Chugga Chugga Choo Choo Halfway across Russia

Friday, September 16, 2016           

Suzdal to Nizhny-Novgorod to Kazan

Finally, a little time to relax. The driver this morning did not pick us up until 11 o’clock. I had such good intentions. Update the diary, work on photos, perhaps develop a concept for our photo book … but, I slept until 9:30!!! I had been complaining to Jim about how tired I was, running in two directions at all times and not totally recovered from jet-lag. I guess I was as tired as I said. The sleep did feel good but all the other tasks still lie ahead.

We packed and readied ourselves for another journey today. We were finally getting on the train on the first real leg of our Trans-Siberian trip. Our driver took us from Suzdal to Vladimir where boarded the train to Nizhny-Novgorod. It was only a 2 ½ hour trip but at least it was a start. We were upgraded to First Class Deluxe, a beautiful cabin with our own en suite. Jim said that this will be the only time we will be on a train of this quality. After settling into our cabin, we walked forward two cars to the dining car. This car was almost empty and provided a wide-lense view of the passing scenery, even if the windows were a bit dirty. Because we were on a ‘fast train’, it was difficult to take good photos anyway. By the time my brain clicked that something would make a good photo, by the time I picked up the camera, by the time I turned it on … the shot that looked so good was long past. The forests of red pine and white birch that are prolific here are much like we would see at home.

We ate lunch and sat chatting and looking out the window, when a man in the next booth invited us to have a glass of good merlot with him. Although his English was a bit shaky, it did not take long for us to learn that he was a wine-taster by trade and was on his way to an eastern city to try out the new wines that had been developed there. We took his word for it that he was pouring a ‘good merlot’ and thoroughly enjoyed the wine he gave us. It was interesting talking to him and hearing about his wine-tasting trips to Germany, France and British Columbia. He likes our BC wines. We told him where we were going and the stops we were making along the way and when we got to Vladivostock, he simply asked us “Why?”. I looked at him and said, “Because!” and he laughed right out loud. He understood the answer and poured more wine!!

Soon, it was time to disembark in Nizhny-Novgorod. As arranged ahead of time, we were met at the train car by a tour guide who helped us with our luggage and led us to the waiting car so we could begin our tour of this city. Nizhny-Novgorod has a very interesting history. Once the capital city of Russia, it has many significant buildings, both religious and commercial. As in other cities, we had a good look at a cathedral at the confluence of the Volga and the …. Rivers. It was painted bright yellow in keeping with modern Russia’s penchant for bright colours. The interior was magnificent, laden with icons and glittering with gold. Three enormous chandeliers were suspended from the dome, 23 meters above the floor. They were hung mid 19^th century and to this day, no one can determine exactly how that was done.

Sadly, the days of this building have not always been happy ones. Following the Revolution in 1917 and throughout the Soviet era, ending in the 1990’s, cathedrals were often used as warehouses for grain, storage places for military equipment, and prisons for those who were accused of breaking the law. Of course, many cathedrals were greatly damaged during this time and, even though, they have been returned to their intended religious purposes, some sit vacant and in decay due to a lack of funds to restore them to their original condition.

Another interesting fact about this cathedral is that it is built on very swampy land and is, in fact, floating on a body of water below it. There have been significant floods in the area (the photos are astonishing) but this cathedral has withstood them all due to the fact that the structure was designed to handle water at its base.

We continued our tour of the city, stopping at a Monastery, university buildings, Stalin’s Staircase (550 steps rising to the top of a major embankment in which had been built a bunker for Stalin during WWII in case Hitler came to town – he did not.), a mosque atop a hill, another cathedral, and a magnificent view over the Volga River.

Not only did we have a view of the river, we were able to take a cable car ride across the river – twice! The enclosed cable cars are used year round as a means of transporting commuters from their employment to their homes and vice versa. It was a smooth but very fast ride. The view to the river was interesting because we were able to see the ships carrying cargo, the cruise ships stopping in Nizhny, the ship building facilities and the Olympic Rowing facility.

During World War II and the Cold War era, Nizhny-Novgorod was a major manufacturer of military planes, in particular the Mig71. During that time, the city was called Gorky and did not appear on any English-language map. Cruiseships would pass by at night when the city was in darkness. If anyone asked about passing by what looked like it was a city, crew members were to tell them that it was nothing important. In other words, we in the western world were not to know about this city and its manufactured products.

