Life on board the Trans Siberian Railway

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Our next 56 hours were spent living in a small 3 x 4 cell being let out several times to ‘stretch our legs’. Some shared their ‘cell’ with three others. Roisin and I were two of the lucky ones. No, we hadn’t been arrested by the Russian Secret Police for my commentary about ‘Boris’ in my last blog. Although I refer to them as cells, Russian Rail prefers that I call them kupé compartments. There are no bars on the carriage windows but they were sealed shut and with no air conditioning, our ‘cabin’ became very stuffy. Despite this we both got a reasonable night’s rest albeit disturbed by the constant acceleration and deceleration plus what can only be described as ‘changing gears’. Not too sure if trains have gears but every so often the train jolts as if the driver has shifted gear and let the clutch out too quickly!!

The toilets were clean but very cramped and basic. They weren’t exactly the Historical toilets of the GUM store in Moscow but the attendants kept them spotless (it’s all relative!!). There was always paper, liquid soap and paper towels. However, a small towel was provided with our bedding so although we brought a sleeping bag liner and a ‘camping’ towel, these items were not needed. However, our journey has only just begun. There is a long time to go yet!!

Whilst still on the subject of the bathroom, these toilets are non-ecological meaning the waste just empties on to the track! For that reason, the bathroom is locked whilst the train is standing at a station. On our first night Roisin woke up at a very inconvenient time. We had just arrived at a station called Tygumen at 02:01 (Moscow time) or 04:01 local. Either way, it was the middle of the night and nature called. Now although this train stops many times, the majority of stops are for only a few minutes and we are not allowed to get off the train if the stop is less than ten minutes. However, on this rare occasion, Tygumen was scheduled for eighty-two minutes and the loos were well and truly out of bounds! It was just Roisin against nature. Fortunately, on this occasion, Roisin won!!

It wasn’t until mid-day on our second day out that we stopped at a station for more than ten minutes. This was the town of Omsk where we were scheduled to stop for seventeen minutes. Once word had filtered down the carriage that we could get off the train and stretch our legs, everyone rushed out in to the corridor. It was like being on a cruise ship where everybody is on deck watching the ship pull in to port. Waving to all the hawkers lining the platform selling everything from a fish on a stick to a giant vase to various styles of fur hats. These street sellers were either the politest I have ever met or they were just shit at their job!! They looked in your direction and murmured the words: ‘fish’ or ‘hat’ but they did not approach you like their counterparts in North Africa or the Caribbean. Their psyche seemed to be if you want something, you will approach them!!’ Not the best mantra if you are trying to make a living, especially for a bunch of western tourists whose souvenir hunt seems to stop at fridge magnets and Russian dolls!! We were now +3 hours from Moscow and 1,697 miles in to our journey.

Not wanting to make it sound as it is, our exercise break was over so we were all herded back to our cells. It was then Adeline came out of her apartment and said, quite alarmed: ‘Has any one seen Doris and Godfrey?’

I replied, ‘Yes, they were queuing up at the kiosk on the platform for some supplies but I didn’t see where they went after that. Maybe they’ve made a break for it!’

Ignoring my attempt at humour, Adeline, who is sharing a compartment with them, said, as the train started to move, ‘They have not come back’.

‘Perhaps they got on a different carriage’, another traveller suggested. This was quite possible as all the connecting doors to the carriages are locked (as well as the loos) whilst the train is stationary.

Sure enough several minutes later, the connecting door to our carriage opened and Doris, followed by Godfrey, stepped through to the relief of the other passengers although they both failed to see what all the fuss was about!!

The landscape during these three days gradually changed from tree drenched hillsides as far as the eye could see displaying all the vibrant colours of golden browns, pale greens interspersed with the dark evergreens and clusters of reds, all colours of course associated with autumn morphing in to the rolling barren hills of Western Siberian before levelling off as we entered the practically barren landscape of Eastern Siberia known as the Russian Steppes.The Steppes is a temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands that stretches from Xinjiang in China, through Mongolia and Kazakhstan across to Russia then down through Ukraine to Moldova and Romania

During these three days we saw many remote villages dotted around with the occasional industrial town whizzing by with usually a derelict factory of some description. A legacy of a Soviet empire, long since abandoned that will, no doubt, gradually be reclaimed by the land.

On the second evening, we decided to eat in the buffet car. The attendant provided quite an extensive menu in both Russian and English.

Roisin selected a pork dish with cheese and fried potatoes, I, not feeling tremendously hungry pointed to the Ham Sandwich.

‘No have, came the reply. I then pointed to the item below, the cheese sandwich.

The same reply, ‘No have. The third item on the menu, the chicken salad.

Yet again, ‘No have’, was the response. I continued down the other three sandwiches with the same answer. Finally, after I had spent several minutes pointing to each sandwich in turn the attendant looked at me and said, ‘No have sandwich’!!! This Russian was systematic if nothing else!! We were advised that this often happens on the Trans-Siberian railway where the menu may be varied but the available dishes aren’t!! I ended up with pork, rice and vegetables. (although I wasn’t expecting a child’s portion!!) The shock was that the bill arrived with a 13%!s(MISSING)ervice charge but when the total bill (including beer) for a hot meal (by Russian standards!) came to just over £12 for the both of us, I consider that a result.

