Siberia

We've gone 2,144 km down the line from Moscow, about 1,330 miles. Brian went down to the toilet this morning and found a giant puck of ice in the bowl. Tyumen is the first stop in Siberia, 12 miles inside the region. It is also the oldest Russian settlement in Siberia. Brian got off the train to check the place out. He came back soon to report, “Yup, it was cold.” The thermometer at the Tyumen station read -20, that's centigrade not Fahrenheit, so that translates to about -5F, still cold. It was about 0900 local time, and rush hour had begun as most businesses open at 10 o' clock. We were surprised by the volume of traffic until Brian checked his travel guide to discover Tyumen was a city of 520,000.

Our attendant is always trying to minimize the time you may be away from the train. Ask how long the stop, it's always “Five minutes”. He's trying to ensure no one gets left behind. At our next stop, Dwayne dashed to the station store for some meat, cabbage pies and mineral water. He made it back but our attendant was clearly concerned. Very few people even get off the train; maybe, it's too cold. The little kiosks have not been open on the platforms at most stations either. Prices seem set by Russian Rail, and are clearly marked in the window. A 1.5 litre bottle of water is 120 rubles, about $2.25. Omsk had the best set up, with all the kiosks open. The babuska at the one Brian patronized was a very happy lady who announced, “I speak English!” Brian said, “And very well, too.” They shared a short conversation about the cold while our car attendant stoked the coal furnace and awaited another delivery of coal.

We went to the “Pectopah” car for lunch. We each had soup and a drink. Svetlana and the cook were happy to see us – her only patrons at the time. There was no cream of mushroom today, so three of us had borscht with sour cream. It was tasty. Dwayne had some lamb and vegetable soup. For an extra 10 rubles we each got a sliver of bread, the crust trimmings from a commercial loaf like back home.

One of Russia's best products is “Baltika” beer, which is numbered 1 through 10, based on alcohol content. We had #7 in Moscow which is about 5.5% alcohol. Brian picked up a #9 at Omsk which was 8.0% alcohol, A #10 is supposed to be “rocket fuel.” Brian is keeping an eye out for a #10.

Another oddity is passing birch forests where all the trees appear snapped off. The stumps range from ground level to about six feet high. One wonders what caused the non-uniform cutting, if done by man. If the wind, there is no residual waste in the forest as you would expect to see after a storm. But we've passed several such forests.

As we travel further the pine forests disappeared and only birch trees seem to grow as we head east. There is also much less snow on the ground which is likely due to a drier climate.

Siberia appears to be much like northern Wisconsin with the cold, drifting snow, and hardiness of the people. As we pass through towns along the way one sees backyard hockey rinks with kids at play. We've seen cross-country skier tracks. People get out despite the weather. Villages are cute, many houses are small log cabins, with the chimneys spouting white wood smoke from the stoves keeping these homes warm.

Tonight the heat in our car started to falter. Seems we've run out of coal to keep it fired. The attendant has pulled all the shades attempting to conserve heat. Hopefully the next stop will bring some relief. At least the samovar is cooking along – allowed us to make some dehydrated chicken and rice. And we have a bottle of Stolichnaya vodka to help keep us warm. It was half gone before we turned in for the night.

We closed out the day with a stop in Novosibirsk, where it was -12C, about 5F. It is the third largest city is Russia. A few folks got on the train. Our next “big” stop is at Mariinsk (yes, “double i”), where we apparently change locomotives again. I think our attendant borrowed some coal – heat is back on, but nowhere near the stifling temperatures we've occasionally endured.