On the Train
The Trans Siberian has survived a revolution, two world wars, Siberian winters, hot summers, and 400,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, mosquitoes. It is 9278 km east to west and spans 7 time zones. When I wake up I will be 4 time zones ahead since I left Moscow. With an average speed of 60 km/h, this is a slow and relaxing ride.
Day One (4/22/08)
I am now on the train and although I am not sharing the berth with the Brazilian supermodel like the gypsy said I would I have the next best thing. I have it to myself. Not sure for how long but at least for the first night. My cabin is great. Quaint I think. I even have a shower that I share with the couple next to me. This is home for the next 5 days. I think leaving Russia is going to a bit trickier than getting into Russia. I did not register my visa as I was willing to risk the fine. Now I hear that they get nasty about it. Not sure what they can do other than make me leave the county which is what I am doing anyway. I don’t think I will end up in a secret Siberian Gulag.
It is a shame that I don’t drink coffee or tea. I would feel so darn sophisticated if I did. The train left on time and the Chinese staff is friendly and helpful. It is pitch dark outside so I cannot describe the scenery. For now picture night and you have it. The Dutch and Finnish couple next to me are friendly and easy to talk to. So the next 5 days will be lots of sleeping, reading and drinking. I am amazed how much vodka people bring with them. After last night I am a little gun shy. I have also brought some movies to watch on my lap top. I am finally going to watch Brave Heart.
The train is from China as well as the staff but the dining car is Russian. The will be the priciest option but Russian food is good. It will be interesting to see what the train food is like.
I think we just hit a deer. There was a big thump that had me go crashing into my table.
10:50 and time for bed. I still have a bloody hangover. I also am addicted to the book that I am reading called The Kite Runner. I should be finished in about 1 hour.
Day 2 Morning (4/23/08)
A fairly good night’ sleep. A couple of rough stops would jar me awake but I am in a train after all. Looking out the window I see endless forest, rail tracks and the occasional industrial town bellowing out smoke and pollution from their smoke stacks. The ground seems to be tundra and soggy from the spring thaw. The sky is a pale blue and the sun shining brightly. There is also intermittent amounts of snow.
I got off the train for the first time a few minutes ago. It is still somewhat cold in Siberia but it was nice to get some fresh air and stretch my legs. A typical train station anywhere. Hustle and bustle and various merchants selling their wares. For some reason there was a lot of stuffed animals being sold. I was looking for a sexy sheep to keep me company on a lone winter’s Siberian night.
The breakfast was not that great. Sausages and rice. The sausages were basically hotdogs but all is good. You don’t really go on the Trans Siberian for the food. With water, chocolate and some instant meals I bought at MEC when I was in Calgary it will be a culinary delight on Coach 9, seat 10.
Again, I really like this lap top and with my iPod and little external speak and a good book this will be a great journey. Relaxing would be the best way to describe it. Sleep when you want to sleep, read when you want to read and drink when you want to drink. Now if I could throw sex in there I would never leave this place.
Current book that I am reading is The Other Boleyn Girl. Current music on my iPod is Leadbelly and I still think that I should be drinking coffee.
My cabin consists of two bunk beds, one table one chair and shared shower. The dining car is carriage 3 and I am in 9. There are 4 British guys that let their presence be known as they were loud and drunk. Not like me where I am quiet and charming when I drink.
Despite my many warnings I found Russia to be safe and had no problems with anything or anyone. I did find some Russians to be curt and not that service orientated there were as many that went out of their way to help you. Russian museums and historical buildings are incredible. I went down to Red Square and the Kremlin everyday that I was in Moscow. I did not get to see the Museum of the Revolution as it was closed when I went there.
50 Random Thoughts
1. I think the best things you can bring traveling is patience and a sense of humor. A passport and money is great as well but do not forget about the first two.
2. Forget about how things work in Canada. It is the wrong expectations in other countries
3. Will I ever learn? I brought too much clothes with me. I consider this a complete regression.
4. A friend of mine who is a lesbian once told me that often there is a lip stick (attractive) and a diesel (butch) in a relationship. Must be the same in Russia. I saw a couple of women making out on the subway and one was very attractive and the other looked liked Merle Olson.
