So we didn't see Lake Baikel properly but we did see ice floes on it reflecting the moonlight near Slyudyanka plus a steam loco in steam in Slyudyanka depot. This side of Baikel you don't get the roar from the wheels of continuous welded rail but the older soporific "clickety clack" to go to sleep to.
The clocks are proving a bit of a challenge as we travel east to meet the dawn. At 0230 train time the sun was up. Outside the train it was now 5 hours ahead of this. We are trying to shorten our days so we are on outside time by the time we get to Vladivostock.
We bought a bottle of Red wine before we left Moscow so we could have a glass each night before bed. Last night we opened the bottle and had a glass (glasses improvised out of the bottom of water bottles by my trusty Weston Super Mare penknife)but found it, while nice, quite strong and sweet. Today I have managed to translate the label on the bottle and find it is communion wine made by Orthodox monks. So maybe a tot each night will bless the rest of our trip.
The Rossiya has had to slow a little today as most of its journey has been winding around the sinuous curves of the Shilka valley. Quite picturesque with bright sunshine it's made for a pleasant Sunday afternoon. Quite a lot of cattle farming. Fishing in the river-which I guess out here is more about survival than sport.
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Not many passenger trains coming the other way. Think we have passed about four today most of which were local services. Out here local stations don't always have a name just a distance from Moscow like "6457 platform" (the distance being in kilometres). Freight trains are a different matter with one every 15 minutes or so. Some carry Hitachi excavators which is interesting as hope to visit Hitachi when (if) we get to Japan.
The lines to China have now branched away from us. As has the BAM railway started in the 30's to make an alternative to the Trans Siberian line, north, further away from the Chinese border and only finished a handful of years ago with untold ecological damage.
We have a locomotive change every 400 or so miles (the coaches, of course, remain the same) and we always seem to get a clean modern loco. There are, though, lots of Soviet era locos around, many still with Red Stars on the front, for the freight trains.
Not many left in our coach now. A Russian couple, a Russian woman and someone who may well be
keeping an eye on everyone! The train remains immaculate inside and out due the hard work of the Provinistas. Compartment was hoovered at 1130 train time precisely.
So it's been "clickety clack" all afternoon along the delightful Shilka valley, less wooded than previous part of journey and now about 50 miles from the Chinese border. Stopped for a delightful half hour at a wayside station, whether it was eight in the evening or four in the afternoon I don't know as the clocks have me confused, half the village and most of the train were on the platform stocking up provisions, stretching legs and enjoying the last of today's sun. Even the Russians are smiling. Then it's all aboard for night 5 on The Rossiya express.
The clocks are proving a bit of a challenge as we travel east to meet the dawn. At 0230 train time the sun was up. Outside the train it was now 5 hours ahead of this. We are trying to shorten our days so we are on outside time by the time we get to Vladivostock.
We bought a bottle of Red wine before we left Moscow so we could have a glass each night before bed. Last night we opened the bottle and had a glass (glasses improvised out of the bottom of water bottles by my trusty Weston Super Mare penknife)but found it, while nice, quite strong and sweet. Today I have managed to translate the label on the bottle and find it is communion wine made by Orthodox monks. So maybe a tot each night will bless the rest of our trip.
The Rossiya has had to slow a little today as most of its journey has been winding around the sinuous curves of the Shilka valley. Quite picturesque with bright sunshine it's made for a pleasant Sunday afternoon. Quite a lot of cattle farming. Fishing in the river-which I guess out here is more about survival than sport.
Not many passenger trains coming the other way. Think we have passed about four today most of which were local services. Out here local stations don't always have a name just a distance from Moscow like "6457 platform" (the distance being in kilometres). Freight trains are a different matter with one every 15 minutes or so. Some carry Hitachi excavators which is interesting as hope to visit Hitachi when (if) we get to Japan.
The lines to China have now branched away from us. As has the BAM railway started in the 30's to make an alternative to the Trans Siberian line, north, further away from the Chinese border and only finished a handful of years ago with untold ecological damage.
We have a locomotive change every 400 or so miles (the coaches, of course, remain the same) and we always seem to get a clean modern loco. There are, though, lots of Soviet era locos around, many still with Red Stars on the front, for the freight trains.
keeping an eye on everyone! The train remains immaculate inside and out due the hard work of the Provinistas. Compartment was hoovered at 1130 train time precisely.
So it's been "clickety clack" all afternoon along the delightful Shilka valley, less wooded than previous part of journey and now about 50 miles from the Chinese border. Stopped for a delightful half hour at a wayside station, whether it was eight in the evening or four in the afternoon I don't know as the clocks have me confused, half the village and most of the train were on the platform stocking up provisions, stretching legs and enjoying the last of today's sun. Even the Russians are smiling. Then it's all aboard for night 5 on The Rossiya express.
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