The Trans-Siberian railway is undoubtedly THE epic train journey of the World. There is no longer continuous train ride anywhere. From Moscow to Vladivostok it covers almost 6000 miles (9288km) and 7 time zones, stretching across the vast expanse of Siberia to the Far East of Russia.
It would take over 7 days to travel the full length of it in one go but we chose to go slowly and split the journey into sections so we could visit the towns and cities along the way and get a real feel of what life is like here in the middle of a Siberian winter. A Winter Journey across Russia on the Trans-Siberian was going to be a true epic.
A Winter Journey across Russia on the Trans-Siberian
Have you read? – A Winter journey across Russia on the Trans-Siberian part 1
The 13.10 to Yekaterinburg
The first leg of our Trans-Siberian journey was on the 13.10 from Moscow Kazanskaya station to Yekaterinburg. A 27 hour journey covering around 1800 kms. We were travelling platskartny class. That’s 3rd class, on a dormitory style carriage with 54 bunks all squished in together and 2 toilets to share between them all.
This is by far the cheapest way to travel across Russia and the best way to get to experience Russian train life and to get to know your Russian carriage mates.
A winter journey across Russia starts here
It was a chilly -5 out on the platform when we boarded our train and it was a long walk down the platform to carriage 18, a smart looking carriage being pulled by a decrepit looking engine. Uniformed soldiers queued on the platform, heading off to their postings in the far reaches of Russia.
Our provodnitsa (carriage attendant) for this trip was a short, stocky Asian girl with a hard looking face. A china doll. She checked our tickets and ushered us onto the train. Her English was zero, like everyone else in this train. It was going to be a good test for our simple knowledge of Russian.
Time to learn some Russian
We found our bunks and settled in, excited to be on our way. Lilliana, a lovely older Russian lady was opposite me on the bottom bunk and Mandy had a solemn, heavy snorer on the bunk opposite her. All in all, the crowd around us were quite tame compared to the boisterous group we had imagined. The provodnitsas rule the carriages with an iron fist so no chance of any trouble here.
The train set off exactly on time, passing suburbs of glum looking tower blocks of outer Moscow which finally gave way to many dachas, the small, wooden country houses of the Muskovites. Snow lay deep on the rooftops and icicles hung right down to the ground on some. The scenery turned to pine forest and stayed that way the rest of the day.
We soon fell into the gentle rhythm of train life. You spend a long time staring out of the window, admiring the scenery. You read or listen to music. For me it was Russian language learning podcasts. You chat with your neighbours and, like the Russians, you eat and drink copious amounts of tea.
Keeping well fed
We’d bought plenty of provisions and tucked in to our brown bread, cheese, salami, beetroot and cabbage salads for lunch. We had noodles for dinner and porridge oats for breakfast along with plenty of snacks. We had a flask, cups, tea and coffee so were well armed to take advantage of the samovar at the end of the carriage which provided us with an endless supply of hot water. It was perfect for us. We were comfortable, well fed and had plenty to keep us entertained. It was everything we could have wished for.
Sleeping came easy with the gentle rocking of the train sending us off. I woke early as we pulled up in a nondescript place. I stepped outside to let the cold air on my face bring me round. It was more like a slap in the face as the frigid air left me gasping for breath. It was -7 and was snowing heavily. Old babushkas stood on the platform, all wrapped up, touting their wares. They were tough people hardened to life in a bleak place. The snow drove me back inside to the warmth of our carriage.
Into Asia and frozen landscapes
For the rest of the journey we passed through a frozen landscape of pines and white birch trees, groaning under the weight of the snow. I was surprised at the amount of rail traffic here. Gas tankers and coal trains and all kinds of commercial traffic were constantly passing us. There are towns and industry everywhere. I expected a huge expanse of nothing but it was quite the opposite.
By the end of the journey we’d become good friends with Larissa. We’d shared food and spent hours chatting about life in Russia, our families and our homes. We started our trip with a Russian vocabulary of maybe 100 words and a childlike way of stringing them together. Larissa didn’t care and chatted like we were old friends. In this environment we were learning fast.
Before we arrived in Yekaterinburg we crossed the Ural Mountains, the geographical boundary between Europe and Asia. We were making progress on the winter journey across Russia.
Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg is an energetic and modern city of 1.4 million. The 4th largest in Russia and a former military production facility during the Cold War, therefore closed off to Westerners until 1991.
We spent a few days enjoying its sights whilst battling against the cold. The temperature dropped to -14 with a brutal wind chill that dropped it to -28. Within 10 minutes of being outdoors my nose and cheeks were tingling and I’d seriously lost the feeling in my fingers.
It’s amazing how quickly your body can lose its heat. We’d seek sanctuary inside any nicely heated building in order to get some feeling back and take the pain away.
Avoiding the cold
We ducked into the Church on the spilled blood, built on the house site where Russia’s last Tsar, Nicholas 2nd and his family were executed by revolutionary guards in 1918. A somber place indeed.
