Blogs from Far East, Russia, Europe - page 2

Russia has eleven time zones, and I crossed EIGHT of them on the Trans-Siberian Railway. The time difference between Vladivostok, where I boarded the TSR, and Moscow is SEVEN hours. It is a mere 6152 miles from Vladivostok to Moscow, and I rode every single one of those miles or kilometers. It is normally a six- or seven-day trip, depending on the schedule. So, the problem is quite simple. The train runs on Moscow time, but we tend to eat and sleep, based on local time. My solution was to carry or wear two watches. But I still had problems, as I will share below. Speaking of times zones, why do we have them? Time zones are a relatively modern invention. J. Griggs from Travel Trivia: Just like the more recent advent of the internet, time ... read more

What do we really know about US time zones? History.com: When you run a railroad, you need to maintain a schedule, and that works a whole lot better when everyone agrees on what time it is — including stations in far-flung locations and, crucially, other railroad companies that are making schedules for trains on the same tracks you're using. That's why railroads led the charge when Britain got its towns and cities on the same clock by the 1840s, and it's why the same thing happened in the United States about 40 years later. U.S. railroads got together in the 1880s and came up with a plan to divide the country into time zones and synchronize official clocks according to those divisions. The plan created the Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones that we still ... read more

Nach 3:15 Flugzeit mit ordentlich Gegenwind sind wir in Magadan (UHMM) angekommen. Leider mussten wir eine Crew (D-ITWL) wegen technischer Probleme mit der Druckkabine in Yakutsk zurücklassen. Sehr schade. Wir drücken die Daumen, dass die Probleme schnell gelöst werden können. In Yakutsk hatten wir noch 24 Grad mit praller Sonne, hier nur noch 7 Grad bei Dauerregen. Sehr ungemütlich; passt aber auch irgendwie zur Zentrale von Stalins Gulag-Systems. Der Anflug auf das ILS10 war richtig in IMC, aber kein Problem. Alles hat bestens funktioniert. Ein Shuttlebus bringt uns in die ca. 40km entfernte Stadt Magadan. Die Umgebung sieht eher trübe aus, passend zum Wetter. Die Hügel sind in Wolken, teilweise noch Reste von Schnee. Man sieht einige unbewohnte Häuser und vieles ziemlich heruntergekommen. Die Region hat nach dem Zusammenbruch der Sowietunion einen erheblichen Bevölkerungsschwund zu... read more

Дoбpый дeнь (Dobri dyen) Good day. Education is light. The lack of it is darkness. Russian Proverb. The Provodnitsa (attendant) is the boss. She’ll ensure that all will be well and that all will comply. Resistance is futile. She must be obeyed… Our favourite Provodnitsa was during our first-class train trip from Khabarovsk to Vladivostok. She was our travel mom, our carriage attendant, she checked on us, gave us food and towels. She even told Theresa to get her shoes off the bed, keeping with the standards of first class travel and first class riders. Behave or be disciplined. And never stare her in the eyes! Riding first class is the way to go. We had our own comfortable cabin for our train rides as we trundled across Siberia. Many an hour was spent looking out ... read more

So, I decided to add up the miles I have traveled by rail, including three trips across the U.S., and a trip across the Russia (one third of the earth's surface). The fascination with riding the rails began quite by accident. Somewhere, somebody gave me the idea that riding the passenger rails would be a great experience. They were right! My first trip cross country on Amtrak was the California Zephyr, from Chicago to Martinez, CA. Total time was close to 51 hours. The mileage was 2379 miles. It was relaxing and enjoyable, and I met many interesting people. Just for contrast, the Tour de France cycling race usually covers 2,276 miles. My second cross country trip was the Sunset Limited, from Los Angeles to New Orleans for Super Bowl 47. The total time was 48 ... read more