The Trans-Siberian Railway is the train journey. All others are peanuts... (Eric Newby)

After about 24 hours of travel east, we arrived in Novosibirsk.

This is the furthest we have reached into Siberia. It's time to talk about the train journey.

Most of the time, we spend like this:

There are usually three classes, and we always travel in second class, the Kupe (Coupe). In this class, there are always 4 beds per Kupe, two at the bottom and two at the top. The upper beds are significantly cheaper, probably because you have to climb a little to get up and because there is no table. We always book a complete side, with Vero sleeping at the bottom and me at the top. This way, we also have the table for eating. As there is free hot water, we drink plenty of tea and coffee. Most fellow passengers mainly eat instant noodles, but we always buy bread, sausage, cheese, and some vegetables (cucumbers and tomatoes). As a sweet component, we have honey and Russian Nutella, 'Nutti'.

When we are not eating or sleeping in the train, we read, listen to music, or look at the Russian taiga. There is always a staff member responsible for each wagon, who takes care of ticket control, brings bed linen, and cleans everything. So the train is really very clean.

Tomorrow, we will visit Akademgorodok, which is about 30 kilometers outside of Novosibirsk.

Vero & Tim