about the trip
First, let me begin our journey with a few facts from a book and from my experiences. Steve and I are on a journey from Kamloops to Seoul, Korea to Russia (from east to west). Then home via Helsinki, Finland and Reykjavik, Iceland, and then via Edmonton to Kamloops. In retrospect, our first around-the-world trip!
We left June 7th and arrived back in Kamloops, July 15, 2019. The 1st leg to Seoul saw us there for 3 days, then flying to Vladivostok, on the Pacific coast of Russia. There, we caught the Trans-Siberian Railway. In my opinion, no other rail journey can compare to this. It was once called “the fairest jewel in the crown of the Tsars”. Russia will only issue 30-day tourist visas, so we had to plan everything to fit inside that envelope. We decided that a layover in Seoul would be good to get over jet lag, and then we could start our 30-day visit fresh. We left St. Petersburg on the 30th day.
(Reminder: To view images full-size, simply click on them.)
The track runs from Moscow to Vladivostok across 7 time zones, even though there are 11 time zones in all of Russia. The rail line from Moscow to St. Petersburg is not part of the Trans-Siberian, it’s actually much more modern. And there is a branch line from Irkutsk that goes south through Mongolia to Beijing, which is used by many tourists. But we wanted to do the entire Trans-Siberian; the line from Irkutsk to Vladivostok is half of the total trip, and hardly anyone uses it! We were often the only Westerners on the train through that stretch… The average speed is only 60km/h, so, if you’re in a hurry, catch a plane.
There is a restaurant car, and I recommend you NOT eat the food! We did ‘once’ and only once because it was free with our first-class ticket. From then on, we went to the grocery stores and stocked up on Noodle packs just like everyone else.
Just add hot water and stir. Turn the red handle and you get lots of hot hot water. There is one in every car.
The Provodnista is SHE WHO SHALL BE OBEYED! She is the gatekeeper of the car you are riding in, and that railcar is her fiefdom. Piss her off, and your ride will be very uncomfortable. On each leg, we bribed ours with a small souvenir from Canada. So far, at the time of writing, only one was grouchy. No gift for her. She never vacuumed once, whereas the others vacuumed 2 times or more. One Provodnista was a young man, and he even vacuumed, but fell short on bathroom duties. Here is an older gentleman as a Provodnista and 2 ladies.
We traveled 1st class, and am I ever glad. 3rd class was just downright too hard for me to handle, just walking through it to get to a dining car. One day, we decided to travel 2nd class because we were only on the train for 6 hours, and the food descended from indifferent to awful.
1st class means you have your own room, with 2 beds, sometimes a TV, and the toilet is at each end of the car. 2nd class means 4 people share a room with 2 bunks (4 beds), and its 1st come 1st serve on who gets which bunks. Survival of the fastest. 3rd class is wide open bunks and ‘stools’, no privacy, and you get to meet everyone on board and sleep with everyone on board, and all smells and noises at no extra charge. But, in all classes, the first thing everyone does is get into their ‘traveling clothes/pajamas’ or whatever floats your boat. I found that very refreshing. I changed into mine in the first hour, but I did get dressed when we went to the dining car to look out its nice big windows.
Tips, Etiquette and observations:
I hate these god damn &*%$# toilets with a passion, and that’s not saying how I really feel.
ALWAYS, ALWAYS carry your own toilet paper and hand wipes..So far, these ‘toilets’ are more in the east. At the time of writing, halfway through Siberia, I haven’t come across one after Irkutsk. What I am coming across are toilets with no seat. Again, assume the squatting position. If they are a full ‘western’ toilet, the seat is only lowered to take a dump, and thou shalt NOT leave the toilet seat down!!! If you do, you will need your handy-dandy handy-wipes before seating yourself.
Pack your sense of humor, patience, and expectations!
We are staying in Airbnb’s all the way on this journey, with the one exception in Vladivostok, as it was a Boutique Hotel. When you enter Russia, the first hotel will register your stay with the government, which is necessary, and Airbnbs don’t do that.
The Air B&B’s people have all been late letting us in, showing up, explaining things. We have been left out on the street, in the rain and finally others took pity on us and let us in their building to get out of the elements. It turns out that many of the landlords use contractors to greet their new guests, and if the contractor has perhaps 5 clients getting off the train you may be first or fifth in line, so be prepared to stand around. Sometimes left with only a 1/2 roll of toilet paper, few pots/frying pan and they only provide 1 towel for each of you, some have no knives, some only 2 of each kitchen thing. In other words, be prepared for the unexpected and be ready to adapt. We always got a quick response from the owner if we needed something. It is mandatory that they all have uncomfortable furniture..that’s a given. However, the beds have all been great…there is a god. All of our apartments were selected for their location, and Steve has done an outstanding job on that. When I say location, I mean physical location because so far we have had some that are on the 3rd and 5th floors…NO elevator. The one posted here was on the 5th floor, 78 stairs, 9 landings..the 3rd floor one was 4 landings and 48 stairs. I counted stairs..and now, even going into the subway, I count stairs. They were all nice apartments, but some are upgraded relicts from old Soviet buildings and not very functional, but very affordable. That’s us at the very top on the far right. The ‘balconies’ are ‘loggias’..we really like them. Great for gardening and drying clothes.
We have been tipping 10% at restaurants, but no longer tip Yandex (like Uber) drivers. There is the regular ‘where you go gang’ at the railway stations, and some of them are just plain rude and crooks. This one guy wanted 1000 rubble’s, we ended up paying 400 and later found out the rate was 150 at the most. People like him should be sent to Siberia..oh, wait a minute, that’s where we are. But aside from the railway stations, you MUST use Yandex or similar, taxis will not stop on the street. So get a chip for your phone, they’re dirt cheap.
Wearing your shoes inside the apartments is forbidden! We have not tried the Vodka..yet, but they sure make good beer. We travel with bread, cheese, sausage and wine. All train clocks used to run on Moscow time, not local time, but they have recently acknowledged reality and everything has been switched to local times so you don’t have to hire a university professor to make sure you don’t miss your train.