Another interesting and sad fact about Nizhny is the involvement of so many of its citizens in the clean-up efforts at Chernobyl and paid the ultimate price for their generosity. There is a large monument in a park dedicated to those who lost their lives at the Chernobyl clean-up. These were not people who were affected because they were working or living there when the incident occurred. These were people who unwittingly made their way into the nuclear zone to help. It is said that there are very few families in Nizhny who did not lose a parent or a child to Chernobyl.

We ate dinner in a lovely Russian restaurant, chosen for us due to its traditional Russian cuisine and its English menu. We appreciated both. And then it was time to go back to the train station. We were travelling overnight on the train to Kazan.

We are consistently booked into first class cabins on the trains and each leg of the journey includes a meal. We had understood that after 9 pm the meal would in fact be a snack. On this particular train, the only way to achieve first class status was to book a second class cabin which we would have to share with two more people and then purchase the extra two tickets for very little difference in price. So we bought 4 tickets for this leg of the journey in order to have a private cabin in which to sleep.  So ….. when the meals arrived (yes, meals – not snacks) we got FOUR of them because we had paid for four tickets. And we had already eaten!!!! There was a lot of food in our cabin and no one hungry enough to eat it. Jim made a valiant effort but even he could not reach the goal. Some food just had to be thrown away. At least, if we have to use this strategy again to have a private cabin, we will know better than to eat first.

Photo labelling, luggage organization, reflection of all we have done so far filled our time for the first couple of hours on the train. It was already dark and we were disembarking in Kazan at 6:17 am. Early to bed …

Saturday, September 17, 2016                         Kazan

Saturday morning came early as the train we were on pulled into the station in Kazan. 6:17 am … right on time and we were off on another adventure. As planned, a wonderful driver met us at our train car and helped with our luggage between the train and his car. And what a car it was!! It was a very old model Russian car that had been totally gutted inside and totally refinished outside. It just gleamed and so did the driver! He was happy to show the car off to us. He was sorry he was unable to be our driver for the rest of the day because he had two brides and grooms to transport around town on the occasions of their marriages. But maybe tomorrow. We can only hope!!

We were checked into our hotel before 7 am and decided to have breakfast at that time. We are now in a region of Russia known as Tatarstan which has its own language, cuisine and culture. So on the buffet breakfast there were at least two items that were distinctively Tater. One was a yeast-batter qoymaq, much like bliny but quite a bit denser. Truthfully, without something to sweeten it up, I found it pretty tasteless. The second traditional Tater dish was an egg dish, much like a crustless quiche with raisins added for texture and flavor. Once again, it was just ok.

After breakfast, we took care of a very mundane task. We have learned that there are almost no self-serve laundries anywhere in Russia. Maybe one or two in a large city like Moscow, but certainly none in small towns out in the countryside. So, we decided we had little choice but to bag it all up and hand it in to our hotel so we would have clean clothes to wear. Yes, it was going to cost us a bit of money, but we did not see any other reasonable choice.  The clerk from the hotel desk came to our room to pick it up. And by the time we got back to our room mid-afternoon, the laundry was back! Clean, ironed, folded … that felt great.

Speaking of money, let’s talk about rubles. One ruble = 100 Russian cents,  One ruble = 2 Canadian cents. So, to convert to Canadian, simply double the number of rubles in the price and divide by 100. Eg A Beef Sandwich with Fries costs 250 rubles. Multiply 2 x 250 = 500 and divide by 100 = $5.00.  

Food, in general, is very reasonably priced. Of course, the finer the restaurant, the higher the prices. And if you want caviar, you need to dig deep into your wallet. Vodka is also reasonably priced but we have learned not to go for the cheapest one. You definitely get what you pay for. And, there is no tipping in Russia. That helps …

We have made an effort to indulge in our drink of choice, gin and tonic, at several of the well stocked bars in the hotels where we have stayed. Alas, we have had no success. One reason could be the lack of availability of ice. Russians do not have a supply of ice on hand on a regular basis. The only place that we have found that you can reliably get ice in a beverage is McDonald’s. And we do not plan on spending much time at McDonald’s. One plausible reason for the lack of ice could be that the water supply through the city water system is not completely pure and Russians do not use it as drinking water. Consequently, it would not be reasonable to assume that using it as ice would be any safer. Visitors to Russia are advised not to drink any tap water, not to each fruit or vegetables that might have been washed in it and not even to use it to brush your teeth. So, bottled water it is for us!! And maybe a vodka now and again as well.

