The train |
It was one wintry London evening many months ago, over a few glasses of wine and dinner chez Mr and Mrs Tuppen, that we first contemplated embarking on this Trans-Mongolian adventure. Holly and Nick's inspiring stories of green travel around the world (check them out at www.3mphroundtheworld.com), and through Russia in particular, struck a chord. All we knew at that point was that we were going away, we didn't really know where to start and an epic train ride sounded just the ticket to get us on our way.
And so it was that, laden down with supplies of porridge, packet noodles, instant soups, tea and coffee, and the obligatory bottle of vodka, Chris and I made our way to St Petersburg's Ladozhskaya station, a little nervous to be starting on the real journey at last. The train was as you might expect - we were booked into 'kupe', the Russian second class, with four berths per compartment in a carriage with 2 bathrooms, a bottomless hot water tap for making hot drinks and meals, and further down the train, the restaurant car.
The scrabble king in our little cabin |
The lovely bright green restaurant car |
Chris and Sergei |
Not wanting to appear rude, Chris also produced our untouched bottle of vodka to add to the party - bad move! Once the beers were drunk, with much nodding, bottle clinking, and repetition of "i have black cat", "i have wife", it was time for the vodka. Sergei poured beakers full of the stuff to be downed in one. He then delved into his bag of goodies yet again to produce some roasted chicken legs, as you do - to drink vodka without eating the Russian zakuski (essentially cold cuts) is to show yourself up as a drunk he mimed to us (seemingly oblivious to the irony of the fact that he was very clearly plastered already). Chris kept up with him well and between them they polished off about 3/4 of the bottle in the space of around ten minutes...
Sergei was as kind as can be. Despite the snoring, the constant ins and outs for cigarette breaks, the explosion of his belongings all over our tidy little compartment and the stink of booze on his breath. He shared photos of his wife, cat and family, insisted on giving Chris his Manchester United cap, tried to communicate as much as he could and practically dragged us off the train with him to meet his wife and stay for a few days near Lake Baikal....we declined his kind offer but did exchange numbers and will retain fond memories of our stereotypically Russian experience.
A station along the way |
Would we do it again - possibly not, it really is a long way and once you have got over the initial excitement of being in a little cabin and traveling across vast swathes of land the novelty does wear off somewhat. However, I don't regret one second of the experience. It truly is an epic train ride and gives you an appreciation for the scale of the countries you are passing through. It also enabes you to glimpse those daily lives and parts of the country that you would never otherwise see, giving you an overall flavour of the country that is unattainable through other means of transport. It might not all be fun and games at the time but when you look and think back to all the miles you have travelled there is an odd sense of achievement and satisfaction that you don't get from flying. I am a bit of convert to the challenges of overland travel and am looking forward to carrying on our journey with more of the same. Tonight we undertake another classic train ride from Beijing to Lhasa, known as one of the most momentous feats of engineering in the past decade. We'll let you know how we get on.
Whoop a convert! Gotta love the Russian's communal picnicking skills. Sounds awesome. Good luck on Chinese trains... Missing you both heaps xx
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