Day 13 - Baikal Express - Coming Good
Day 14 - Baikal Express - Birthday
Day 15 - Baikal Express - Moscow
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Day 12 Tuesday 12 August
Baikal Express
I woke feeling quite unwell. After breakfast I just relaxed and bought some overpriced gifts from the hotel shop. The group caught a taxi to the station - cost us $US10 each - what a rip off! I should have walked. We drove around the river and then quite a way to the north of the station due to the one-way road system. It was quite interesting.
I thought we were joining the Trans-Siberian Express but our train was Train Number 9, the Baikal Express, which runs from Irkutsk to Moscow. The station was quite crowded. I walked across the road to some street-side food stalls and bought some bananas and biscuits. I had very little food with me - just some noodles and tea.
The train left on time at 11am and traveled north through industrial Irkutsk. I was in a cabin with Bobby and two Russian men. They had boarded the train early and grabbed the bottom bunks. The younger Russian guy looked half cut, and he had a black eye and sore ribs. He'd obviously been in a fight. He was drinking beer and offered me a can. I was too ill to drink but I had a can to be sociable. I regretted it!
Communication was very difficult. Bobby and I spoke no Russian and they spoke no English. The older of the two was quite upset that we couldn't converse. He didn't stop talking to the younger guy. Life in the cabin was not all that pleasant. The two Russians had the table and when we wanted to sit it meant that we were sitting on their beds. It was also difficult to see out the window.
We passed through farming and pastoral land and birch forests. As the rail guide describes:- "Between the cities are log-cabin settlements some as immaculate and brightly painted as story-book illustrations." I didn't tire of these small settlements because, even though they all looked much the same, there was always one or more of the cabins that stood out. They were a welcome break from the otherwise quite boring scenery. Even the major towns and cities looked similar from the train.
All in all it was quite an ordinary day. I felt miserable with my head cold.
Top Back to Map IndexDay 13 Wednesday 13 August
Baikal Express
I got up early just in time to beat the morning rush to the toilet. My stomach was still upset.
I had a banana, a muesli bar and a cup of tea for breakfast. It rained all morning and I was quite bored. I just stood at the window but there was nothing much to see outside. The highlight of the morning was a small log cabin which was so beautiful and colourful it just looked like something out of a fairy tale. Apart from the occasional small village, there was very little to see. I felt rather disappointed that it was virtually impossible to take photographs of the few interesting sights. The train was moving too fast.
I walked the five carriages to the other cabin and had brunch with Klaus, Brenda and Werner. Klaus was climbing the wall with boredom. He was in another cabin with some Russians. I have to admit that on this second day it was rather boring. I just walked the train, looking out the window, trying to take photographs as the country flashed by! Bobby sat in her bunk and read most of the time.
At lunch time I was feeling a lot better and actually enjoyed my beer with the Russian. We sat and tried to converse. I showed some photos of Perth but they weren't all that interested. The older guy was quite frustrated again. A little later I introduced myself to our young and very pretty provodnitsa (Galena). I was able to explain that I was from Australia and she told me she was from Irkutsk. I drew pictures to show her I cycled, sailed and surfed. She drew a picture of a shark!
The provodnitsas were very good - the carriage and toilets were kept very clean. At the station stops they kept a close eye on everyone because the train gave no warning when it pulled out. They were very much part of the carriage "family".
In the evening I felt like eating at last and went down to the "Pectopah" (restaurant car) and had a simple meal of sausages, potato and cabbage.
Although I was a little bored, I was settling into life on the train and in the cabin. The Russian guys shared the table with us - they ate early and then moved so that Bobby and I could sit at the table. My favourite pass time was just sitting or standing by a window watching the country flash by.
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Day 14 Thursday 14 August (My birthday!)
Baikal Express
The day started quite slowly. I was thinking of home and feeling a little homesick. The countryside was still the same - birch forests, farm land and small log cabin villages. The cities were all run down with many abandoned factories. I started to venture out at the short station stops, buying some tasty morsels from the Babushkas. I was sick to death of noodles!
We passed through the Ural Mountains (more like rolling hills than mountains) and slowed down when we passed the obelisk marking the boundary between Asia and Europe. I was quick enough to take this photo! There were fir trees and even more quaint log cabins. There were also some pretty big river crossings.
About lunch time (times were so confusing as we kept changing time zones and the train was running on Moscow time) I went a bought a couple of beers and sat with the two Russians. For the first time the younger guy turned down a drink as he was feeling really sick. We started to converse and this time we actually made progress. With my Russian phrase book we were able to establish that the younger one was a Cossack soldier (a very proud one at that). The older one (aged 72) was heading for Bonn in Germany. (That's them below). We talked about Russia and politics and generally had a good time. This was our third day together and I think any suspicions we might have had about each other had gone.
I received another surprise in the late afternoon. The young girl in the adjoining cabin spoke to me in rather good English! She had been learning at school and university. Helena, aged 18, was traveling with her father and sister. I asked her why she hadn't spoken before and she said that she had been too shy. The great pity was that she was getting off the train at the next stop - about an hour away. She came into our cabin and we talked for around 45 mins about our respective lives in Australia and Russia, my trip, her studies, and so on. She was able to translate for our two Russian cabin mates. It was really great to talk to a Russian at last!
A little later I went down for dinner and Brenda had organised a little party for me. I received small gifts which were rather special, and a birthday cake in the shape of a steam locomotive (train number 9 of course). We had a great time!
When I arrived back at the cabin, I found that Helen had left me a small gift and card. A little earlier I had got off the train to say goodbye to her and her family. The young Cossack had also alighted and he had bought a smoked chicken from a Babushka. We all shared it and it was delicious! Although my stomach was still upset, I was starting to enjoy food again - especially the platform food!It was a memorable birthday!
Day 15 Friday 15 August
Baikal Express - Arrival in Moscow
It was rather dull this morning as it was raining and the windows were quite dirty at this stage of the trip. It was very cold out. At a couple of the station stops I alighted and bought some potato cakes (pirashki) filled with a cabbage/onion mix. Yummy! At one stage I also tasted "valinski" (boiled potatoes and herbs).
I sat and talked to Galena for a while and gave her a Sydney 2000 Olympics badge that someone had given me for my birthday. She was thrilled. Trying to converse was very frustrating. She didn't understand one word of English and of course my Russian was non-existent.
At around lunch time everyone started packing and then we all just sat around until we pulled into Yaroslavl Station. Entering the city by rail was not pretty.
Birch, pine, fir.
Log cabins, fairy tale cottages, vegetable gardens.
Golden smiles, a foreign language - frustration.
River crossings, bridges, run down cities, apartment blocks, abandoned factories, scrap metal.
Clunkity-clunk, "toink - toink".
Four people in a 2m x 2m cabin - sharing, joking, accommodating.
Carriage - corridor, samovar, walking-the-train, balance, smoking compartment.
Pectopah.
Station stops - yummy food, ice creams, fresh air, stretching, mingling.
