Train-scapades

Last night wasn't the best. I had a bad cold (I had to get something typically Siberian, right?) and took something for it. But it didn't help that much with sleep.

I woke up with a very heavy head. In Russia. That too without the benefit of a vodka. Feels so wrong, doesn't it?

Our first major halt today was at the Krasnoyarsk station, on the Banks of the Yenisei River.

This brings be back to this story I mentioned in an earlier post.

The Angara in the only River that flows OUT of Lake Baikal. 300+ rivers flow into the lake, but only Angara flows out.

The 300+ rivers are the sons and the Angara the only daughter of the old man, Lake Baikal.

Old Man Baikal had plans for his daughter.

He wanted her to marry the River Irkut. But she had other ideas..

She wanted to be with the River Yenisei.

As she left her father to be with Yenisei, the old man threw a stone to stop her. 

The stone was supposed to block her path, but she had already left her home, lake Baikal.

She flowed on and joined Yenisei, in a place called Strelka, North of Krasnoyarsk.

Well, that's the story of Angara and Yenisei.

We crossed the Yenisei at Krasnoyarsk, but didn't get a picture of it.

The first half of the day was rainy and overcast, another reason we didn't get down at Krasnoyarsk. Plus I was still sniffing.

We ordered lunch on the train. We got a rice and vegetable broth, salad and potatoes with mushrooms.

At every station we tried to practice our Cyrillic. We can read what's written, but have no idea of what we're reading.

At one of these stations I saw a random statue of a bear in railway uniform. It looked like a boar (pun absolutely intended) and I really want to know the whys and wherefores of the ursine railwayman.

The train stopped in a station called Tayga for a bit. The OH had some work calls. It was sunny outside and I was feeling much better, so I got off the train to stretch my legs for a bit.

Folks were on the platform in shorts/tracks and t-shirts. Train chic at its best. One Babushka was even in a dressing gown, And then this pretty young lady walks by, beautifully turned out in a scarlet dress, matching coat and boots. 

She actually made me want to go back inside the train and wear something smart.

But then again, naah. Comfort first at my age.

When I was on the platform a few people came up to talk. 

And everyone wants to know why I am in Russia. 

One young man asked what I thought of his country. I told him that it was beautiful and that the people were lovely.

Another lady asked if I was from Sri Lanka or Goa. She has visited both these places... 

We all whipped out our phones to use the translate app.

And we all had the same problem.

Nyet internet.

That didn't need translation at all.

At least I was happy. At that point I was about to compose an absolute stinker of an email to my service provider for stiffing me on roaming. I wasn't the only one with an issue.

I checked the map, and we're due north of India.

I looked out and it looked like this. Blue skies, bright sunlight. And it's 8:30 pm.

A little later, it wasn't quite as dark, the shadows had gotten a little longer. And it was 9:15 pm.

As we neared Novosibirsk, the sunset was beautiful. This was around 9:45 pm

We got off the at station at Novosibirsk.

As soon as got off, we saw this old steam engine built with wood and copper.

We walked to the absolute end of the platform.

The main entrance to the station was flanked by two lovely statues that I think we're made of plaster. One was a father carrying his kid on his shoulder, the other was of a mother holding her child.

We were looking for a magazin (small shop) and our Provodnitsa told us there wasn't one on the platform and that we could go out of the station to find one.

This was a little out of our comfort zone, so we stayed put.

It.was way past 10pm and the skies to the west were still light.

There was what looked like a biggish mall across the road from the station. With a huge sign that read Guns Market.

Maybe I'm better off not knowing.

One good thing about this leg of the journey is that people are stopping by to speak to us. Half the time it's quite challenging, because you know,  "Nyet internet!"

Life is good if Translation' apps are working.

And sometimes they work a bit too well.

I was talking to someone on the platform and the app picked up a message on the station's public announcement system.

Between the two of them, this is what I got.

I still have no idea.