A relax journey
Somewhat over 4000km and...
...ca. 70 hrs. we drove and spent during the ride with the Transsib. The journey itself was very comfortable, the train drove easy-going through the landscape of Siberian and we could relaxed and slept a lot. Before the journey started, it was pretty stressful at the train station in Irkutsk because everything was written in Russian and we didn´t understand a single word and nobody spoke English at the station…it was quite adventurous…
The day before our Transsib trip started, we went to the local supermarket to buy different foods, especially Asian cup noodles. Inside the train there is a high temperature boiler where you can prepare your cup noodles and tea.
We allowed ourselves to book the 1st class, a close cabin for 2 persons. It sounds decadent but the 1st class in Russia is not comparable with the standard of what you might know from west Europe. In case you plan this trip with your wife or girlfriend, it´s worth to book the 1st class. If you book the 2nd or 3rd class, you will share the toilet with other 50 people…and that could be really adventurous to some women ;-)
The equipment are not technically up to date…but the old mechanical parts are really durable, reliable and they function pretty well, simple old school technique ;-)
Maria and Xenia, our on board restaurant waitress are very kind, funny and helpful, although they don’t speak English and we not Russian…but it was very funny.
Beside our cabin, there were a retired couple from Münsterland, Germany. They made their dream came true to drive with the Transsib through Russia. We had some nice conversations and the 70 hrs. passed by pretty fast.
Altogether we enjoyed the ride with the Transsib and the 3 days were long enough for us. We were happy when we arrived in Vladivostok to took a shower ;-)