I got on the train with no
problems, despite the large amounts of conflicting advice I got about actual
departure time from locals. Since the tickets are sometimes printed in Moscow
time, I had to make sure, and I got everything from 6 in the morning (from the
hostel, clearly wrong since Moscow is earlier than Bishkek) to noon (the ticket
said 9). Well, it was noon, as the travel agency I got it from promised, and I
stocked up on instant noodles. After having tried them across the journey, I
can provide the following ranking of brands:
1.
Big Bon
2.
Dosirac
3.
Big Lunch (“Beeg Lanch”)
 |
| Somewhere inside Kazakhstan, day 1 |
A special note here: Big Lunch
gives you more noodles, but the nasty sauce is not as tasty and there is less
spongy meat than the dosirac. I have become an instant noodles expert, and my
digestive tract/general health hates me for it.
For a 73 hour train ride, it sure
flew by. The scenery isn’t very spectacular, though the Kazakh desert on the
second day is amazingly desolate. Also, passing through southern Russia after
Samara was definitely a scenic highlight as well—leaning out the window to
watch the sun set over the unending, fertile fields and villages was
unforgettable.
 |
| Southern Russia, day 3 |
I didn’t finish the vodka, but
that’s OK. I mostly passed the time by sleeping, listening to music, and
getting hustled by dining car attendants, which was really annoying, but they
could only get me for about $2 every time so it wasn’t so bad. But the dining
car is a super annoying hustle, as I was tricked into buying the attendants
beer after they (!) invited me to drink with them. Good thing beer was a
dollar.
 |
| Changing locomotives in Samara, day 3 |
The other passengers were
fine—actually, a lot of them were migrant workers without tickets who were just
moving from compartment to compartment, using a short-distance cross border
ticket procured from who knows where at the necessary borders. One guy, who fit
the description of “urchin” if I ever saw it, shared my compartment several
times, including an extremely annoying episode when he decided that 2 AM was a
good time to sit on my bunk (I had the bottom) and have dinner. And the
babushka sitting across from me woke up and encouraged him to eat more! That is
the one annoying thing about bottom bunk—people will sometimes treat it like
their own even if it isn’t. It is the first time this happened to me, but I’ve
heard of it happening before. It’s hard to figure out what constitutes manners
here; just as I was about to say something he finished and went back to his
bunk. It’s a risk, but I don’t think that 2 AM dinners are the norm and booking
a bottom bunk is usually just fine (plus a better view in the morning).
The aforementioned babushka and
her teenage son were also very friendly, sharing their extensive collection of
food with me. That has often happened to me as a solo traveler on soviet-style
trains, and to others considering a similar journey I would advise buying
enough food to sustain oneself but also being open to the strong chance that
you will be offered food.
 |
| Food vendors, somewhere deep in Kazakhstan, day 2 |
There were a number of other
characters. There were two guys who asked me about working in America. There
was the grandpa Miroslav, who had two fingers on his right hand, which
functioned as a sort of claw, and the grizzled look and attire of an explorer:
a tan, lightweight button down shirt with tan trousers and a hat with the sides
buttoned up. We talked for an hour, though it was hard for me to keep up with
his Russian. All I caught was something negative about Bush, something incomprehensible about
“Our USSR”, and something else about how communism failed because humans tried to
replace god. His consistent theory was that people could understand each other, even if governments could not. Of course
it was hard to disagree with him here. It was also hard to disagree with him
anywhere, since he talked so fast and excitedly that it felt necessary to agree
even if I had no idea what he was on about. He also made his introduction to
everyone in the car by trying to sell his kettle of tea for $100 as a joke. He
was my favorite person on the train.
Once I got to Moscow I got on the
Nevsky Express to St. Petersburg. With cheaper tickets, better service (i.e.
free food) and an equal travel time to the Sapsan, it was the way to go. The
Sapsan is just like any other high-speed train anywhere and is in fact the same
design is in use in Germany, China, and Spain. Would highly recommend the Nevsky Express
, even
though it only has one departure per day.
