I made it to Moscow! I didn’t expect to be back here.

While Warsaw was lovely, Moscow was really the real starting point of this adventure as the launch point for joining the Trans Siberian railway, and although entirely unplanned, it does seem fitting that it should be the staging point to return home.

Business Class, as it turns out, is rather nice. Flat beds and the proof that air travel CAN be civilised.

Nobody wanders randomly up and down the night time flight waking you up up every 30 minutes to sell you over priced crap from the inflight shop, providing you’ve got the right money or an obscure credit card.

While three meals were going to be served… three? … it was a nine hour overnight flight, not a nine hour trek… nobody woke me up to eat any of them.

Hallelujah.

It definitely occurred to me that this had worked out well – fewer people in Business Class than in the usual Economy Class where I would normally be sitting.

My concern about flying had been about the risk of coronavirus transmission in close, confined quarters for several hours. Higher price, slightly higher feeling of security… but paying more in order to be safe is hardly fair.

I can afford it (now that the rest of the trip is cancelled) but not everybody can and let’s face it, disease doesn’t respect how wealthy you are so it’s in everybody’s interests to have equal access to healthcare and safer features for all.

***

To say things were a little cooler at Moscow than in Bangkok would be an understatement.

We were one of the first arriving flights and passport control had to be opened up to let us through.

There was no temperature screening as I transitted the airport. I suppose the view is that passengers with temperatures will shortly be somebody else’s problem.

I had four hours in which to do battle with the free wifi before boarding my next flight to London.

It was very quiet – walking around an empty airport is a strange experience.

It gradually became busier and the terminal took on the appearance of a convention for Zorro and The Lone Ranger lookalikes… and some folk were definitely taking it quite seriously.

I’ve noticed that lockdown is really kicking in for people… the reader statistics for this blog are through the roof. Clearly, people have nothing better to do.

I will try to continue to try entertain for as long as I can though Stories from Lockdown may not be quite so exciting.

Stay safe wherever you are.

This will pass.