Journey from Irkutsk to Moscow

We took the train on the December 26th 2008 at 13:18 Moscow time, which was 18:18 for us in Irkutsk (the trains in Russia all follow Moscow time).We boarded the train, which was older than the one we took from Beijing, with more character, 15 minutes in advance. The train had nothing amazing from outside but the inside was really typical. The alley was covered with a light red carpet; the windows’ frames were made of wood, themselves covered with by a beige/orange color, which gave a warm look to the car. The compartment had 4 berths each. There was the same carpet and curtains as in the alley, the same wooden window and, the beds were made of wood covered with leather. After the departure they gave us covers and sheets to make our bed. We were sharing our compartment with two Ukrainians men in their 40’s. Once again there was the barrier language but, we all made an effort and manage to “understand” each other. They were in Russia to work, make some money and go back home for the New Year’s holiday. They were looking forward to spend some time with their families. Most of the car was actually crowded with Ukrainians people going home for holidays.
The trip was really enjoyable. We just had to eat, drink, read and socialize. All the people in our car were really nice. We didn’t have the chance to meet all of them but we had a little “talk” with some. We were able to have a longer chat with a young Ukrainian boy, who was going back home after some holidays in Russia. His father was Russian and his mother was Ukrainian. He was going back to Ukraine were he studies. The food we had was really good. We bought some before leaving Irkutsk and we were able to buy more at most of the stations. It’s not a problem at all. At every train stations there are a lot of locals selling homemade food, like bread with potatoes, dry fish or some food from the supermarket.
Along the way we also had time to enjoy the Russian county side, which is beautiful. I said it and I will say it again; the best time to visit Russia is winter. It’s another world, everything is white; the wooden houses, the trees, the plants and the rivers. In the morning when the sun raises it’s a spectacle, at night, when the sun sets it’s also amazing. Those red and orange colors’, reflecting on this frozen nature, is something you don’t have the chance to see every day. Since everything is white and frozen, it seems life has stopped for a little while. Apart from some birds, and humans we didn’t see much life on the way. Everything is waiting summer and the warm of the sun to melt all the snow around them.