Russia
Where I was before Russia: Mongolia.
Information on documentation, visas, permanence, security and much more for Brazilian consular portal.
Informações turísticas site oficial do governo da Russia.
Where I’m going next: Finland.
Irkutsk
Beginning of the trip through Russia.
Second stop in the Trans-Siberian and now in Siberia.
Irkutsk is a city on the Angara River, which rivals Ulan-Ude as a starting point for the great local attraction that is Lake Baikal, which is the deepest lake in the world.
Irkustk has a lot of Russian history, monuments, churches, etc.
After a few days I went to see the lake and moved to a village called Khuzhir.
It is a village in the middle of the island Olkhon, which is the largest island in the lake.
You could feel a little bit of Siberia, a blue sky that was much colder and it looks like it’s still summer.
After returning from Lake Baikal, it is time to travel to Novosirbisk, considered the capital of Siberia.
Novosibirsk
Novosibirsk is the capital of the homonymous province. It is located on the banks of the Ob River.
It has about 1.5 million inhabitants and is the third largest Russian city.
Novosibirsk was founded in 1893 during the construction of the Trans-Siberian.
It is a vibrant city with museums, theaters, shows and many architectural monuments, such as the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral and Novosibirsk Opera house.
Now it’s time to take the longest train journey on this adventure. It will be 53 hours to Moscow.
Moscow
The Trans-Siberian ends here, this 53-hour trip was very quiet and comfortable.
The Trans Siberian is really a separate adventure.
Moscow is the political, economic, religious and cultural center of Russia.
It is the largest city in Europe and It is simply amazing to be here and see for myself what we know about the history.
Being able to walk in the red square, Kremlin, Bolshoi ballet theater and many other places that I only saw talking about until then.
I was fortunate enough to arrive the week that Moscow celebrates its 870 years. There were many shows around the city.
After this incredible week, it’s time to move on and head to the last city in Asia on this trip. Saint Petersburg.
Saint Petersburg
St. Petersburg, was called Petrograd (1914–24) and Leningrad (1924–91), was capital of the Russian empire for 2 centuries.
It was the scene of one of the longest and most destructive battles of the second world war.
I was very grateful, because the city is very beautiful with an architectural exuberance like no other.
There is a more beautiful building on each side than the other.
The city is known as the “Venice of the North” because of an interesting feature.
It is located on the banks of the River Neva, which flows into the Gulf of Finland – and comprises 42 islands. To join them, 450 bridges were built that cross 63 rivers and canals.
Several metro stations are very deep with Admiralteyskaya being the deepest, exactly 89 meters deep.
Now the Asia phase ends here. Now it’s time to head towards Europe, Helsinki’s first stop.
