TRANS SIBERIA 2018

“Why would you want to do the Trans Siberian?”  My friend Jeanette did not ask that question.  That’s why we partnered up to go. 

St. Petersburg train station

5/20/18:  Overnight Train #53 left St. Petersburg at midnight and arrived Moscow a little past 0800. I dozed in the van en route to Katarina City Hotel, which was distant from the Red Square but right by the Moscow River.  The hotel was unremarkable, except for a curious built-in wooden sauna in the bathroom, and the funky isosceles trapezoid shaped bathroom sink.  We checked in and left for the half day tour almost immediately. 

Moscow

Our guide Natalya thought it was clever to tell us that she was glad we had to miss the Lenin Mausoleum, because we would have to wait a long line.  She said it seemed the many Chinese tourists have a fascination with his dead body.  An older white man behind me cackled aloud, and then no one else complained about missing the mausoleum.  I drew a breath and rebutted her, "So, you're saying no one but the Chinese wants to visit the Mausoleum?"  She, realizing there were Chinese customers in her English speaking group, said, "Of course not, Russians also like to visit."  The man cackled again.  (GoRussia:  “We have contacted our Moscow partners and they asked to forward their apologies to you and promised to talk to the guide seriously.)  Under gray sky and drizzling rain, Red Square was obstructed by ugly scaffolds and tents everywhere in preparation for World Soccer 2018.  Moscow was not happening. 

5/21/18:  I awoke well rested at 0530 and started to pack for the early evening train to Yekaterinburg. After a nice free buffet breakfast of potato, sausage, cheese, and croissant, at 0900 Natalia walked us out to the metro.  Sunny day.  Locals were everywhere and plenty were going toward the metro too.  We visited the Kremlin compound. At noon, there was changing of the guards.  Someone pointed out Putin's office building.   The grounds also had several white wall gold dome churches, and the Kremlin Museum.  The museum housed original Russian artifacts. Interesting were a gown of Catherine's that revealed her once unnaturally small waistline, a pair of boots made by Peter for himself, a  collection of Faberge eggs, and thrones gifted by foreign countries.  I bought a little egg charm for 800 rubles.  

Next Natalia lead us deep underground into a web of metro lines to see several well decorated platforms. She explained it was Lenin's decision to bring the palatial experience to the masses. A true socialist and how it paid off in posterity for tourism, I thought.  From the hotel, we were escorted by van to the Kazanskaya Station.  I pointed to a monument at the facade and asked the new lady guide who the statue was.  Without batting an eye, she said she didn't know.  To be fair her job was not to give a "tour,” so why should she answer?  Inside the station, she was very nice to look after our luggage so that we could walk around the station before Train #60 arrived.  I patronized a snack shop; the cashier was a Korean lady.  I then noticed Korean women working several snack shops.  My purchases turned out unnecessary.  First class offered free snacks, glass bottled water, and even next day's breakfast at our preferred time.  

Our attendant Marguerite spoke about 10 words in English, so here offline Google Translate helped in our otherwise confusing communication. Marguerite peddled trinkets too. I bought a train magnet for 150 rubles. Early on Jeanette tipped Marguerite asking especially to be notified whenever a stop allowed enough time for a cigarette break.  Marguerite was dutiful.  The bar guy dropped off 2 more bottles of water, so far we were not asked for payment.  Away from Moscow, the view was the same eternal miles of trees, now in May, green and in full bloom with delicate leaves.    The first stop was 25 minutes at Vekovka.  Vendors ready to sell cup sets, trinkets, and one walked around peddling a vase 2 feet tall.   Who would buy that vase?  I munched on dried goods to forego dinner.  The back of the cabin's couch flipped down to a slightly wider laying surface, still only about 2 feet wide and 6 feet long.   I lay against 2 useless soft pillows and sank into watching downloaded YouTube.  My 24"x13"x9" luggage was like custom fit for under-seat stowing.  Jeanette needed the shade down for her sleep but agreed I could have it up until nothing to see outside.  But there was always something to see outside, IMO.  I dozed off but woke up having remembered about the shade. I took a last look at the darkness and was pleasantly surprised.   A starry sky was above the woods.  

passenger

5/22/18:  I dreamt something so I knew I did sleep.  At 0500 Jeanette was up and out. I pulled the shade up to another bright beautiful day.  Marguerite the attendant came to say something.  Without understanding I guessed that the next stop was approaching.  Sammy, a Beijing Canadian, was our new friend.  Sammy was fun, kind, and youthful beyond his age.  He and Jeanette became smoking buddies.  I saw Sammy on his way out to smoke. I grabbed the camera and got out the train without combing or washing.   Marguerite pointed me to go right.  I walked following her pointing and saw a nice building facade.  Kazan Station.   The first mosquito I saw was before I left the train, and then there were clusters of them outside.  Mosquitoes got on board.  Breakfast was a light potato vegetable soup and a small plate of cold cuts. I enjoyed them.  