And now back to the program … About 9 am this morning, we were picked up by Rose, our guide for the next two days. She is a very proud Tatar and has lived in Kazan for a very long time. She is very knowledgeable about landmarks, churches, mosques, statues, famous streets and many other things along the way. So, we set out on our tour. What we had not expected, in contrast to the other very lively guides we have experienced, was her absolute dryness. Kazan is a beautiful city with amazing churches, monasteries, mosques, universities and famous citizens, especially in the arts and sciences. We might as well have been reading War and Peace!! Oh … that is a Russian novel written right here in Kazan. While we were touring, we happened upon three brides and grooms and we had a few questions but, no time for that!! Later in a lovely park, I stopped to photograph a bird but, no time for that either. Maybe it was that Jim and I were tired from our early arrival on the train, or perhaps we have simply heard enough historical facts for this week, but we did not feel we were getting the best sense of the city from Rose. We will try again tonight on a tour of city lights.

One thing that is fascinating about Kazan is the mix of Christianity and Islam. Mosques and churches stand side by side; people work shoulder to shoulder; mixed marriages are commonplace; children play and learn hand in hand. In the Kremlin of Kazan, there is a spectacular mosque and a spectacular cathedral, literally side by side. They have made an agreement that no bells will be tolled and no calls to prayer will be broadcast out of respect for one another. Interesting. We had occasion to visit both buildings today and were wonderfully impressed with both.

We had a rather late lunch today in a café that specialized in Tatar food. We enjoyed our cabbage mixture, a meat pie, a medley of vegetables and chicken noodle soup. We were also treated to a cooking lesson by a Tatar chef who taught us how to mix and roll and hand cut noodles; how to make the filling and the dough for meat pies; and how to create ultra thin noodles for the chicken noodle soup. One tradition that has longstanding in this area is that a newly wed bride makes noodles for her husband’s entire extended family the day following the wedding to prove her abilities as a cook. Yikes!!

We spent a bit of time in our room this afternoon. Imagine us taking break!! The primary reason was to connect with our family back at home. Tomorrow is Karen’s birthday and we know we will not have internet access at a time that would be appropriate to skype her. So, today is the day. We had a glimpse of all three children and then a long chat with Karen. It was nice to have some time simply chatting and catching up on what has been happening in the lives of the Wilson family. Of course, we called Iain as well. It quite took him by surprise to hear my voice at the end of the line. It was a short call but enough to say hi and catch up a bit. He was waiting for a friend to join him for breakfast so no more time was available.

We tried a couple of different Tatarstan dishes for dinner tonight. A meat pie that was quite lovely, baked in a triangular pastry with fancy trimming along the edges. We also had chak-chak which are sweet dough balls, fried in butter and dipped in honey. Also quite good. A big improvement from breakfast.

We have just returned from a night tour of Kazan, Kazan up in lights … and under a clear sky and a full moon. It was a spectacular evening. Although we had seen many of the same places during our tour today, they looked quite different when lighted with neon or illuminated with spotlights. Kazan has a quality of beauty to it with three rivers running through it and some of the most appealing places shimmering against the dark water. Rose had also mellowed as she showed us the Kazan she loves rather than the script she had to follow during the tour earlier in the day. One statue that she really wanted us to see was a devil from local fairy tales. His tail is the source of power to anyone who rubs it. Indeed, while we were standing beside it, a young man came across the square and climbed the monument to rub its tail … and then he went on his way.

And now we are relaxing in our room, with live piano music floating up from the square below. Quite a talented musician playing classical music, much to our enjoyment. A nice way to end an evening.

Sunday, September 18, 2016                           Kazan

Happy Birthday, Karen!

Jim and I went our separate ways this morning. He had arranged a walking tour of Kazan with Rose. She invited me to come along but the first thing they were going to see was another beautiful church. I have seen a lot of churches already and I know that there are many others ahead. So I chose to spend the time writing this blog, labelling photos and repacking for the coming days.

We are going to be spending more and more time on the train in compact sleeper cars. It is going to serve us well if we do not need to access all of our cases when on board. So I packed a few days of clothing etc in my carry-on case so that the larger suitcase can be stowed away.

