Early Impressions

We’re on our first Russian train – train 349 – which is going all the way to Moscow. I’m not sure where it originated from. We boarded the train in Ulan Ude, where we spent two nights and one day, and will be getting off seven hours later in Irkutsk.

Scott and I are on train car 13 but we’re not sitting together unfortunately. He’s in seat 50; I’m in seat 42. Fortunately, we’re both on the right side of the train, which will allow us to get the best views of Lake Baikal. Supposedly this train leg of the Trans-Siberian is the most scenic and impressive because the train will skirt the southern edge of the massive lake as it approaches Irkutsk.

I’m sitting across the tables from a young Russian woman of Asian descent. We can’t communicate and I don’t see either of us making any effort to. Across the aisle in the four-bed section is a family – a mother, daughter, and son. Even though it’s past 11 am, many people still have their beds laid out – the mattress, sheets, blanket, and pillow. On these very long hauls of being on the train for three to four days at a time, people sleep on and off all day long. Luckily, the long haul for Scott and I is not today.

A couple of early impressions about Russia:

-          Russians are kinder and more helpful than I had anticipated. When we were lost on our first night in Ulan Ude, people willingly helped us. A local couple out drinking (I know this because they were each holding a can of beer) even walked the opposite direction they were going in to show us to what they thought was our destination. The hotel reception man at the hotel we were shown to but couldn’t afford spent about fifteen minutes looking up a place we could afford. He printed out directions for us and called the hostel so we could make a booking.

-          We are certainly in the developed world. You can’t just hop on a minibus going where you’re going whenever you want; buses have schedules. And it no longer costs US$2 to rent a bike like it did in India or Southeast Asia; it costs over $30.