Arrived Warsaw ok. Spinach salad for lunch (doesnt sound much but was very nice). We sat outside the cafe where we bought it in the sunshine. Quite windy morning but a bright day for all that. A quick look at the architecture left from the Soviet era then over to Warsaw's Gadansk station on the Warsaw undergound for the Moscow sleeper (The Polonez Express)
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We didnt know the situation for food on this train so got some bits and pieces at the Gadansk station. I got a couple of bottles of beer from a rather daunting bar round the corner from the station situated on some waste ground!
The train rolled in about 20 minutes before departure which was scheduled for 1612 (twelve minutes past four). The train was clearly different to other trains we had seen being formed of Russian railways coaches rather than european railway coaches. So it was a bit of a challenge as we didnt know quite what to expect. Upon the train stopping a number of male attendants swung out of the doors in Russian Railways uniform. The uniform was fawn with red trimming and they looked more military than railway. They were very smart even if their peaked caps looked 3 sizes too big! We showed our reservation and they allowed us on board. The compartment, like most of Russia west of Moscow, was a lime green colour but quite comfortable set up as two seats in the compartment at this time in the afternoon. Once the attendants had removed their hats they looked a little less daunting and were actually fine. Most of our fellow travellers were now Russian. There was a woman travelling on her own in the next compartment who talked on a mobile phone mos of the time, then two children with a mother. The children sang beautifully on occasions through the trip (were they part of a choir?) two guys who I think we're British but could have been Australian who kept themselves to themselves and a middle aged Russian couple all were going to Moscow. Then we were off. Our first trip on a Russian train.
And now it was time to try one of those experiences unique to Russian train travel The Samovar. This urn for providing boiling water was presided over by our attendant. I read the Russian phrase book; "eckerchoo divi bod di perjalster" (two waters please) I tried to say and he was straight on to it, probably more the result of me having a cup in my hand than my attempt at Russian. So I returned to our compartment with the cups of boiling watter and made the afternoon tea with tea bags we had brought with us.
And then things kicked off as we approached the Belarus border. Belarus and Russia are very similar and both have very limiting passport and travel conditions for travellers. No cursory passport inspection here it was the full blown works both going out of Poland then repeated, only more so, on entering Belarus. Sniffer dogs were the first wave, then customs (we had to open our suitcases which Joanne did with such speed the custom ohms officer seemed shocked!) then the passport control which was very thorough and involved filling some complicated forms in which specifically said do not blot or make a mistake which of course I then did. The passport officer then disappeared with our passports and visa's. The visa's, which we had obtained in the UK for Belarus and Russia, is very involved. This was our first chance to see if we had done this correctly and too late to change anything. I was beginning to think the train would go before he returned but this was not the case, he returned our passports and visa's just before the train moved on. All this takes place in your compartment-to be fair the officials were very polite but clearly there was no messing about.
The border was marked by a bridge which we crept over at slow speed then sentry boxes and armed soldiers by the side of the line like something out of "The Spy who Came in from the Cold". After some banging and clanking we found ourselves shunted into a depot to change the wheels to Russian gauge.
We didnt know the situation for food on this train so got some bits and pieces at the Gadansk station. I got a couple of bottles of beer from a rather daunting bar round the corner from the station situated on some waste ground!
The train rolled in about 20 minutes before departure which was scheduled for 1612 (twelve minutes past four). The train was clearly different to other trains we had seen being formed of Russian railways coaches rather than european railway coaches. So it was a bit of a challenge as we didnt know quite what to expect. Upon the train stopping a number of male attendants swung out of the doors in Russian Railways uniform. The uniform was fawn with red trimming and they looked more military than railway. They were very smart even if their peaked caps looked 3 sizes too big! We showed our reservation and they allowed us on board. The compartment, like most of Russia west of Moscow, was a lime green colour but quite comfortable set up as two seats in the compartment at this time in the afternoon. Once the attendants had removed their hats they looked a little less daunting and were actually fine. Most of our fellow travellers were now Russian. There was a woman travelling on her own in the next compartment who talked on a mobile phone mos of the time, then two children with a mother. The children sang beautifully on occasions through the trip (were they part of a choir?) two guys who I think we're British but could have been Australian who kept themselves to themselves and a middle aged Russian couple all were going to Moscow. Then we were off. Our first trip on a Russian train.
And now it was time to try one of those experiences unique to Russian train travel The Samovar. This urn for providing boiling water was presided over by our attendant. I read the Russian phrase book; "eckerchoo divi bod di perjalster" (two waters please) I tried to say and he was straight on to it, probably more the result of me having a cup in my hand than my attempt at Russian. So I returned to our compartment with the cups of boiling watter and made the afternoon tea with tea bags we had brought with us.
And then things kicked off as we approached the Belarus border. Belarus and Russia are very similar and both have very limiting passport and travel conditions for travellers. No cursory passport inspection here it was the full blown works both going out of Poland then repeated, only more so, on entering Belarus. Sniffer dogs were the first wave, then customs (we had to open our suitcases which Joanne did with such speed the custom ohms officer seemed shocked!) then the passport control which was very thorough and involved filling some complicated forms in which specifically said do not blot or make a mistake which of course I then did. The passport officer then disappeared with our passports and visa's. The visa's, which we had obtained in the UK for Belarus and Russia, is very involved. This was our first chance to see if we had done this correctly and too late to change anything. I was beginning to think the train would go before he returned but this was not the case, he returned our passports and visa's just before the train moved on. All this takes place in your compartment-to be fair the officials were very polite but clearly there was no messing about.
The border was marked by a bridge which we crept over at slow speed then sentry boxes and armed soldiers by the side of the line like something out of "The Spy who Came in from the Cold". After some banging and clanking we found ourselves shunted into a depot to change the wheels to Russian gauge.
The coaches are jacked up and couplings changed to ones compatible to Russia while the passengers remain on the train. Its quite a starnge experience as you can step off the coaches in the depot should you desire to watch the operation. An army of fitters descended on the train, overhead cranes were swinging into action, jacks were wirring, sellers were walking down the sides of the coaches vending stuff and the two children in our coach were singing a choral piece!. All very surreal!
The job was finished in about 30 minutes and we were on our way. The attendant converted our compartment from seating to sleeping mode. I have to say we both had a very good nights sleep!
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