A Fleeting Stay in Khabarovsk

Thursday, March 29, 2018
Khabarovsk, Khabarovsk Krai, Russian Federation
Our four and half hour flight from Anadyr to Khabarovsk seemed to take forever, taking us over a myriad of snowy mountain ranges, dissected by complex braids of icy waterways. Closer to Khabarovsk, the deeply contorted tributaries of the mighty Amur River formed curious scribbles across a frozen flood plain, almost as if a child had carelessly drawn them in freehand. 
Flying into Khabarovsk, we were disappointed to see that most of the snow and ice had melted. When we had landed in Khabarovsk some three weeks earlier, we were tremendously excited to see the city swathed in a heavy blanket of thick white snow; something so unfamiliar and for both of us really quite exhilarating. On our return however, Khabarovsk looked quite sad, surrounded by melted snow lakes and muddy puddles. We realised then just how lucky we had been to see the city in its real winter glory.
Khabarovsk Airport had not improved. For such an important domestic transport hub, the airport is truly woeful, shabby and inefficient. Our flight arrived late and our humour was not improved by having to wait for nearly an hour for the flight's baggage to be loaded onto the luggage carousel. There were no announcements, and no apologies when the luggage did arrive. People just waited patiently; listless uncomplaining souls who appeared to have seen it all before. Perhaps it was their terrible history or even their voiceless suffering after the Soviet collapse? We had witnessed their passive acceptance so many times during our travels.
Unlike us, Russians never seemed to become impatient with queuing or with delays. Perhaps like the crumbling decay of the hundreds of abandoned villages which had so shocked and surprised us, the constant waiting and never ending bureaucracy had become all quite normal for the local people.
The Olympic Hotel staff had upgraded us to a very cosy plush room. We had always been impressed with the establishment and its good service. The restaurant on the second floor was always good too, with a fine menu offering plenty of choices of contemporary meals.
Our meal as usual was excellent. When we wanted to order some wine however, the waitress informed us that their licence was restricted to serving wine only to 8:00 pm. It was 8:05 pm and we could apparently order neither wine nor beer. But we could order a gin and tonic. Shaking our heads, we wondered about the absurdity of this seemingly crazy rule, and also as to why we were not warned when we ordered our meal. 
It seemed to be just another of those curious instances in Russia where foreigners are at a loss to explain an instance of apparent lack of logic. And like the Russians, we shrugged our shoulders and uncomplainingly ordered two gins and tonic. And another two....
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