Our carriage is known as a kupé. There is a lower class of carriage called a ‘plaskart where the carriage has a central corridor with an upper and lower berth each side. The only privacy is a thin curtain that can be drawn across the bunk. One of these carriages can accommodate up to fifty-four passengers, with just two toilets. Not an ideal arrangement but they seemed to manage. We are glad to have paid for the luxury of one toilet between eighteen!!

Partway through the second day the train made an unscheduled stop for seven or eight minutes. It was difficult to see what the holdup was as all windows were sealed. One of the passengers suddenly spotted a herd of cows being shepherded across the track. There was no urgency in the herder to move the cattle as if this was his territory and all transport should give way to ‘local’ traffic!!

Our new carriage attendant is a breath of fresh air compared to the previous attendant. She is constantly visibly cleaning the corridor, mopping the interior of each compartment and chatting away in Russian. She then came around selling Russian Train Company souvenirs. Pens, fridge magnets, flash drives, cuddly teddies in a Provniditsa uniform which she held up alongside her face as if to say, ‘Look, it’s me!’ We bought a pen which cost about sixpence just to say ‘Thank you’ for the entertainment value!!

Whilst travelling through the steppes at least 4,000 miles in to our journey I thought back to the plight of the Mongol tribes who, under the stern leadership of Genghis Khan conquered Russia as well as a fair proportion of Europe. This is a vast land and with the harsh winters it must have taken them generations to cross. I say ‘conquer’ but this is probably too strong a word. Nowadays, Siberia is still mainly a vast desert of trees, hills and plains with remote towns scattered across an area the size of France, Spain and Germany combined. In the 13^th century the Mongols not so much had to conquer but ask nicely to a few small tribes and villages. It wasn’t exactly the might of the Roman empire they were up against!! I’m surprised they persevered. It would have been so easy for Genghis to say: ‘C’mon lads! There’s nowt ‘ere. Let’s get back to us wives and us goats. (not too sure why I gave Genghis Khan a Wigan accent!!)

At every station that we stopped at during the three days onboard an engineer made his way down the side of the train and carriages tapping various sections of the bogie. These are commonly known as ‘Wheel Tappers’. In the 70s they would have teamed up with the ‘shunters’ and been eligible to create a social club (Eastern Siberian branch) Joking aside, these trains are travelling such vast distances that the integrity of the wheels have to be checked at regular intervals to ensure the axle boxes aren’t overheating.

At one of the stops I counted twelve carriages on train 070 from Yekaterinburg to Irkutsk. On the morning of our final day at a town called Zima, we were allowed off the train for thirty minutes exercise. Now somewhere through the night we had acquired another three carriages as I counted fifteen.

From our previous experience with the restaurant car we decided to buy supplies of bread, pate, cheese, pringles and snickers from a station kiosk of which several can be found on each platform. The station was called Krasnoyarsk and we had a forty-minute respite to stretch our legs and ‘do a shop’!! We stood next in line to a man who was currently being served. He spoke a foreign tongue to the kiosk assistant. It Wasn’t Russian. It wasn’t any language Iwas familiar with. On speaking, he held a small book up close to the face of the vendor and pointed to something within. On pulling her face back and squinting her eyes, the seller reached below the counter and produced a bag of lemons. On seeing the produce, he waved at the kiosk vendor in a negative sort of way whilst avoiding eye contact: ‘Nah! Nah!..’ whilst promptly walking away. A nonchalant shrug of the shoulders and the vendor turned her attention to us!

The big question on everybody’s lips: ‘How many churches will we visit in Irkutsk? The favourite number is six but that may change!!’

On our third and final night on board, everyone had a poor night’s sleep. It was too hot. We all woke up bleary eyed. We needed to wake by 04:30 Moscow time which we managed. Not sure what time it was elsewhere in the world. The heating had definitely been increased. In the morning time when everyone opened the doors to their cabin the answer was revealed. Our pleasant carriage attendant had been replaced at some stage by a sour faced Provodnitsa who seemed to have a sadistic aura that made you avert your eyes as you shuffled past her.

All packed and sat on our berths waiting patiently for the train to roll in to Irkutsk and the carriage attendant popped her head around and asked…ney, ordered us to strip out beds!! I joked we’d have to stand by them for inspection next. Not quite but we had to stand there whilst the attendant counted the sheets, pillow cases and towels as if we thought these items were good enough to rob. Egyptian cotton they weren’t!!!

Life on board in this blog may come across a negative but really that is half the fun. One of the positive points to come out of this three night leg of the Trans-Siberian is that all 15 of our group were kept in the same compartment. This way, we got to know more about our travelling companions, laughing together and joking together. Whatever was thrown at us, we coped with as a team. The secret was don’t stress out. Expect the unexpected. It is all about the experience. There is no real harm done and above all…if you do as you’re told, we’ll all get on famously!! I am sure behind every grumpy Provodnitsa there is a smile bursting to jump out!!! (or am I being too optimistic?)

3,245 miles since Yekaterinburg and we stepped off the platform in Irkutsk. We were met by our guide Helen who led us to a waiting mini bus for our next chapter in this Odyssey; Listvyanka and Lake Baikal, one hours drive away. It was like being out on day release…but it felt good!!

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