3303 km, 50 hours, 1 compartment, 1 toilet, 54 people, 27 degrees

The Trans-Siberian Railway - the first section

After a splendid last evening at the historical and elegant Café Pushkin, today was my last day in the capital city. While passing by some older trains at Kazanskaya Station, Sasha, my colleague, tells me that she's sorry because she thinks mine won't look any better. I laugh and tell her that's exactly how I want it! 😄

In general, I encounter puzzlement from the Russians about my Trans-Siberian journey. Why take the train when you can fly there in a few hours?

When we arrive at the platform, I see the train and I'm pleasantly surprised. It's in pretty good shape!

After a thorough inspection of my ticket and pass by the Provodnik (conductor), I'm allowed to board. It's over 30 degrees and it smells strong... I'm glad that I still have a stuffy nose and it's not clear. 😄

I take my seat on the top bunk. The two grandmas below are nice, they talk to me and hold my hand, but I don't understand a word. The guy opposite me turns out to be not so strict and quite nice after a few bits of English and my 5 words of Russian. When I tell him that I will visit Mongolia at the end of the journey, he says expressionlessly and with a Russian accent: extreme. Why? He can't explain it.

He reads scientific books about the human brain. I hope he's studying medicine!! 😉

Outside, you can see bushes and trees passing by. Occasionally, the green clears and I see meadows with beautiful purple flowers.

When I want to eat, the two Babushkas clear the space at the table. That's probably the law. Whoever eats, sits at the table and by the window.

Afterwards, I have to move again but I'm still allowed to sit on the lower berth. It's too low on my upper berth, as luggage is stored on top.

To my surprise, the train is very quiet and generally it's rather calm in the compartment. Several children run up and down, one of them with a smartphone in hand and flip flops on the wrong way round (slipped in from the front to the back). The toilet, as expected, leaves something to be desired...

I've been on the train for 8.5 hours now. So only 41.5 more to Novosibirsk 😉