*Booking the ticket: rzd.ru can be used to book national routes online on an English page. International routes have to bought through an agent or in person at the train station. So get creative.
*Amenities on the train: Hot water for drinking. Can also be used to prepare ready made meals. Canteen is available on train but with very limited vegetarian options (Cup noodles can also be bought). Drinks can also be bought. Food can also be bought at the platform where the train stops (Stop time range from a couple of mins to an hour or more). Shower has been apparently discontinued. Toilets are kept very clean. Ample storage space for luggage (we had two 90L backpack which could easily fit in the space above our compartment). Doors in the first class compartment can be locked from the inside. Blankets and pillows and towels are provided. Compartments are vacuumed once a day. Charging points (220V AC) are available (4 points for every compartment).
*WiFi: No Wifi is available on the train
*Money: We paid with cash. But the canteen seemed to have a card reader (maybe only works if the station halts at a major station)
*Language: English not widely spoken, so be prepared with some standard Russian phrases. Even better write it down and point-shouldn’t be so hard with all the translation apps.
*Tips:Temperatures in the cabins are maintained at a comfortable 22-24C. Warm clothes needed only for the outside. Toilets are locked for 15 mins before arriving and after departing from every station. Most of the shopping for groceries and food can be done beforehand at the many convenience stores in and around the train station. ATM machines available at the Yaraslavsky train station. At Zabaikalsk (Russian border town to China) the wheels of the compartments are changed and passport checks are done in the train (depending on number of passengers), the toilets are closed during this time so make sure to listen to natures calls and use the toilet at Zabaikalsk station before boarding the train again. Available options to book first class compartment(SV) - 2 berth compartments, second class(Kupe) - 4 berth compartments, third class (platskart). Options seems to be available for gender specific compartments.
The Trans-Siberian rail has three main rail routes (journey can also compose of shorter legs) Trans-Siberian which runs from Moscow to Vladivostok (9298km over 6days); Trans-Mongolian goes through Russia,Mongolia and China, starting at Moscow-Ulaanbaatar-Beijing (7826km about 6days); Trans-Manchurian which goes through Russia and China, Moscow-Beijing(8988km over 6days). We booked our ticket online at rzd.ru. Online ticket is provided which must be exchanged for tickets at the train station (counter or automated machines).
Historically, the Trans-Siberian rail was envisioned by the Tsars to transform Russia in the industrial age in the 19th century among other goals. The construction of the epic rail-route of the 19th century was shadowed by financial issues, geographical and meteorological challenges and human resource problems.
We take train 20 on the trans-Manchurian rail between Moscow and Beijing and plan to get off at the Chinese border town of Manzhouli. Yaraslavsky station is the departing station. After passing through the security check we end up in the waiting room for the train to arrive. The station is surprisingly empty of crowd for a major station in the capital of the country.
Our train arrives 30 minutes before departure and we make our way to board the train. Looking forward to getting comfortable in our first class cabin. Our passports get checked and the obligatory attempt by the train attendant to pronounce my last name, don’t know how many different variations I have heard of it, but will add Russian to it now. At the end of succeeding to say my name, the Provodnitsa purses her lips gives a thumbs as if to congratulate herself on managing such a superhuman feat of pronunciation. The cabins are really very comfortable (first class eh, not often you can afford that!)
The Provodnitsa who are in charge of keeping the compartment in order have a very interesting personality. They are generally women and always keep an eye out what people are doing in the corridors of the compartment and outside the train usually with a frowning look. No need to reach for your armour yet, they are generally friendly and very competent.
Two person cabins in the first class, with a water heater at the end of each compartment, dispensing boiling water all the time. toilets are very clean and there are just 3 cabins occupied out of 10 cabins, so very sparse.Which is quite natural since we are traveling in the low season. We are given blankets and bed spreads. The canteen is also well equipped basically you can buy everything on board or at the station stops provided one is willing to pay a little bit more. There is enough storage space to store at least two 70l backpacks at the top and about two 50l backpacks under the seat. Inside temperature are a comfortable 20-24C, main cabins are isolated through two doorways. Yes, the outside is very cold.The outermost doorways already had ice creeping up on the frames and handles, so don’t lick the door handle!
Did i already say it is really comfortable in first class? just sit back, read a book, play some games, snack or drink and watch the country pass by and comment on the peculiarities of a country running past.
The train stops along the way and there are opportunities to get off and walk about and buy some things, the time in all train stations are in Moscow time but there are about 11 time zones in Russia which lead to some very peculiarities. One of the shortest days we encountered was on the third day. getting up at around 8 am and getting into darkness already at 2pm (Moscow time). The worst is at Zabaikalsk which is a full 6 hours ahead of Moscow but the trains still follow Moscow time.
The approximate average speed is 60kmph and this lets you watch the towns big and small pass you by, sunrise and sunsets many. From the populated regions European Russia with Yekaterinburg and passing through Vladimir which has amongst the oldest churches in Russia. Leading onto Taiga and Siberia with steady landscapes that can be subtitled ‘winter wonderland’. Leading onto Lake Baikal(Pearl of Siberia), which seems to attract the most attention in the Siberian region. Leading onto regions with marked resemblance to the Mongolian region with grasslands into inner Mongolia in China. A meditative route in all, just letting the pace lead the daily routine. One can also get off stations of interest and explore areas along the route.