Jim and Rose had a wonderful walk along a pedestrian mall, visiting churches, the metro and another short visit to the Kremlin. The metro appealed to Jim as it was the shortest metro in the world when it was built (5 stations only) and has been doubled in size now. The stations were decorated with a fairy tale theme using mosaic tiles to create the illustrations. Kazan is a haven for fairy tales and fables. The pedestrian mall was impressive because preserving the facades of the original buildings (18^th C) has been a priority. The facades have been left in place and new or renewed structures have been built behind them for shopping, restaurants and other services. The mall was a lively place this morning, complete with a living, breathing Spiderman and Mickey Mouse who were available to have photos taken for a fee. Street art was all along the mall, in particular a statue of a reclining cat who purportedly is responsible for creating a lineage of cats who take care of all the rodents in Kazan.

Soon after Jim arrived back it was time for us to head to the train station. Our driver picked us up right on time but before going to the station, we went a short distance out of town to see the Church of All Religions. This structure was undertaken by a very wealthy Kazan citizen, not as a centre of worship, but as a representation of how all religions have similarities and share our world together. It is a colourful and somewhat bizarre structure with crosses, spires, crescent moons facing Mecca, Buddha, stained glass, onion domes, Star of David and more. It is supposed to have symbols of sixteen different world religions on its exterior. Sadly, its main benefactor passed away before it could be completed and now there is a controversy about the source of funds to finish the building.

We had the good fortune today to have the same driver who had the custom built car yesterday. Today, he was driving yet another custom built car, cream coloured this time. The exterior is a 1916 Volga car and the interior is based on a 2009 model. Some parts are original, some have been replicated and some have been handmade to fit the size and space. To say the car had a luxurious interior is an understatement. And when parked, it attracted a lot of attention from people who know much more about cars than we do. There were lots of requests for photos which the driver was happy to allow. Even Jim got caught up in the enthusiasm and took several pictures to help us recall.

This is likely a good time to mention how helpful our drivers and guides have been (if I have done so before, it still is worthy of more attention). Every single person has been friendly, helpful, generous with time, and has been on time and carried some pretty heavy luggage to and from the trains we have travelled on. We are grateful for their care.

Trains here operate a lot like European trains – on time, well organized, clean with helpful staff, even if the language barrier is a challenge at times. We boarded a train from Kazan to Ekaterinburg, a trip that would take about 15 hours. We were once again booked into a second class cabin by ourselves and, predictably, everything was delivered to us in units of four. We tried to negotiate two dinners and two breakfasts instead of four dinners but with no success. We at least were able to request two different dinners, one meat and one veg for each of us. It was all the cutlery that appeared that made us really laugh. Oh well …. This is our last second class passage. Henceforth, we will actually be in first class cabins.

The train is a very relaxing way to travel although after dark falls, of course, there is nothing to be seen out of the windows except for the occasional station platform. We are now in the middle of Russia where the population is very sparse outside the big cities. So we can travel for long periods of time without seeing either a lighted home or a nearby road. Most people, we have been told, prefer not to live in the countryside any longer. The work is hard and the winters are long. Young folks prefer to study or look for work in the cities and the older generations are leaving as well to enjoy the services that can be found in cities more so than the countryside.

Some of our guides have spoken to us about the impact of the American and European sanctions on Russia. Trade partnerships have been damaged on all sides. Some Russians feel that the sanctions are actually helping Russia to develop new industries, especially in the agricultural realm. As food sources deplete from European countries, more land in Russia has been developed to grow food products (fruit, vegetables, grains) for human consumption as well as a great deal of grain for cattle. The dairy industry has grown significantly although the company Danon still has a substantial portion of the market share. One of the biggest challenges the agricultural industry faces is finding workers who are willing to live in the countryside and work on the farms. Some challenges seem universal.

At the same time as some industries have grown, there are many, many fast-food outlets that are successfully appealing to the Russian market and drawing money out of the local economy. We have seen McDonald’s, Burger King, Baskin Robbins, Subway, Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks to name a few. There is a frustration among Russians that countries that have imposed the sanctions are operating very successful businesses in Russia and the money earned is leaving the country. An interesting perspective …

Soon after dark fell, we decided it was time for bed. On this leg of the journey, we were going to pass through two time zones which would make a very early arrival in Ekaterinburg in the morning – 6:17 Moscow time and 8:17 Ekaterinburg time. Beds got made and pillows set in place. As the train rattled on through the night, Jim slept soundly and I slept intermittently.

Monday, September 19, 2016                  Ekaterinburg

We managed to get ourselves organized to detrain when we arrived at the station in the morning. Once again, our wonderful driver was at the platform to meet us. He only complained once about the luggage we are carrying – one large suitcase and one carry-on each. I guess that is considered a lot by Russian standards. But we are on the road for seven weeks in a rnge of climates.