Another escape from the cold was the military museum with its proud display of locally produced weapons including tanks, Katyusha rocket launchers and plenty of other heavy ordnance buried under the snow outside.
We enjoyed a few days here but were really struggling with the bitter cold weather. The bonus to us was the fact that the central Iset river was frozen solid and we could cut straight across it from the City centre back to our hostel, saving a few km’s of walking!
One memorable moment from Yekaterinburg for me was when we walked out to the football stadium just outside the centre of town. An old lady in firs stopped us in the street and gave me a small bag of bread rolls, without saying a thing. This took me by surprise. I was cold and shivering but I didn’t think I looked that hard up.
Apparently it is an Orthodox religious tradition to give bread as alms. I was touched by her simple generosity and I enjoyed the bread!
In Yekateringburg we stayed at the pleasant and central Hostel R.E.D
The 19.47 to Irkutsk
Our next train was the 19.47 to Irkutsk. It actually left at 21.47 local time which is 2 hours ahead of Moscow time but all trains on the Russian network run on Moscow time. This was something we had to remain aware of so I wore 2 watches for my entire time in Russia. One set to local time and the other to Moscow time so as not to get caught out!
This train was a bit more no-frills. An old carriage with filthy windows. We had a quiet night the first night with no one in the bunks adjacent to us. An old fellow was working his way through a bottle of vodka across the way but he was soon snoozing!
A Storm arrives on a winter journey across Russia on the Trans-Siberian
We were invaded in Omsk. Our sedate carriage turned into a circus when the entire retinue of the Novosibirsk Storm under-14 ice hockey team boarded with all their minders and over sized baggage and took over the place, filling the carriage with themselves and their gear.
They were an animated lot, excited after a successful tournament victory in Omsk. They were friendly too, all keen to practice their English on us. At one stage we had 15 kids all crammed onto 3 bottom bunks competing for attention.
We spent all day responding to their questions. We covered all aspects of life in Siberia and taught them about places around the world and spoke about films, sport, school, work and aspirations for the future. They had read Pushkin and Dostoyevsky and had adult views on current affairs and politics!
Finally at 10 pm they got off in Novosibirsk and the storm subsided. If you want a quiet time on the trans Siberian don’t travel platskartny class!
The rest of the journey was just as eventful. An evening was spent in the restaurant car drinking champagne with an English couple who’d been supplied it by a benevolent Russian gold trader.
After that a Russian girl and her father joined us until Krasnoyarsk where they were replaced by a nun in her full habit. She was fingering her rosaries and looking quite stern. On the bright side, she was practicing silence so the rest of our journey to Irkutsk was pleasantly calm.
Who are the Frugal Travellers?
Siberia
We were deep into Siberia now and the whole way we were surrounded by snow-covered taiga forest. Small villages of single storey wooden homes passed us by. They were basic and poorly maintained but most did have the intricate decorative wooden latticework around their window frames. A nice Siberian touch.
Mostly it was wilderness though. A brutal frozen landscape that seems to stretch into infinity. It was hot and humid inside the train with the heating cranking, -14 outside. I wouldn’t last the night if I were to be left out there. It’s a beautiful, dangerous, strange and an intoxicating place.
Irkutsk
For us Irkutsk was just a jumping off point to visit Lake Baikal, 60km to the East. We liked Irkutsk though, so we stayed a few days. Walking in we had to cross the frozen Angara river. Wild dogs chased each other across the frozen ice below, one poor one limping at the back.
A lone ice fisherman hunkered over his rod on the edge of the river. Evaporating air made it look like the river was boiling in the centre. I slipped on the treacherous ice and landed in a deep snow drift, backpack and all…
Irkutsk felt run down and a bit edgy in places. The sad old traditional wooden Siberian buildings had been left to rack and ruin and were slowly being torn down and replaced by modern buildings. Although the remaining ones had real character though.
In Irkutsk we stayed in the Art Hostel. We would definitely recommend you NOT to stay there.
Irkutsk is definitely a borderland City between Asia and Europe with all ethnicities represented. It was a melting pot of Mongols, Buryat, Elenki, Chinese, Turkic and Central Asians alongside the Russian faces. Everyone was dressed up in heavy clothing, furs and reindeer skin boots to combat these extreme conditions. We soaked up the atmosphere, ate plov and samsas in the market and prepared for our next destination… The wild, frozen expanse of Lake Baikal.
This would be one of the highlights of a winters trip to Siberia.
Read our final chapter
A Winter Journey across Russia on the Trans-Siberian – Part 3 – Irkutsk to Vladivostok
Watch our journey here!
Like what you see? To easily book tickets on the Trans-Siberian, here’s a frugal travellers tip…
Avoid the travel agencies, cut out the middle man and go straight to the Russian railways website here. It’ll save you a fortune!
For more tips on how to organise your own Trans Siberian adventure
See where we are now on Our Current Journey
Comment below
Please leave a comment below if you’ve enjoyed this post, or if you have any questions. Are you planning on doing the Trans-Siberian trip? Let us know. We’d love to hear from you!
Happy Travels!
