A Taste of the Trans-Siberian

Wednesday, June 19, 2019
Balezino, Udmurt Republic, Russian Federation
MOSCOW TO BALEZINO - OUR FIRST TASTE OF THE TRANS-SIBERIAN
Welcome to the Trans-Mongolian 
Drained from our eventful trip from Sochi to Moscow, followed by a long and congested road trip from the airport to Yaraslavskiy Railway Station, we finally boarded our train at midnight to begin our 7,573 km journey across the Russian Federation, and then across the border to Harbin, China. Despite the nightmare trip from Sochi to Moscow however, we had made the train departure in time. But only just. 
It was a miracle that we actually found our train platform at Yaroslavskiy Railway Station. We should not have been surprised. As we had experienced so often at Russian stations and airports, finding the way to departure gates can be unbelievably difficult. And then somehow between us, we managed to heave our heavy luggage from the platform up the one metre plus, near vertical metal ladder onto the train; an enormous effort and one to which we never became accustomed during our Russian train travel.... 
Joyously relieved at finally finding our cabin, we sank onto our beds with a welcome scotch in hand to survey our new home for the next three days. 
Our euphoria however, did not last long. Our cabin was hardly inspiring. As mentioned, we had not been able to secure a first-class cabin on the first leg of our journey on the Trans-Mongolian from Moscow to Irkutsk - and so on our agent Anna's advice we had booked a four-berth second-class cabin for just the two of us. It certainly sounded like the ideal solution.  
For a four-berth cabin, our accommodation was surprisingly tight. And dismal. How four adults with all their luggage could live in a cabin of that size for any length of time, defied imagination. The beds were short, especially for the long-legged Alan. And there was absolutely no room for the sort of luggage overseas travellers would normally have. If you had the strength you could force your baggage into an impossibly high upper compartment or jam it under the bottom bed bunk. Thankfully, we could use the other two spare beds as storage.   But even then, it was cramped and uncomfortable. 
On a positive note however, the bed linen was clean and crisp. And we had a small table between the bottom beds which became our chairs for daytime travel. 
Initially, we were delighted to see we had air-conditioning. But alas - it was just a fan in the side of the compartment wall. Our cabin windows were sealed shut and the only way to allow outside air in, was to leave our door ajar and open one of the corridor windows. And that was made all the more difficult by the congestion of other passengers trying to inhale some air - or just wanting to stretch their legs through the long days of the journey. 
Little did we realise at that time of night, the train windows were so dirty, it was difficult to see out, let alone take even half-reasonable photographs of the scenery along our route; the very reason for our long train travel being the absorption of the vast Russian region.  
Well, on the positive side I guess - the train may have been old and shabby, but it was clean and well-maintained throughout our journey by our two Providnitsas. A samovar was located at one end of our carriage, providing boiling hot water. And at each end of the carriage were shared toilets, each with primitive metal washbasins. It was mega basic, but again it was always clean.
Disappointingly, there was no shower nor any washing facilities*. For two people who never go without a shower and daily hair wash and dry, it was going to be a long three days before we reached Irkutsk. It sounds like we were complaining. Tired and tetchy, I guess we were....
* Prior to our train travels, we had read that the carriage Providnitsa could arrange a shower or at least a wash basin for a small fee. Sadly, this option was unavailable during our journey.
First Night on our Train Journey
We actually slept very well that night. At least I did... And if I could say one selfishly bright comment about the train travel, it was for me very easy to sleep. Somehow the gentle and sometimes not-so-gentle rocking, rattling and jolting somehow resonated with my melatonin levels, making it all too easy for me to fall asleep for hours on this trip. And for a poor sleeper, that is really saying something significant for sleep pattern research! It was indeed fortuitous as although I had filled my Kindle with reading material, there were times when hours of non-stop reading became all too much. For Alan, it was impossible. The short beds were for him very uncomfortable and somehow, he didn't share my melatonin association with the train. Nor did he read Kindles..... Thankfully, he enjoyed looking out of the window at the passing scenery as we had no internet for the duration of our train trip....