We were taken to our hotel where we were able to get refreshed for the day and have a lovely buffet breakfast. Promptly at 10 am, our guide arrived to take us on a 3 hour tour of the city. What a wonderful guide she was!! Knowledgeable, personable and attentive to our needs. She broke the tour up into several components – cultural, educational, religious and military. We visited university campuses, including the one where she had studied. We learned about language learning in schools (Russian, English and another language if desired). We drove past theatres, theatre schools, sporting facilities, and literary society buildings. We spent time at the main square of Ekaterinburg and heard the story of how two men had collaborated to select the site of the city as it was in a good location to take advantage of the iron, copper, silver and gold deposits nearby. The city still has a major metallurgical industry and has almost full employment of its population. And, we visited the Cathedral of the Blood, the place upon which the Tzar Nicholas and his entire family was assassinated In 1918. This tragedy has taken a major place in the literature and stories of this city. Only in 2003 was a new building erected on the site of the assassinations, The Cathedral of the Blood. It is a tall, light, impressively decorated building. The community respect for Tzar Nicholas and his wife, Alexandra is clear by the silence, the beauty and the icons that adorn this church.

After seeing the cathedral, we returned to our hotel and rested a bit. Jim went out for a walk to explore a park, the monastery and another cathedral we could see from our window. It was not long until we had to again prepare for a driver to take us to the train station. We boarded the train from Ekaterinburg to Novosibirsk, a 24 hour train trip. We are excited to be in a real first class cabin and only receiving 2 meals, not 4. We will arrive in Novosibirsk about dinner time tomorrow.

Chugachug, Chugachug  --- Whoo Whoo!!!

Tuesday, September 20, 2016                En Train

We both slept more soundly on the train overnight this time. I was awake before Jim and enjoyed watching the early morning sun rise over the landscape outside my window.

A combination of wide open fields growing some sort of wild grain and forested areas, now completely dominated by white birch. And the colours of the leaves were changing quickly as fall descends upon this region. There were great swaths of land that seemed to be very wet with occasional ponds, streams, or simple swamp showing themselves. What was consistent about all the land as far as the eye could see is that it is absolutely flat!! There was not a hill, a hillock or even a mound to be found anywhere. We had heard we would pass through the Ural Mountains and kept our eyes posted all day long to be sure to see them. When we disembarked the train about dinnertime in Novosibirsk, we had not seen any evidence of a single rise in the land.

As the day went on, we did see some indication of agriculture. There were fields that had been harvested and large mounds of straw were scattered throughout. It was not clear what the crop was or who/what it would feed. We saw only occasional cows, probably owned by a villager, tethered in fields.

We also noticed a change in the population density along this railway line. There are vast tracts of land that appear to have no occupants whatsoever. No villages, no farm buildings, no visible roads, no power lines except right along the track. Then, as we begin to approach a major city, villages pop up and grow more populous the closer we get. It was amazing to see such an expanse of countryside with no people.

Villages near cities have been common for a very long time as it is the custom of people who live in a city to also own a small piece of property in the country, probably inherited from a family member. These patches of land are called dachas, property that has historically used to plant a garden and keep some animals to provide food for life in the city. On each dacha, there is a small building (shack, cabin, hovel – take your pick) where the people stay while there. The building is probably also the storage space for gardening tools and other equipment that might be needed to grow and tend a garden. Of course, there is no heat and only well water available so they remain vacant once the winter sets in. There is evidence that as more products become available in the supermarkets and more people (especially young people) have employment that pays an adequate sum, the use of dachas is in decline. Cities are expanding and the dachas are being swallowed up by development that is expanding into the agricultural land. (It actually sounds like quite a familiar pattern.)

On the same theme, one of the reasons that there is not more cultivated land in Russia is the difficulty in finding farm labourers who are willing to live so far outside the cities and away from families.

So, back to the train and the train line. This train line runs at least 9000 kilometres and given the sparcity of roads and truck transportation across Russia, most goods and produce are transported by train. Many people also travel both long and short distances by train. As a result the train line is extremely busy. It has double tracks all the way along the 9000 kilometres. And we have been told (and observed) that there will be a train on the other track at least every ten minutes. Mostly freight but a lot of passenger trains as well.

I know I have written about the challenge of taking photos out of train windows previously. Dusty windows, the blazing sunlight, the fast moving train, the occasional lurching, electrical poles that appear just at the wrong moment … now add speeding trains going to opposite direction, just as you get the camera ready to snap a shot. Ohhh, thank goodness for digital photography and the delete button. I have not doubt, however, that we will have ample opportunity to get another good shot somewhere along the 4500 kilometres that remain ahead of us.

