The mythical 'TransSib'

Trans-Siberian Railway February 28, 2020

Still not fully electrified

The journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway ('Transsib'), which had been in the back of our minds for so long, began shortly after midnight at Yaroslavskaya station in Moscow. Luckily, we went to the station one (supposed) day before departure to buy our boarding passes, only to find out immediately that 00:35h belonged to the new day and not the old one, which meant that we (Nico and I) had to start the big journey again that very evening. The Russian railroad company made exactly the same mistake (perhaps because we were on the train over the schaltjahr February 29th), and the Provodnitsa¹ of our wagon was in a terribly bad mood because two more customers showed up, who incidentally did not pose an accommodation problem as the train is half empty. Anyway, we stayed on the train and left Moscow heading north-east. The ta-dang-ta-dang of the rails gave us a good night's sleep until after 8 o'clock.

*We never get bored of the same snow/birch landscape outside.

As I said, we were never cold, but often too hot in Siberia

The adventure should begin with boarding the Trans-Siberian, but the carriages are new, well equipped with USB charging sockets and showers and heating (far too hot, like everywhere else). If it hadn't been for the excitement of the wrong date, there would have been no sense of adventure so far. Even the Russians on the train are no longer what they once seemed: Only one is drunk, our cabin mates are rather cool and calm, the Provodnitsa quickly recovers to become a sympathetic guardian over us. There is no alcohol for sale on board, imagine that! Fortunately, we are not from yesterday...

80 stops are planned until Vladivostok and seven time zones are crossed, but we get off after 2/3 of the route in Irkutsk, after stops in Novosibirsk, Taiga and Tomsk. The passing landscape resumes in mixed forests and small spots with colorful wooden houses or ugly prefabricated buildings, if they are a bit bigger. The birch population slowly increases with the distance from Moscow. Lots and lots of freight trains cross our path, with brand new and beautiful patina on the old wagons, which essentially seem to transport ammonia (Ammиak). The discrepancy between clean, friendly and culturally sophisticated Moscow and the provinces is quite stark, now that we've already covered 1000km. The Wild East mood comes up, the border of civilization, only the trappers are missing from the picture. I notice that a lot of earth has been dug up and piled up in the human-populated areas; I've certainly seen a lot of caterpillars (or their Russian counterparts) and not yet a bicycle. On the other hand, I saw more Mercedes Maybachs in Moscow than Renault Dusters. The eight-cylinder cars dominated the streetscape in the capital.

The area is covered in snow, not much, about 10 cm, but all the way. Outside at the stations it's still +2º, just like in Moscow. That's 20º more than usual, you can feel the climate shift. We are quite disappointed about this as we have too much clothing with us - the -35º in Irkutsk, for which we are prepared, appears to oscillate between -15º and -5º in the forecast.

Snapshots from the road

Transsib February 29, 2020

The second full day on the train. So far we haven't met any likeable Russians on the train, the travel companions are rather unhealthy middle-aged grouches. Our on-board restaurant only has a small selection of good food, mainly soup. Fish is too expensive.

*Taïga forever!

Transsib March 1, 2020

The night was very restless with fragmented sleep. My Oura Ring doesn't register any sleep at all or only rest hours at the station stops because of the constant vibrations in the train. This time we had two nice travel companions one after the other, a helicopter pilot and an 83-year-old scientist from Hungary who used to work in Akademgorordov. He raves about Lake Baikal as a place with the best quality of life on earth. The two of them take turns at 2 a.m. (we can hardly keep up with the clock changeover, we've already passed 4 hours since Moscow and are six hours ahead of Central Europe).

We wake up at 7am to sunshine. The forests are now pure birch forests, we are in the middle of Siberia, in the taiga. The day before yesterday we passed the northernmost point at 60º north and are moving south again, which is why it gets light early. Half asleep, the vastness of Siberia became physically clear to me, after 48 hours on the train it sinks into my system. At TGV speed (5x as fast) you wouldn't experience it like that. The immensity somehow becomes tangible.

*There is a kettle with hot water in every wagon, which is great for making tea or coffee.

At midday, now 6 hours ahead of CET, we arrive in Novosibirsk at a beautiful bright green station. When I call home, I have to be really careful not to throw the others out of bed. It's not really winter here either; during the day it's +3º and the snow that's still everywhere is thawing, which leads to terribly dirty roads and cars. The Ob is only frozen at the edges.

Novosibirsk is the third city in Russia with a population of 1.5 million, and it is very spread out. From our Marins Hotel on the 10th floor, we have a good view to the south over the railroad station and the river.

Transib March 4, 2020 Novosibirsk - Tomsk

See Tomsk.

Transib March 6, 2020 Tomsk - Taiga - Irkutsk

At 12:34 our train departs from Tomsk 2 (i.e. from another BHF) to Irkutsk via Taiga, where we change trains. So another 32 hour train journey. We cross the frozen Yenisei at around 2am (without waking up). It's a strange sleep in the couchette car, you only sleep lightly, wake up often, you're in a twilight state, hovering between dreaming and being half awake, and it doesn't get on your nerves, your brain is calm, I can feel the landscape beneath me, the curves, the hills, I'm lying in a cradle that is advancing relentlessly into the taiga at 60 kmh. Rather deep, otherwise unconscious feelings arise, not thoughts. I feel washed away from Europe, an invisible border has slipped in between, now I'm in Asia, far away.__

At the restaurant at lunchtime, I meet an American traveler with the wildest plans, just arrived from Burkina Faso, but he has nothing to talk about because he never stays anywhere for more than a few hours. Then there's a father my age with his two sons from Mecklenburg (with a Low German accent). It's very interesting to talk about the old GDR, the Russian occupation and experiences with the FRG. The father studied military history, speaks Russian and knows a lot about Russian history and culture. Everyone has given up television like me because of the fake news on all channels! As always, ARTE is cited as a commendable exception. How they stay afloat as a European-funded project is a mystery to me. As united Germans, we devour three beers without batting an eyelid.

*Two buddies in the compartment, military, place of service: Crimea, ex-wife and child in Vladivostok, wife and 2 children near Moscow. Why don't they fly? Because it's more romantic! Are they still alive?

Transib March 7, 2020 Tomsk - Taiga - Irkutsk

Irkutsk, last stop for today! A driver picks us up at the station for an exorbitant price and takes us to Nina, our landlady for two days. She is a music professor at the university, but has to do B&B. A simple, friendly house that could just as easily be in Nepal or Bolivia. You immediately feel like a traveler, not a tourist. The different routers offered by the Transsib*

-> Novosibirsk