Irkutsk which is the station where people get off to go to lake Baikal. Tectonic movement destine lake Baikal to eventually become earths fifth ocean. it is the largest fresh water lake in the world. the scenery changes to more hilly region. The train track winds very close to the shores of the seemingly endless lake Baikal and provides for some really stunning landscapes.
From time to time, there are some interesting scenes which just zoom by and you are left to think, did that really happen? Like old military equipment making their way to wherever that might be, loads of tanks.
Some days we get to learn new Russian words; like when trying some snacks without myasa (meat). The trolley lady stops by and has a chat seemingly very interested about our Kindle and asking if we could make a call with it and trying to sell us some stuff. And making a very not impressed expression after hearing the price for just reading books. Kapustha is a kind of bread with stuffed cooked cabbage. tasty but too greasy. Along with hands and legs language there is a need to use picture drawings to get our ideas across, of course if the drawing is not too good a cabbage might end up looking like a heart from a sacrificial animal.
Simple breakfast can cost about 10Euros. The beer we had was absolutely no good. But still far better than food running out near Baikal - apparently a reality during early Trans-Siberian journey days.
Fun DIY tip: The water heater gets broken down, the technician comes by and gets started with a screwdriver only and then it gives way to a wrench and some banging much similar to fixing an old CRT tv with a nice firm hit to the sides. “repair” is still progressing.
The day of the border crossing between Zabaikalsk and Manzhouli (China). We end up spending close to 10 hours including change of wheels to adapt to the new gauge in China. The picture below shows the two set of rails to accommodate different gauge sizes.
We all need to get off our carriages and wait till the wheels are changed. I try to sneak up on the workshop and catch some pictures of carriages being lifted and the wheels being changed, but I’m quickly stopped by the personnel, anyway here is some exclusive insider scoop!!
For the checks we were visited by 4 different sets of officers. The first one was like a warm up, came by chatted with us and even apologized for speaking broken English. The next one came on all fours, sniffed around, looked very officer like Mr.Labradofficer (yes that’s an obscure reference to a sniffing dog and no he did not find anything illegal), then came a stout well built man who pressed Mr.Labradofficer to sniff a bit more, then came the customs, a young officer and an older officer. The younger spoke clearly more English and the older one seemed to be the funny side kick, repeating the commands of the officer with some delay and a cheeky smile ..’passport please’, ‘bags please’, finally leaving with a ‘goodbye please’. Then came the immigration officer we all know, this time embodied as a tough Russian woman, checking the passport at every different angle, with UV light, plain light, bar code scanner, with no light, asking us to stand under a light and looking back and forth a good minute. But left with a friendly smile and a greeting. All the checks were done on train owing to the fact we were no more than 30-50 passengers on the whole train at Zabaikalsk and we were the only ones in the 9 compartment carriage.
The experience at the border checks of China was even more funny .. tsk makes one loose all fear of the dreaded border crossing with bullets whizzing by. This time we were visited by 5 sets of officers. The officers were very curious and very friendly, even for ‘random people you just met’ standards. One set of officers just came by to ask Cathy how she spoke so many languages so well and to ask for tips to learn Russian. One more came by with a camera and asked if they could photograph me for a mock customs check for advertisement purposes. Our passports were taken for checking purposes and returned after a 90 minute period
| Station | km |
|---|---|
| Moscow | 0 |
| Vladmir Pass | 210 |
| Nizhnii Novogrod | 461 |
| Kirov Pass | 917 |
| Glazov | 1125 |
| Balezino | 1154 |
| Perm 2 | 1397 |
| Ekaterinburg | 1778 |
| Tyumen | 2104 |
| Ishim | 2393 |
| Omsk | 2676 |
| Barabinsk | 3000 |
| Novosibirisk | 3303 |
| Taiga | 3532 |
| Mariinsk | 3680 |
| Krasnoyarskii | 4065 |
| Ilanskaya | 4344 |
| Nizheundisk | 4647 |
| Zima | 4902 |
| Irkutsk | 5153 |
| Sludyanka | 5279 |
| Ulan Ude | 5609 |
| Petrovskii Zavod | - |
| Hilok | 5902 |
| Chita | 6166 |
| Karymskaya | 6262 |
| Mogoitui | - |
| Olovyannaya | - |
| Yasnogorsk | - |
| Borzya | 6509 |
| Zabaikalsk | 6626 |
| Manzhouli | 6638 |
All in all Russia has been a very pleasant experience, especially meeting all the interesting people along the way, be it the mid aged man who claimed to have worked in the french film industry (of course did not speak English) and could also sing a line of an Indian movie from the 60s just being really happy to have met an Indian and saying thanks for no particular reason, the little girl who shared her candies with such happiness without even understanding what we were talking, a young Russian from the outskirts of Moscow who was fascinated by America , the host at the youth hostel who relished upma (Indian breakfast/snack) we cooked and even asked us to stay longer. Yea nice people across all generations, its great to be reinforced with a possible inherent goodness even in strangers in a land and culture so far away.