Blogs from Siberia, Russia, Europe - page 5

Again greetings from the trans Siberian train. This time we are on our way from Irkutsk to Novosibirsk but more of that in the next blog. The train The last time I wrote we were on our first of four legs on the trans Mongolian/Siberian train heading from Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia towards Irkutsk in Russia. Mongolia can be surprisingly hot and we were sweating in our non aircon compartments. You are mistaken if you think this was due to me wanting to save some $$$. There just was no aircon carriage in sight. Then again I wouldn't have booked it to save $$ anyway :) The trains are of an older rolling stock with a lovely 70s interior but are kept in pristine condition by the Provodnitsas who are ticket inspectors, carriage attendants, cleaning ladies, provider ... read more

Je viens de terminer le premier tronçon de mon voyage dans le transsibérien: 4 jours d'affilé entre Moscou et Irkoutsk (4000 km). J'aurais pu faire des arrêts et visiter certaines villes sur le chemin. Mais j'avais envie de faire l'expérience de la vie dans le train à fond, rt les villes etntre Moscou et Irkoutsk (où je suis maintenant ne m'intéressaient pas plus que ça). J'ai voyagé en troisième (et dernière) classe - les russes l'appellent "platzkar". C'est une voiture de 54 couchettes. c'était une très bonne expérience ! Bien sûr, il faut sacrifier un peu de confort et d'hygiène, mais déjà ce n'est pas si incofortable, et ça favorise grandement les rencontres (encore plus vu que je voyage seul, j'imagine). Bon, les autres voyageurs etaient essentiellement Russe ou Ousbeks (pas un seul autre occidental dans ... read more

After 4 nights, along 5185km of track and through 3 time zones (now GMT+8), we leave the train to stay in Listvyanka a small town on the bank of the huge Lake Bakail 70km from Irkutsk. Its -28 C when we embark on a walking tour of the town with our guide. Another ‘Lena’ this one is 20 years younger and has a masters in English she gained without leaving Russia. Lena was keen to tell us about the special Lake we were staying beside; Lake Bakail ‘the Pearl of Siberia’, shaped like a banana, 636km long but only 60km wide is world’s deepest lake 1637m containing one-fifth of the world’s fresh unfrozen water. Well it was unfrozen on the day we arrived, but subsequently froze over, so much so people walk and drive cars across ... read more

Quick, write something.....I heard him say. 6 hours to kill at the beautifully archaic, baroque-ish, multi faceted Yaroslavsky railway station Luckily there's a bar across the street....although somewhat odd...in the way that everything in Russia is 'somewhat odd' gotta try and put my finger on it... And, I thought it odd, there's not a map to be bought within 1,500 metres of this major railway station, now here's a business idea...... The God of travelling companions is smiling on me again! Finally onboard and meet my rolling railway roommate, a 55 yo Russian doctor, he tells me his name is Vova , short for Vladimir! A neurologist, he works in Moscow and every 3 months makes this trip to somewhere east of Irkutsk to a regional hospital. He takes the train because he has a big ... read more

Me voilà maintenant à bord du Transsibérien. Engoncé dans un cube de d’1.8m sur 0.8m sur 0.8 peinant à contenir à la fois mon corps et ma tablette. Depuis trois jours. Cela semble quelque peu spartiate, mais honnêtement, je m’attendais à pire. En effet, on a choisi de traverser la Russie de Moscou à Vladivostok en faisant un arrêt à Irkoutsk pour passer quelques jours au lac Baïkal. Ce qui fait un trajet d’environ une semaine de train, découpée en trois jours et demi et trois jours. En arrivant tous les deux à la gare de Moscou avec nos gros sacs de randonneurs et nos sachets de provisions, on ne faisait pas les fiers. En effet, les cent soixante-dix heures de trajet s’effectuent en troisième et dernière classe. On finit par repérer notre train où l’on ... read more