We passed through the city of Omsk and another significant city as well. Both cities are highly industrialized with smoke billowing from distant stacks and tall apartment complexes closer to town for all the employees. Cranes could be seen in every city as new buildings were constructed and older ones refurbished. Populations in the large cities in Siberia are well over 1,000,000. There are also several cities with populations of 500,000. Everyone lives in the city.

We became very disoriented about the time as we travelled east. All trains run on Moscow time and that is how the ticket is written. But it is helpful to know how that translates into local time when planning a day and ensuring to make the train on time. Or even when to disembark (not reading Russian presents a challenge at times). Moscow is 4 hours behind the time zone in Novosibirsk, today’s destination. But our watches and fitbits and computers all read different times, none of them 4 hours.

We relied on the car matron to tell us when we were approaching Novosibirsk and disembarked the train around 7 pm. Our driver was there and, without much enthusiasm, assisted us with luggage and took us to our hotel. This was the first person we have encountered who was less than gracious and welcoming and helpful. Nonetheless we did arrive at the correct hotel and they were expecting us. Dinner in the hotel restaurant was very good as was the vodka we enjoyed afterward. Soon we were settled into our room and began to explore the time zone question in earnest.

Well, it seems that the city of Novosibirsk did not like the time zone it was in as it made it difficult to do business with other cities. So, this city created its own time zone only a few months ago and has taken a few other nearby communities along with it. Thus, Novosibirsk is 4 hours ahead of Moscow but even Mr. Google does now know about this change which is why none of our technology synched. No internet on the train … therefore no answers to pressing questions.

Wednesday, September 21, 2016                   Novosibirsk

Happy autumn, everyone!

We had our first disappointment today. The guide we had arranged to take us on a tour of the city was unavailable at the last minute. That left us at loose ends and we decided it was a good time to actually take the day off.

That meant for me that I had time to label photos, catch up on this diary, and explore the Apple photobook program. It turned into a very productive day. Once I understood the basics and trusted the program to ‘save my work’, creating the photobook became quite an uplifting activity. I was able to review all the sights we have seen so far, take a look at and select the best photos and determine how to organize them into a book. The book will be quite different from books I have created before using a different program (Snapfish.com). Of course, there are differences between the programs, each having it plusses and minuses. But, all in all, what th Apple program provides that Snapfish does not is the ability to work on the book without access to the internet. Given the amount of time we will be spending on the train with no internet, Apple seems to be the best choice for this adventure.

An afternoon nap for me was luxurious. Travelling can be tiring and we have been moving at a rapid pace. A day off was just what we needed.

While I worked on photos and diary, Jim was busy communicating with another tour company to make arrangements for a tour tomorrow. He was successful in finding a company that could provide a driver and a guide at times that worked for us and who would take us directly to the train station at the end of the tour and ensure we found te train and boarded successfully. Bravo, Jim!!

Jim was also in correspondence with a tour coordinator in China making arrangements for hotels and transportation while we are there. A few details have changed and it was good to have the time and internet access to sort them out. All in all it was a productive and restful day.

We did not have lunch so we were quite ready for dinner when the time came. A small glass of ice cold vodka was the preamble to having a nice dinner in the hotel restaurant which features a number of exotic Russian dishes on its menu. So we indulged ourselves and ordered soup (borscht) and appetizers to share – a smoked salmon salad, reindeer with slender onion strips and cowberry sauce; sliced duck with a sweet pumpkin sauce; and potato pancakes with sour cream. The potato pancakes were the best we have had yet and the other selections were all excellent. The reindeer actually came on a small block of ice embedded with berries. We did have one failure … we also ordered fried fern, more out of curiosity than anything else. Well, we could not exactly figure out what it was except to say that it was tough and did not taste pleasant at all. We will not be ordering it again!

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Back to our room which had become something of a haven today. Pack for our train journey tomorrow and get some sleep. A major thunderstorm came through in the middle of the night, interrupting sleep for one of us at least. The lightening was spectacular and the thunder rumbled for more than two hours. Quite a weather event, to say the least.

Thursday, September 22, 2016      Novosibirsk, train to Irkutsk

We were excited to meet our guide (Irina) this morning along with her driver. Right after breakfast we headed out on our tour. Irina’s English was flawless and she was prepared to answer questions and cover topics of conversation that we have not had before.

