train
so yesterdays train ticket from Tiumen to Omsk, overnight, was platskartny class -- thats a big shared dorm carriage, kinda like a hostel on wheels. I'd wanted to book kupe, which is four people in a cabin, but they'd not got those available for this train.
On the platform, everyone clustered in a mad crowd trying to push their way to the front to get on and get the best bunks -- a large group of girls travelling together (a team of some sort, I suppose, returning in victory maybe - there was someone with professional video equipment and a woman with a microphone running round) was getting off my carriage and I suppose as a consequence, that meant that lots of the passengers getting on at this stop were getting onto that same carriage.
Once all the girls had got off, the crowd started to clamber in any way they could into the train, throwing their bags and their children before them. Having dealt with Russian queues for a few weeks now, I pressed forwards too, getting in after about 1/2 to 2/3 of the crowd. Found myself a top bunk half way down the carriage (most people seem to prefer bottom bunks, but I quite like the top ones -- the bottom ones turn into seats so you can't go to bed whenever you want without having to throw people off -- same in kupe class).
Hid up in my top bunk until the provodnitsa came by to collect tickets and sell me bedsheets, then set alarm for the morning (the trains arrive pretty much bang ontime, and also the provodnitsa wakes you up about 10 mins before the right stop) and went to sleep. The carriage was hot and stuffy to begin with but once it got moving a draught blew in through the window, right by my head - this was a welcome supply of fresh air, but early in the morning it was making my ear a little cold so I re-arranged my pillow into a wind shield so that it did not blow quite so directly upon me).
This evening, I'm off to Novosibirsk (where I plan to have a shower for the first time since leaving Moscow) - this time in kupe class.
The experience in platskartny class was interesting enough that i might take it for my 70h ride from Irkutsk to Vladivostok (that ticket is yet to be booked, likewise for the ticket for the fabled ferry to Japan).
On the platform, everyone clustered in a mad crowd trying to push their way to the front to get on and get the best bunks -- a large group of girls travelling together (a team of some sort, I suppose, returning in victory maybe - there was someone with professional video equipment and a woman with a microphone running round) was getting off my carriage and I suppose as a consequence, that meant that lots of the passengers getting on at this stop were getting onto that same carriage.
Once all the girls had got off, the crowd started to clamber in any way they could into the train, throwing their bags and their children before them. Having dealt with Russian queues for a few weeks now, I pressed forwards too, getting in after about 1/2 to 2/3 of the crowd. Found myself a top bunk half way down the carriage (most people seem to prefer bottom bunks, but I quite like the top ones -- the bottom ones turn into seats so you can't go to bed whenever you want without having to throw people off -- same in kupe class).
Hid up in my top bunk until the provodnitsa came by to collect tickets and sell me bedsheets, then set alarm for the morning (the trains arrive pretty much bang ontime, and also the provodnitsa wakes you up about 10 mins before the right stop) and went to sleep. The carriage was hot and stuffy to begin with but once it got moving a draught blew in through the window, right by my head - this was a welcome supply of fresh air, but early in the morning it was making my ear a little cold so I re-arranged my pillow into a wind shield so that it did not blow quite so directly upon me).
This evening, I'm off to Novosibirsk (where I plan to have a shower for the first time since leaving Moscow) - this time in kupe class.
The experience in platskartny class was interesting enough that i might take it for my 70h ride from Irkutsk to Vladivostok (that ticket is yet to be booked, likewise for the ticket for the fabled ferry to Japan).
posted by Ben Clifford at 06:49 GMT
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home