Trans-Siberian: Moscow to Yekaterinburg
If you'd like to know a bit more about the Trans-Siberian Railway before reading this post, check out my Introduction to the Trans-Siberian.
Moscow - Yekaterinburg
Train: 60
Type: Skory
Class: 2nd
Duration: 26 Hours
Time Change: +2 Hours
We arrived at Moscow Kazansky Station at 16:00 on a Friday night, backpacks full of instant noodles, coffee, beer, and vodka. Finding our train and settling into our compartment a full 40 minutes before our scheduled departure, we cracked a couple of beers and contemplated which picture to put on Instagram as we waited for the rest of the train to board. But when the train pulled out of the station 40 minutes later, we were still alone in our compartment and barely half the carriage had filled up. Assuming that more people would be joining at a subsequent stop, we unpacked everything we needed from our bags and stowed the rest of our stuff under our bunks. And opened another beer.
About ten minutes after leaving the station, the provodnista for our carriage, Yelena, arrived at our compartment to exchange our tickets for bed linens. Ten minutes after that, a different provodnik, Sergei, arrived to explain the dinner menu on the train. Sergei had clearly heard that we didn't speak Russian and had been sent over from a different carriage to help out. And to be honest, Sergei didn't speak English that well either. But he had a script written down in a notebook and he read the entire thing from top to bottom. And we got chicken for dinner.
By 10pm we were still alone in our compartment so we decided to set up our bunks, close the door, and go to sleep. Which isn't very easy to do when your compartment is 30 degrees and someone could walk in at any moment to find you lying in your underwear on top of the sheets.
But, as it turned out, nobody joined us until 2pm the next day.
His name was Sacha and he didn't speak a word of English. Or if he did, he just didn't want to speak to us. He boarded the train in the afternoon and instantly changed into the Russian Train Suit, which is a sweatsuit with socks and sandals. Or sometimes just boxer shorts with socks and sandals. After unpacking, he climbed into his bunk and proceeded to sleep for the duration of the afternoon.
Around 4pm, Michael and I toodled over to the dining car to grab a couple of beers. Expecting to find a more lively atmosphere, we were kind of surprised to find that we were the only people there. But the beer selection was decent and the fridge was very cold.
We eventually wandered back to our compartment, made a cup of noodles for dinner, and tried to get Sacha to play cards with us (he wouldn't). Just after 8pm, we pulled into Yekaterinburg Station and that was the end of our first leg.
Heading out into the cold, we trudged along very slowly for half an hour and found our way to our Airbnb. You would think, after 26 hours on the train, we would have been excited to get out of the house and eat real food. But instead we had a few glasses of wine, took a shot of vodka, and went to bed.
We spent the next day and a half exploring Yekaterinburg and by the time we boarded our next train, we were pretty much ready to leave. Not that there's anything to dislike about Yekaterinburg. It's kind of charming in an industrial way. But if you've been to as many churches as we have in the last couple of months and you don't want to visit any more, there just isn't a lot more to see or do. Unless you consider a giant stone keyboard to be a must-see attraction.
But we knew that when we booked our tickets. Unlike every other stop on our trip, we chose Yekaterinburg simply because it's a good place to stop and stretch your legs before heading into the heart of Siberia, and it may have even exceeded those low expectations.
