Tessendorf's Abroad

Fully laden with supplies and drinking water, we boarded the train in high spirits just before dinner time. 

After organising our cabin, we waited out on the platform for departure. Here, we met Anael, a Frenchman on a 9 month adventure across Europe, Russia and Asia. End destination - Melbourne.  We were jealous! After departing we ate our token included-with-ticket dinner and chatted with Anael. While Steph opted for bed and reading, Bevan and Anael headed off to the dining car for a beer. Here, they met some interesting locals. A very drunk Russian guy, Yurij and a somewhat drunk Russian girl, Svetlana. Steph visited briefly, long enough for a shot of the terrible cheap vodka Yurij insisted on sharing. And Bevan was playing classic Australian tunes for the new friends, cue Land Down Under. Steph headed back to bed and not long after Bevan and Anael also departed the dining car after things got more than a little fresh between Svetlana and Yurij  Both boys were a little disturbed by what they had witnessed. Consensus was that Svetlana was actually a 'Lady of the Trans-Siberian'. 

Also in our cabin for the evening were two business men, on their way home from work trips. They both spoke a little English and we had brief conversations with them, very friendly. One got off in the middle of the night at Omsk. 

The next morning the train stopped in Novosibirsk for an hour. We alighted for a walk around, use of the free wifi in the station to check emails and buy some yoghurt. A good opportunity to stretch the legs. From here, we had two new cabin buddies, 2 young Russian guys, no English. Seemed nice though and there was the standard introductions were one side didn't understand the other.  A whole day of nothing awaited us. Reading, sleeping, staring out the window and pondering the dilemma's of life. We ventured to the dining car for lunch. Bevan discovered the fried potatoes, hand cut pieces of goodness, so good! Steph had the eggs with vegetables and boiled potatoes. The afternoon held much of the same as the morning. We both made ourselves cosy on the bottom bunk with a blanket, cups of tea, snacks and our books. Later on it was back to the dining cart for dinner. Friend potatoes all round and Bevan had something that was meant to resemble barbecued pork. 

As we were preparing for bed we said goodbye to one of our cabin buddies. At about 10.30pm, we both realised that we were wide awake and sleep was not on the agenda. We said goodbye to Anael at Krasnoyarsk around 12.30am. Our other cabin buddy also departed around 4am.  We had the cabin to ourselves, what a sweet feeling! We slept late and there was no urgency to get up except the desire for coffee. We got some awesome Bodum plunger thermos mugs and they have been well worth the space in our backpacks! Coffee anywhere and not of the disgusting freeze-dried variety. The Russians love a hot drink so an urn or kettle is never far away. 

Upon waking and gazing out the window from a cosy bed, the scenery has changed. The forest is thick and never-ending. And the autumn colours are in full swing. Golden yellows, fiery reds and creamy bronzes and oranges. What a display nature has put on. 

The day much much the same as the one before. It amazes me how quickly time can go by when not doing much at all. We got off for a short walk at a station around the middle of the day, it was freezing! Another lunch and dinner in the dining car and we had the cabin to ourselves all day, bonus! It was only around 5pm that we started to feel the inklings of boredom. It has been a busy year for us (wedding and all) that is was really nice to just sit with this feeling of boredom and relish it. After dinner we had about 90 minutes before our stop. We'd had nice lady couple of days but by the time the train stopped in Irkutsk, we were ready to alight and sleep in a real bed next to each other.