On the rails to Vladimir - Day 3 of 4

Saturday, August 21, 2010
(Written on the day.)

Hello again. Haven't written anything since yesterday around 4:30pm, so I'll continue with yesterday before starting on today. I had mentioned to Kristy and Steph that I had some movies on my netbook so we thought we'd watch one to pass some time. Unfortunately, I hadn't authorized the movies on my computer through iTunes and none of them would play. I went back to reading The Madonnas of Leningrad, and Anna offered to help me find wi-fi at our next station (Mariinsk, four hours ahead of Moscow time) at 5:32pm local time. The weather when I got off the train was absolutely beautiful. It felt wonderful to get some fresh air. Mariinsk, originally named Kiysk, grew wealthy as the focus of a Siberian gold rush. It was renamed in 1857 to honor Tsar Alexander II's wife Maria. When we entered the main building, the woman at the station had never heard of wi-fi, so Anna kindly gave me her wireless USB plug on the train to connect to the internet. After 30 minutes of downloading software, it was ready to connect but there was no signal. When my netbook finally detected a signal it failed to connect to the internet. I gave up since it was taking too long and thought we'd try again later.


When I went back to my berth (number 3), Fi and Wayne were visiting so I decided to have a bit of quiet reading time in cabin 2 (with Stuart, Shelley, Kristy and Steph) and crackers and cheese as an appetizer. The clocks went back an hour again, so around 7pm local time, I went back to my cabin (now without visitors) and ate some noodles for dinner before jumping back into my book. The sun set just before 8:30 and I struggled, but succeeded, in getting some pictures out the window.



A quiet night for cabin 3. Susie went to sleep by 9pm and the rest followed before 9:45pm. I stayed up past 10pm in order to adjust to Moscow time, which was still 3 hours behind, and missed the last big stop of the day at Novosibirsk (1842km from Irkutsk) by 30 minutes. Apparently we cross a seven-span, 870m-long bridge across the Ob, one of the world's longest rivers. The interior of the station is a temple of the Trans-Siberian and has a couple WWII memorial status depicting a family waving off soldiers. The Nazis never got this far, but lots of Siberians left for the war from this station.


Popped an Ambien (wasn't going to at first) to ensure another good night of sleep. To my surprise, I woke up in the middle of the night (well, if 6am counts) to use the loo but went back to sleep until 8:15am. Last night at 2am local time we stopped at Barabinsk (2150km from Irkutsk), which according to Anna is the best place to purchase smoked, salted fish. In addition, it was once a place of exile for Polish Jews.

Before our first stop this morning, I ate cereal and tea for breakfast. There was a 10-minute station stop at 8:30am at Ishim (2757km from Irkutsk), which is famous for its 19th century Nikolskaya trade fairs (revived since 1991) and is the birthplace of the Russian fairytale writer Pyotr Yershov (1815-69), whose most famous work, The Humpbacked-Horse, was banned for many years by the tsar's censors. I got out for a little fresh air and to purchase some water, but it was chilly and I returned to the cabin quickly. Our next big stop isn't until 12:30pm local time (10:30am Moscow time), so we still have a couple hours before arriving at Tyumen (3044km from Irkutsk, 2138km from Moscow), the region's oldest Russian settlement and now a dynamic oil-rich city.


(Comment at 10am local time) The sun is just coming out and brightening up the countryside.


(Comment at 10:15am local time) Am currently jamming out to Mambo number 5.


(11:30am local time) Had an early lunch today since it is 2pm in Irkutsk. The avocado I purchased in Irkutsk was finally ripe, so we enjoyed it on some French bread with tomato and cheese (I passed on the cheese), and a side of pizza flavored Cheetos. Cabin 2 asked to borrow my cowberry jam, so I had a few crackers with jam as well. So delicious. Think we've been doing quite well in terms of food.

(Noon local time) Just a comment that everyone is getting really bored. Some people were bored yesterday as well. Maybe I just feel like I have a lot to do, but between updating these blog entries, reading my book, and listening to music, I'm not bored at all. And I haven't even touched my Spanish.

Siberia officially ends at 2102km from Moscow, or 3713km from Irkutsk. Later this afternoon (5:05pm local time, 3:05pm Moscow time) we will stop at Yekaterinburg (3371km from Irkutsk), the cultural and economic capital of the Urals and the last major station in Asian Russia - 260km outside of the official beginning of Siberia. The city is famous as the birthplace of Boris Yeltsin and as the place where Tsar Nicholas II and his family met their deaths at the hands of the Bolsheviks. Leaving Yekaterinburg, the train travels along the Chusovaya River, with its valley at the heart of the mining industry in the Urals. The thing to keep an eye out for beyond here is the Europe-Asia Border Obelisk (3408km from Irkutsk, 1777km from Moscow), a large white monument on the southern side of the train.


It is 8:30pm local time and its still so bright out, doesn't look like the sun is going to set any time soon. We'll be arriving in Vladimir in less than 24 hours. Hard to believe its our last night on the train already. I was so concerned with this part of the tour, and its been fairly comfortable.

After our stop in Tyumen, I made myself a cup of noodle soup. Anna let me borrow her internet again, and this time it worked! When I authorized the movies, it said that my computer had already been authorized (as I expected). Figures. But at least the movies started working. I told the girls we could watch something at 1:30pm and we got about an hour into Good Luck Chuck before my netbook started acting up. I returned to my berth to read The Madonnas of Leningrad and decided to take a break to research Moscow. At Yekaterinburg, I exited the train for some fresh air and to purchase a potato pastry from the babushkas. Once again it was cold outside. I'm really hoping it warms up a bit before we get to Moscow, but the forecast doesn't look promising.

Anna gave us an overview of the next few days - sounds busy but exciting. We'll have tomorrow night in Suzdal before taking a four hour bus ride to Moscow. Definitely need to make sure my iPod is charged for that.


Have spent a little time looking out the window but am currently watching Ratatouille since I needed a break from reading and have the whole berth to myself. Will probably go back to reading once its over. Trying to stay up a bit later tonight since we lose two hours in the middle of the night.


We are currently heading towards Kungur, where the railway follows the Sylva River, cutting through some hills but that's pretty much all we get to see of the Urals range. Before the next stop in Perm, the railway takes a sharp turn north. The train chugs across the wide Kama River into the industrial city of Perm (3751km from Irkutsk) where there's a 20-minute stop.