SushiLog ? Blog Archive ? The Trans-Siberian part 2

This post is being written during my second stint on a train for 70+ hours, going from Irkutsk to Moscow which completes the 9289 km Trans-Siberian journey from Vladivostok to Moscow.

Maybe I spoke too fast?

Irkutsk, known as the Paris of Siberia, lies at the halfway point of the Trans-Siberian railway and is a stark contrast from Vladivostok. (For American readers) If Vladivostok is Detroit, Irkutsk is Chicago. (For European readers) If Vladivostok is Warsaw, Irkutsk is Prague. Vladivostok is home to the Russian Pacific fleet and a military city which was off limits to most travelers including Russians until after the Cold War. Irkutsk is the cultural capital of Siberia and an university and science town. Vladivostok was at the eastern edge of the Iron Curtain, Irkutsk was peacefully in the middle of the USSR.

This doesn?t mean Irkutsk is actually Paris. It has plenty of concrete Stalinist architecture and dark dilapidated streets, but it also has some lively streets and parks with well maintained pre-Soviet architecture. Parts of the riverside pedestrian walkways are even nicer than those by the side of the Seine.

I got the sense that this city is very proud of its history and ambiance and is trying to maintain it. It?s also a tourist destination for both Russians and foreigners with Lake Baikal, the world?s largest body of fresh water an hour away. Few of the points of interest had signs and descriptions in both Russian and English, the first time I?ve come across something like that in Russia (the museum in Vladivostok had no English labels).

I heart Irkutsk

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Facade of a building under renovation, a great idea anywhere in the world

While the surliness of the service employees didn?t improve drastically, I met few young people who were very helpful, smiled, and enjoyed their jobs, something that was missing until Irkutsk. On one day, I took a tour to Listvyanka and Lake Baikal, and the tour guide was a talkative mid-twenties girl who spoke good English and was very accommodating. I got to ask all the saved up questions about Russians and more on the trip (like ?What goes well with vodka v.s. beer in Russia?).

The tour guide on top of a hill behind Lake Baikal

?If Vladivostok represented the slowly fading old Soviet city, Irkutsk showed signs of rejuvenation on top of a historical city. Being on the train and seeing the cities pass by in the window, I get the sense that this county gets wealthier and more developed as one travels west. Now I?m excited to see what Moscow is going to be like.

Unmaintained but clean

Compared to most North American or West European cities, Latin American cities are often poorly maintained and dirty. Street lights are broken, roads are crumbling, and trash is strewn on the streets. Cities in Russia have the first two issues, but definitely not the third. Walking around in some parts of Vladivostok or Irkutsk could be dangerous not from the crime but the holes and uneven pavement resulting from sheer neglect. Some streets are really poorly lit making one wonder if a vampire is lurking around the corner. However, one problem these cities do not have is trash. Litter is almost impossible to find and municipal trash bins are everywhere, and they?re never overflowing. Even cigarette butts are difficult to find putting German and French cities to shame. Maybe the existing public infrastructure programs have failed, but the diligence of the people definitely have not.

Just another set of fireworks

The first night in Irkutsk, there were few fireworks going up by the river side, ones big enough for July 4th or Bastille Day. The next morning I asked the hotel receptionist if it was for some special occasion. Apparently it was not the city launching the fireworks but most likely private individuals for someone?s birthday or wedding. I guess you don?t need permit for those.

Thank you Eisenhower

The road from Irkutsk to Lake Baikal is one of the nicest I?ve ever ridden on. Apparently it was built in a hurry when America President Eisenhower was scheduled to visit in the 50?s. He never came, but the road stayed.

Statues everywhere

For a society that promoted the accomplishments of the collective and the faceless worker, they sure have a lot of statues in the cities. They even have one for the exhausted backpacker who finally reached his hostel?

Does anyone actually know what this statue in Irkutsk represents?

