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Published: August 13th 2008
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So yes this a re-write as my first seemed a little too disconnected with the source as I wrote it after the happening of the journey - so I will in fact now re-write my journal entries instead to try and give you all the effect, I desire, of this journey on me. Note it is in present because it was written in the present but of course it all happened in the past I think!?!
26/07/08 Saturday
The facts for the train from Moscow to Irkutsk
Time - 80 hours
Distance - 5175km
Cost - 3600 roubles (100 euros)
Class - Plastkartny (third class open bed sleeping carriage)
Provisions for the body - 600 roubles (16ish euros) of lovely long lasting, so processed, food (see pic)
Provisions for the mind - Books, tea and chocolate (see pic)
27/07/08 Sunday
So I am currently in Kirov on the journey (trans-Siberian train) to Irkutsk so far it’s been 13 hours (left Moscow at 23:25 on Saturday) so time now is 12:25 (Moscow time - MT). So far all good - met my train companions and all seem very friendly and interestingly lovely Russian people. So far a young couple who
are returning to Egypt (going to Krasnoyarsk - there home city), a lady of 53 (going to her home in Omsk), a 40ish lady who’s been in Italy (going to Krasnoyarsk too), a mother and daughter (who just got off at Kirov. So now a new mother, daughter and grandma have got on - the most common language for me to speak to them has been French - although the Italy lady has good English; and so much has been understood and gained from them. There’s also a cute family in the next compartment (2 very young kids - apparently 1 and 2 years old) - I‘ve made some funny faces and dog noises with them so far.
Hmmm it’s good times so far - In fact I can’t stop smiling :-D
Ok so now a little later - 20:15MT but 22:15 Local Time (LT) which is now Perm 2 as I write this. So I’ve worked out, from the odd looks and so on she gets from the others, that the lady of 53 is half crazy - kinda irritating too - she just talks to me in Russian at me and then someone has to attempt a translation to me and every time it’s some uninteresting pointless thing but I guess it’s cute! Speaking of cute the 18 year old is very, I’ll try and make a sketch later if I can…(see pics)
So the family next door have gone now, a shame as the kids were cute if a little misbehaved. Watched them for half an hour meeting the kid in our compartment - was fascinating to see them relating, and of course very cute - arrrr so much cuteness on this train today.
28/07/08 Monday
so into my second day (it’s 9:54MT - 11:54LT), I’ve just got up, and so here lies one of my many confusions - TIME - we’re slowly losing time and so sleep patterns are skewed, but not for all. The people who got at Moscow are all asleep still (well except me) but the local people are preparing to have lunch.
Space is another interesting re-alignment on this train - I have my own space (my bed as it’s a top bunk) and yet I’m now just below in the ‘communal’ area (on someone else’s bed) - you see it would very unusual for someone to use my bed even though it is really communal as well but these are the unwritten laws on board I guess. Also motion (and its perpetualness) has been forgotten by me most of the time until I look out the window and remember I am in fact travelling and feel this distance I’m actually going. The point is in general as well, if you never look outside yourself you cannot ascertain where you are now and thus how far you’ve gone and where you could go. However looking more closely into this point you - how do you know anything about what is outside of yourself and thus how far you have gone and so on…Trust in reality is paramount in order to live I guess and so I will keep on guessing I guess…
Now 17:17ish - of course Nicholas G. Boyce being a good Englishman doesn’t get confused when one should take afternoon tea - 17:00MT my body told me in these times (add to blog maybe)…oh and for all you rail enthusiasts (big papa super Alio pay attention now) it seems there’s no end of liveries (is that the right word?!) passing the window at the mo on various states (mainly rusting heavily) - I guess it’s down to this section of track, Omsk to Novosibirsk having the greatest freight traffic density of any railway line in the world.
29/07/08 Tuesday
So since 11:00MT all my fellow Moscow departees have all gone, in fact in the whole carriage I recognise no one form Moscow (guess the locals don’t feel the need to travel the whole trans-Siberian like us tourists!?) - oh the time now is 17:07MT. So now have a father and (maybe grand in fact) and a son (grand) of 13ish that keeps speaking some English at me - although all I can understand is that he supports Man Utd and likes Ronaldo a lot. Also a grandma beneath me now that speaks to me in Russian louder and louder until she realises/remembers I don’t understand and then gets her daughter (an opera singer) to translate.
Another thing I’ve noticed is there amazing lunches and dinners - a group will dine together - one produces some cucumber and tomatoes, one the meat (usually some salami but sometimes chicken), one potatoes and dips, another some bread and cakes - a veritable feast well compared to my dried noodles and so on…
So there my journal ends and it’s all pretty much contained therein except maybe one incident that made me laugh. The Man Utd fan and his dad watched me eat yet another of my dried noodle meals and on finishing would not let me leave the table - the Ronaldo looking kid just said to me feast. So I’m thinking sweet they’re taking pity on the poor Englishman and his paltry food and going to offer me some of their “feast.” Well no that didn’t happen, they just got out the nice fresh chicken and whatnots, and ate it not letting me leave. As if to say this is how one should eat - amusing episode I thought because they really wouldn’t let me leave that table!!!
Also something I didn’t mention is the tourists on board - after my Moscow friends left I decided to walk up the train a little to see the restaurant and the better class carriages. This was where the tourists were i.e. the Westerners. Got chatting to most of them as they were all travelling in a big tour group -some interesting cats. All were either going to see the imminent total solar eclipse (I saw a partial one in Irkutsk by the by after going to an English class run by the Mormons but that’s a different story) or to Beijing to see the Olympics. They were good people but felt they missed the point of the Trans-Siberian (well my point) and the experience of the glorious Russian people and that is what I take from this trip - the bond I felt with this random Russians that I was blessed to spend a train (space) and time with.
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