : Do not travel to Russia as a European citizen. We are in a difficult political conflict. Border and diplomatic regulations can suddenly change at any time, it's therefore not safe and reliable to travel between Europe and Russia these days.
Also a brief reminder : This is a publicly visible thread and I'll therefore limit my contributions to railway postings rather than writing any other content related to the current situation.
I hope despite the situation you will enjoy my travel report
!@lewd FUERZA! Wishing you a lovely, relaxing time of it.
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Good morning !
The night was short but I finally arrived in Russia and made my way to St. Petersburg. I got all my connecting tickets and I'm looking forwards to spending the rest of the day in a comfortable
wagon-lits compartment sleeping my way to the Kazakh border.At this point, the mandatory reminder : Do not travel to Russia as a European citizen. We are in a difficult political conflict. Border and diplomatic regulations can suddenly change at any time, it's therefore not safe and reliable to travel between Europe and Russia these days.
Also a brief reminder : This is a publicly visible thread and I'll therefore limit my contributions to railway postings rather than writing any other content related to the current situation.
I hope despite the situation you will enjoy my travel report
!@lewd Which nationality are you?
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@lewd Which nationality are you?
@max I have a European citizenship.
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Good morning !
The night was short but I finally arrived in Russia and made my way to St. Petersburg. I got all my connecting tickets and I'm looking forwards to spending the rest of the day in a comfortable
wagon-lits compartment sleeping my way to the Kazakh border.At this point, the mandatory reminder : Do not travel to Russia as a European citizen. We are in a difficult political conflict. Border and diplomatic regulations can suddenly change at any time, it's therefore not safe and reliable to travel between Europe and Russia these days.
Also a brief reminder : This is a publicly visible thread and I'll therefore limit my contributions to railway postings rather than writing any other content related to the current situation.
I hope despite the situation you will enjoy my travel report
!Whereas the
"Aurora" did not happen for this year, the still operate their 743У "Аврора" running from St. Petersburg to Moscow as a daytime inter-city train - in good Soviet manner featuring 1st class sleeper compartments for sure.I'm taking this train for two hours to Bologoe-Moskolkoe where I'm going to catch my long distance sleeper to the Kazakh border - further away from scary western Russia.
Surprise to my vegan soul : The menu of the first class catering includes an entire page dedicated to plant-based food and I'm looking forwards to some dinner in a moment.
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Whereas the
"Aurora" did not happen for this year, the still operate their 743У "Аврора" running from St. Petersburg to Moscow as a daytime inter-city train - in good Soviet manner featuring 1st class sleeper compartments for sure.I'm taking this train for two hours to Bologoe-Moskolkoe where I'm going to catch my long distance sleeper to the Kazakh border - further away from scary western Russia.
Surprise to my vegan soul : The menu of the first class catering includes an entire page dedicated to plant-based food and I'm looking forwards to some dinner in a moment.
@lewd no way the russian railways are better at veganism than SNCF….
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Whereas the
"Aurora" did not happen for this year, the still operate their 743У "Аврора" running from St. Petersburg to Moscow as a daytime inter-city train - in good Soviet manner featuring 1st class sleeper compartments for sure.I'm taking this train for two hours to Bologoe-Moskolkoe where I'm going to catch my long distance sleeper to the Kazakh border - further away from scary western Russia.
Surprise to my vegan soul : The menu of the first class catering includes an entire page dedicated to plant-based food and I'm looking forwards to some dinner in a moment.
Enjoying dinner in the
@diningcar service onboard of the 743У "Аврора" inter-city service on my way from Sankt Petersburg to Bologoe during my #FOSSRail trip from Brussels to Bangkok.The three course menu includes some fresh salad with grilled vegetables, a tasty bulgur dish and some fruit pastry, served along with juice, tea, fruits and snacks.
While enjoying the tasty dinner, winter landscapes of Leningrad Oblast are passing by at -20 °C.
Stay safe, warm and take care
!#FOSSRail #TeamNightTrain #SleeperAndEater
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Enjoying dinner in the
@diningcar service onboard of the 743У "Аврора" inter-city service on my way from Sankt Petersburg to Bologoe during my #FOSSRail trip from Brussels to Bangkok.The three course menu includes some fresh salad with grilled vegetables, a tasty bulgur dish and some fruit pastry, served along with juice, tea, fruits and snacks.
While enjoying the tasty dinner, winter landscapes of Leningrad Oblast are passing by at -20 °C.
Stay safe, warm and take care
!#FOSSRail #TeamNightTrain #SleeperAndEater
@diningcar @lewd Das Geschirr könnte ein tolles Souvenir sein
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Enjoying dinner in the
@diningcar service onboard of the 743У "Аврора" inter-city service on my way from Sankt Petersburg to Bologoe during my #FOSSRail trip from Brussels to Bangkok.The three course menu includes some fresh salad with grilled vegetables, a tasty bulgur dish and some fruit pastry, served along with juice, tea, fruits and snacks.
While enjoying the tasty dinner, winter landscapes of Leningrad Oblast are passing by at -20 °C.
Stay safe, warm and take care
!#FOSSRail #TeamNightTrain #SleeperAndEater
Second sleeper train of my trip completed on day five. Now waiting for 15 minutes for my connecting train from Bologoe to Chelyibinsk. I booked a comfortable sleeper compartmznt for the 32 hours trip over two nights.
The
Аврора service was definitely a luxury experience, the staff was very helpful with my spontaneous reschedule and helped me with everything despite no common language.The railway station in Bologoe has a weird layout : The station building is located in the middle of a field of tracks, there are two main tracks where most trains depart and the other platforms are scrambled over the area. Access via a tunnel only.
I'm looking forwards for a comfy sleeper and finally some time to rest without any hurry for two days.
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Second sleeper train of my trip completed on day five. Now waiting for 15 minutes for my connecting train from Bologoe to Chelyibinsk. I booked a comfortable sleeper compartmznt for the 32 hours trip over two nights.
The
Аврора service was definitely a luxury experience, the staff was very helpful with my spontaneous reschedule and helped me with everything despite no common language.The railway station in Bologoe has a weird layout : The station building is located in the middle of a field of tracks, there are two main tracks where most trains depart and the other platforms are scrambled over the area. Access via a tunnel only.
I'm looking forwards for a comfy sleeper and finally some time to rest without any hurry for two days.
My sleeper arrived : I got a single СЛ compartment for the next 32 hours bringing me via Moscow to the Asian part of Russia in the Ural district, right to the Kazakh border.
The train is comfortable, food is provided (vegan again) and I will already switch my clock to Ural time adjusting my day-night rhythm
.#FOSSRail #TeamNightTrain #SleeperAndEater