To our disappointment, there was no information provided about the train timetable, nor any indication of the location of the regions through which we were travelling. Fortunately, Alan had brought a schedule of all stations with him which allowed us to have some sort of appreciation of our whereabouts. Admittedly, signage was in both Russian and English but in most instances the stations names were a blur as we sped past smaller stations along our route.
You may well ask why we didn't use our location apps on our phone and iPad. Well, for most of the trip we just had to be mindful of using too much battery charge on our devices. Charging ports and electricity sockets were impossibly scarce, and most were broken. The only working electricity socket in our carriage was commandeered by the occupants of the neighbouring cabin who greedily hooked up an extension cord back into their room**.
**Note: As foreigners, the last thing we wanted was to cause any ill feelings with other passengers. But by day three, I did disconnect their power lead - with no obvious ramifications! 
 Day 1 - TO BALEZINO
Birch Forests, Tiny Villages and Timber Yards
At 6:00 am we woke to find we were travelling through extensive forests of almost monoculture silver birch, lined with cottage garden borders of pretty wildflowers and soft growth vegetation. It was very similar to that which we had travelled through in many parts of Russia, especially in the Kamchatka Oblast. Open cleared areas revealed muddy muskegs, bogs and stagnant lakes. The country was testament to the intermittent permafrost nature of this region. Once the warmer months came, the frozen upper layers of the earth melt but are then trapped by the frozen layers below, forming vast swamps and a myriad of lake formations; a haven for midges, mosquitoes and other biting monsters and an inhospitable environment for local inhabitants and livestock. 
As we headed east toward Kirov, occasional villages, featuring clusters of wooden cottages and tiny churches, dotted the ubiquitous birch forests along our route. Peering through our grime-shrouded cabin window, the train line appeared to almost take us through the very back yards of these tiny farmlets. Men with picks and spades laboured in the vegetable plots. Long-skirted women walked the fields carrying heavy sacks. Some rode bicycles.
The farm plots looked to support only subsistence agriculture which from what we could see were mostly cruciferous vegetables, onions and potatoes. 
Some farmlets housed beehives but there were no livestock we could see. In the villages, there were very few cars and no bridges; only level crossings. Even from our train view, the quaint little villages looked pretty humble. This we reminded ourselves, was summer season. Winters must have been very hard going. 
The most obvious industry appeared to be logging and timber processing. Occasional lumber yards with rusting metal factory sheds, housed massive logs of enormous girth. There was obviously no lack of timber. Everything was wooden; houses, sheds and fencing. And we guessed, it would be used as a heating source in the severe winter months.
A Little About Nizhny Novgorod Oblast
We were travelling through the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, some 500 km north-east of Moscow. We estimated that our train must have stopped at the city of Nizhny Novgorod around 4:30 am. Formerly known as Gorky, Nizhny Novgorod (meaning lower new city) is the capital city and administrative centre of the Nizhny Novgorod oblast. 
It was a great pity that we were unable to view the city which, sitting on the mighty Volga River, was a famous strategic historic site on the route between the Baltic States to Central Asia. Nizhny Novgorod was founded in 1221. In 1392, it was incorporated into the Municipality of Moscow, to soon become a Russian stronghold against the Volga Tatars. From there, Ivan III the Great and Ivan IV the Terrible in 1552 launched their expeditions against the Tatar capital of Kazan. 
The resulting Russian conquest of the Volga in the mid-16th century brought significant trade and prosperity for the Nizhny Novgorod region.  
Nizhny Novgorod is famous for its 16th century Kremlin (citadel) which houses the green spired Cathedral of the Archangel Michael. Today, the city boasts a population of some 1.25 million. It is the sixth largest city and one of the most important IT and technology providers in Russia.
Shakhunya from a Distance - a City with a Sad Secret 
Our first close sighting of a railway town was Shakhunya. Located some 264 km north-east of Nizhny Novgorod, Shakhunya which is located within the same oblast, is mostly known for its timber industry, railway enterprises and curiously a very successful milk processing industry; curious because we had not seen any livestock on our journey so far. 
