Days 08 and 09 - 5th and 6th September 2010 - Trans Siberian Express to Irkutsk

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Trans Siberian Express to Irkutsk

Boarded the train at 6am Tyumen time. This time, it was a much newer train - the number 002 “Roysver” train, which was apparently made within the last 10 years. It seemed extremely modern inside, however, because of this, it lacked the character and feel of the first train that we caught. I'm sure anyone not travelling for the sheer experience would prefer the newer train.

There were more non-Russian travellers on board this train, with camera's, a lot of which probably booked their Trans-Siberian trip through expensive tour agencies.

Larissa, the lady we shared our cabin with was a very friendly Russian lady travelling with a colleague (in another cabin) to Omsk. We stopped at a busy station in the late afternoon, where she bought some smoked fish from sellers on the platform, which she shared with us. We exchanged photo's and Crystal and I drank some 56% proof vodka we had brought with us from Moscow.

The following day we went for an interesting breakfast in the restaurant carriage, consisting of an egg/tomato/ham mixture, with bread and cheese on the side. Nice, but quite expensive. Throughout the rest of the day, we raided the instant noodles and soups bought from the UK, played cards and watched the small wooden Siberian villages fly past. Tomorrow AM we depart for Irkutsk.

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