Anything is a bus

In most cities around the world, you can tell a bus apart from regular traffic because they have a unified style that is different from all other cars on the road. In Russia, anything that can carry more than four people serves as a bus. Minivans, vans, and any used buses from cities around the world act as buses as soon as they are given a big route number. Many of the used buses still carry the insignia from their previous lives in Korea, sometime even displaying their Korean route numbers, which you can imagine is very confusing. While not elegant, it?s actually practical in a very frugal way.

Second time around on the train?

is much better, and we were clearly ripped off the first time around. I am actually on this trip with my mom, so the level of luxury is much higher than what I?m used to. For both train rides, we booked the first class compartment (two beds per cabin) with meals (one per day). On the first train ride from Vladivostok, the cabin attendants threw us our bed sheets and we had to prepare the beds ourselves. In this train, the cabin attendants had already made the beds and even left us tea cups for the ride.

Inside the first class compartment

?On the first train, from the menu of appetizers and main courses, we could pick one item each (appetizer OR main course) and no drinks were included (even though it was indicated on the menu). I thought this was weird but being day two in Russia, I didn?t bring it up. On this train, the meals are actually full meals (appetizer, main course, and a drink per person). In the previous train, the food wasn?t enough and we had to order more at the restaurant at incredibly inflated prices. The individual dishes were much larger and well prepared on the second train as well. The cabin attendants and the restaurant employees probably kept the excess ingredients and drinks to themselves. Also on this train, they gave us an electronic key to lock the doors, something we didn?t even know existed on the first train.

The attendants on this train speak no English either, but this time around, they seem more patient with my finger pointing at menu items and phrasebooks. They also smile, which is the first time I?ve seen someone smile working for the Russian train company.

Time passes surprisingly fast?

Most of you are probably wondering at this point: ?what do you do for 70+ hours on a train??

Surprisingly, time passes rather quickly. Of course it?s not at the speed of high-paced professional life where weeks can disappear in a blink, but it?s not quite molasses either. In preparing for this journey, I brought several books, but I?ve barely touched them. Instead, I?m spending my time writing blog posts, working on photographs, playing cards, watching movies and TED talks, and harnessing the urge to write fiction which I get every so often. Luckily the train compartments have electricity outlets, something that is fairly recent from what I understand. It?s amazing how much I can keep myself occupied with a laptop.

Sunset from the train window

It?s hammer time

At almost every major stop, the staff from the station brings out a long hammer and starts tapping the wheels, suspensions, and other parts of the train to check something by listening to the sound it makes. I wonder what they are looking for and what happens if the reverberation is not something they are expecting.

The 25, 26 hour days

Every day the train crosses at least one time zone, which means for trains going west, each day is at least 25 hours long. One extra hour everyday can be surprisingly nice. Don?t you always wish you have one more hour to sleep or to get something done? Well, now you have it.

Russians don?t understand why foreigners want to do this

The Trans-Siberian, after all, is just that, a train that takes people across Siberia. My Russian friend commented that she quite doesn?t understand the romance foreigners have with this, and I can see why. In no way is this a cruise on land as some trains have become (e.g. Orient Express, Blue Train), even though the first class compartments are priced like one. The job of the attendants is to make sure that people arrive where they need to safely and that the trains are clean. They are not here to pamper the passengers with luxurious services or be tour guides. I think most Russians, given the choice, would rather fly than take the train, and as flights are cheaper than first class tickets, there are virtually no Russians in the first class wagons (there were few between small cities which are probably ill-served by air).

Like many things in life, the allure of the Trans-Siberian is probably the idea of it, the notion of traveling 9000 km and seven days by rail. It?s an experience that cannot be matched anywhere else in the world, a once in a lifetime adventure. For those coming from outside the ex-USSR, it?s very much an adventure as well where the script, language, and culture is very foreign. For Russians, it?s a fact of life, and it will be so until they become rich enough to no longer need it, and only then will it become a luxury for them.

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This post has been uploaded in Moscow where I will be until Sunday when I fly back to Frankfurt. I will post pictures after the end of the trip, and possibly one more post to conclude my Russian adventure.

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Source: http://www.sushi-suzuki.com/sushilog/2012/09/the-trans-siberian-part-2/

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