Initially, I wondered why such a sizeable township was built on what appeared to be nothing more than swampy lowlands. From our train cabin it was impossible to get even the slightest feel for any settlement, but Shakhunya did appear to have considerable pride. Surrounded by verdant open space, the railway station was freshly painted and the surrounds well-maintained. 
Similarly, apartment blocks and adjacent buildings appeared to be relatively modern and in good order. These comments may sound trite, but on so many of our trips throughout Russia, especially in the Far East, the countryside was littered with abandoned ex-Soviet settlements: decaying buildings and rusting obsolete machinery. From a distance, Shakhunya looked to be thriving, if somewhat non-descript. 
Interestingly, the history of Shakhunya goes back to the 11th Century when State peasants were transferred to the region. In the 1920's a railway depot and station were built, and the population rose to around 300 people. In the 1930's when regional Russia was undergoing rapid industrialisation, Shakhunya became a major railway junction. During the Great Patriotic War (World War II), the town's importance increased with the opening of new wood working and food (including milk) processing enterprises. Immediately after the war, Shakhunya became a significant industrial and commercial centre, and was bestowed city status. Today, it is home to a population of around 20,000 people.
The city may have looked unremarkable, but Shakhunya held its own secrets.... Later when I tried to find some information about Shakhunya (which was not easy....) I came across a disturbingly sad article written in 2018 by journalist Sergei Khazov-Cassia. Together with fellow cameraman, the pair travelled to Shakhunya in search of the family of an alleged mercenary, who was believed to have been killed in early 2018 together with "An untold number of other Russian mercenaries fighting in Syria". 
The pair did manage to locate the family. But sadly, relatives had lost contact with the young man and there was no knowledge or acceptance, of his apparent death. In fact, most of the family with whom he met, including the young man's mother, he said were in denial. More likely, any information about the fate of this young man was just too painful. The family's last knowledge of his whereabout was when he was fighting in the Donbas (Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics) of Ukraine***
The family, perhaps not surprisingly, was not particularly keen on seeking out the fate of the young man from two unknown journalists. One family member had engaged psychics who believed that the young man was injured but still alive. Maybe this was the only hope the family could cling to.
The last paragraph of Kazov-Cassia's article read: "No one appears concerned about the life or death of (the alleged mercenary) except a couple of out-of-town journalists bringing bad news from the Internet.... Only the psychics are talking...." 
***Both regions in the Ukraine are under the military control of Russian-backed, Russian separatists. Today in 2020, they are active war zones in the current Russian invasion of the Ukraine. 
Life on the Trans-Mongolian
The buffet car was only one carriage away. It was clean and comfortable, if rather spartan. At one end was a small counter which sold snacks and drinks, including beer. The reasonably adequate, if rather uninspiring menu was printed in Russian, English and Chinese (it was a Chinese train) and the food whilst plain, was quite acceptable. The menu was the same for each day - but we could not complain. By Russian standards, it was apparently considered expensive and for most part of our journey, we were the only customers. For us however our meals became welcome breaks, and an opportunity to stretch our legs. 
Disappointingly, our neighbouring Russian passengers were not friendly. In fact, most appeared to deliberately avoid any contact with us, most probably because of perceived - and real - language difficulties. Understandably, we guessed the last thing any of them wanted was to end up trying to explain anything to two older foreigners who spoke very little Russian.
As an observer, the people looked relatively poor. Many of the men wore just singlets and worn pants. Similarly, the women were dressed in what to us, looked like traditional country-style clothing.  Interestingly, just about all of them spent their entire time in their cabin, presumably having brought enough food and drinks with them. It certainly put a swift end to any pre-conceived ideas I had about practising my very basic Russian... Apparently many of the passengers are locals or small traders which would of course explain their lack of desire to spend money in the dining car or communicate with foreign tourists.
Conversely, our immediate cabin neighbour who we presumed was a Japanese businessman, was delightfully friendly and talkative. And thankfully for us, he spoke excellent English. 
