Aug 6, 2008 - TSR (III): Part Three

DAY 23-24: TSR - Novosibirsk to Yekaterinburg At Novosibirsk, we realized that we would not have the compartment to ourselves. Instead we had to share with two guys .... two smelly guys. They did not speak English and we could not figure out what language they were speaking!! It became apparent that they could speak Russian, but we could understand very little of that. They infringed on our space a little more than we were comfortable with too ... no one else had ever tried to sit on our bunks or use the table. So much of this trip was...

Apr 16, 2008 - Yekateringburg (Russia) Trains, Trains and....... well... Trains! Oh and beer!

So I left Irkutsk with a heavy heart. I had enjoyed the company during my stay and felt I could have stayed longer. But alas the world awaits!! Got to the station with no issues and found my carriage and cabin easy enough, but did feel very alone! An old man was in my cabin also but he moved once we took off, probably complained to the provodnitsa about smelly feet or something. Either way it was an amicable divorce. I'm sure I was doing as much for him as he was doing for me!! Two happy little train riders! I just wrote about 30 mins worth...

Dec 26, 2005 - Yekateringberg

10248km from Hong Kong. I returned to a cabin full of sleeping people and realised that there was no way that they had a confirmed seat in that compartment as there were 3 of them (it was hard to tell throughout the day with all the comings and goings) and there had been only two beds free when they got on. They must have done a deal with the cabin attendant. I had a big urge to turn the lights on and off as they had during the previous night but I restrained myself. I shouldn't have bothered as at about 3 or 4am they were all up again...

Dec 9, 2005 - Yekaterinburg

Hi again! Wow, Yekaterinburg was great! We arrived after over two full days on the train. The company of Darren, Karen, Steve, and Ben (also returning home to the U.K. after a year of traveling - it should be noted that Ben's aunt makes the queens bras!) was great, but I must admit it was nice to finally be off the train. Once we arrived we immediately took a tour of the city and visited a museum. We learned some of the history of Yekaterinburg, how and why it was founded and what contributed to it becoming the 3rd largest city in Russia....

Nov 3, 2005 - Day 2...

this is day 2 on the train. there are four bunks per cabin in second class and we are very glad to have two Swedes as bunkmates. Max and Anna are taking a few months to travel a bit. they spoke very good english, as most of the swedish do, and were a pleasure to be around. we were all happy that we didnt get stuck with a smoker or a drinker. the scenery is not much to speak about. yes, i have been spoiled - ok, extremely spoiled - by living in alaska. even so, at this point the landscape is flat and wooded with no leaves on the trees and no...

Sep 19, 2004 - Yekaterinburg (also known as Ekaterinburg)

We arrved in Ekaterinburg about 20:30, and had the usual issue of trying to find our way from the train station to the hotel. Suddenly the $50 which Intourist were charging for transfers looked like a price well worth paying. However, being travellers we had to use buses and trams. Eventually after waiting what seemed like ages our tram #27 turned up and took us directly from the train station to our hotel. The hotel we were staying in was called the Hotel Iset, and it was supposed to be shaped like a hammer and sickle. We never saw the...