We met more fellow travelers--Simon and Nicola from England, and Lilo and Marianne from Switzerland.  When asked, Nicola told me she was a real estate project manager, and Simon was an award-winning photographer.  I looked up Simon’s website on Zen and photography.  They were friends en route to Vladivostok then fly to Seoul to see their Zen master for 3 weeks.  Heather, also from England, was traveling solo.  Her 2nd class room for four ended up only one male roommate, a serious looking rotund bald and morose white dude.  Her solace was Simon and Nicola in the next cabin. Lilo poked into our cabin on her way to the toilet.  I followed her to the dining car.  There, she asked about the availability of vodka, which the reply was "nyet."  I immediately liked this woman, who had a witty disposition, a handsome face, and despite a slight limp and older age, "taking the Trans Siberia was my dream came true," said she. Her travel mate Marianne, lithe and fit, less satirical but just as charming.  Even though ours was a brief acquaintance, these new friends invited me to call on them on my next visit to their countries.  Gentle and kind people.   

Marguerite told us right at the start about the toilet rule: no dumping toilet paper into the toilet bowl!  It was necessary for me to check it out.  The toilet room was tight, but the stainless steel sink and counter were kept clean. Ventilation was not good so I started imagining smells that may or may not actually had been there.  Now what to do after a major "dump"?  Excuse me, I had no choice but to wipe and toss paper products into the plastic lined trash receptacle with no lid.  Supposedly it was well known that all flushes go directly down to the tracks.  So be it. 

Every so many hours there would be a long enough stop for us to go out.  I had hoped to photograph every station facade.  As we moved eastward, the clock sped up increasingly.  Yekaterinburg would be 2 hours ahead of Moscow time. 

5/23/18:  Olga collected the English speaking group from Novotel Yekaterinburg for a 5 hour tour.  We went to Ural mountain's Europe Asia border landmark.  The rest of the tour was about the horrific deeds by the Bolsheviks.   We visited a Soviet Union era execution site, now a memorial park.  We visited the execution spot of the last Tsar's family.  

In a wooded area where the family's bodies were thrown into a pit and destroyed by acid and fire, now stood a monastery complex with statues, churches, and "tomb stones" where remains once laid. Olga said 11 Bolsheviks were involved in the killing of the 7 family members and 4 servants. Five of the 7 had been reburied in St. Petersburg's Peter and Paul Cathedral, where also laid Peter and Catherine.  The two left will be there soon.  When we returned back to town we visited Yekaterinburg’s Church of Spilled Blood, which was built on the family's home that Boris Yeltsin ordered to demolish, against UNESCO's request to move the house to France.  Olga said some were calling the family members "saints," although the Orthodox Church not yet agreed.  While visiting these sites I had the impression that the Russian Federation was actively erasing the country's Soviet past.  Now they glorify the Tsar.  Olga said even Rasputin had been hailed in a different light.  Yekatarinburg was capitalizing on the family’s deaths, IMO.

We had 7 hours before the train.  Sammy, Jeanette, and I walked from Novotel to the City Square, where Lenin’s statue stood hailing the magnificent KGB building across the street.  We pulled our own luggage into the station, up 2 flights of stairs to land at x-ray screening.  Not easy.   Pay 200 rubles per baggage for porter handling may not be an option to refuse for some. Train #70 was older.  On this leg of 2.5 days, there were no first class compartments.  Jeanette and I shared a 2nd class compartment with 4 beds.  The differences: no free breakfast, no helpful attendant, packaged clean linens were given but passengers made our own beds.  So far the common denominator on the 3 trains was that information was verbal or written in Russian only.  Even though at least half of the train’s passengers were foreigners, yet for all the years, apparently no efforts to improve communication were deemed necessary.  There was some chaos upon entering the compartments.  We were shocked that previous stayed over mess had not been cleaned and attendants showed no sympathy--either too proud to accommodate or just lack the steam to do better.  

5/24-5/25/18:  I woke up not knowing which clock to reference.  The window was blazed in light.  Morning.  I had slept well. No attendant came to disturb was a good thing in 2nd class.  I didn't need to be charged 100 rubles for a cup of coffee having my own delicious C7 instant.  To avoid the public toilet and sink, I relied on face wipes.  I used about 10 sheets last night before bed.  I brushed my teeth using cooled hot drinking water supplied by the public tank.  I rinsed and spit into a leak-proof bag and then wiped clean my face with several sheets.  The weather was calm and sunny.  We got off at some stations.  Most had booths selling boring packaged goods, instant noodles, and few ready to eat items: sandwiches, sausages, danishes, and Russian bread.  