The samovar was very handy. As always, we brought with us our china mugs, wine glasses and a good supply of coffee, drinks and snacks. It's as well to know in advance that the train does not supply even disposable cups. We had heard that we could buy goods from the Providnitsas. But for the first day, we thought it was just too difficult. In saying that however, the Providnitsas were very friendly and helpful and could mercifully, speak a little English.
First Stop - Kirov 
Prior to our train travels, we heard from friends and other reliable sources that some of the most interesting parts of the journey were the railway stations along the train route. Many we heard, had small markets from which you could buy all sorts of goods including hot food, smoked fish, sausages, snacks and even clothing. To our disappointment however, we never found anything like what was described to us. 
Our first stop for the day was at Kirov, administrative centre of Kirov Oblast. As we sped past the satellite township Lomovskaya, agricultural and forest scenery turned to monotonous residential zones; rickety farmhouses giving way to Soviet-style faceless buildings and closer to Kirov, some more modern apartment blocks. Looking on our map, we were noted that we had only travelled 787 km as the crow flies, from Moscow. It should not have come as any surprise however, as the average speed of the Trans-Siberian is a mere 69 km per hour. 
Like most cities, the outskirts of Kirov were uninspiring. And Kirov station was even more disappointing. Sterile, narrow cement platforms were lined with parked trains. They were no other people around. And from what we could see, no other passengers had alighted. And where we were the markets, we asked? Well, there weren't any.... It also appears that there is little tourist attraction at Kirov, with most Trans-Siberian passengers skipping it as a stop-off destination. Yes, we noticed that too. 
Our Providnitsas seemed alarmed that we were alighting the train. And for good reason. There was nothing to explore and goodness knows where they thought we may have ended up. Carefully pointing at their wrist watches, they made it quite clear that the train was stopping for just a short time and that we had to be very careful to be back on board in good time. The very thought of being left on a railway station watching a departing train with all your luggage and goods did not bear thinking about. But it did almost happen the next day in Omsk....
Our only positive experience at Kirov was having the Internet available via Beeline, even if it was for a very short time. Having returned back onto our train, there was nothing more we could do but have a beer and lunch in the buffet car.
About Kirov....
Kirov city is the administrative capital of Kirov Oblast in western Russia. Situated on the Vyatka River, it is a large industrial, transport centre - being both a river port and a crossing point of main railways connecting the north-west and centre of Russia with the Ural Mountains, Siberia and the Far East. Located some 900 km north-east of Moscow, it is a major historical, cultural and scientific centre of the Priural'e - or territory on the west side of the Urals. 
Formerly known as Vyatka, it was re-named Kirov in 1934 following the assassination of Sergei Kirov, a Soviet politician and Bolshevik revolutionary whose death was apparently responsible for the lead up to the Great Purge of 1937.**** 
Kirov Oblast, an area of some 120,000 square km, occupies almost all of the Vyatka River basin and is mostly comprised of swampy forest or taiga, with birch, fir, spruce and pine being the main vegetative species. Timber and wood processing is the main economy, with some mining of iron ore and phosphorite. The land is generally too poor for agriculture. The oblast is home to a population of 1.44 million people, many of whom are apparently moving away from the area. 
****Otherwise known as The Great Terror, the Great Purge was Josef Stalin's campaign to solidify his power over party and state, and to remove the remaining influence of Marxist revolutionary Leon Trotsky and other political rivals.
To Glazov and Balezino
At one stage of our rail journey planning, we considered doing a side rail trip south-east from Nizhny-Novgorod to Kazan, the colourful capital city of the multicultural Republic of Tatarstan.
Kazan is apparently very beautiful and well-known for its mosques, cathedrals and towers; an eclectic mix of Muslim Tatar and Orthodox Christian architecture. In the end, we decided that our long trip through the Caucasus plus a 7,573 km trip across Russia to Harbin, China was more than enough travel. We would instead make just one stop at Irkutsk and nearby Lake Baikal, then spend a few days in Harbin.
