After a very early start picking up Steve from Woodstock just before 5am, we caught the 8.20 British Airways flight for Moscow. We were one hour late taking off while it was de-iced. The plane was half empty, passengers were distributed all over to balance the weight, we were told could go where we wanted for the flight but must return to our allocated seats for landing.
We found our driver fairly easily and checked into the Hotel Vega, 30 floors high, with some modern, renovated rooms and some still in Soviet design. Every time we went to the lifts we had to show our key cards.
The first night we just went for a wonder round the local neighbourhood. We wanted to find out the location of the nearest metro station ready for the next day, initially we couldn't find it because it turns out most metro stations are unlike any others I have seen, more like mausoleums and often just a small M to signify it's true purpose. The double doors, when opened, emitted clouds of water vapour as the stations were very warm. Although the temperature was around - 23 degrees, as long as we were wrapped up it wasn't unpleasant. We finished the day with a pleasant Uzbek meal.
Monday
The temperature was unchanged and did not rise above 20 below all day. We caught the very crowded metro into the centre, it was mid morning but as crowded as London in the rush hour. Our local station was Patriots and there was a magnificent statue of a group of patriots in the forecourt. All the stations were magnificently decorated with statues or murals depicting works slaving or fighting for the former Soviet motherland.
We first walked into Red Square which is dominated by the vast walls of the Kremlin, facing the Gum Department Store. This former preserve of the party favourites it is now a modern shopping mall. The square is not a square but rectangular and the southern edge contains the onion domed St Basil's cathedral. The Kremlin was not as I expected, it's basically a large walled compound containing state apartments, several cathedrals (although not one expects of a cathedral - one just contained the tombs of the Czars) and other state buildings. Security to get in was very tight but you could wonder around about a third of it when inside.
After an interesting day we returned to the hotel again by metro - I have never seen a train so crowded, you were literally packed together like sardines - a good job we're not claustrophobic! We collected our luggage and were taken to the station. Like in UK airports, cars were not allowed close, so we had to walk across a large forecourt before we could eventually board the Russiya, bound for Vladivostok, although we only travelling to Irkutsk, where we were due to arrive on Friday morning, four nights later. We settled down to sleep in our clean, quite comfortable 2 berth compartment complete with TV and electrical socket.
Tuesday
The first full day on the train. I had a strange night, one in which I didn't seem to sleep at all, however it was restful and the first time I looked at my watch it was 6.15! Steve said we had a long stop around 5am which I missed completely. During the daytime we only had three stops, the first for about 10 minutes and then 2, 20 minute stops - the provodnitsa, cabin attendant, was a friendly lady, but she acted a bit like a mother hen ushering us back on board a good five minutes before departure. We had a long chat with Vladimir, an international lawyer based in Kirov who regularly catches the overnight train to Moscow for business, returning the next night. There was no consistency as to what was being sold on the stations, at the first stop there were an amazing variety of children's fluffy toys, at the second some really nice food and at the third nothing! The coaches are mainly quite modern with spotless toilets - one for first class and only one for second despite double the passengers. There was also a samovar of on-tap boiling water heated from a wood burning boiler! Getting from one carriage to another was interesting. You first open a door into a lobby full of snow blown in and smokers!! You then press a button to electrically open the end door and go across moving frozen plates to press the button for the next carriage, I always slightly concerned I might get stuck in between the doors. The restaurant car was a lovely old carriage, no electric door, all wood with curtains and embroidered clothes, quite like the Orient Express, the menu was in English, about half the items weren't available but they still provided some very tasty food for a reasonable price.
Wednesday
We awoke in Asia. A pleasant relaxing day, we stopped about every four hours and had a wander, sometimes buying things from the kiosks on every platform. Stops varied between 10 minutes and 40 minutes, on the longer stops we did leave the station. The temperature was slightly warmer - in the minus teens. I had commented earlier that the compartment was quite comfortable, it is now even better since I discovered that the beds pulled up to make a seat with a backrest, it only took a day and half for me to find out!!
The scenery was the same but ever varied J, the same, snow covered birch forests but there were marshes with beautiful coloured bullrushes well clear of the snow, a variety of towns and villages, and quite a few birds to please Steve. It may sound a bit boring but neither of us have been bored yet, we look out of the window, play games, read and do a bit of work - and eat and drink!
