Siberian Adventure Part 1: The Trans-Siberian Railroad

At 2:30 in the morning on Sunday, April 30th, J, Y, M and I boarded the #10 Moscow to Irkutsk train line. We were able to board in Vladimir, so we didn’t have to start our trip to the east by heading first westward to Moscow. All in all we spent approximately 72 hours on the train, not disembarking for good until approximately 9:30am on May 3rd. Now, when you spend 72 hours on a train, all the hours (and days!) tend to blur together, so it’s hard for me to write about this portion of our trip in terms of what happened on day one, day two, etc. Instead, I’ll give you a general overview of our time on the train, followed it up by some photos to give you an idea of what the trip was like.

For starters, I have a tendency to get motion-sick, and trains are one of the worst offenders in the making-Jane-ill category. After several trips when Dramamine (the so-called “less drowsy formula” no less!) sent me rapidly off into the land of unconsciousness, I discovered a product called Meclazine HCL, which works really well. It does make me sleepier than I usually am (and if you know me, you know that frequent naps are a huge part of my lifestyle) although it’s nothing like the impact of Dramamine. And, it keeps me from getting sick. So, with my nice little regimen of Meclazine HCL, I was able to be healthy for the 72 hours of Trans-Siberian travel, and the time went by a lot faster for me than for the others, as I had a greater ability to nap.

I must admit that the scenery along the Trans-Siberian between Vladimir and Irkutsk was not all that exciting: lots of plains, lots of birch-forests, and periodic decaying villages clustered around decaying and/or abandoned factories. It was interesting to see, although if you’re someone interested in traveling by train to see the sights from your window, I wouldn’t really recommend this stretch of railroad.

Of course, that’s not to say that we didn’t enjoy the trip. For starters, we traveled platzkart, or third class. On our train, nearly all of the foreign tourists were traveling in second-class, kupe... and to be honest, we laughed at them. If you get a chance to travel on the Trans-Siberian, go platzkart. It you travel kupe, you’ll be in an enclosed compartment with three other people who may or may not make for decent traveling companions. (And, of course, if you’re traveling in a group of four, you won’t have any interactions with Russians at all!) Meanwhile, platzkart bunks are open to the entire train car (somewhat like a dormitory on wheels) with a grouping of four (two up, two down) on one side and one up, one down on the other (if that makes sense). You’ll get the opportunity to meet your neighbors and have some fantastic conversations.

We were lucky in that our neighbors, especially two women named Elena and Valentina, were incredibly nice. Elena taught us how to play the Russian card game durak, and was a great conversation companion. It turned out that Valentina was born on Olkhon (our destination), and she came and joined us as soon as she overheard that we were on our way there. She told us a lot about the island... including that we should eat nerpa (the endangered freshwater seal which lives only in Lake Baikal)! We asked it if was illegal to eat nerpa, and she said yes, but that anything is possible if you try. (This led M to ask all over the island if we could eat nerpa, a comment which was pretty much received with shock by everyone he said this to...)

The Trans-Siberian trains stop at regular intervals along the way to pick up and drop off passengers. Some stops are very brief (one to five minutes in length) while others are longer, roughly twenty-five minutes long. We got off occasionally at the longer stops to purchase food and to stretch our legs. My favorite was Krasnoyarsk, because the weather was gorgeous and the view was spectacular. (If you’re interested in actually *seeing* the cities you’re traveling through, it’s a bit of a ticket buying nightmare, which was the reason we opted for the straight shot to Irkutsk.)

If you’re traveling the Trans-Siberian, be sure to bring a lot of food. We brought along plenty, and in many ways the first seventy-two hours of our vacation were like one giant rolling picnic. The train does have a restaurant car, but it’s quite overpriced. Each car has a samovar, providing free hot water and cups, so be sure to bring along your tea bags and your ramen. We also came equipped with a whole roasted chicken (courtesy of Nina M), sausages, cheeses, breads, chocolate bars, peanuts, and several liters of drinking water. We shared our food and drinks with our neighbors, and they in turn did the same. It was such a fun and relaxing atmosphere on the train...

Day One: Y, me and J eating
our first Trans-Siberian breakfast

Later that day: Trans-Siberian dinner

A typical view

I spent a lot of time like this.

I really like this shot of J overlooking the plains of Russia
especially the way her reflection turned out.
There were a lot of plains....

And a lot of birch forests.
This was my view from the top bunk.

On the morning of May 2nd, we awoke to discover
both scenery and snow.

Y and J did train-yoga.

Vendors sold all sorts of goodies at the stops along the way.

View from the platform at the Krasnoyarsk train station.

Me and J, Krasnoyarsk.

View from above the platform, Krasnoyarsk

M, Valentina, Me, J, Y, Elena

Sunrise on the morning of May 3rd,
shortly before arrival in Irkutsk