Our China Eastern Airlines flight to Moscow left at the very agreeable time of midday, giving us plenty of time to enjoy a more relaxed morning. The Ramada shuttle bus service was easy and convenient, and delivered us to the Pudong International Airport within a matter of minutes.

The China Eastern Airlines Business Lounge at Pudong Airport is nothing to write home about but it has improved considerably since our first visit some years ago . On the electronic screen several of the flights which were leaving at around same time as ours, were marked as "Boarding". Usually, the lounge staff notify all passengers of the boarding status of China Eastern flights and when we finally asked we received a curt "No, as you can see it is not boarding yet". We shrugged and guessed they should know what was going on. And our MU 591 flight to Moscow remained on the screen with no comments.

After another twenty minutes a breathless airline official ran into our lounge insisting passengers Alan Smith and Wendy Morrison follow him immediately to the airport bus. "Hurry, hurry - you are late" gasped the official. We were the only passengers on the bus and feeling somewhat embarrassed, thought we must have somehow missed the flight call.

Our aircraft was parked a long way from the terminal and when we arrived it seemed we were the only passengers on the flight . And then there was chaos. Buses transporting hundreds of passengers arrived from all directions. Apparently our China Eastern Airlines flight was cancelled and we were all being amalgamated onto one Shanghai Airlines flight. This was not the first time our flight was cancelled and from our experience during this trip, and what we have read on travel forums, it would appear that China Eastern flights on these European routes can be cancelled with very little notice due to lack of passengers.

The amalgamation of flights didn't really concern us but it must have annoyed the flight attendants who greeted us with dark glowering faces. Perhaps they were tired from a long shift - but the service was not at all friendly for the entire trip. It didn't help anyone's moods when we were held up for another hour because of airport congestion.

Our flight to Moscow was fine although the aircraft was nothing as comfortable as our usual China Eastern Airbus . Perhaps the staff realised how bleak they were looking as when we asked for a drink Alan was given a full long glass of straight gin and me one of Scotch whiskey. It was a bit hard to fit the tonic and soda water in our glasses but needless to say, we were not put off in the slightest.

We were excited yet slightly apprehensive about our visit to Moscow. All our visa applications for this trip had been a nightmare - but applying and obtaining our Russian visas had been ridiculously lengthy and particularly frustrating. Filling in the tedious paperwork was trying enough but the most difficult part was obtaining the "correct" Official Letters of Confirmation from our Russian hotels. We posted via registered mail our passports with our first set of applications and what we thought was all the carefully obtained, correct documentation, only to have it all returned some considerable time later with an "Incorrect Letter of Confirmation" written across the paperwork. There was no suggestion as to what the problem was or how to resolve it, language was an issue as the consulate staff would not discuss the matter by telephone only through email correspondence and there were public holidays in the way . We were badly running out of time before we left on our trip. We finally received our precious passports with their stamped Russian visas only one week before we were due to fly out.

Of course there are enough stresses with organising a trip without that of not having your passport returned. We were feeling the pressure until Alan read a travel forum posting from a frustrated European traveller "If you think trying to obtain a Russian visa is difficult, then just try obtaining one from Australia". And we bet he is right too.

Our Azerbaijan visas had been crazily difficult and we did not have any visas at all for Armenia - even when we left Australia. But they are stories for later entries!

Our flight landed at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport at 6.30 pm Russian time. Although we had read about the notorious Terminal F, and the draconian associated Immigration procedures, we were not really prepared for what seemed to be a third world airport with some of the most unfriendly and rude officials we have ever encountered . There was a huge queue for Immigration and where we were held up for more than an hour or so.

A young Russian man and his wife and child who were just ahead of us began to chat. Eugene spoke perfect English and explained that he and his wife Irina, and their son Slava had just arrived back to Moscow from a trip to France. He was particularly interested to talk to us about Australia where he and Irina were considering making their future home.

Sheremetyevo Airport is located in Khimki, Moscow Oblast, some 30 kilometers from Moscow city centre where our hotel was located. Alan had carefully done his homework on where we could find the official taxi office within the airport but when we arrived it appeared there were no staff available. Eugene suddenly appeared asking if he could assist us. Thankfully a taxi official arrived out of the blue and Eugene negotiated our taxi fare for us.

We knew that it was vital to have the taxi fare agreed upon before our departure and not rely on the taxi driver to use a meter, and we were extremely grateful for Eugene's assistance. Try as he did however, Eugene was only able to "bargain" the taxi official down to a sum which was considerably more than the correct fare for locals.

We thanked him profusely and bade our farewells, and were about to depart when Eugene very seriously asked us if we would like to visit him and Irina for tea one night at their house in Moscow. We are very private people when we travel and would not normally have accepted this generous invitation. But there was something so sincere and engaging about our newly found friend that we surprisingly found ourselves saying in unison "Oh yes, that we would be lovely. Thank you very much". And Eugene true to his word, contacted us the very next day.

It was a bizarre introduction to Russia, and a consistent theme of our short glimpse of this wonderful yet intriguing country. The Russian officials were truly fearsome yet the local people were surprisingly open, extremely friendly and easy going - and great company.

Two vastly contrasting faces of Russia - and in only just one hour.