Thursday
The scenery is very different, more hilly with fir trees predominant, quite Alpine like. The countryside was mainly covered, however, by vast snowed covered forests, just the sort of place in which you could imagine wolves roaming - we saw none! There were however quite frequent signs of habitation, ranging from tiny picturesque villages containing log cabin type, wooden houses, to large cities. There was also a surprising amount of industrialisation, we quite often came across large factories, working but looking very decrepit, in the middle of no-where. The weather was slightly warmer - minus teens - but there was a clear blue sky and sunshine to make it a beautiful day which didn't seem cold. One strange phenomena, most of the platforms and streets were covered in ice but they were not slippery, I'm not sure if it was because of the dry air.
Friday
Another lovely day, the sunniest and coldest! We arrived at Irkutsk at 7.30 am, temperature - 29. We were driven to Listvyanka, about 70km away on the shores of Lake Baikal. Fortunately they let us check into our rooms straight away which was great as we could have breakfast and then get ready for our day snowmobiling. There was just, Steve, me and a guide. Modern Canadian snowmobiles but very little "instruction", I think I was able to tell Steve more than they did with all my experience of three previous trips! We drove through the forest all morning and it was really beautiful. Initially Steve seemed to want to bury his machine, but I learnt the skill of standing on the running board driving it while the guide pulled the skis round and Steve soon picked things up. We went up and down two very steep slopes, steeper than any I have been on, one used to be a ski run. It took a bit of getting used to but was actually fine.
After a local lunch of meat dumpling soup and ham we headed onto to Lake Baikal. It was gloriously sunny and a clear blue sky even though very cold. When we went fast my eyes watered and then froze, but apart from the inconvenience of restricted vision it really wasn't a problem. The sun was quite warm on my shoulder. The lake is different to any of have been on, very little of the surface was flat, we kept on hitting hidden mounds - Finnish lakes are completely smooth. There were places were the snow had blown off leaving just the ice, though which you could see about a metre. Sometimes this was crisscrossed with deep cracks which you could see clearly. There was one small but lengthy fracture about 4 inches wide, with clear water, which we crossed several times.
It was a really enjoyable day and neither of us got really cold despite being out from 11am to 5pm.
Trans-Siberia Stage 1
Sunday
After a very early start picking up Steve from Woodstock just before 5am, we caught the 8.20 British Airways flight for Moscow. We were one hour late taking off while it was de-iced. The plane was half empty, passengers were distributed all over to balance the weight, we were told could go where we wanted for the flight but must return to our allocated seats for landing.
We found our driver fairly easily and checked into the Hotel Vega, 30 floors high, with some modern, renovated rooms and some still in Soviet design. Every time we went to the lifts we had to show our key cards.
The first night we just went for a wonder round the local neighbourhood. We wanted to find out the location of the nearest metro station ready for the next day, initially we couldn't find it because it turns out most metro stations are unlike any others I have seen, more like mausoleums and often just a small M to signify it's true purpose. The double doors, when opened, emitted clouds of water vapour as the stations were very warm. Although the temperature was around - 23 degrees, as long as we were wrapped up it wasn't unpleasant. We finished the day with a pleasant Uzbek meal.
Monday
The temperature was unchanged and did not rise above 20 below all day. We caught the very crowded metro into the centre, it was mid morning but as crowded as London in the rush hour. Our local station was Patriots and there was a magnificent statue of a group of patriots in the forecourt. All the stations were magnificently decorated with statues or murals depicting works slaving or fighting for the former Soviet motherland.
We first walked into Red Square which is dominated by the vast walls of the Kremlin, facing the Gum Department Store. This former preserve of the party favourites it is now a modern shopping mall. The square is not a square but rectangular and the southern edge contains the onion domed St Basil's cathedral. The Kremlin was not as I expected, it's basically a large walled compound containing state apartments, several cathedrals (although not one expects of a cathedral - one just contained the tombs of the Czars) and other state buildings. Security to get in was very tight but you could wonder around about a third of it when inside.
After an interesting day we returned to the hotel again by metro - I have never seen a train so crowded, you were literally packed together like sardines - a good job we're not claustrophobic! We collected our luggage and were taken to the station. Like in UK airports, cars were not allowed close, so we had to walk across a large forecourt before we could eventually board the Russiya, bound for Vladivostok, although we only travelling to Irkutsk, where we were due to arrive on Friday morning, four nights later. We settled down to sleep in our clean, quite comfortable 2 berth compartment complete with TV and electrical socket.
