Day 50

June 9 2013

Irkutsk to Omsk

The saga continues, I woke up as the sun was shining in my face, my watch said 02.30 AM, I thought I had sorted it all out yesterday. Closing the blind and curtains I tried to get back to sleep. Perhaps I suffer from Train-lag instead of Jet-lag. Much later in the Novosibirsk I was able to work it all out. The train schedule runs on Moscow time regardless of where you are. The station clock attached to the electronic bill boards on the platforms also show Moscow time as does the clock inside the dining car. Other clocks in a station may show either Moscow- or local time. In Novosibirsk I could see the time on a building outside station. Ok, now I was up to date and just had to keep checking in my handbook when we moved to another time zone again. This country is so large that it travelling across it one passes 8 (eight!) time zones.

Per carriage there are two ladies looking after everything. When we approach a stop they lock the toilets about 15 minutes before arrival. When we stop station they open the door (or not) with their special key and unfold the steps. Then they take up position on the platform right next to the entrance in their impeccable uniforms and obviously keep an eye on you when you leave the train so you won’t miss the train when it leaves again. I often ask “Skolko Minut” and they will show on their fingers how long before we depart again. At one station I needed to go to the toilet at the end of the platform; the toilet attendant wanted me to pay before I entered, however I had not been able to change money into Rouble as yet. In the end I just went in and when departing heard another barrage of words starting “ts” and end with “sk” . I just walked out again, thinking two words starting with “g” ending with “ed” . Meanwhile I was a little bit late and noticed that the train attendant was obviously looking out for me. I was about 5 carriages away and waved at her from a distance. She had seen me and waved back at me, while I climbed aboard, walking the rest of the distance trough the train. As soon as I was aboard they closed the door and we started moving. The attendants are still the same as from the time I boarded in Mongolia. I had expected that they would be exchanged for Russians instead. The problem is that they don’t speak English; some of them speak a little Russian. I have a small dictionary which helps me out a bit if need be. As soon as the train leaves they go to their own cabin and change into their working outfits. They make sure that the fire keeps going inside the samovar at the end of the carriage and that, at all times there is a supply of boiling hot water. The toilets are kept spotless and at regular intervals they sweep the floors and clean the carpets in the corridor as well as in the individual cabins. I indicated that I wanted to move as by now I had had enough of my silent companion. Thus far we had exchanged some food and once I heard a “thank you”. The only other interaction had been the silent stares I got for minutes on end. Meanwhile I had been walking though the length of the train and made contact with several people. I drew a picture of the train and indicated to the attendant that I wanted to move from position A to B. I could see her brain going on tilt. She answered “boss” and pointed to the “boss” his cabin.

Nothing happened for two hours so I drew another picture of the train and handed that to her. Showing that I was now moving from carriage 7 number 25 to Carriage 4 number 1! Boss or no boss, I was now next to Ola the Polish-Australian traveler who could speak English and Russian. Great! Now I could have some meaningful conversations. After all nearly 5 days in a train is a long time. Of course “boss “ came around with another big stereotype Russian 6 foot 6 big breasted woman, dressed in a white shirt with some badges on it and talking with a deep voice. I just gave them an empty look. They were obviously discussing the “problem” about that my bunk number and position did not match anymore. Anyway the train is half full so what is the problem here? I guess, that even Russia whilst is changing, people who show initiative and dare to go against the rules may be seen as revolutionaries, Ha ha Make my day ladies! Soon they left and presumably I was put in the “too hard basket”. Meanwhile with my Polish travelling companion I was no able to discuss, travel, politics, communism, life in Poland prior to the90s, Couch surfing (again) some philosophy, history and a host of other subjects. Meanwhile by the end of the day we had past Angarsk, Krasnoyarsk, Achinsk, Mariinsk, Novosibirsk, Barabinsk and Omsk plus 10.000 birch trees and no doubt there will be 10.000 more. Now If only I could have some time with my dad again…