Days 7-9: Life on the Train

Distance traveled Days 7-9: 5112km
Total distance traveled from Korea: 10825km

The next three days we traveled the rest of the way to Moscow on the Trans-Siberian Railroad.  The scenery was more of the same – generally flat forested areas with occasional villages, rivers, and hills.  The Ural Mountains, which mark the division between Europe and Asia, were anything but mountains (in the area the railroad crosses, they are only about 1500 feet above sea level).  The first “modern/European” city we encountered was Ekaterinburg (formerly Sverdlorsk during the Soviet Union) – at least the most modern city encountered since leaving Vladivostok.  We continued to see a lot of train traffic (the Trans-Siberian has the highest density of rail traffic on any single line in the world) – besides the occasional passenger trains, there were a lot of cargo/freight trains.  Over the course of the train ride, I think we saw several thousand tanker cars either on the move or at the stations not to mention coal cars and other freight.

Fountain and victory column in front of the Krasnoyarsk train station.	Everyone disembarking at Omsk to stretch their legs.

Since these days were largely similar to the earlier ones, I’m focusing more on what life is like on the train.

For starters, it is pretty casual on the train.  Almost everyone is wearing flip-flops, shorts, and a T-shirt – and generally speaking people don’t change what their wearing from day to day.  There are some exceptions, but there are no laundry facilities (save the wash basin in the toilet) and the only options for a shower are either the “Baby Wipe” shower or paying for the privilege of dumping buckets of water on your head. 

Jasper passes the time playing with toy trains.	Lance sporting the typical casual attire for he train ride, though if I was going to the shops I’d typically “dress up” a bit more.

The layout of all of the Russian 2nd class cars are generally the same.  For the first part of our trip, we rode the “Rossiya” train (No. 1 or No. 2 depending on direction) which cost more money than the other trains, but was faster (by about 24 hours over the entire journey from Vladivostok to Moscow) and more modern (in particular, each four-person berth had its own 220V power outlet).  After Irkutsk, we were traveling on the “slow train” – an older model that had only three power outlets per car (all out in the main hallway) and old-fashioned toilets.

Our berth in the “slow train” – more elaborately decorated than the Rossiya, but the false wood paneling and earth tones gave it a 70s feel.  The occasional flies didn’t help.	Another hazy day at Krasnoyarsk station.

A word on toilets: by “old-fashioned” I mean that they drop directly on to the tracks (and which means that the providnitsas lock the bathrooms when approaching major cities) – so if you’re in rural Russia you may not want to walk so close to the train tracks.  The newer toilets don’t seem to do that but the restrooms are still locked at major stations.

The old fashioned toilet.  The foot lever drops the contents of the pan on to the track.	Dad and I look out the window at the scenery and discuss the whole swath of topics from politics and history to parenting and science.

The air conditioning system only works when the train is moving, so it is particularly hot and stuffy when you first board the train and about for the next hour or so as things cool down.  Dad and I would usually start the trip out in the hallway where there is better airflow.  Once the train is moving it’s not that bad at all. 

Each car has a samovar (hot water heater) that will provide you with as much water as you want for tea, coffee, ramen, etc.  The providnitas have decorative glass cups for tea/coffee they will provide for you if you ask, and they will generally sell you tea, coffee, and small snacks.  Occasionally, salespeople will come through with carts of snacks or trays with pastries as well.

The samovar in our train car.  Not to be confused with a samopal, which is the Russian word for a gun.	Soviet propaganda poster artists clearly are in no danger of unemployment even in this era.

We brought our own bottled water and replenished them throughout the trip at our various stops along the way.  The water in the bathrooms is not potable, and the “water for drinking” dispenser on our train produced water that had a rather unpleasant taste to it.  They sell bottled water on the train, but at fairly expensive rates (you can get 1.5 or 2.0L bottles of water at major train stations for about half the price of a 0.5L bottle on the train), so stock up at the major stops.  In hindsight, we could have probably gotten 6L jugs of water at Vladivostok and Irkutsk and refilled during the trip (there is no limit to how much luggage you can take on the train, so long as it all fits in your compartment).

Finally, the train schedule can be found in the passageway listing the train stops and duration (the trains all run on Moscow Time, but sometimes they will include local time as well on the train schedule).  On short stops (5-15 min) almost everyone will debark just to stretch their legs, and the longer stops (20-30 min) are the best opportunities to go shopping for provisions.  However, you need to keep the departure time in mind – the train will leave regardless if everyone is back on board, and the other trains coming and going may block the direct route across the tracks.  If traveling in groups, its best to leave someone back in the compartment to guard luggage, and if traveling alone at least make sure to take your valuables and identification with you.

We found a large map of the Russian rail network in the Kirov station.  Here is Dad showing the first half of our train trip….	…and here’s the second half from Irkutsk to Moscow!

Overall, traveling by train really gives you a sense for the vastness of Russia.  The price of riding 2nd class is roughly comparable to flying across Russia (from the point of view of traveling from Korea or the West Coast) the biggest difference is the amount of vacation time you have to spend. For us, the train ride was a good way to introduce us to Russian culture and the land before getting to Moscow.  Furthermore, taking it from Vladivostok to Moscow instead of the other way around was a good way to build up from the “frontier” to the capital in Moscow (this direction of travel has also been recommended by native Russians as well).  I would recommend taking the Trans-Siberian once simply for the experience of seeing the country and to say that you traveled across the continent of Asia by train.

Our train while stopped at Ekaterinburg (Sverdlorsk) in the Ural Mountains.