Moscow

Well. . . . To be blunt. Laurence has been deported. After leaving Amsterdam yesterday and arriving in Moscow about 7pm we began our wait to get through customs. I was able to get through fairly easily, in about 20 minutes, but my buddy, on the other hand, was deported to Warsaw because his passport had been run through the wash. His passport looked pretty beat up but still was obviously an official passport. None the less, Welcome to Russia!! So having just lost the guy who had made all of the accomdations I began to wander through Moscow. I got on the first train from the airport I saw and just hoped it went to the right place. I got off where every one else got off and then took a subway to what I thought was the center of town. Along the way I tried asking several people for help but noone spoke enough English to help. Some people just nodded there head and then said something in Russian and others just laughed when I approached them.

So anyway, I just get off on a random station in what I believe to be the middle of town and began to look for some signs in English or at least an Internet cafe I can use. Nothing. I walked through two huge parks lugging my huge bag clearly out of place. The whole time I was contemplating which park bench I am going to sleep under. The whole thing was a pretty terrifying experience. I really couldnt even get myself back to the airport had I wanted to. The whole thing was a pretty terrifying experience

After about 40 minutes of walking, I come across the Courtyard Marriot and told Svetlana the Conceirge my story and she was able to help put me in a cab to my hostel. I was able to recall the hostel's name only because I had to deal with all of the Visa stuff so many times.

Anyway, the start of my Russian tour was quite an experience to say the least but I am hear safely and getting ready to venture into Red Square. Tonight I will be heading into St.Petersburg for the next 3 days. The train leaves at midnight and takes about 8 hours to get there. Hopefully that starts much smoother then Moscow did.