Only the Barabinsk stop was fun.  Old ladies sold whole smoked fish for 50 rubles, less than $1. Men sold fake or real fur collars.  Landscape along the tracks had been green with trees, usually birch and pine.  I imagined these trees in long winters and the view out the window would had been pure white.  Once awhile, we passed by small refineries with simple living or abandoned houses nearby.   Sometimes communities appeared with houses painted in contrasting cheerful toy colors next to one another, which gave instant charm to the landscape. Strangely so, the houses looked Russian by their hodge-podge materials and rustic construction.  Just trees rolled by against the sky changing from blue to gray as night approached.  Night was pitch-black with occasional flashes of light.  I imagined a starry sky much more than I could actually see from the dirty train window.

5/26/18:  Irkutsk station.  A van immediately drove us to Listvyanka.  On the way pretty Galina the guide introduced  the city. About an hour she pointed to the right and we saw Lake Baikal for the first time.  So what if it's the deepest lake in the world. I was glad to see it but not immediately impressed.  We turned left at a road by a memorial site and up the hill. We stopped at our lodging.  

A friendly man speaking with a (French?) accent came to greet us at the door. We changed into slippers at entering his house, which I felt immediately homey and cozy.  He gave me a choice; I told him ground floor.  Our room was lovely but so was every room in the house.  I was settling down when Joseph, a young solo Australian guy, stuck his head in to call me to hurry up if I wanted to hitch a ride down to the lake with the van that just dropped us off.  I needed to let Jeanette know if I were to go, so I started hollering her and Sammy's names toward the 2nd floor where I thought they may be enjoying cigarettes at Sammy's balcony.  Next thing Jeanette called me so I went out with her. Meanwhile Sammy was missing as the van drove away.  Jeanette was feeling bad about leaving Sammy behind.  We landed by the lake, and I suggested walking toward the road to see if Sammy was on his way down. Rain began.  Jeanette was getting sicker with a cold but we kept on, all the way back to the lodge.  We found Sammy who had told Joseph about staying behind.  

Now Sammy was OK about going down, the sun shone as we walked.  Lake shore was not interesting at all. There were few boats anchored.  Chinese tourists were looking around like we were.  The few shops were simple cafes selling drinks and not much food.  We were hungry for lunch.  A local pointed us to a non-descriptive "modern" building with several stories.  We weren't sure if there was a restaurant, but there was.  It was a hotel.  I ordered soup, raw white fish salad, and 4 dumplings.  When we were done, it was raining hard.  Jeanette was too sick.  She opted for a taxi to go back to the lodge.  Sammy accompanied her.  I took off walking with my blue umbrella, because I couldn't trust the weather to clear up later to see the lake having come such a long way.  Along that part, the shoreline was unremarkable.  I took a few photos and started back.  As soon as I made it back to the lodge,  the sky cleared up and the sun shone fresh and wonderful.  I was ready to rest after the uphill walk when Sammy called out to ask whether I wanted a boat ride.  Right, the boats should operate again now that the rain stopped.  Jeanette was in no condition to go.  Sammy and I went on.  

The water was crystal clear over pebbles. I touched  the water.  Sammy tasted some to confirm it wasn't salty. We saw Nicola, Simon, Joseph, and Heather who had already taken the boat.  Sammy and I found one too.  The ride was pleasant; there again I felt the presence of God.  Lake Baikal was marvelous, Praise!!  

Strolling along the shoreline, I suddenly heard Cantonese spoken.  I spotted "The Belt & Road 1-Art Charity Expedition" (一帶一路一藝術慈善遠征)  truck, which I've seen on YouTube.  I went up to say "hello," and they invited me to video record a statement."  I said I was just touring the area and glad to see they're doing good work.  The group intended to travel the world to share arts and give charity to children.  Here is their 5/26 Lake Baikal on YouTube (I didn't make the cut):    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD_WhJy0gbU

We returned to the lodge around dinner time. Nicola's gang had a beautiful spread of food and drinks from the market.  I had 2 of the 4 leftover dumplings from lunch, Jeanette had one, and I gave the last one to Pierre.  Pierre, Mimi and Mimi's father Daniel were from France.  

5/27/18:  The lodge provided breakfast, but Sammy was a no show.  He got stomach ailments after the trip to Baikal.  We suspected the cause could be that he drank lake water too close to the shore. 

