First visit to Moscow

Somewhere in early March 2016, the idea of GGIM’s first ever guided expedition to Mt. Elbrus was concocted. I had heard stories of Mt. Elbrus from Akash, for whom Elbrus trip has now become a routine business. So after hearing his climbing stories, the curiosity for exploring this celebrated peak peeked in my mind. By the end of Apr 2016, we rolled out the expedition. Within a month we got 8 clients on board and we set out for the Caucasus mountains!!

What was started or perceived as a core mountaineering expedition eventually turned out to be a fairly leisure adventure except for the summit bid which offered challenges, none of us had faced before or even foreseen. In my personal opinion, from a staunch mountaineer’s point of view, it’s a relatively easy game but for an avid adventurer, it’s surely a ‘must go’ destination.  

    

After multiple rounds of pack-in and pack-out business, I was ready with a rucksack on my back and a duffle bag as heavy as 17 kg in hands. The weight of the duffle would not have been as issue, if the bag had wheels. Little did I foresee that this singular blunder would became a nightmare for me for next two days of air and metro travels in Russia.  

Aai had come to drop me to airport. She has always been there to see me off on my mountaineering trips. Both Aai and pappa, or for that matter everyone in my family probably pretends to be relaxed and cool but while leaving from home, I always sense their feelings which are far more than just cares and concerns. Neither do they display what they feel, nor do I let them know what I sense. It’s reciprocally understood. Wordlessly.

It was a gloomy evening of 6^th Aug at Pune airport and I had made it a point to reach airport 2 hrs well in advance. It may sound funny to check in at Pune airport two hrs before the departure but considering the extreme rainfalls (as per Pune standards: D) on a previous day where some of the roads and bridges were swallowed by roaring Mutha river, I did not want to take any risk.

At airport, formalities got quickly over and most of the time I spent reading Russian pre-world war history. It was really difficult to comprehend the intensities with which such a huge empire had to fight for survival on both ends. External wars against central European powers and internal turmoil born out of public anger against the Romanov Dynasty. Despite the empire got geographically vivisected from western and southern sides during the 20^th century, the country still remains the largest one with 11 time zones!

It was the third time in the past 6 months that I was travelling abroad via Delhi airport. I was alone this time. But Delhi’s silent airport felt surprisingly friendly. In fact, out of some international airports that I have seen (not that I have seen so many) I really appreciate how tourist friendly system they have set up. Sign boards and displays guide you so well that you can simply keep your brains in a dormant mode and follow the directions.

Six and a half hrs of Aeroflot flight taking off at 4:55 AM, without any elements of entertainment (even the airhostess didn’t seem to be of Russian standards :P) was a shear disheartenment. I was hoping for some Russian delicacy to treat my ever gourmet taste buds but the sight of typical continental breakfast left me with facepalm. Engulfed with thoughts of how Russia would treat me for next 13 days, I fell fast asleep.

At 9:30 AM as per Moscow time, our flight landed at Sheremetyevo International airport. Until now it was a sluggish mundane flight journey but the most intriguing adventure was now awaiting for me at the exit gates. The task was to go from Sheremetyevo Airport to Vnukovo Airport to catch my flight to Mineralnye Vody. It wasn’t that easy. With all the annoying luggage (one on my back and one in hand), I had to switch three metro trains. It not only involved switching metros but I had to switch 2 intermediate metro stations too. Which meant I had to walk considerable amount of distance with such luggage.. Another obstacle. Moscow was as sunny as it would be in Pune’s October heats. And the worst part was this all commute had to be performed in a city where people either do not understand English or simply refuse to talk English, let alone any English sign boards to guide you.

I wondered how I could have commuted this seemingly arduous journey without any trouble, had the ‘Google’ not been invented. They have humanised technology to an extent that sometimes I feel life without google would be just impossible. Being alienated due to unfamiliar language, I was completely dumbfounded of what to do now.... I installed Google translator and started typing in English which it would translate in Russian. The locals exactly reciprocated from their smartphones and all of a sudden I got in sync with Moscow.

Thanks to the end of cold wars and soviet era that the Russians were so friendly with a US based search Engine. 

With the translator, maps and metro app, I navigated from Sheremetyevo Airport – Belleruskaya aeroxpress station – Belleruskaya metro station – Keivskaya metro station – Kievskaya Aeroxpress Station to finally Vnukovo airport.. it all took me close to 5 hrs. More or less same as travel from Delhi to Moscow. The metro network of Moscow is such that some of the metro lines run around 230 ft below the ground. The most jaw dropping thing was to know that at certain points, they cross the Moskva river through the deep tunnels; let alone the intricate constructions and quintessential decorations of the metro stations.

Moscow, in that short 7 hrs of tour appeared to me like an atomic structure of an element. Red Square & Kremlin acting as protons & neutrons while the vehicles & metros encircling around in circular orbits like electrons. No wonder Russian genetics had intelligentsia of Chemist Dmitri Mendeleev, who formulated first periodic table of elements.

At Vnukovo airport, I was relieved to have finally overcome the biggest of the hurdles. Next flight was to Mineralnye Vody, where Irina, the main guide of the expedition was coming to receive me. Surprisingly I found this domestic flight way more comfortable than the international one. May be I had got used to Russian ways and the tolerance level had significantly risen up. But wait! The air travel hadn’t ended yet and the last surprise package was still waiting. As soon as the flight took off and hit the clouds, it wavered for a couple of seconds. This wasn’t new to me so I was relaxed and so were the co passengers.. But it did that again.. And this time it lasted for more than 10-12 seconds.. And at third time, the pilot lowered the flight for 3-4 seconds as if it’s a free fall. I was almost off the seat due to weightlessness. Until that moment, the only reason I`d pay attention to seat belt was when an airhostess demonstrated its usage. Thankfully the drama never resurfaced again. When the plane landed at Min. Vody, whole crew and the passengers cheered with roaring applaud.

But for this particular flight, I think it’s a matter of routine, because when the remaining group arrived next day, they also faced a similar experiences.

As soon as I stepped out of Min Vody airport, a lady probably in her 50s rushed towards me shouting loudly my name. Before even knowing where the call was coming from, she grabbed my hand and got me out of the crowd. It wasn’t difficult for her to spot me for obvious reasons. Irina aka Ira. A lady truly devoted to the mountains. And cigarettes. :D. She had climbed in Alps and some of the high mountains of Russia for past 30 years. But what stands out about her is 100+ successful attempts on Elbrus during the past 14-16 years. I was extremely happy to have her as a main expedition guide. Years of experience had made her not just physically strong but her intuitive decision making, knowledgeable & caring attitude and down to earth attitude were assuring prospects of a successful expedition.

We reached terskol at around 1:00 AM at night. The hotel receptionist refused to let me in. So I went to Ira’s place and finally after a total 30 strenuous travel hrs from Pune to Terskol, I laid down in peace.