Many many thanks..

Many many thanks to all of you for your concern and friendship and... everything :-)
I've received many emails and comments and it really helps not feeling alone! (talking of this, you should sign your name or something in the comments.. it's weird to get anonymous comments of people who sound like they know me!.. and it's cool to know who's following me!)

Many many thanks to Lydia and her son Serge, from whom i was renting a room when it happened.. They've been very helpful.. Serge came with me to the police to serve as an interpret help me do the declaration while i was completely stoned! And he called after that many times to try and get me a copy of it..

Many many thanks to Albina who helped me out in Moscow and introduced me to Anton..

Many many thanks to Anton and his dad Vladimir who so generously host me now and push the limits of the legendary russian hospitality!..

What happened certainly sucks, but it also brings out the nicer side of so many people... thanks to all of you i simply don't feel abandonned, and that's the greatest feeling!

After 3 days of pretty much non stop sleeping the effects of the drugs have finally disapeared and i feel much better..

With the time i "lost" here, i won't have the time to visit as much of russia as i would have liked to.. so i asked for my Mongolian VISA, and, provided that i manage to get a copy of my decaration in time from the police, the plan is to head straight to Irkustk (4 days by train) to see the Baikal before my russian VISA expires..
So at best i'll leave Moscow on tuesday.. i'll keep you posted!

It's only money.. right?

Well.. first thing first, i'm fine!

You hear all these stories.. it can't only happen to others, i guess.. so this time it was my turn.. just when i left the internet place last time.. i couldn't find my way out of the mall, so i asked these two chicks.. and on the way out we started to chat.. we walked around the kremlin for a bit and then they suggested we should have a drink.. so we just bought a beer each at a stand.. and we found a bench to sit..
I don't know how or when but they drugged my beer, and by the time i realised what was happening i just collapsed.. when i woke up on that bench the next morning, my bag was gone and all my pockets were empty...
By chance they didn't find my safety belt so i still have my passeport, my credit cards and most of my cash...
But my cell phone is gone, my mp3 player is gone, my digital camera is gone, my notepad with all contacts and history is gone.. worst of all, my Leica CL is gone.... fuck..
I know.. i was warned!
Anyway what is done is done.. and it's only money, right?
I've been sleeping almost non stop for the past 48 hours and i still feel like shit.. and so weak.. I don't know what they put in that beer but i'm glad they didn't put more!

Anyway.. no need to worry; i'm safe and alive.. everything's good..
Only the police won't give me a copy of my declaration -which i need for the insurance- until next week, so now i'm stuck in Moscow..
Hopefully they give it to me early enough for me to head straight to Irkutzk and check the Baikal.. I won't have time for the cities in between...

Oh and i'm sure you got the bottom line: we're back to mediaval times with a no picture blog..
sorry everyone..

Map of the trip..

Jerome has been updating a map of my trip so now you can see.. er.. were is Moscow! (for example)

Pulp fiction..

Talking of Tarentino, i found the punch line for his next movie.. "..and in Moscow, you can get porn in Mc Donald's!"
Ok.. sorry for the terrible pun, but that's how you spell "Royal cheeseburger" here!

It's only fair..

With everything i said about Russians earlier, i owe them a nice post!
Indeed, with few exceptions, most russians i met or just stopped in the streets to ask for directions have been very nice and helpful.. eventhough we're talking about major cities like St Petersburg or Moscow.. I wouldn't expect half as much attention from parisians!

This being said for "real people" (to quote Tarentino), i'm still scared of cops and pretty much anything wearing a uniform! I haven't had any problem yet, but you hear so many stories of people being robbed by the police; they seem to be the biggest criminals in this country! "Stay away", "hide your money" and "don't hand them anything" are the basic rules to respect..
The cool thing about thiefs in uniform is that you can spot them from far away.. the bad thing is they have the law with them to come and harrass you!

Moskva..

So.. in case you had not noticed, i've actually been in Moscow for nearly the past week!
I'm so late i'll just post some random tourist views of Moscow just to say i was here allright?

A bit like with Warsaw, i'm pleasantly surprised by Moscow.. there's more to it than just big square concrete buildings; the center is actually pretty! It shouldn't come as a surprise i know, but hey, i have my cliches!
Yet everything just looks huge! The avenues are all about a kilometer wide so crossing without an underpass can be pretty adventurous (all the more since they drive like maniacs!)

How not to start with this one??

the red square in the rain..

the world..

a fancy supermarket..

and a couple of "golden hour" pics again.. i'm just always amazed how any random ugly place can look cool just with proper lighting.. can't get tired of it!

Sunrise on the Nieva..

All right a last one about Saint Petersburg.. I'm starting to be really late for these posts! But i thought this Sunrise between the Nieva river and the winter palace was pretty cool..