Travelling by train is amazing!
What initially seemed an endless journey, not appropriate for a person without patience, appears to be a trainride that is way too short! There is by far not enough time to read all the books that have been on your nightshelf forever, learn some Russian, sleep in, make friends, have vodka with eekra (caviar), try all the different kinds of homecooked food of the babuschkas and figure out what the Provodnitsas (carriage attendants) would like to tell or ask you when you order tea with them (which makes them very happy, cause if they do not sell one cup of tea or coffee a passenger each day, the amount is withheld from their salary - strange USSR leftover rule). Our compartment (no 2) is heaven for them as the four of us do not (yet) speak Russian and as a result thereof keep ending up with loads of very sweet cookies that we did not (meant to) order, but have to pay for. Also none of us can pronounce the Russian word for four (cheetereh) so we order everything in fivefold (using the much easier word to pronounce: piat). The Provodnitsas take their jobs very seriously and with pride - they are sopping and polishing the carriage as if it were there own home and usually serve you tea with a smile (which is rare in Russia!).
Anyway, no "musts" or imaginary "missed opportunities": love it! You sleep, eat, read, chat, drink whenever you like without feeling guilty!
One of the highlights of the day are the short stops (Vladimir, Kirov, the latter the northernmost point of the journey) at the small stations in the middle of nowhere. Sweet (and usually tiny and old) babuschkas are waiting for you with baskets of delicious homecooked food (or sometimes smelly smoked fish) that you can buy for a few rubles. They also sell flowers to pimp up your compartment and huge stuffed animals for..no one knows whom. The stops are also a good opportunity to stretch the legs and buy some chilled beers. A few important rules re stops though: always carry your passport, immigration form and travel itinerary in case the train leaves without you. You dont wanna be the person starring the horror stories who was left behind in his/her pj's without money, passport or whatsoever and had to wait a few days for the next train. Russian trains are always on time - hence, they never wait for anyone and/or they could randomly decide to shorten a certain stop if the time schedule is in danger. Also, if your Petrovina tells you to get on the train, hop on! Third rule: be careful with meat...rule succesfully ignored, the Russian versions of a pig in a blanket are delicious.
If still hungy after the stops, the dining car is at your service where you can try traditional Russian dishes like borscht (beetsoup) and blinis (pancakes) with salmon or eekra. ....that is, if the attendants feel like it. You could encounter a firm "njet" even during opening hours. The opening hours itself are interesting. During the trainride, you cross various timezones. The train travels on Moscow time, whilst it operates on real time. This way you sort of loose track of time and could end up eating a Moscow diner at the local breakfast time...
So far no encounters with fat, smelly, drunken Russians...a bit disappointing, but then again, you must create your own history. Order tons of vodka shots and eekra and at some point you are the smelly drunken tourist singing the songs played by a Russian guitarist that magically showed up. Somehow, you never get a "njet" when you order vodka, classy (it appears the waiters make a bit extra when selling vodka..)
Although smelly tourist... not really, although one of the fellow passengers managed to break one of the two bathrooms on day 1, there is one left and "Siberian showering" is quite fun and easy. Just be naked and liberally splash the water around. Obviously, you can also stick to an APC (armpits and crotch wash)...
So far the view is quite boring (but pretty): taiga, taiga, taiga.....i.e. white birches all over. Officially in Siberia now (or better at 2102km). Crossed the Ural, but difficult to tell as the Urals do not break more than 500m above sealevel in this region. Missed the Europe-Asia border sign, but the train crossed it nevertheless.
Next stop is Omsk (timezone: Moscow + 3 hours) notable for its Lenin statues. Apparently there is one just outside the station...a fifteen minute stop...should be doable to check it out, not in pj's though and furnished with passport, immigration form, itinerary and mastercard...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Somewhere between Moscow and Irkutsk, Russia ( estimate 2512 km from Moscow)
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