So, on to the new stuff! Last Tuesday I trudged slowly to the train station, weighted down by my normal backpack (now much fuller than normal thanks to the arrival of cool weather and thus the need to acquire warmer clothing), and a bag full of supplies for the long train ride (water, cookies, gum, bread, peanut butter, and a large quantity of the main meal of choice for all central-asian train travelers - instant cup-noodles).
I made my way to my compartment, and soon discovered that my hopes of sharing my compartment with some fellow-world-travelers were for naught - I would be sharing my car with 3 Mongolians, who as best I could tell were importing a huge amount of clothing/bedding to Russia. While I was a good sport about all the space these articles took up, I did put my foot down when they tried to get me to put some of their items in my bag for the customs inspection when we crossed into Russia. Having grown up answering the airport baggage screeners that no, no-one else had packed my bag (and knowing the consequences if I had answered yes), I knew better than to accept strange goods into my bag. With me refusing to be an accomplice, one of the women resorted to hiding some wool gloves by duct-taping them to her legs and also stuffing them under her shirt. And here I thought this trip might be boring!!
Luckily, the next day the importers/smugglers departed at Irkutsk, leaving me to a cabin entirely to myself. Sweeeeet. While there weren't that many Westerners (ie, people who spoke English), the time still passed by rather quickly. I spent my time reading, playing games on my iPhone, preparing emails and blog entries (such as this one), and watching the scenery go by. Man am I glad that I was able to get my laptop fixed before hopping on the train (the hard drive had crashed while on my Mongolia tour) - it would have been a lot more boring without that source of entertainment.
Anyways, about 100 hours after boarding the train in Mongolia, I disembarked in Moscow, very happy to have an extended opportunity to stretch my legs by wandering around the city in the 8 hours before my next (and final) train journey to Saint Petersburg. While the train might not be as quick as a plane, it's certainly a lot more fun - I'd definitely recommend the trans-siberian to anyone with a thirst for adventure, a handful of good books, and a tolerance for instant noodles!
view of Mongolia from the trans-siberian. Note the gers (that's an easy way to tell that it's Mongolia)
powerplant in Russia
settling in for the morning at the dining car with coffee and my laptop. Again, I am so thankful I fixed my laptop in time for this trip!
fact: you see lots of trains when on a railroad
cool wetland (Russia)
artsy shot of some dude enjoying the fresh air at the train station
this is how I'd buy stuff from the stalls at the train stations - I'd take a picture of what I wanted in the display window, then show the person the picture, pointing at my item. Worked pretty well to bridge the language barrier. Note that the danger of buying things in a foreign country is that you can get some unpleasant surprises. Luckily for me, the Cyrillic on the Cheetos bag was close enough to the English that I could figure out that those Cheetos were ketchup flavored, and avoid them (I got the noodle soup instead).
my home away from home. With the crazy importers/smugglers gone it was actually quite spacious/comfortable. Normally there would be a bunk directly above mine, but with the cabin all to myself I put the top bunk up, which meant I could sit on my bunk without ducking down.
my last sunrise on the trans-siberian
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