Irkutsk to Moscow by train

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The weather in Irkutsk had steadily deteriorated over the weekend, becoming colder with the snow falling constantly. The homestay was gradually getting warmer and more uncomfortable as unregulated hot water flowed into the radiators, the only way to cool the room was to open the window. The final breakfast a vast improvement on the others, perhaps because two new guests from Switzerland had arrived. Pancakes, cheeses, ham, jams and real butter, Olga really had pulled the stops out for my final morning. Sad to move on I said my goodbyes and arrived at a cold station platform where I met the Aussie sisters, we boarded the 8pm train to Moscow, the start of our epic four night journey to the capital city.

The first night was uncomfortable and incredibly hot in the cabin. The train rattled through the countryside stopping periodically to collect more passengers. The train system throughout Russia runs on Moscow time, GMT +3. Irkutsk was GMT +8 so we had hours to lose. Unable to decide between ourselves which time zone we should adopt we opted to all operate on difference times. I stuck to Irkutsk time arguing that it would be better to arrive in Moscow later and then wind the clock back to benefit from the additional five hours. Clearly a logical argument I thought.

The Aussie sisters were a constant source of entertainment on the train. After an argument over a slice of rye bread and a squirt of Vegemite the younger sister mounted a hunger strike in protest. After fifteen minutes I found her buying a twix from the trolley lady who regularly passed the cabin with her truck of goodies for sale - busted she soon resorted to eating anything insight and discussing what she was going to have for her next meal.

Canadian John a fellow trans - sib passenger soon became a regular to our cabin, renamed the Commonwealth cabin. He was travelling up from Korea, making his way to the UK. On the middle evening the four if us headed to the resturant car to celebrate our journey's halfway point. We flicked through the 26 page menu selecting a variety of dishes for our meal. The trolley lady doubled as the waitress in the restaurant, unfortunately she had very poor eyesight and could barely read the menu. The chef was consulted after each selection to make sure he had the ingredients in stock, eventually in attended to our table and quickly fired off the dishes that he could make! More confused than ever I ordered a Russian salad that weighed a mere 150g and two slices unbuttered bread. A good evening was had by all.

After four nights on the train a routine was soon adopted. Making a cup of coffee or taking the rubbish to the bin became an event. At some stations we were allowed to alight from the train, others we were held on board. Most stations had small kiosks selling food and drink but it was never clear how long we had at each station. We never all got off at the same time just in case the train left and we were stranded somewhere in Russia wearing flip flops and without our documents. On the third morning we had an early stop at a station that was full of local people selling fresh produce. I bought two eggs that were warm to the touch, either they had just been laid or they were hard boiled and a fresh loaf of bread. The excitement of fresh food was almost unbearable in our cabin as we tucked into our food. Breakfast soon over I was back to gazing out the window for the next 18 hours!

From Irkutsk we passed through Novosibirsk, Omsk, Yekaterinburg, Perm, Vyatka and Nizhmy Novgorod before arriving at Moscow. The snow of Siberia soon disappeared as we headed west and the temperature slowly increased. Russia from the train appearedto be covered in nothing other than fir and silver birch trees with the occasional small village popping up. The housing is poor and the sight of people drawing water from wells not unusual, the country is vast.

The final night was celebrated back in the dining car. The chef was more chatty and the menu more extensive. Now operating on Moscw time we retired to bed at 7 pm in preparation of our early arrival in Moscow. After four days on the train and thousands of kilometres travelled the trained pulled into Moscw Central station exactly on time - 4.11am Moscow time.

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Comments

[MUM AND DAD]

LONGEST TRAIN JOURNEY
You were so lucky to have Danni and Kylie entertaining you on your long journey. I hope your contribution wasn't "Are we there yet. How much further and I'm hungry." Followed by a quick nap, waking up with a burst of energy and a run up and down the carriages! I'm sure you made their journey fun too.