Ivan got the English speakers into his van. Our first stop was to see a collection of wooden houses. The museum was more a fairground; especially this Trinity Day Sunday.  I learned that birch trees were too soft for house building. They were good for furniture though--I thought for nesting dolls too.  Pine or larch were the main house materials.  Logs were stacked and connected by cut grooves, assembled like a jigsaw puzzle.  

Ivan drove us back out toward Irkutsk town center.  Traffic jam caused us half hour to go just one block. Trinity Day, everyone was out promenading and dancing by the Angara River.  We saw two more churches.  By now I concluded to myself that the murals were template paintings, all the same scenes and characters.  Nothing wrong with that, folks were emotional and pious nevertheless.  We got to the Angara Hotel in early evening.  Nicola, Simon, Heather, and Joseph were at the bar waiting for their transportation at 2030.  We offered them showers in our rooms.  We hugged and said goodbye.  Jeanette, Sammy, and I visited the supermarket next door, and then Sammy couldn't resist the Peking duck restaurant at our hotel.  I had soup and a stir-fry.  

5/28/18:  Early train out of Irkutsk toward Ulaanbaatar passed along Lake Baikal for more than 4 hours before I stopped tracking.  Baikal was indeed incredible.   No. 306, an older train but first class with two beds and relatively less people per car was a great improvement to second class last time.  No particular rule mentioned about not flushing our dirty wipes down to the rail tracks.  Marianne explained about toilets needing to be locked for half hour before and after each train depot, so that folks in town don't have to deal with the crap left on the tracks too close to their homes.  Biodegradable or not, paper products on tracks would be a horrific sight.  Made sense.  Then trouble.  Sammy asked about our return flight after arrival in Beijing, and that's when we found that GoRussia had changed the arrival time on Jeanette and my Final Instructions.  I began to prepare an email to Julia, and tried to figure out what to do.  Meanwhile border control from Russia and then Mongolia came on board and thoroughly checked each of us and our cabins.  Marianne's Russian visa exit day was one day before.  She was taken away to pay a 1000 rubles fine.  Train attendant said that's a minor problem.  

5/29/18:  It was strange how soon past the border, Russian landscape immediately disappeared and  Mongolian grassland came into view endlessly.  Occasionally I could make out minuscule 2-hump camels afar.  And just like in the movies and National Geographic, here and there was a nomadic ger with nearby animal herds grazing in utmost spaciousness.   Life at the steppes continued 3 to 4 hours outside my window.   As soon as I met our Mongolian guide Alex, I noticed he had cat pupils; they were translucent amber color.  I asked; he said he was not wearing lenses.  I snapped his photo.  Concerned about our return flight, I asked him about wifi.  Alex generously offered his hotspot.  Ann at UA said if we call 90 minutes before departure to let them know we will be late, they could possibly put us on another flight.  

Our Mongolia segment included all meals. Immediately we were taken to breakfast at a swanky modern restaurant--ham, egg, sausage, and tea.  Looking out the glass window wall, this part of Ulaanbaatar was a mix of blank grassland awakening to new constructions.  We headed to Terelj National Park.  Our stay was gers inside the park.  These tourist gers were adequately furnished, even had electrical plugs.  Washroom and toilets were separate buildings.  All the comforts except for some amount of bugs and gnats.  Meals were beautifully and tastily prepared—salad, soup, meat, and sweets.  Everyone was glad to shower.  The wait staff was beautiful young girls with the sweetest smiles and delicate features.  They were meticulous at their service.  At night, wood fire was lit in our ger; late night and early morning could be cold.  

Mongolia was all about Genghis Khan.  We visited a nomad family.  Their 7-year old son was super cute and handy.   He hauled in buckets of water.  He cooperated with our photo snapping.  He trained and guided the horse that I rode back to our camp.  On this occasion, I learned that the Mongolia horse was petite but perfectly powerful as a battle accessory.  This beautiful boy with clear observant eyes and a confident stance on and off the horse convinced me that he could be the next Temujin. 

5/30/18:  Ulaanbaatar was one big traffic jam.  We visited their national museum, a temple, a cashmere shop, Mongolian BBQ, and saw a variety show.  

5/31/18:  Ulaanbaatar to Beijing took 30 hours, including 5 hours from 2100 to 0200 at border crossing.  I even enjoyed this waiting time at China's Erh-lien Station.  I met more travelers, mostly younger, a few traveling solo among them.  We all were friendly, shared stories and experiences. 

6/1/18:  With the help of Sammy, and his kind brother in Beijing who came to assist, and by Act Of God, our flight was delayed 90 minutes, Jeanette and I were able to catch the original flight.  Another beautiful trip.  Thank God!