Train Theory

It appears that there are two different ways to do the Trans-Siberian/Mongolian trip…. One is to do the Moscow-Irktusk trip straight through (4 nights, 5 days) and soak up the train culture, and one is to do it slowly and leisurely, stopping whenever you want in towns along the way and doing more touring.

The guys I have been talking to both did the trip straight through and said it was amazing. The recommended that I get a third class ticket to do it though, because you are slammed into Russian culture and have an amazing experience. Kupe (2nd class) is 4 beds in a compartment with a table in the middle and is the only option from Beijing to UB and UB to Irktusk, whereas from plaskartny (3rd class) is 54 folks in a hard sleeper train car. Apparently it is loud and smelly and you feel like you are in the midst of everyone’s business. The guys said that everyone just stares at you the first two days and is sure that you bought the wrong ticket, but that after the second morning of waking up together, people treat you like part of the family. Lonely Planet says something about it feeling like a refugee camp in plaskart and that there are often crying babies, fighting families and blankets strewn about as families chow on their whole chicken dinners and get plastered on vodka. An experience for sure. Most people that do this trip do it through agencies and get 2nd class berths and have a more luxurious e Most people that do this trip do it through agencies and get 2nd class berths and have a more luxurious experience… ie no smelly Russians. I don’t think I really have to tell you which ticket that I bought but I am very excited to have some laughs and take some pictures.

I do know some folks that made 4 or 5 stops along the way and enjoyed it, but say that in winter it is hard to do it because there are so few tourists and it is really cold, so it makes touring around cities in a foreign language a bit more difficult. So I will just have to do it again with someone else so that I can see more Russian cities.

Tonight I am taking a train from Irktusk to Kazan. 3 days, 3 nights. I think it is 60 some hours and it is for sure to be an adventure. That gives me a long train trip to look forward to, and then if I still want to, I can stop at cities closer to Moscow.