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Published: October 5th 2012
One of the guys on our trip is a man named Brian. During the War, when he was four years old, he was in the house with him Mum, Aunt and Grandmother. The house was bombed out and caught fire. They all survived but the next day he began to stutter and never stopped. Brian thought if he could speak a million words the stutter would go away. Of course it didn't but numbers give him comfort. On every stop he knows the population size, interesting facts and historial dates. He is also the only one in the group who can actually work out what time it is. This is more complicated than it might seem.
The Trans-Siberian route goes right across Russia from Moscow to Vladivostok (where I am now). Crossing 9288km and seven of Russia's nine timezones. It can be hard to work out when you have crossed each time zone. Additionally all the times given at the station and the timetables are on Moscow time which is GMT plus four hours except for the fact that Russia kept to GMT +1hr a few years ago and Britain is currently on BST. So God knows where we are.
The stops along the way have been varied. Some stops are fairly small with a tiny station and a barely built platform where whole families of passengers have to climb over the tracks to get to the train. Other stations have arches and statues, chandeliers and marble carvings. Along the way we can few hours upon hours of silver birch and taiga. Occasional rivers and lakes. There are lots of smaller villages with wooden houses painted in bright colours and vegetables growing - cabbages and pumpkins are popular. There are pretty graveyards in forests, some so isolated you wonder where the living are to bury the dead. And stops so small they are simply a platform named after the number of kilometers from Moscow - 5342km.
We stop for 15 minutes in Mogocha - a gold mining town where in winter temperatures can reach -62 degrees. Thank God we are here in Autumn when the weather is surprisingly clement! My favourite stop so far was Lake Baikal, the largest fresh water lake in the world. It looks like the sea in many places as you cannot see the other side. When the Russians were building the Trans-Siberian is
was initially too difficult to build around the Lake. Instead two ships - built in Newcastle - transported the passengers and carriages across Baikal. However stormy weather and frozen water meant that trips were frequently cancelled. During the Russo-Japanese war the Russians decided to lay train tracks on the frozen lake to allow trains to pass more quickly and deliver much needed supplies. The first train to do so fell through the ice. I don't know if the train is still there but it is strange to think that in Siberia there is a train under a freshwater lake, rusting away under water.
The food so far has been pretty good too. There is plenty of food available at the stations. Women seemingly rush out of nowhere to sell home cooked food - blini, boiled eggs, chicken, bread, smoked fish, freshly picked nuts and berries. They all sneer at each others produce as if it is not fit to spit on. I had expected these kind of things as all the guide books tell you of the kind of food on offer. However I did not expect the other items for sale including christmas decorations, a statue of a
cat, a three foot vase, chandeliers and a stuffed stoat. Sadly given the packing restrictions I was not able to buy anything. Passengers in both my cabin and the one next door bought smoked fish though. Not the best scent to share for three days.
The passengers on the train have been great. I spoke a few times with a Helicopter engineer from Ulan Ude who was practising his English. And Brian and David shared there cabin with an Army training instructor with vodka and gold teeth. He looks as if he could kill with his bare hands. I think these are probably good qualities in a travelling companion. I also love the Provodnitsa's - the female attedants who look after the train. They are a cross between dinner ladies, priests and prison warders. They should send Armies of them to Britain to cure all our social ills. Also one of them let me board the train at Yekaterinburg without a ticket as the machines had broken down. I had arrived an hour early but had huge trouble exchanging my voucher for a ticket. All the machines in the hall, kept crashing, ticket booth attendants closed there shutters and
hid. Russians and foreigners were kicking off everywhere. With 10 mins to go I tried - thankfully successfully - to board the train anyway. Missing your average train is one thing, missing one that takes you on a three night journey is another. I can't tell you how lucky I was to board. The others in the Group - Rita and David particularly - were very persuasive with the attendant. I felt like a stowaway - ticketless in Siberia. I was so lucky to get on board. The provodnitsa took my paperwork and at some far away station at 4 am got my ticket on my behalf. Blessed be. I love Russia.
Anyway I am in Vladivostok now. It is a lovely city - a coastal resort. Just across the bay is Japan. I will take the ferry there next week. Hopefully - the weather can be a bit rough. Now though the water is calm and plenty of locals can be seen going for a swim. Crazy folk!
Take care everyone!
Kxx
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Roy
non-member comment
Good grief, what a train story!!
Totally loved the journey, Kate. So glad your pen is in such good shape. Hope to see pics, but you have already painted the scenes so well. And as for the ticket - well, if you couldn't blag your way onto a Russian train, not sure who could! Rxx