The airport in Barnaul was a new experience for us. When we arrived in Russia, we flew to Novosibirsk and took the train to Barnaul, so our visa trip was was our first time to use the airport in Barnaul.
Fortunately the day before we left for our visa trip, we had picked up a new elder at the airport. We arrived long before the plane did, so the missionary who was getting the new companion showed us what to expect. It made us feel much better about leaving on our own early the next morning.
In Barnaul there are two rather small buildings, one for arrivals and one for departures. When we first got to the airport we walked in the door and immediately went through security, showing our passports and putting our bags through the scanner. Then we went to the check-in counter. There are six counters. We found the ONE assigned to our flight. After checking in we walked through the terminal and waited by a door to go through another security check. There are two doors and you go to the one that has your flight number. No matter how long the line is, you have to go through the door assigned to your flight. When you get in the room, you can see the people coming through the other door--the scanners are separated by a small, low plexiglass wall. When everyone had checked in for a particular flight, the security people left, even though there was a line on the other side. After going through security we ended up in the same waiting room as the people who went through the
other security door. They have little blue covers for your feet when you take off your shoes. However, you only take about 10 steps before you remove the coverings and put your shoes back on. You don't put shoes in with anything else; they have to be in a special shoe tub. Dave tried putting his shoes in with his belt and change, and they let him know he couldn't do that. The machines were very sensitive--Dave had to take ALL the coins out of his pockets, even the three small kopeks. We didn't have to take our computers out or pull out our liquids. The people in front of us had water bottles and the security guard had them each take a drink and let them keep their bottles. At some airports the scanner is just a formality because no matter what lights do or don't go off, they pat down everyone anyway.The lady standing at the scanning screen was dressed to the hilt, even sporting 6" heels. When she saw something she didn't like, she stopped the belt and went over and checked it out, bringing the line to a dead stop.
We didn't hear an announcement for our flight, but when people started standing up and heading for the door, we joined them. There's no smoking in the terminal, but as soon as you step out on the Tarmac (that's right, no Jetways), people started lighting up. People board in whatever order they line up. It didn't seem any
slower than when we do it by zones.We were greeted on the plane by stewardesses with cute little hats and suits. They removed the hats while they worked around the cabin and put them on again when we landed. They did a manual count before we left. In a lot of ways it's like we stepped back 50-60 years, only in part because they feed you a meal! The drink options are limited to juices, coffee, tea and water. We enjoyed the classical music they played until takeoff. By the way, we found out later that airports are on the list of things we're not supposed to take pictures of.
We landed in Moscow and got the Tarmac treatment again (we think we had Jetways when we arrived in Russia). After a short layover we got to use the Jetway to the stairs where we climbed down and got on buses to ride to international flight area.
Check back on Wednesday for more travel adventures!
This week's Russianism:
When the plane landed in Moscow, the passengers clapped. We don't understand that--it isn't like the pilot could hear it. The passengers clapped on both of the flights home.
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