3rd January 2020: Domodyedovo to Yaroslavski

It's 05.00, it's cold, I'm standing outside the terminal at Domodyedovo Airport and I've got a problem. In preparing for my latest trip to Russia, I thought I had all bases covered. I need to be at Yaroslavski Railway Station to catch a train to Yaroslavl. The train leaves at 07.35. The Aeroexpress shuttle train into Moscow takes about 40 minutes, but the first train isn't until 6.00, and then I need to get from Paveletsky Station across the city to Yaroslavski Station. That's cutting it a bit fine, and that's why I had pre-booked and prepaid for a taxi from Domodyedovo to Yaroslavski. My problem is that I couldn't find the driver who was scheduled to meet me at the airport, an English speaking driver whose taxi was to be equipped with wi-fi so I could contact friends here in Russia and family back home.

So here I am, the first traces of panic beginning to tighten my stomach muscles. There are lots of taxis, but there's no sign of a white Almera. Plenty of Yandex taxis, a surfeit of black taxis, but no white Almera. There's a guy standing by a black car, with a taxi roof light. He asks me if I need a taxi and I reply in the negative. I wander up and down the ranks of taxis, guitar slung over my shoulder, bag in left hand and dragging my suitcase along behind me. I find myself back beside the guy and his black cab. Am I sure I don't need a taxi, he asks, and this time I attempt to explain the situation. He looks at my paperwork and with a knowing and sympathetic look declares that this often happens in Russia. It hasn't happened to me before, and I am reluctant to get in a taxi that I haven't ordered. But time is passing, and it's 50km to Yaroslavski station. I ask how much it will cost, and he tells me it will be very cheap, 55 rubles per kilometre. So that means at least 2750 rubles, about £30. 

Finally I agree, load my bags into the boot, but keeping my guitar with me. The taxi driver speaks a little English, so we have a strange conversation en route. The journey is interrupted when the car pulls off the main road into a petrol station. Alarm bells in my mind were unfounded and we were soon back on the road. The journey was as uneventful as any taxi ride in Moscow can be and at about 6.20 the taxi pulls into the drop off area outside the station. The fare has risen to 3000 ru les, but at least I have made it into the city, and to Yaroslavlski.

Getting into the station is not without its difficulties. The doors are very heavy, and heavily sprung to resist anyone with the strength of a normal human being. Once through the doors passengers are faced with security checks involving passing luggage through scanners, and passing through metal detector portals. An awkward but understandable inconvenience bearing in mind terrororist activities which have taken place in railway stations in recent years.

Once in the station I make my way to the central area in which departures and arrivals are displayed. There are lots of seats in this area, but they are all occupied, most by passengers, some by bags and coats. There's an escalator leading up to a second level, so I decide to explore. There are more seats, and a variety of cafe outlets. I make my way to one which seems to have vacant seats and order a bottle of Fanta. I am wearing too many clothes, too many layers. It's a lesson I should have learned. The chilled Fanta doesn't last long. 

The display shows that my train to Yaroslavl will leaving at 07.35 from platform 1. I decide to find the platform, and return to the lower level by escalator then make my way through the station building and out into the cold morning to access platform 1. Experience told me that the train would be waiting, and it was. 

Experience told me that it would be quite a walk long the platform to find my carriage, and it was. Seat 65, Wagon 16. Each carriage is 30 paces long - I measured one. So 16 times 30 is 480 paces, about 400 metres as a guess. Small groups of passengers gather at the end of each carriage waiting for the doors to be unlocked and for their tickets and passports to be checked before boarding. It's now about 07.15, or 04.15 at home in England. I hadn't slept at all en route, I'm suffering from painful sciatica and I'm not really looking forward to.another three and a half hours of travelling. But I know that there will be friends waiting for me when I reach Yaroslavl and I can't wait to see them.