The adventure for me started with catching the Airline bus around the corner from my flat in Oxford. I felt a mixture of excitement and apprehension, not unusual for me! The air travel to and from Russia was what one would expect. Although I’m not a frequent flyer, I have done five long journeys by air; to Cameroon, Madagascar, the United States (twice) and Afghanistan, and airports and aeroplanes still have a novelty value. I’ll write later about the experience of travelling as a visually impaired person but I want to focus here on the adventure of travelling on a Russian train.
We flew to Moscow but then took a train to Perm. Taking this train transported us into the exotic, mysterious and evocative experience that is Russia. The overland journey took a little less than twenty four hours. Imagine my delight when I discovered, several weeks before we set out, that the journey was, in fact, the first day of the Trans Siberian Railway journey. After landing in Moscow we went for a meal at a small restaurant near the railway station and then, around ten o clock, boarded the train. The train seemed large, shiny, imposing and serious, compared to our brightly coloured, sometimes dingy, and somewhat toy like trains. We had to climb up steps to enter the carriage which made me think of the train I often used to take between Washington D.C. and Baltimore.
Every carriage on our Russian train had its own attendant who was responsible for cleanliness, providing bedding, a simple meal and a seemingly endless supply of cups of tea which we were able to buy from her small shop/office near the door. I slept really well that night; the movement of the train rocked me to sleep and we woke quite late, about nine , and prepared to enjoy the prospect of twelve hours speeding eastward through Russia to our destination. The journey gave our group plenty of opportunity to get to know each other and those who had travelled frequently in Russia were able to share experiences and advice. In between conversations we gazed out of the window at the scenery speeding by.
Much of the countryside we went through was forest, endless forrest it sometimes seemed, but also beautiful and restful. I think the trees of these early autumn forests were mainly birch and firs. The sun shone in the clear blue sky and we were able to step down from the train now and again as it stopped at some stations for maintainance. At these stops, vendors sold ice cream, other snacks and souvenirs from stalls at the side of the track.
At the Moscow station, on the train and standing at the side of the track on our extended stops, my mind often turned to Anna Karenina. It wasn’t just her tragic end but the fact that trains and train journeys played an important part in the novel, as in much of Russian literature. I think this connection with trains and train journeys in literature added to my growing sense of really being in Russia. Coming from a tiny island I was amazed and awed by the size of Russia, and we crossed only a small part of it. The idea of making the Russian part of our journey by train was inspired, probably Karen’s idea, and it certainly gave a real sense of travelling far to reach our destination.
Of course, at the end of our stay we took the train again, but I’ll write about that when I write about Moscow.
Live Adventurously 