One thing we learned immediately as we got into the vehicle is that most vehicles from the region and east are right hand drive. That is because most of the vehicles come from Japan and it is significantly less expensive to purchase a right hand drive car. It was only slightly disconcerting to have the driver on the ‘wrong’ side but he handled the car beautifully and so did all the other right hand drive drivers we saw on the road.

We began our tour with a brief history and overview of Novosibirsk. As late as the 1890’s there was no city in this location at all. It was only after the Trans-Siberian Railway went through that the city began to develop. The Ob River runs through Novosibirsk and it was determined that this was the best location to build a bridge across the river. No mean feat given that, when it was built, it Is the third longest bridge in Asia. And so, Novosibirsk was born and the railway is still the biggest employer in the city. Manufacturing is also a significant component in the economy, products being mostly related to metallurgy as there are large deposits of iron ore, silver, gold and coal in the region surrounding the city.

The newness of the city means that it has very few cultural features or buildings that predate the railway. Developed primarily during the Soviet era, the city has a flatness about it, created mainly by the many, many similar buildings that were developed for housing in the early years.

One bright light in the city is the Scientific Institute Park, an area where scientific endeavours in many fields occur. There are specially designed buildings for each branch of science and housing for the scientists in the surrounding neighbourhood. The neighbourhood was developed with specific planning goals in mind. No trees were to be destroyed in the building process and no building was to exceed five stories so as not to be higher than the trees. Large tracts of forest have been left untouched, providing parkland and natural beauty throughout the area.

An interesting facet of this development is that it is a tiered community. The scientists are given housing in the highest class of housing; others live a bit further away is a lower class of housing. The university has been fairly recently established with the goal of providing education and training in the sciences in the hope that graduates will remain in the area after graduation to take the many scientific positions that have been created. The students are part of the tiered community but their housing is definitely at the low end of the spectrum. Of course, shops and services have also been established and, all in all, it seems quite a lively place to live.

One very unique monument, among many others, has captured the hearts of scientists and tourists alike. It is a monument dedicated to laboratory mice. A very proud mouse sits atop his pedestal in a lovely park, knitting DNA, reminding us all that scientific discovery is based on sacrifice at many levels.

We spent some time on the shore of Lake Ob, an artificially created lake used for recreation and fishing and as a source of water. It is so large that it is not possible to see the other shore.

On our way back to the city, we stopped at a Railway Museum that has an enviable collection of train engines, cars and other equipment. Some of the cars date back to the 1940’s and 50’s. The passenger cars were certainly more luxurious than they are today. A first class car carried only 8 people. A second class car carried about 20 and a third class car on plain wooden benches held 40 and the fourth class carriages seated 60.

We also saw a prisoner car which was used to transport exiles to Siberia. There were no windows in the area occupied by the prisoners but there were prisoner cells inside the car. Staff on these cars had windows with bars, lest a prisoner somehow get free from a cell.

In addition to the train collection, this museum also had a substantial number of old vehicles on display as well. If only we had had more time.

We followed a main road into the city and stopped briefly to see the statue of Tsar Alexander who was the visionary for the Trans-Siberian Railway. The statue is situated on the bank of the Ob River beside a span of the original bridge and in front of the more modern bridge that has replaced it. Tsar Alexander was not always so well loved as he tried to evict all the people who had worked on the railway from his land which is where Novosibirsk now stands. But the community already had about 500 buildings and was too well established to remove. So ultimately, Tsar Alexander had to accept the consequence of building the railway which was that Novosibirsk had been created.

We were able to see three schools in this tour. Children in Russia begin to attend school at age 6 and continue until age 16. The schools are known as secondary schools and the students remain in the same school throughout their ten years of formal schooling. Children who are 5 years of age are able to attend a preliminary year for a fee but usually family members provide care and training (reading, writing and math) so they are ready for school the following year. After the age of 16 and graduation, the students are able to make choices about future schooling. Trade schools and universities were mentioned along with the fact that entry is very competitive and the higher your marks, the less it costs.

Children generally attend the school in their own neighbourhood. If, however, parents prefer to send their children to a more desirable school, that is also possible, if you are willing to pay tuition. Tuition fees vary from school to school depending on the ranking of the school in academic results. If a child attends his/her home school there is not fee as education is funded centrally up to age 16.

