Domodedovo airport

I am now sitting in the BA lounge @ Domodedovo. It is quite modern,, with a small food and drink area, large windows, a nice computer area and a shower. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a corner with relaxing chairs where I might sit back and have a snooze...

Yesterday, Radik, Sasha and I left pad 5 after lunch and drove down to base camp, which takes about 2 hours. Yet again, the weather was amazing and it was lovely driving along the main road to base, soaking up the sun and the views of the forest.

When we arrived we went to the main SSFT unit, where the Team Leader and Lead Geo sit-it was lovely to see Sergey again, if a little surreal, as the environment we had last seen each other in was pretty much the exact opposite!

After a little while, Stijn, my B2B, showed up and I had a little chat with him to bring him up to speed. He will be working with Sergey Ryzhkov on pad 5 at the beginning so he's in good hands.

After a bit more chatting, Sasha and I headed for the bus. Radik had had to leave with Vlada-the-TA because someone had forgotten to buy him a train ticket... We met him at Salym train station and waited together in the waiting-room, which was another interesting experience. There was only one other woman there, wearing stilletos and a long fur coat. Everyone else was male, with a fur hat, a dark jacket, a rugged face and was very quiet. The train was delayed so we had to wait (in silence) a further 30 minutes. The ticket booth was a small slot in the wall-very soviet. Mind you, I expect the ticket lady had her own personal heater and was happy about the lack of gaps in her booth-it was bitterly cold outside; still about -30 but windy.

The train was announced and everyone traipsed outside. Now I had been warned this part was going to be dicey, but again it is rather hard to imagine beforehand. First we waited to see which way the train was arriving, and on which tracks. Some people were standing in between 2 tracks, ready to hop over depending on where the train came in.

The point is that the trains stops for about 1 1/2 minutes in Salym, although it has been known to stay only 40 seconds, with people still jumping on as it moved off...

When we saw the train we had to start running as we were too far down the platform; you are supposed to get on in your carriage and they check tickets as you climb in. The platform wasn't lit past the waiting-room so we had to gallop along (luckily one of the boys was carrying my suitcase) in the dark, trying to work out which carriage we were looking at.
Somehow or other we got on the train in time, although in the wrong carriage, but Sasha explained and we only got a mild telling-off by the train lady (a friendly character).

Gasping for breath (yes, a month of chocolate and cake abuse has not helped) we dumped our bags in our compartment and made our way to the restaurant, where we stayed for the 4 hours.
I quite like Russian trains, because they give a feeling of occasion. You are given a pillow, a mattress and sheets when you arrive in the compartment and they bring round food for dinner (which we gave the 2 men who were sharing our compartment). The restaurant is a proper "old-school" one, with benches, tables, nice tablecloths and a proper waitress. The trains are very high off the ground, too, which makes them difficult to get into (did I mention we had to climb into them from the tracks, not the platform?) but fun to ride in.

We left Radik in Surgut, where he lives, and took the minibus to the hotel, where we went for a drink-a bizarre experience of drinking Newcastle Brown in a random Siberian hotel full of oil men. After which I went to bed, as the minibus to the airport was going to be leaving at 6 am.

Getting up this morning was rather painful due to the cumulative sleep deprivation but things went smoothly. The business class experience in Russia is excellent-they really make things easy for you, and in Surgut airport especially. I only worked this out once I had reached the businees lounge after a bit of a confused tour of the airport but in fact you can just walk into the airport and go straight to the business lounge, where they will take your passport and ticket stub and sort out your check-in and your bags for you! After which, you are taken in a special minibus to the plane, accompanied by a very polite stewardess.

The flight was uneventful; I did get rather excited as we flew out of Surgut as I could see an amazing example of a meandering river system unfold below me, but even that could not keep me awake for too long and I slept most of the way, except during breakfast (which was offered to me in Russian and for which I must proudly say, I made informed choices all in Rusian :-)

Once at Domodedovo airport, I phoned Alexey to see if he could meet up in Moscow but I couldn't reach him. I decided against going into town on my own, without preparation or a map, as I felt too tired to enjoy the experience. So I sat down in a corner and read.
I was provided with pre-flight entertainement for a while when the builders on the floor appeared to have drilled through some water pipes. Water started pouring down from the ceiling, just far enough away for me to see but not get wet. It was rather amusing to watch various men wearing an arrray of security passes turn up, stare, start talking animatedely down the phone, disappear for a while then come back to comment on how someone else was dealing with the situation. The bag-wrapping man nearby seemed to be especially skilled in the arm-waving department and even tried to start ordering the cleaners about. Finally a female supervisor arrived and the situation was under control within 5 minutes.

I am looking forward to a good sleep on the plane as I am feeling rather wooly-headed right now and have to keep fighting the urge to curl up in a corner to sleep. Could I be jet-lagged already? And why is it that I always feel it more going West than going East, unlike everyone else?