5. My job is great for me. I can travel as much as I want.
6. Always be polite, courteous and succinct with customs officials.
7. You can generally trust other travelers.
8. I am afraid of dolphins
9. People with the least often give the most
10. I don’t like Nickelback but I don’t they are bad people
11. I think Demitri Martin is the funniest standup comic of all time. Number 8 is stolen from him.
12. I think it is great for Eric to walk away from all he had in Calgary to go do volunteer work in Africa.
13. Marty (my Back to Back in Yemen) has great taste in music. I might actually give Leonard Cohen another try
14. Barbara Downie was a great teacher
15. MASH is still a great show.
16. Trevian is still my favorite author (fiction) of all time
17. My Winston Churchill cigar knife is still my favorite thing
18. My favorite band name is the English Teeth out of Calgary
19. CKUA, CJSW and the CBC are great radio stations.
20. Basic Black was the most entertaining show on the radio. Where are you Arthur Black
21. Jesse has always been wise beyond his years.
22. I think Leadbelly was a tortured soul. It is no wonder that Kurt Cobain liked him
23. Whatever happened to Nash the Slash
24. John Prine and Todd Snider would be my favorite Folk Concert. Add in Dan Bern and it would be perfect
25. I miss going to the Calgary Folk Fest.
26. I use the word great a lot.
27. I have no idea where I am in Siberia at this moment
28. Always have toilet paper in your pack
29. I am always impressed with people that speak more than one language. Many of our Yemeni staff speak 3, 4 or 5 languages
30. If you are going to be unilingual English is not that bad. Thank you England and America.
31. If had had to describe Rock and Roll to someone who never heard of it I would play them Maybellene by Chuck Berry. Hail Hail Rock and Roll
32. Sodomy is the act. Buggery is the crime
33. President Saleh is myopic
34. I like Art Bergman.
35. I wish I could play any type musical instrument. Am I really a Caper
36. I need to read more Wilfred Owen
37. I have deep respect for Vets from WWI and WWII. I get mesmerized by their stories
38. My uncle was a sniper in WW II. I wish I knew more about him. It was his job to snuff out German snipers. Snipers were revered by comrades and feared and hated by the enemy. My mother remembers his shiny boots when he got back from overseas.
39. I need to get the book The Siege of Leningrad.
40. Nap Time
41. I do not like the new Widows Vista
42. I like the song 88 lines about 44 Women by the Nails
43. George Harrison was my favorite Beatle
44. Siberia is vast
45. I can be too lazy at times
46. I like right handed turns far more that left ones
47. I really like cilantro
48. My boss Todd has a neurotic dislike of cilantro
49. My hair is getting very grey
50. I turn 43 soon
Favorites Songs Involving Trains (or Trains mentioned)
1. So Blue-Stan Rogers
2. Folsom Prison Blues-Johnny Cash
3. I Never did like that Train-Murray McLaughlin
4. Big Train from Memphis-John Fogerty
5. Smoke Along the Tracks-Stonewall Jackson
6. This Shirt-Mary Chapin Carpenter (or Garnett Roger’s version)
7. Rambling Man-Hank Williams
8. Old 97-Hank III Version
9. Train I ride (Elvis Presley) I think that is the title
10. Waiting Around to Die-Townes Van Zandt
11. Bridal Train-The Waifs
12. Train in Vain-The Clash
13. Another Train Song-Todd Snider
Day 2 in the Afternoon
What a piss off. I was watching the movie Crash and the ending was erased from my computer. I was really enjoying it. I will need to watch it when I get back to Canada.
As we continue to rumble through Siberia it is getting a bit colder. About -5 and light flurries. Still not that cold for a Canadian lad from Western Canada.
I bought some food from the Babushkas at the last train station. Homemade bread and a salad of some sort. Really good. What a difference in price compared to the cities. 1/3 of the price.
It seems that there is endless forest of hardwood here. Apparently a lot of it ends up to IKEA in Sweden.
Later on I will make my way to the dining car to see who is around however I would be quite content to stay in my little cabin and read my book.
I think we just left a city called Perm. More forest, tundra and small towns.
What to do what to do. I know. Read and nap. Life is good
Perm (4/23/2008)
I just passed through the city of Perm. It has 1 million people the only reason I knew about it was I read a book on The Russian Gulag System and I remember Perm 36 from the book. It was terrifying. As soon as the men got arrested women would consider themselves widows. Countless artists, intellectuals, scientist and various others were condemned to be worked to death here.
The city looked quite bland to pass through but apparently there new wealth here with the ubiquitous Russian sushi restaurants and high fashion shops.
Gulags
I don’t think Stalin invented the Gulag but he perfected them. It was basically a home grown slave trade. Hiccupping the wrong way could get you sent here. My Lonely Planet guide informs me that the Gulag population was 8 million by 1938. Your life expectancy was 2 years with starvation, disease and exposures being the leading cause of death. 90% of inmates died with the last 10 Gulag prisoners being released in 1992 by Boris Yelstin.
Favorite Short Joke
A friend of mine from Nova Scotia told me that he and his wife’s home phone number must be the same as the Canadian Coast Guard. Why is that I asked. He replied that every night around 8 his gets a call from a strange man asking if the coast is clear.
Day 3 (4/24/08)
I slept a lot better last night. I think I was in bed for 10 hours which unusual for me. The shower was interesting. Barely a tricked of cold water but I am cleaner than yesterday.
The sun is beaming through my window and I see more fields today than yesterday. Beige fields with a lot of swamp and puddles. There are also endless power lines. Also seems to be very flat.
There are houses made of chocolate brown wood with colorful windows. and there does not seem to be an abundance of wealth. However I am seeing this from the tracks. I would think that life would be harsh here. Cold, long winters and short summers. Does this remind you of anywhere?
