August 2014

From Krasnoyarsk to Irkutsk,
July 29-30th 2014

Olga, a staff of SibTourGuide Hostel ordered a taxi for me and the taxi fare cost only 100 RUB because Krasnoyarsk Railway Station was just 5-minutes drive away.

At the train station...

... as usual, I took a couple of shots, and I wasn't the only one doing so.

Let me introduce you to my kupé. Yuuuhuuu! It was my first time. On my previous Russian train rides I always took a platskartny.

One significant difference between a kupé and a platskartny is that a kupe's cabin has a sliding door that can be locked from inside. As you can see in this photo, the door is shut. The inner side of the door is covered with a mirror from bottom to top.

There are hooks and hangers to hang your clothes. The cabin designer even saw to it that there's some space between the bed and the wall. In winter when people bring thick furry coats, these hangers will turn very useful. They are already now. You can see! Ah, everytime I get on a train in Russia, I'm always amused by the Russians who exchange their clothes before going to bed and then exchange again in the morning. I don't see that on trains in China. Neither in the Southeast Asia countries' trains, as far as I can recall. For me, that's too much of an effort, unless I'm taking a direct ride from Moscow to Beijing.

Ah ya, I just want to say to you that those hats hanging on the hooks gave me a European feeling although geographically I was in Asia. Silly feeling, yeah I know.

I shared my cabin with a lady and her daughter or granddaughter, I'm not sure. I'll tell you later why. The cabin is actually meant for 4 passengers. But lucky me, there were only the two and "a half" of us all the way up to Irkutsk.

This what the upper bunk looks like.

This was my bed. I bet I'm a better bedmaker now. Aha. I should have taken a picture before making the bed. The backrest can be pulled down and thus function as a thin layer of mattress on the bed. After bedtime, you can pull the mattress back up, and sit comfortably. The mattress or backrest, is wider than the seat. A creative design, I say.

Besides sheets and pillow case, unlike in platskartny, a face towel is also provided.

And then you can hang your face towel -- maybe underwear, too, ooops! -- here.

On left and right of the hanger are two slander storage for your hidden treasure. A bottle of vodka maybe?

The headlamp is nice, because you can adjust the light direction. But the TV and audio... I think those are just accessories.

Oh no! I need to do some business!

What do you think?

This is where I'm heading to: Irkutsk, on the Trans Siberian Railway. Why stop at Irkutsk? Simply for the sake of Baikal.

It has been an obsession of mine to enjoy a cup of coffee in the dining cart. 70 RUB to ease a longing, hái kěyǐ!

Scenery of the interior.

Scenery of the exterior.

Do you remember the pink wildflowers I talked about when I was at the dacha area?

Here there are again. Obviously wild.

Scenery speaking, all the way on the Trans Siberian Railway from Novosibirsk to Irkutsk, this pink line patches was the only amusement for me.

Back in my cabin... was an episode . Stay tuned!