Life onboard
As it turned out a briefly saw Irkutsk as much of my time was spend stocking up on provisions for the train journey that lay ahead and I did get a second batch of postcards sent off!
Train 2 it was then, the 'Rossiya' on which, if you so choose, you can travel from Moscow to Vladivostok in one go. For me it would be a 'mere' 3 days and 2 nights, but that seemed quite sufficient to me! There were a good deal of Asian faces at Irkutsk station (and I was there for a while as the train was running late); this ethnic mix is something that I've been noticing since Tomsk, and the further East I go the more you see it. I've no idea if these are Russians originally from other countries or visitors but it makes a change in what has been until now a very white European country. It is still predominantly that, but no longer entirely at least.
After getting settled in my train compartment, which for the first time wasn't full, and catching up on some sleep I headed to the restaurant car, some 4 carriages away. It was a bit of a trek, crossing these moving metal plates that covered up the gap where the carriages meet, but I made it in one piece and knew that my efforts had been rewarded when I heard some voices speaking English. There were two retired American gents who I set across the aisle from. I ordered some dinner and in time got into conversation with them. In time we were joined by two Danish guys and food turned to beer and vodka and the scene was set for the evening!
The evening passed quickly and in good company, concluding with the five of us in the American's 1st class "Spalny Vagon" compartment downing shots of vodka and having a great chat. What more could I ask for, and what an improvement on the previous trains! The next couple of days were largely spent in the restaurant car also, as aside from being quite reasonably priced as far as train catering goes it also offered some of the cleanest windows on the train to take in the view as we passed through hilly forested country interspersed with rivers and valleys. All in all worth looking out the window for, and much more enjoyable than the flat countryside of the earlier journeys.
When passing through Russian villages and towns along the way you see snapshots of life for the local people. It's a bizarre mix of modern and something from a different age. You might see a family in a modern people carrier and later see a man drawing water from a well in a metal pail. It's like that all over the place; people carrying the latest mobile phones while old women sell smoked fish on station platforms. It's certainly difficult to categorise if it's the first world or the second world as the communist countries used to be referred to as. Something of a mix of the two really.
The third day on board saw us passing from Moscow time + 5 to Moscow time + 7. Two timezones in a day isn't bad. We're now on Vladivostok time, 11 hours ahead of UK time and hopefully that's as far as it'll get as it'll be back to the far more reasonable 8 hours ahead for most of East Asia.
Lest I forget the on board catering! It was actually pretty decent and the portions hearty, if generally on the rather 'well oiled' side. Nevertheless it certainly beat the packs of Russian supernoodles which were the alternative I had brought with me! Typically the food consisted of your choice of meat or fish with slice potato and a selection of veg. Really, considering what train catering I've tollerated on British Rail in the past I couldn't complain!
Train 2 it was then, the 'Rossiya' on which, if you so choose, you can travel from Moscow to Vladivostok in one go. For me it would be a 'mere' 3 days and 2 nights, but that seemed quite sufficient to me! There were a good deal of Asian faces at Irkutsk station (and I was there for a while as the train was running late); this ethnic mix is something that I've been noticing since Tomsk, and the further East I go the more you see it. I've no idea if these are Russians originally from other countries or visitors but it makes a change in what has been until now a very white European country. It is still predominantly that, but no longer entirely at least.
After getting settled in my train compartment, which for the first time wasn't full, and catching up on some sleep I headed to the restaurant car, some 4 carriages away. It was a bit of a trek, crossing these moving metal plates that covered up the gap where the carriages meet, but I made it in one piece and knew that my efforts had been rewarded when I heard some voices speaking English. There were two retired American gents who I set across the aisle from. I ordered some dinner and in time got into conversation with them. In time we were joined by two Danish guys and food turned to beer and vodka and the scene was set for the evening!
The evening passed quickly and in good company, concluding with the five of us in the American's 1st class "Spalny Vagon" compartment downing shots of vodka and having a great chat. What more could I ask for, and what an improvement on the previous trains! The next couple of days were largely spent in the restaurant car also, as aside from being quite reasonably priced as far as train catering goes it also offered some of the cleanest windows on the train to take in the view as we passed through hilly forested country interspersed with rivers and valleys. All in all worth looking out the window for, and much more enjoyable than the flat countryside of the earlier journeys.
When passing through Russian villages and towns along the way you see snapshots of life for the local people. It's a bizarre mix of modern and something from a different age. You might see a family in a modern people carrier and later see a man drawing water from a well in a metal pail. It's like that all over the place; people carrying the latest mobile phones while old women sell smoked fish on station platforms. It's certainly difficult to categorise if it's the first world or the second world as the communist countries used to be referred to as. Something of a mix of the two really.
The third day on board saw us passing from Moscow time + 5 to Moscow time + 7. Two timezones in a day isn't bad. We're now on Vladivostok time, 11 hours ahead of UK time and hopefully that's as far as it'll get as it'll be back to the far more reasonable 8 hours ahead for most of East Asia.
Lest I forget the on board catering! It was actually pretty decent and the portions hearty, if generally on the rather 'well oiled' side. Nevertheless it certainly beat the packs of Russian supernoodles which were the alternative I had brought with me! Typically the food consisted of your choice of meat or fish with slice potato and a selection of veg. Really, considering what train catering I've tollerated on British Rail in the past I couldn't complain!
posted by Daniel at 12:31 am
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