The scenery so far had been somewhat monotonous - silver birch, birch and more birch - amid muddy plains and muskeg taiga. And in hindsight, we did wonder whether the Kazan route may have been more interesting. The Kazan line would have connected back onto our railway route at Yekaterinburg, an historic city to which I had always wanted to visit. It was a pity to miss these destinations but as we reflect so often, it is so very easy to overdo travel.
Our rail route from Kirov through to Glazov and onto Balezino was similarly uninspiring; more birch, tiny farmlets and occasional abandoned factories. Every so often the forest would clear to reveal soft green meadows and luxuriant, soft flowering vegetation.
We had left Kirov Oblast and were travelling through the Udmurt Republic (Udmurtiya), an administrative region of some 42,100 square km on the western side of the Ural Mountains; the bridge between western and eastern Russia, and the gateway to the vast lands of our beloved Siberia. 
Udmurtiya is part of the Urals economic region. Industries include lumbering, metallurgy, machine and tool making, leatherworking, brick and cement making and food processing. Like most of the region through which we had travelled, the oblast is dominated by taiga with marshy alluvial soils. The main river is the Kama, which together with the tributaries of the Vyatka - the Chepsa and the Kilmez rivers, offer broad floodplain meadows which are good pastures for grazing. Arable land occupies about half of the republic. Main crops are rye, oats, wheat, maize, flax and hemp. Dairying and stock raising are also important agricultural industries. 
Udmurtiya is home to a population of around 1.5 million. The administrative centre is the city of Izhevsk*****. 
Late in the afternoon our train stopped briefly at the city of Glazov, administrative centre of the Glazov rayon of Udmurtiya and a centre for timber milling, woodworking and metallurgy. 
About half an hour later we arrived in Balezino where our train stopped for routine maintenance which apparently included a change of engines from AC to DC, the latter capable of producing higher speeds and acceleration. And from the snail pace of our train, had we known this at the time, it could have been very positive information....
Passengers were able to alight. Our caring Providnitsas however, were very careful to tell us the train stopped for exactly 26 minutes. And from their concerned faces, we knew there was no leeway. It was also vitally important that they took the trouble to tell us there was an hour's time difference between Glazov and Balezino. An easy but deadly mistake for unwary passengers!
*****Izhevsk was the site of a school shooting in September 2022, where a lone gunman wearing a swastika on his t-shirt shot and killed 15 people and injured 24, before committing suicide. 
To our delight, there were markets on the platform. Individual stalls sold anything from pastry covered sausages, piroshki, ice creams and fruit to children's toys, souvenirs and clothing. Alan bought some apricots and ice creams, while I bought a scarf as a gift for "someone at home". Selfishly, I liked it so much that I kept it for myself....
While we were exploring the markets I ran into my Chinese friend who had asked me to mind his baggage at Moscow's Yaraslavskiy Railway Station the evening before. He was travelling in the Chinese carriage of the train. I had quite forgotten that the Trans-Manchurian is a Chinese-owned train. "Much cheaper where I am!" he reminded me again, laughing. I wondered if it would be any better. Probably....
As the day drew in, there was nothing better to do than have quiet drink in our cabin followed by our evening meal. Again, we were the only ones in the dining car. 
I slept well; the rustling, jolting and occasional jerking of our train sending me into a trance-like torpor. Sleepily, I wondered what was in store for our travels for the following days of our long journey across the Russian continent. It didn't matter. That's the nice thing about being on a train or plane. You are totally out of control. No decisions....

Comments

Geoff N
2022-10-06

(just "lost" my comment somehow so have to do again) - anyway another great read, sorry about your Rossiya cabin - we had an excellent cabin with great views and definitely clean window some amazing scenery along the way. But we booked a long way ahead, reserved 1st class cabin via Real Russia travel company before tickets went on sale so guaranteed a cabin. I went from Beijing to Moscow on Trans Mongolian back in 1984 or 1985 wonder if its same train, we bought heaps of food and alcohol in Beijing before, just as well as food was very ordinary on train if I remember.

2025-02-12

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