Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Trans Siberian Railway - Tuesday 11th January to Friday 14th January
Boarded the train in Moscow which left at shortly after midnight on the Monday evening (10th) expecting a 3 day train journey to Irkutsk. The train is pretty old but probably just what we expected. Each berth sleeps 4 people but we paid a supplement to have either sole use of a 4 berth or a smaller 2 berth so that we could avoid sharing (way too old for that malarkey!). We were lucky enough to get a 4 berth for the first this leg so we had a bottom bunk each. So pleased that we paid the extra cause the berth is really small, there is barely enough space for our luggage and provisions!
The train was pretty quiet the first night and we both managed a fairly good night sleep. Woke up quite early the next day and treated ourselves to a cup of tea with our trusty double strength tea bags which we brought from home (one between 2 as we are rationing them!!). We bought milk at the train station as part of our provisions so spent most of our first day drinking tea, reading books and looking out of the window. The scenery is spectacular with lots of trees and snow everywhere you look.
The train is pretty comfy but it is so warm and at times you can hardly breathe because of the dry heat. The other disomfort which is driving me mad is the bloody music, it blares out all day from a speaker in the ceiling of your berth. It is not so loud that you can't hear each other but it is crap music and really tinny. We have looked everywhre for a switch to turn it off but can't find one anywhere. At least it is not constant, it seems to be come on when we get near a station then stays on for a few hours during the day, it goes off eventually!!!
The guard (a big burly Russian bloke) took a shine to Dan and tried to flog him a big tub of red jelly stuff. I had no idea what it was and neither did Dan until he tried it (not exactly voluntarily) and it tasted a bit fishy. Yes, you guessed it, it tuned out to be caviar. I sat in panic for a minute or so hoping he did not insist that I tasted it too!
We've been 'chatting' to one of the Russian blokes (a cheeky chap who reminds us of a Russian version of our good friend Chris Bell) in the berth next door to us. It was all a bit odd (think he's been on the vodka for much of the trip) but what we did work out from him was that the stop we thought we had to get of at wasn't our stop at all! Suddenly thinks started to fall into place a bit. Let me explain....
When we checked in to our hotel in Moscow they told us we were booked in for 2 nights. We looked at each other in surprise as we both thought it was 3 night in Moscow then 3 nights on the train to Irkutsk. As it was almost midnight and we had been travelling since 8am we decided not to worry about it, have a good nights sleep and deal with it in the morning. The next day we double checked our paperwork only to discover that to our surprise the hotel was right, it was only 2 nights in the hotel. The reason for the confusion was that when we booked the trip we were told the train left on the Tuesday at just after midnight, so we thought we had Saturday, Sunday and Monday night at the hotel. The train did leave on the Tuesday at just after midnight but it was just after midnight on Monday (ie 12.35am on the Tuesday morning!!). To add to the confusion, all trains in Russia run on Moscow time but our itinerary is in local time so we get off the train at a different time to the one printed in our itinerary!!
So, now that that was cleared up we got on the right train at the right time with our backpacks and 3 days of provisions to see us through to Irkutsk. However, after talking to the bloke next door we realised that we are actually on the train for 4 nights, not 3. Ah, now it is all starting to make a bit more sense. Only problem is, by the end of day 2 we had almost run out of milk which meant we are now rationing the tea (the Russian's not being big into milk in their tea)!
Slept well the second night too (despite the heat) only to be woken by that bloody music again. It was 9.30am according to our watch but to be fair it was proably 11.30am as we lose 5 hours across time zones on this leg of the trip. It wasn't until day 3 that Dan found the nob which turns off the music in our berth. I can't believe it. We have been listening to that din for almost 3 full days now and the day before we get off we finally manage to shut it up. Slightly gutted that we never found it sooner but so relieved to finally have some peace and quiet. At least when we board the train for leg 2 and 3 of the journey the first thing we will do will be to turn the music off!!
So, its 7pm on day 3 (well in Dan and Sue's time it is - we are guessing which time zone we are in) and all is quiet. We arrive in Irkutsk tomorrow at 7.50pm local time (2.50pm Moscow time - 11.50am UK time) which should be interesting. The last temperature reading was saw was -11C but Irkutsk average for this time of the year is -19C. We will let you know how we get on.
TTFN. x
PS Thanks for all your messages, it good to hear from you.
- comments