"Not like I imagined": what surprised an Indonesian woman in Russia

A young Indonesian woman, Shintaria, rushed with her German husband on a train across Russia. The traveler visited 8 Russian cities in 23 days. When she returned home, she told about her impressions.

Russia: Expectation and reality

I've never believed in scary stories about Russia. But before I came here, I heard that there are not very nice people here (rude, unfriendly, strange and even aggressive). On the other hand, I was told that people from the villages are much friendlier. So I was completely neutral. Come what may. I need to find out for myself.

Top favorite cities

1. St. Petersburg. He turned out to be completely different from what I imagined. The most memorable was the architecture, I walked with my jaw hanging open. The buildings are huge, painted in pastel colors and decorated with gold… The Winter Palace was particularly impressive. The interior decoration of the Savior on Spilled Blood and the House of the Eliseev merchants also really liked it.

In second place is the island of Olkhon on Lake Baikal, of course. The scenery was breathtaking.

Multi-day train trips

Russian trains are quite clean and comfortable. It was especially cool that we were traveling in a car where there were only Russians (we were lucky in general: we met only a couple of foreigners and due to this we did not feel like tourists). Of course, it's no secret that there is a language barrier. Although we, nevertheless, managed to explain ourselves with gestures, a couple of Russian words and English.

We had something to do on the train: you can chat with the locals, play board games, watch movies from a tablet, go to the conductor for boiling water, look at the scenery, go outside during 10-minute stops at stations and stretch a little (someone goes out to smoke). The longest stretch was from Ulan-Ude to Vladivostok: 3 days, where we, of course, got tired. But we were traveling in the same compartment with a family who had to travel for 7 days (seven, Karl!). When we finally got off in Vladivostok and sat down in a cafe to drink coffee, we still felt the rolling of the train.

Funny situations on the journey

Our fellow travelers on the train used a Google translator to be able to talk to us. But it was in Siberia. In places, the connection was lost. So we sat and waited for the signal to continue the interrupted conversation.

Surprise in Russia

Russia is actually a very modern country. In the Moscow metro, people can talk on the phone right in the tunnel.

Russia is clean. We felt completely safe during the trip.

Russian people

Indonesians are very friendly and sociable. Even living in another country, wherever I meet an Indonesian, I can chat with him for hours. I'm not sure about the Russians, because I don't speak their language, but it seems to me that the conversations just might be about something else.

It seems that in big cities people are less in touch compared to Siberia. I asked people, they explained to me that this is because life is more difficult in cities, which is why people smile less often.

What should I transfer from Russia to Indonesia

Russian people drink a lot of tea. I think in Indonesia and the Netherlands we need to drink more of it (necessarily with 3 tablespoons of sugar and without stirring)

What should I transfer from your country to Russia

In the Netherlands (travelers live there permanently), we travel a lot by bicycle (to work, to the station, to the supermarket, anywhere), but, as far as I remember, bicycles are almost not used here (Moscow is an exception). Perhaps you should adopt the culture of using bicycles from us.

Russian dacha

That was cool. It's like a tiny house with a large garden and a sauna (only the toilet is outside). Soviet posters hung everywhere in the house, and it also happened that the owner of the house had a traditional Soviet-era bag with old toys, souvenirs, photos, etc. We watched old movies and sat on an old bed, we were taught to cook borscht from vegetables directly from the garden.

It was also fun in the bath! I was beaten with some dried plants. It was interesting. There is something to do in the country. It was very pleasant and interesting to experience all this for yourself.

Overall impression

It was an unforgettable journey! We learned a few Russian words. We tried new delicious dishes. People have been kind to us, although in some cities people don't smile at all.