Day 3 Train to Irkutsk
I slept a little better last night but still woke up a few times.
Only 2 of us in the cabin which didn't really make any difference though it was nice to have the room to spread out and put my legs up.
I was awake pretty early so I hoped to get the sunrise from the back of the train. Unfortunately the doors are locked and I wasn't allowed back there. I can only get to the back of the cabin section of the carriage (not right to the back) going backwards and to the dining cart going forwards. I can't get all the way through the train like I could on the train from Beijing to UlanBaatar.
It does start to feel a bit confining after a while so I look forward to the infrequent stops so I can get out of the train and walk about a bit. The carriage attendants and I have got into a ritual where I go out for some fresh air and they let me know how many minutes I have to wander around before the train will leave. There is a schedule but I want that confirmation in case things have changed because we are ahead or behind time. Then I try to make a stupid joke or say something in Russian and they correct me. Seems to work well for building a relationship so they will help out if anything goes wrong.
I inadvertently caught a bit of the sunrise in a photo this morning at one of the stops. I was trying to get some of those beautiful dilapidated buildings in the shot but the phone auto darkened the shot. Decent photo just not of what I wanted.
The stops on the train range from 1 minute to about 30 minutes. The bigger the station the longer the stop seems to be the general rule. On any stop longer than about 10 minutes there tend to be vendors on the station platform selling various things. The most popular thing seems to be what I think are variations on piroshki. Essentially fried bread with meat and / or vegetable filling. They are generally pretty tasty and cost about 40-50 rubles each. I'm trying to pick up something different each station to try out a bit of the local food. It all seems much the same so far so I'm interested to see if it changes as we go further across Russia. Around the Lake Baikal area they are supposed to do grilled fish of some species that only live in this particular lake.
Pretty quiet day today. Mostly just long stretches of travel wth 4-6 hours between stops. A couple of new guys joined the cabin today and went immediately to sleep for most of the day. They woke up a bit later for a meal, stared at their phone for a bit then went back to sleep. It's pretty standard for a lot of people on the train. Lots and lots of sleeping (or trying to sleep). While I'm not sure I really like the look of the 3rd class section of the train I may give it a go for one of the shorter sections of the trip. Apparently it's being phased out so might as well experience it while I can.
I'm surprised at how few other tourists I've seen on the train. As far as I can tell I'm the only English speaker in my carriage. There were a couple of Asian girls (Chinese I would guess) a couple of cabins down but they don't speak any English. The rest of the passengers seem to be Russian. There's a full spread of age groups from a family with their 2 young children all the way through to some people that look like retirees. It's a good spread and there hasn't been anyone annoying or obnoxious yet.
That said it's the little petty things that get annoying after a while in anyone's company. I wish I could talk to one of the new guys in my cabin about his eating and drinking noises. Every time he drinks tea he slurps as loud as he can then let's out a giant sigh after he's swallowed it. Same thing when he eats. Slurps it off the spoon then sighs loudly. The army guy smells of smoke and BO. The dude in the cabin next to me can't seem to use the cupboard without slamming the door. I'm sure I have some habits they don't like.
The carriage itself is a wonderland of smells and sounds that is constantly changing depending on who the passengers are. It doesn't smell as bad today as it did the first night but we've got far less guys in the carriage now.
The scenery is slowly changing. We're transitioning from a forested landscape to more grassy plains and rivers. I am not yet tired of watching the scenery out the window but I will be glad when I can get off the train for a couple of days. I suppose you get used to it but I'm not sure I'd enjoy doing the 8 day trip in one hit.
The restaurant lady looks at me hopefully every time she walks past after her coup from the first meal I had. I smile and diligently say "nyet" and eat the 50 Ruble piroshki from the stations or the rest of my own supplies instead. I do want to try the borscht but I'm sure I can get better for cheaper elsewhere. I've done pretty well with the amount of food I brought. I have an apple and a thing of cup noodles plus a bunch of teabags left for tomorrow which will do nicely with a snack from one of the stations at some point. I've been drinking lots of tea so have barely touched my water at all. I'll bring a much smaller bottle for the next trip particularly since I know the carriage attendants have fresh water available.
There was an old church visible across the river at one point this afternoon. I wish I'd been faster and gotten a photo. It was once a white building but it's now grey and looks like it is falling apart. It's on its own in the middle of a grassy plain and the river was frozen over this afternoon. Really stark beautiful site. Also the first time I think I've ever seen a frozen river!
I can't get a photo of today's sunset because of the reflection from the glass. There are mountains with a valley in between and a thick layer of cloud cover. But there are a couple of breaks in the cloud cover in long lines that are allowing brilliant shades of red and orange through. It's like someone has torn strips in a sheet of paper to let you see through it. And there are the few lights of a nearby town sitting below it on the horizon. It's a beautiful sight.
We're supposed to be coming up to the most scenic part of the whole trans-siberian journey but this train passes by most of it at night which is a little disappointing. But that's OK. I should get some pretty good scenery tomorrow as we approach then go around part of Lake Baikal.
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