Friday 11 September It's uncomfortable to wake to the alarm at 8am. No surprises. We get up and get sorted and packed and go down and eat breakfast. It's an old arrangement of food and I wonder if it's yesterday's left overs from the restaurant. After breakfast we go get our bags and wait in reception. We get our passports back and get on the small bus that takes us 1.5hrs up to the lake. At the bed and breakfast We get our rooms and then walk down to the small ...

Thursday 10 September Malcolm told me he woke at 2:30pm and was ready to get up. I didn't wake till the attendant knocked on the door at 6am. Local time it's 5 hours forward now. It's like waking up and it's lunch time. Half the day is gone. It's very relaxing. Peaceful. I'm surprised the scenery hasn't changed much. Still lots of silver berch trees along the tracks and the landscape. Eventually it opens up more to what looks like farm land and we can see more...

Wednesday 9 September I wake up late and the train is stopping soon for nearly an hour so up and dressed and off the train. We walk around the station and shops, then back. Malcolm brought some sweet hard round breads. We see the men from the dining carriage, but things seem just friendly today. The days are getting shorter. The local time is now 3 hours forward from Moscow time which we are on. We are back on the train and it's nearly 12:30 when we have breakf...

Tuesday 8 September No such good sleep luck two nights in a row. It did just feel hotter. I decided to read when it was after 5 and again felt sleepy after 6. We all get out and out for the long stop just after 9am. It's nice to walk around, but it's hot! And muggy. I notice another thing - ppl seem to spit a lot! We just buy a drink and back on the train we eat some peas and corn. Everyone is much more subdued today, doing their own pursuits. Reading, watching,...

Monday 7 September I wake up about 8:20 having slept well. Once up and dressed we get our food out and ready for breakfast. It required the use of the boiling water to cook it. Just after filling it the train stopped for one of it's longer stops. It had been described that there would be kiosks at which food could be purchased. But everyone was back sooner than I anticipated. I guess it wasn't as good as imagined. After food we sat around chatting. We asked the...