On the rails to Vladimir - Day 4 of 4

Sunday, August 22, 2010
(Written on the day.)
(9:30am) Well, we're on the last stretch. Less than six hours left on the train. It's hard to believe we are almost done with our 5000km long journey from Irkutsk to Vladimir. Due to the time changes, the total train time is 73 hours.


Last night was my worst one yet. I managed to stay awake for our stop in Perm at 10:56 local time, though I stayed on the train, and stayed up until just past midnight Moscow time, which was technically 2am local time. Half hour after I finished Ratatouille, my berth mates returned from the dining car. Susie went straight to bed. I continued reading about Moscow before jumping back into my book. (By the way, I'm rocking out to Glee Madonna as I write this. Love it.) Even though I was exhausted, I decided to take an Ambien just to make sure that my last night on the train was restful. Unfortunately, a few hours after going to sleep my stomach decided it didn't like me. I'm not sure what I ate, or if it was the fact that I hadn't had much movement in that area, but I rushed to the toilet. Luckily, the toilets on this train aren't too bad and the attendant does a good job of keeping them somewhat clean and stocked with toilet paper. One of the stalls has a toilet seat, so I covered it with a lot of tp and tried to relieve myself. I prayed that my ailment would not extend past my stomach as I really didn't want to be throwing up on the train. I stayed as long as I thought I needed and went back to bed, took a Loperamide and slept on my back instead of my stomach. I spent the rest of the night sleeping that way, and fortunately didn't have any other problems, though I slept poorly.

My stomach still feels a bit iffy, so I had some bread with jam (and Nutella) for breakfast and a cup of tea. I'm considering taking another pill just to make sure I don't have any more problems before we get off the train.

My time now will be devoted to editing my journal from the past week so that when we arrive at our hotel in Suzdal and I get some free time, I will be able to fully update my blog. I know the last four posts were rushed and I'm hoping these new ones are a bit better quality. Editing, and go.


(1:30pm) Less than an hour to go! Tatiyana has just come by the collect the sheets and I've finally finished reading through my journal. We had a stop at Novgorod (4692km from Irkutsk), on the Volga river, the place of academician Sakharov exile at 10:49am. The sun has come out and it was a pleasant temperature on the platform. So exciting. I'm hoping the good weather stays.


I realized that I forgot to mention Anna's berth-mates. An older Australian couple (late 60s), John and Mary, are doing the same part of the train journey as us. They started in Beijing and had the same stops. Today they go to Moscow for a night before training up to St Petersburg where they'll take a boat cruise with their family back to Moscow. Such a sweet couple and they've been a pleasure to speak with.

I feel like this train journey has been somewhat individual. Even though I'm sharing a cabin, I don't feel as though I've spent as much time speaking with my berth-mates as the other train rides. Denise and Rod have been fairly quiet, except for Rod's chess games in our cabin, as Rod has a small cold. Fi and Wayne have popped their heads in here a few times but haven't been as social either. Maybe its because we haven't been the party cabin. I spent a bit of time with Stuart, Shelley, Kristy and Steph, but even they've been enjoying their own reading time. Did spend some time with Anna, hearing about Moscow and her life in Russia. I don't mind at all just something I noticed since I feel like I haven't spoken much in the last few days. Spent a lot of time writing on my netbook since I'm able to charge it and got halfway through The Madonnas of Leningrad which I'm thoroughly enjoying.


My berth-mates are currently freaking out about getting off the train. We only have 30 minutes left so I'm not too bothered. Am extremely happy that this will be ready to post when I have an internet connection and have already loaded my pictures on to my computer.


Signing off from the Trans-Siberian railway!