Tuesday
The first full day on the train. I had a strange night, one in which I didn't seem to sleep at all, however it was restful and the first time I looked at my watch it was 6.15! Steve said we had a long stop around 5am which I missed completely. During the daytime we only had three stops, the first for about 10 minutes and then 2, 20 minute stops - the provodnitsa, cabin attendant, was a friendly lady, but she acted a bit like a mother hen ushering us back on board a good five minutes before departure. We had a long chat with Vladimir, an international lawyer based in Kirov who regularly catches the overnight train to Moscow for business, returning the next night. There was no consistency as to what was being sold on the stations, at the first stop there were an amazing variety of children's fluffy toys, at the second some really nice food and at the third nothing! The coaches are mainly quite modern with spotless toilets - one for first class and only one for second despite double the passengers. There was also a samovar of on-tap boiling water heated from a wood burning boiler! Getting from one carriage to another was interesting. You first open a door into a lobby full of snow blown in and smokers!! You then press a button to electrically open the end door and go across moving frozen plates to press the button for the next carriage, I always slightly concerned I might get stuck in between the doors. The restaurant car was a lovely old carriage, no electric door, all wood with curtains and embroidered clothes, quite like the Orient Express, the menu was in English, about half the items weren't available but they still provided some very tasty food for a reasonable price.
Wednesday
We awoke in Asia. A pleasant relaxing day, we stopped about every four hours and had a wander, sometimes buying things from the kiosks on every platform. Stops varied between 10 minutes and 40 minutes, on the longer stops we did leave the station. The temperature was slightly warmer - in the minus teens. I had commented earlier that the compartment was quite comfortable, it is now even better since I discovered that the beds pulled up to make a seat with a backrest, it only took a day and half for me to find out!!
The scenery was the same but ever varied J, the same, snow covered birch forests but there were marshes with beautiful coloured bullrushes well clear of the snow, a variety of towns and villages, and quite a few birds to please Steve. It may sound a bit boring but neither of us have been bored yet, we look out of the window, play games, read and do a bit of work - and eat and drink!
Thursday
The scenery is very different, more hilly with fir trees predominant, quite Alpine like. The countryside was mainly covered, however, by vast snowed covered forests, just the sort of place in which you could imagine wolves roaming - we saw none! There were however quite frequent signs of habitation, ranging from tiny picturesque villages containing log cabin type, wooden houses, to large cities. There was also a surprising amount of industrialisation, we quite often came across large factories, working but looking very decrepit, in the middle of no-where. The weather was slightly warmer - minus teens - but there was a clear blue sky and sunshine to make it a beautiful day which didn't seem cold. One strange phenomena, most of the platforms and streets were covered in ice but they were not slippery, I'm not sure if it was because of the dry air.
Friday
Another lovely day, the sunniest and coldest! We arrived at Irkutsk at 7.30 am, temperature - 29. We were driven to Listvyanka, about 70km away on the shores of Lake Baikal. Fortunately they let us check into our rooms straight away which was great as we could have breakfast and then get ready for our day snowmobiling. There was just, Steve, me and a guide. Modern Canadian snowmobiles but very little "instruction", I think I was able to tell Steve more than they did with all my experience of three previous trips! We drove through the forest all morning and it was really beautiful. Initially Steve seemed to want to bury his machine, but I learnt the skill of standing on the running board driving it while the guide pulled the skis round and Steve soon picked things up. We went up and down two very steep slopes, steeper than any I have been on, one used to be a ski run. It took a bit of getting used to but was actually fine.
After a local lunch of meat dumpling soup and ham we headed onto to Lake Baikal. It was gloriously sunny and a clear blue sky even though very cold. When we went fast my eyes watered and then froze, but apart from the inconvenience of restricted vision it really wasn't a problem. The sun was quite warm on my shoulder. The lake is different to any of have been on, very little of the surface was flat, we kept on hitting hidden mounds - Finnish lakes are completely smooth. There were places were the snow had blown off leaving just the ice, though which you could see about a metre. Sometimes this was crisscrossed with deep cracks which you could see clearly. There was one small but lengthy fracture about 4 inches wide, with clear water, which we crossed several times.
It was a really enjoyable day and neither of us got really cold despite being out from 11am to 5pm.