To be honest, I lost track of time on this train. It happened frighteningly quickly and while I'd like to blame exhaustion, sleep aids or the loss of actual time via time zone hopping... I think what really happened is I realized time didn't matter too much once I was safely aboard.
We were on the first leg of the Trans-Siberian from 11:50pm, September 22nd to 7:35 am on September 26th. During this time we lost 4 hours as we traveled east... Although I couldn't tell you exactly when.
On board we ate and drank, napped and fidgeted with gadgets. Mostly though, like a cat, I simply sat at the window and watched the world (Russia) go by. Every 2 minutes a new photo op presented itself!
For the first two days it was flat outside. Really, really flat. You'd have thought I might have gotten bored. All those people who told me it was hours of the same thing - trees - were right, and also wrong. It is fall in a Russia too. Birch trees are changing shades of green, gold and orange. A small gust sends leaves fluttering down on a farmer plowing his field or showers the cat who watches a cow graze near the tracks. Each town, filled with colorful houses and iron bridges, spends another day preparing for the upcoming long winter. Hay is baled, fire wood is stacked. The peacefulness is disturbed only by passing trains. There are a lot of passing trains.
I loved the view. The way the sun caught the colors on the ground, the clouds moved across the sky and most surprisingly, the way every picture had electrical wires in it. I grew to try and compose with them, rather than try to eliminate them! It was compelling. Mesmerizing.
We stopped irregularly and always unexpectedly at few of the stations enroute. 10 or 20 minutes to disembark and see what local delicacies could be purchased. Never straying too far from the tracks or the watchful eye of our carriage nanny, just in case the wheels started rolling again without us. There would be no catching up again if left behind!
Before I knew it, I had awoken from a 3rd good train sleep and day three, well and truly in Siberia now, was here. The hills were rolling now. More agriculture, more animals, darker soil, bigger towns.
We were on the first leg of the Trans-Siberian from 11:50pm, September 22nd to 7:35 am on September 26th. During this time we lost 4 hours as we traveled east... Although I couldn't tell you exactly when.
On board we ate and drank, napped and fidgeted with gadgets. Mostly though, like a cat, I simply sat at the window and watched the world (Russia) go by. Every 2 minutes a new photo op presented itself!
For the first two days it was flat outside. Really, really flat. You'd have thought I might have gotten bored. All those people who told me it was hours of the same thing - trees - were right, and also wrong. It is fall in a Russia too. Birch trees are changing shades of green, gold and orange. A small gust sends leaves fluttering down on a farmer plowing his field or showers the cat who watches a cow graze near the tracks. Each town, filled with colorful houses and iron bridges, spends another day preparing for the upcoming long winter. Hay is baled, fire wood is stacked. The peacefulness is disturbed only by passing trains. There are a lot of passing trains.
I loved the view. The way the sun caught the colors on the ground, the clouds moved across the sky and most surprisingly, the way every picture had electrical wires in it. I grew to try and compose with them, rather than try to eliminate them! It was compelling. Mesmerizing.
We stopped irregularly and always unexpectedly at few of the stations enroute. 10 or 20 minutes to disembark and see what local delicacies could be purchased. Never straying too far from the tracks or the watchful eye of our carriage nanny, just in case the wheels started rolling again without us. There would be no catching up again if left behind!
Before I knew it, I had awoken from a 3rd good train sleep and day three, well and truly in Siberia now, was here. The hills were rolling now. More agriculture, more animals, darker soil, bigger towns.
Riding the rails was easy and fun. Fellow passengers were friendly and life was good!
