The Train, The Train

Thursday, 17 March

Today, we didn’t have any real plans, so we took the opportunity to sleep in a little bit. And then a little turned into a lot.

We got up around 11:30, which left us just enough time to pack all of our stuff, eat lunch, and check email. Mark walked out to the grocery to pick up a few bottles of water and some snacks for the train.

At 3:00 on the dot, Zhana arrived with a new driver who would take us to the train station. She had thoughtfully prepared us a care package for the train, including sandwiches, apples, bottled water and diet coke, and some sweets for dessert…needless to say, we had plenty of food for the trip

We met Fred, Lisa, and Sveta at the train station with plenty of time to spare. Around 4:20, we boarded the train, and got settled into our compartment. Sasha had purchased eight beds (two full compartments) for us, but he wasn’t able to book them all in the same compartment…or car, for that matter. So he and Sveta went through good deal of trading so that both couples could have some privacy. At the current exchange rate, the train tickets ran us $130 per couple.

The train left on time, and we quickly learned that the compartment windows do not open, nor do they have any air conditioning…and it was HOT! On the other hand, the bathroom wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected (although I hear it got worse toward the end of the trip…I only braved it once, early on).

Each “bed” has a bedroll that sits on top of the bench seat, and they provide a sealed packet of sheets and pillowcases…not the softest in the world, but perfectly serviceable for a night. There are also blankets for the colder months…

Once the sun went down, the temperature in the compartment dropped to “fairly comfortable” and after a time, it got downright cold. My advice, wear comfortable layers that you can add and subtract as conditions change.

Mark and I set up the laptop (we brought several extra batteries) connected our headphones, and watched Night at the Museum. Then we snuggled down, I plugged in my iPod, and tried to sleep. We dozed in and out all night, but we got a lot more sleep than on the plane!