Chita, Siberia
Journey Index
Day 2 - NJ-Moscow
Day 2 Photos
Day 3 - Moscow-Chita
Day 3 Photos
Day 5 - Chita-ECLIPSE!
Day 5 Photos
Day 7 - Chita-Moscow
Day 7 Photos
Preparation
Getting resources together for this journey was at first easy then became difficult and I became anxiety-ridden.
In corresponding with John in Moscow, I began to see that getting to Russia was going to be an involved and complex process. He initiated the visa application process through a friend at the Foreign Ministry in Moscow. He assured me that this person would handle all the necessary paperwork. John said that would arrange to purchase my Moscow-Chita airline ticket. This all sounded good to me.
Zoya (John's fiancee at that time) was going to arrange for me to stay with her mother in Chita. Another item taken care of.
I performed some acts of technical wizardry on a friend's Macintosh computer and, as payment, she purchased a round-trip ticket to Moscow for me. Ya gotta love the barter system!
As Christmas was approaching, I found myself browsing catalogs and storefronts looking for goodies to pass along to family and friends. During my shopping sprees, I also picked up an Arctic parka, lots of sub-zero winter clothing and other "presents" for myself, including my international driving license.
All right! On your mark, get set, phhhhtttttt...
The first sign that things were not going to be as smooth as I hoped came when Zoya contacted me about my lodgings. Her mother, it turns out, has a deep distrust of Americans and would be very uncomfortable with me in her house. I explained that I would be happy with hotel accommodations but that it was difficult for me to contact any hotels in the area (there are no Siberian Yellow Pages). She said that she would investigate the possibilities.
Next problem: the visa from Hell! John had assumed that the visa application went through without a hitch. Not so. Although I had filed all of the appropriate paperwork and supplied all the necessary information, the Russian embassy in New York was dragging its feet. After numerous attempts to contact them, I decided that it was best if I arranged for the visa here in the US. Another big mistake. To condense this tale a bit, I needed a telex sent from the Foreign Ministry in Moscow to the Russian embassy in Washington, D.C., not New York. I was able to get John's friend to do this and was told, after much prodding, that I'd receive the visa in plenty of time. The day before I was to leave. Nice margin, eh?
During this time, I attempted to test some of the Arctic gear I'd purchased. We had a cold snap in mid-January which allowed a day to try things out. Prior to then, we had been experiencing one of the warmest winters on record. Temperatures were in the 40s and 50s with an occasional spike in the 60s. After that cold snap, the warm weather resumed. Five days before I was scheduled to leave for the second coldest spot on Earth, it was 70 degrees in New Jersey. So much for acclimating...
Then my video camera broke and had to be sent in for repairs. I was told it would be ready two weeks before departing. When Sony sent the wrong part to the repair facility, I was told I might get the camera back in time for the trip.
The round trip ticket from Moscow to Chita could not be purchased until two weeks before the departure date. I was told that it would be close to $600 for the ticket. Imagine my surprise when Zoya called to say she got the ticket and it was 6,150,000 rubles. At the time, the exchange rate for dollars placed the amount at $1,110. It turns out that there are only a very few airlines that fly into Chita. Monopolies can ruin your whole day...
Man, it's great to be alive sometimes, ya know?
However, despite the anxiety-producing scenario that was unfolding, things began to get a little rosier. Zoya had contacted an old friend of hers, Marina, who lives in Chita. Zoya suggested that I call Marina and see about accommodations in town. The first call to Chita was awkward. In a subsequent phone conversation, Marina told be that she was a little frightened to have an American calling her out of the blue. Our phone calls, however, became frequent and we developed a good rapport during many humorous conversations. Marina offered to have me stay at her home with her husband, Volodya, and her six-year-old daughter, Victoria. It felt comforting and exhilarating to make contact with another human half way around the globe. Although Marina speaks excellent English, Volodya does not and my Russian is marginal at best. It's difficult to describe the conversation he and I had one morning when Marina was not home. He was trying to converse in one direction and I another. We spent a majority of that conversation in laughter because we knew the other person wasn't close to understanding what or where the conversation was heading. After that call, I really hit the Russian language books...
Just under a week before my departure, I was approached by the editor of Bloomberg Magazine about writing a travel article for the publication. He recognized that my trip to Siberia was unique and thought there was enough interest to warrant serious space for photos and word burgling. I had intended to keep journal entries and photograph the people and the town and this offer appeared to be a perfect, seamless fit (and an excuse to take hundreds, not just dozens, of photos!). I agreed to give it a go, although at that point just what this journey was going to be was a complete mystery. Then, a number of friends in the publishing business suggested I work on a book treatment; that they would farm this out and see what sprouted. Hmmm...what's next? Chita: The Movie? Aaron Spelling, send me an e-mail, babe. We'll do lunch. OK, OK, I digress. Ultimately, these opportunities offered an exciting new avenue by which I could share my Siberian experience with people and they opened unexpected points of view in exploring Chita for me.
It was Sunday, March 2nd, when I found out that my video camera was fixed. Whew, just in time for some tests and then in the bag it goes. The airfare to Chita was reduced by $300. The visa arrived, as promised. A cold snap two days before I left allowed me to test the remainder of the gear. All the ducks. Quack, quack, quack.
Life is good.
Where's the antacid?
