The train from Irkutsk to Moscow

This train lasted for 3,5 days and covered 5189 km! I was sharing a cabin with Chris, Emma and Jenny for this train ride and we decided that we needed to stop eat every 30mins like normal train rides and instead have meals at normal times.

The train team- from the front left Emma, Jenny, me and Chris {Emma´s husband}

We turned our watches to Moscow time we were got on the train and tried to get use to the five hour time difference straight away. Peter on the other hand said it was better to work on local time and spent the whole train ride up dating his watch with every time the train travelled through a time change. It became a running joke to wish peter a good morning when it was his lunch time etc.

The train was the nicest one we had been on yet. On Russian trains each carriage has two provodnik or provodnitsa. According to the LP if you butter the provodnitsa up the right way they can make your journey much more pleasant. We had two provodnitsa {female attendants} called Anna and I can not remember the other ones name. The woman who's name I have forgotten was really nice to us and we helped her out by explaining everything she told us to the other so she did not have to repeat herself. Anna on the other hand was lovely looking but always looked like she hated her job and wanted to cry.


The whole train journey was very long so I will just tell you about some of the highlights:

While travelling through a small town we watched three guy scull a bottle vodka straight. They were typical Siberian man with no tops on and were drunk at 2pm. One of them sat up and then proceeded to threw up all over the train track. I have never seen anyone vomit that much before. After he threw up he sat back down and continued to scull the bottle of vodka. All class!!

In most train stations in Siberia you where glad you did not have to stay in the towns. The people were generally drunk, no matter what time of the day and look very unhappy with everything.

One of the highlight stops on the first day was at 3NMA which we declared to be Emma stop. We got off here and tried local food and looked around for 20mins before the train took off.

Russian trains have a remarkable record of being punctual and as we discovered if you arrive at a stop late you must leave at the correct time regardless of if the timetable says you have a 30 min stop or not. One time we walked over to the babushka for some food only to have to sprint back to the train as it began to take off 5 mins later. I have never run so fast in my life.