Wheels are rattling, chug-tug, chug-tug…
The first day of the trip is about to end, we are in the Transsib already. Train no. 44, Moscow Yaroslavskaya – Khabarovsk route. 14 carriages, 6 days of the ride. For us, luckily, only 3, we stop in Novosibirsk for a dozen of hours to stretch the legs and take a shower 🙂
I wonder what to write about. There is much of it, I have so many various topics in my head, that considering my aversion to touch keyboards and wealth problem I am forcing myself to write anything.
Warsaw farewelled us with lovely weather. It was hot so much that carrying all the luggage on us we arrived to the airport sweaty as hell. And, as usual, everything was done on the last call, in rush – the last packing, catching the bus to the airport, etc. Luckily, nothing was forgotten and/or left at home (at least nothing I could find out until now).
In Aeroflot like in Ryanair, full plane full of people, no seats next to window, like fishes in the can. I had to sit in the middle.
Moscow is a one big traffic jam. The drivers – world-class. Sideways was treated as normal lanes, two lanes could turn easily into three, plenty of people. And prices. I felt like in Copenhagen: water – €2, cola €4, apples €2,5 (for my foreign readers, mentioning the fruit’s price is a jibe, as it is right after Putin applied embargo against Polish apples, thus their price has risen significantly). Canned meat is very expensive, cheese, creamy cheese, all you can take to the train – nightmare, even beer is much more expensive than in PL! Incredible! The only thing I found cheaper were cigarettes.
Somehow we managed to reach the Yaroslavskaya Station. We put our luggage to the luggage room (for “only” €4 per piece!) and we went to deal with the last tasks: Internet, Red Square and supplies.
First task – done (this is how you can read me), second somehow too, as the whole square was full of stands, you had to push between them or walk the edges of the place. But nice lights recompensated the inconveniences a bit.
The last task caused a bit more of a problem. The aforementioned prices were one of them, the second was the hour. It was after 10 PM, so we were finding the shops extremely expensive or closed. But again, the persistent attitude brought the result: we were about to give up searching and spend a fortune in a shop next to the station, when we spotted a bunch of a golden Moscow youth coming out of the bushes, with bags full of goods. After infiltrating these bushes we got a very heart-warming neon blinking with ‘SUPERMARKT 24′.
This ’24’ was a bit exaggerated as the alcohol stand was closed, but at least we made some supplies and didn’t spend too much.
Chug-tug, chug-tug, most people sleep, no-one snores yet.
There’s not much to write about the train. Open carriage, 3rd class, tight, the privy stinks, albeit it’s clean overall, for sure it’s better than in some Polish train cars.
It’s warm, not to say hot, we don’t smell the socks alike climate already and, what proves us as tough guys, we openly concede where we are from. So far, so good, it takes no implications, we stick to that.
Enough for today. Time for the last smoke between the wagons and to snore a bit.
