June 16-20 Westward-ho to Moscow we go!

 

Ready and waiting equipped with our two blue food bags 

Two days of walking and our feet were very happy to mount the steps of the train for the next leg of the train journey west to Moscow four days away.

On this leg of our journey, we travelled second class, but we had booked and paid for sole occupancy of a 4-berth cabin. Meals were not included but I have to say that the seats were more comfortable to sleep on. Our carriage steward was a bit of a tyrant and ran a ‘tight ship’. Every time I opened our cabin door because it was stiflingly hot inside, she would close it. When I opened the curtains in the corridor, she would close them. But she kept us safe.

This is one of the early engines on the route

Some of the stations were quite grand

Undergoing a few repairs

Omsk is one of the major stations along the route

And at each stop, the bogie tappers were walking and tapping along the length of the train

Food and power were matters of great importance!  All in all, we ate well - self-catering for breakfast and lunch with packet soup, salami and cheese bought at the markets, fruit, pastries and incidentals bought at station kiosks – rather a challenge. I went in search of top-up food at one station and found a couple of kiosks. At one, I bought pastries and saw eggs which I hoped were cooked. I couldn’t ask so it was a matter of point and smile.  We cracked the first one with some trepidation but hoorah! we were in luck. 

Charging batteries for our various devices was a bit of a challenge, but we found a 220W outlet in the dining car and sat over a glass or two of wine, whiling away the time as our various things recharged.  Oh, that life could always be as complicated as that!!

The wildflowers were beautiful, but they passed in a blur across my iPhone camera lens

We passed many charming wooden farmhouses

The trees were glorious

The scenery was beautiful - forests of conifers, birch, beech, willow, poplars, wildflowers of all descriptions, including hollyhocks, wild roses, lupin, lilacs. And the colours - white and all shades of pink, purple, mauve, blue, yellow! We whizzed past villages and farming communities, so many of our photos were rather blurred.

As we travelled further west, hundreds of goods trains were heading east and goods trains in Russia have right-of-way.  This meant that whenever a goods train was approaching, our train had to divert onto a side loop and sometimes wait until the goods train had passed.  This happened dozens of times, but we often didn’t need to stop because the precision with which Russian trains were routed meant that there seemed always to be a side loop exactly when one was needed, and as soon as the goods train passed, we were already on our way again.  Where there were dual tracks, the goods trains seemed to be travelling very close to each other and Lindsay took hundreds of photos of train engines (or nothing) because every time he tried to take a photo, a train would appear from nowhere right across his lens.  Most frustrating but one couldn't but marvel at the programming of trains right across the country, a precision that allowed everyone to set their clocks to Moscow time and be assured that they wouldn’t be a second too early or late. Of course, that meant that sometimes the train was barreling along and sometimes stopped or dawdling BUT they kept to the timetable!

We both had many photos of nothing much as the train rocketed along. Photo ops flew by in a blink

The timetables are detailed to the second and the trains sticks to it absolutely!

We were flabbergasted at the billions of dollars of Soviet-period industrial infrastructure lying idle and rotting away.  All the cities seemed surrounded by factories, refineries, power stations or other plants that had simply been abandoned decades ago, and the local flora had taken over.  Mature trees often crowned huge factories that were rusting beyond recovery, and even in the smaller villages, Soviet-period buildings were falling down, unable to be repaired or reused because they were all owned by the government and quarantined from public purposes.  But they had hot water! It seemed a colossal waste, but it was hard to imagine any of the infrastructure ever being needed or used again. Quite an eyeopener. 

Buildings like this littered the route

It was a once in a lifetime, memorable journey peppered with funny and not so funny moments like having to dash off the train at a small station in the middle of nowhere in the wee hours for just that - the toilets on the train were locked when approaching and while at stations and having just woken, I simply couldn't wait!! The carriage steward took me to the timetable and pointed out what time the train would depart the station. I can't recall exactly how long I had but not very long. So I was off and running with Lindsay and the carriage steward standing guard at the door of the train, both with an anxious eye on the clock. Not that they could have done anything if the train had started to pull out - Russian trains arrive and depart the stations at precisely the scheduled time - to the second! It was a hurried and hilarious pit/squat stop! and I was greeted back on board with beaming faces.

We rolled into Moscow at 4am along with the summer solstice so the sun, and us, had been up for some time. We staggered onto the platform with our way-to-heavy luggage packed for Arctic and Mediterranean climates - plus those ..%#*^.... gumboots! And so we started another highpoint of our journey ........... Moscow. We had just two days here became we had to leave Russia before midnight on 22 June – we had 30-day visas, the maximum time Australians are allowed.