From schools, we moved on to see a magnificent opera house that was opened just as WWII ended. Odd timing but it was all part of a plan to make Novosibirsk a successful city in Siberia. The opera house has an enormous dome as its roof that rests on cement pillars and supports its own weight through the geometry of the roof. In front of the opera house is a very large monument of Lenin, accompanied by three citizens – a worker, a Bolshevik and a merchant, representing three facets of society in Russia. On the other side are statues of two younger people who are clearly involved in the arts world.

We saw two beautiful churches, one that was the first church constructed in Novosibirsk and the second, the only church that was not closed during the Soviet era. It continued to be the only church in the city to hold regular services all through that time.

We saw a magnificent building painted green, white and pink and the main street. It was originally the main market building for the city and has now transformed into a history museum. We did go from there to the farmers’ market where Jim was able to purchase some food for us to take with us on the train. It is an interesting market as some of the vendors are selling produce they grew at their dochas in the countryside. Like at home, tomatoes and cucumbers were very much in season as well as a variety of berries and root vegetables.

One thing we saw today were huge bags of potatoes along the side of a road we travelled. Just off the shoulder of the road were many, many pipes coming up from the ground and an occasional small shelter with a door in it. These doors led to underground cold storage areas where people over the ages have stored their produce for the winter months. Although fresh produce is readily available at the supermarkets now, many people continue to grow and store their own food. Even our guide said that she always buys a 20 pound bag of potatoes for winter storage even though she never manages to use all the potatoes she stores. Just a custom that she cannot move away from.

Our final stop for the day was a visit to another railway museum, this one focused on the development of the Trans-Siberian Railway. Historical photos, replica icons, tools and equipment and of course, information in Russian provided insight into the amazing undertaking the construction of this railway was.  A great place to end our tour.

We proceeded directly to the nearby train station where our train to Irkutsk was waiting for us on Track 1. We showed our ticket, had our passports examined, loaded the luggage on board and settled in to our cabin. This trip will be about 36 hours in length. We have already enjoyed the fall colours of the mighty birch forests; we have seen many, many docha communities and had a good look at their gardens (lots of cabbage and root vegetables); dark fell as we ate our dinner and it is soon time to get ready for a good night’s rest.

Friday, September 23, 2016                              Train to Irkutsk

We slept well last night!! Finally, I was able finally able to settle in on the narrow train bed and fall asleep. It certainly made this day more pleasant although I will admit that the clickety-clack of the train rhythm makes it easy to drift off for a short nap during the day as well. Tonight we will be back in a hotel, the same place for five full days! That will be lovely. It will be good to be in one place and not moving luggage each day.

We are now about two thirds of the way across Russia. This is indeed a huge country!! We are very close to Lake Baikal, the largest fresh water lake in the world (more fresh water than all five great lakes combined). We have seen so much landscape, especially birch and pine forests. The autumn colours seem to be at their peak at the moment so we have enjoyed the reds and yellows as we have passed through miles of forest. Wild flowers grow along the track edges, mostly white and small, but lovely all the same. Much of the land has seemed a bit swampy with patches of very wet land wild with ferns and cattails.

As we have travelled further east today, there have been two significant changes. One is that there is much more land that is being actively farmed. Lots of hay and grain as well as productive backyard gardens. Communities also seem to be much closer together, still tiny for the most part but a sense of a denser population overall. Traffic stopped at level crossings; paved roads visible from the train tracks; more people on the train platforms awaiting one of the many passing trains. We have also seen transport trucks for the first time, carrying loads of goods both east and west. I wonder if it is possible to drive across Russia and what that would be like in terms of services and accommodation. No fear though … we will not be undertaking that journey.

A total aside … speaking of level crossings at train tracks, the road system here has a metal plate embedded in the road that actually tilts up to prevent cars from going around or breaking through barriers at level crossings. A car would become airborne if it failed to stop prior to the crossing. Yikes!!

One exciting moment of the day was the arrest of a man from our train. Not that is was dramatic for us in any way as it occurred in a totally separate car, but a police officer did lead a man in handcuffs along the platform to the police office in the railway station. Hmmm …. I wonder what the circumstances were that led to that!!

We are still amazed at the similarity in landscape and vegetation to what we would find travelling across Canada. We have not seen any maple trees though and maple syrup is not a product that most people know. Our guides have been thrilled to receive our containers of a Canadian flavor, maple syrup, from a family business as a way of expressing our appreciation for their assistance to us. But they all ask how they should use it.

It is getting late into the evening. We are still on the train but getting very close to Irkutsk. It has been a great train journey and the next several days promise to be very pleasant as we continue to have new experiences along the way. We are so glad we are on this adventure!