My original plan was to take a train from Riga to St Petersburg but various people that I spoke to in the hostel recommended that I took a Eurolines bus instead as it was much cheaper and more comfortable. I paid a little extra so I'd have a more comfortable seat and a table so I could make use of the wifi on the bus.
The journey to Tallinn was comfortable but after that it got a little messy. I had to wait for one hour at 12am in the bus station for a connecting bus. I couldn't use the bathroom facilities as I didn't have any currency for Estonia and they would not accept Lat or Rubles. The bus from Tallinn to St Petersburg was not a eurolines bus, it was some type of old Russian bus and was not very comfortable.
I had to hand over my passport when leaving Latvia and again when leaving Estonia and then at 4am we got to the Russian border. I was the only person who spoke English on the bus so it was difficult to find out what was going on. At 4am everyone got off the bus and took all their luggage with them. It was pretty cold out, snowing and very dark. There were lots of guys with military uniforms and weapons walking around. It was a bit unnerving going through customs and passport control when they did not speak English and I did not speak Russian. There was some problem with my documentation but I didn't know what or why and she couldn't explain, eventually she was happy and let me through. So back on the bus and in about 4 hours we got to St Petersburg.
It was a bit of a shock when I got off the bus in St Petersburg, firstly it was very very cold, I had no idea where I was when I got off the bus, no one spoke english and there were no signs in english. I found the metro pretty quickly but I couldn't buy a ticket. They would not take any large notes. I found a shop, bought some chewing gum and got some change. The lady in the shop wasn't happy but she gave me change anyhow.
It was rush hour so it was very busy and I had a rucksack and a hand luggage bag also. It took me over an hour to find the hostel even though it was less than a 5 minute walk from the metro station. The metro stations are impressive and are very far under ground.
They do not have any sign for the hostel except for a small sticker on the apartment door and anyone that I asked either could not speak english or else they did not know where the hostel was.
I finally found it by asking in a clothes shop. The girl who worked there put on her jacket and walked out with me to show me the street that it was on. She didn't know the hostel but said that was the street that I was looking for. This was the same street that I'd found myself about a half hour ago. Luckily one of the hostel staff was on her way to the hostel and spotted me and showed me the entrance. Speaking to the other guests in the hostel I realised I wasn't the only person who had trouble finding it.
The journey to Tallinn was comfortable but after that it got a little messy. I had to wait for one hour at 12am in the bus station for a connecting bus. I couldn't use the bathroom facilities as I didn't have any currency for Estonia and they would not accept Lat or Rubles. The bus from Tallinn to St Petersburg was not a eurolines bus, it was some type of old Russian bus and was not very comfortable.
I had to hand over my passport when leaving Latvia and again when leaving Estonia and then at 4am we got to the Russian border. I was the only person who spoke English on the bus so it was difficult to find out what was going on. At 4am everyone got off the bus and took all their luggage with them. It was pretty cold out, snowing and very dark. There were lots of guys with military uniforms and weapons walking around. It was a bit unnerving going through customs and passport control when they did not speak English and I did not speak Russian. There was some problem with my documentation but I didn't know what or why and she couldn't explain, eventually she was happy and let me through. So back on the bus and in about 4 hours we got to St Petersburg.
It was a bit of a shock when I got off the bus in St Petersburg, firstly it was very very cold, I had no idea where I was when I got off the bus, no one spoke english and there were no signs in english. I found the metro pretty quickly but I couldn't buy a ticket. They would not take any large notes. I found a shop, bought some chewing gum and got some change. The lady in the shop wasn't happy but she gave me change anyhow.
It was rush hour so it was very busy and I had a rucksack and a hand luggage bag also. It took me over an hour to find the hostel even though it was less than a 5 minute walk from the metro station. The metro stations are impressive and are very far under ground.
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| Escalator to the underground |
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| Impressive underground corridors |
I finally found it by asking in a clothes shop. The girl who worked there put on her jacket and walked out with me to show me the street that it was on. She didn't know the hostel but said that was the street that I was looking for. This was the same street that I'd found myself about a half hour ago. Luckily one of the hostel staff was on her way to the hostel and spotted me and showed me the entrance. Speaking to the other guests in the hostel I realised I wasn't the only person who had trouble finding it.