The train seems to be less sociable than what I thought. This is probably me more than anyone. I am pretty content to read my book and day dream whilst looking at the scenery. People are friendly however.
I have been avoiding the vodka and will most likely give the stuff that I brought to one of the carriage attendants.
I have been buying food from the babushkas at the train station rather than eating on the train itself. Some of the salads are pretty darn good. It is funny to hear some of the people that are not used to cold weather complain about it. It is barely below zero and there is an Israeli that is freezing every time is on the platform.
Books that I have read or will read on this trip
The Memory Keeper’s Daughter
Blaze
The Kite Runner
The Other Boleyn Girl
The Prize
Lonely Planet
End of Day 3 (4/24/08)
I have just traveled over 3200 km’s and still have a long way to go to get to Mongolia. I passed through Boris Yelstin’s village, the place where Tsar Nicolas II and his family were murdered, an 870 meter bridge that spanned one of the largest rivers in the world, a former concentration camp for banned Poles. I have also passed through some of the wealthier cities in Siberia. Money made from oil, coal and other natural resources. In another 30 hours or so I will be crossing the Mongolian border.
Day 4 (4/25/08)
I have just passed kilometer 4098 and would be about ½ way if I were doing the complete Trans Siberian. There is more snow now but the weather is warmer. I can walk around the platforms in a t-shirt. This is Cossack and exile country. I think the Decembrists were exiled in this part of Siberia.
The only animals I have so far are a few dogs and a few rare Siberian snow cows. No bears, deer or Siberian tigers.
I have spent the day sleeping basically. I put my watch ahead last night by 4 hours so I didn’t go to sleep until 5:00 am. I am not sure if the term is jet lag or does it become train lagged. The latter seems a bit silly.
The time does go by a lot faster than what I thought. I am really enjoying the books that I am reading and when I get bored of that my lap top is great or I chat with my neighbors.
Day 5
I awoke early this morning so that I could watch as we rounded Lake Baikal. It is a unique banana shaped lake that is 636 km’s long but only 60 km’s wide. What makes it so unique is that it holds 1/5th of the world’s fresh water. More water than the 5 Great Lakes combined. The reason for this is the deepness. At times it can be over 1600 meter. It is also a unique ecosystem with some animal and plant species endemic to here only. This includes fresh water seals and certain type of fish that actually yells when you catch it. The water never gets warmer than 15 degrees and apparently on some days you can see 40 meters to the bottom.
I have just passed the city of Ulan-Ude so now it really becomes the Trans Mongolian Route. The total distance covered will be 7865 km’s. It used to take them 40 days during the 18th and 19th century tea trading days.
I will be crossing the border soon and will be in Mongolia. The scenery will be the flat steppes and then the Gobi desert. I will be trying to spot the nomadic gers along the way.
I am seeing some green grass for the first time since I have left with spruce and pine trees as compared to the hardwood tress that I have been seeing.
The villages still look rustic with not surprisingly, large lots. The basically look like non descript working towns with some horses and cows. There is most the roads are dirt with Ladas being the vehicle of choice. There are some small mountains (hills) in the background but I don’t what they are called. We had left the Urals a long time ago.
I have been at a border town now for 3 hours. They have our passports and I told this can take anywhere from 3 to 12 hours. So far so good regarding my registration or lack of it. No fines, beatings or banishment to Siberia. At least the trip would be short. The weather is really nice and t shirt weather for the first since I left Dubai.
There is not a lot to do here but sit and wait and then we will need to do the same thing on the Mongolian side.
I bought the coolest thing so far on the trip. Stalin Cigarettes. That is right comrade. Cool, minty fresh and healthy as an apple. I actually brought two packs and now I wished I smoked and drank coffee. And they cost 21 cents.
Assuming I don’t get beat up or mugged over the next little bit Russia proved to be a safe place to visit despite the many warnings from my co-workers. Mind you I was not hanging around the docks or buying illegal guns. Save for the incredible metros it is not that an easy place to get around. The lack of English language, cold service sector and the Cyrillic alphabet can make things challenging at times. This is evident by the banana split I had for breakfast one day. It was a point and pray but let tell you it was the best damned banana split breakfast that I have ever had.
Once again I skirt the long arm of the law. No fines, no grief. The customs officials were professional, brief and I dare say friendly. One of them asked if there was anything forbidden and I told that I felt up my cousin when I was 11. Other than that I was clean. Actually I offered her a Stalin cigarette and that is all that it took. There was another officer checking my cabin for contra band but I think he was ignoring anything smaller than a horse as all he did was look under the bed.
All done and Mongolia here I come.
Now in Mongolia and they are playing tug a war with the trains. We are being banged around as they change the various cars. I think we should be ready to in about an hour. It is 11:15 local time so I will sleep to sun rise and then watch some of the scenery as we pass through the Gobi Desert. By 7:30 I should be Ulan Bator and arrange some hiking. But first comes a shower, food and then some sleep.
Good, passport just passed back by Custom’s Officer. No problems with anything up to day 16 of my trip. I am hoping to buy some opium however so things could go to hell from here.
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