https://photos.app.goo.gl/DXSQbRIoSC81hLzL2
This was part 3 of the trip taken from June 25-July 9, 2016. The original blog was published in TravelPod. This is an “Encore” of the blog. Hope you enjoy it.
My image of Siberia was from the movies ‘War and Peace’ and ‘Dr. Zhivago” – a vast, empty land where political prisoners were sent to perform hard labor in this inhospitable land. But the notion of traveling the world’s longest railway (5753 miles) in the comfort of “luxury cottages” appealed to our sense of adventure. We switched from the Chinese train to the Tsar’s Gold train at the border town of Erlian, China. The “Zarengold” Trans-Siberian Rail trip is operated by a German Company but staffed with a Russian crew. This private charter train has 21 cars: 14 passenger cars, 4 dining cars, 1 staff car, 1 luggage car, and engine cars. Each car has two bathrooms and one shower. Our cabin in the “classic” category has two beds with one desk in front of a window, not too big but adequate and fairly comfortable. We traveled on this train for 11 days with two overnight breaks – one night at a Ger in Ulan Bator and another night in a hotel in Irkutsk. 9 nights on a train was the longest rail travel for most of us. It is different from a cruise ship because it has less space to move around and needs good balance to walk through the length of many cars. The meals were decent and included many traditional Russian dishes. We tasted Vodka and caviar. Lucky for us, Professor Michael Wilcox from Utah was on board and gave us several excellent lectures on Russian history.
We met people on the train from all over the globe. The majority of them came from Australia, Britain, Canada, France, and Germany. There was a group of Americans from Utah (Mormons paying tribute to the Old Believers in the Orthodox Church). In our English-speaking group, we had Aussies, Brits, Canadians, Israelis, and Singaporeans. There were only 5 Americans. 3 from California, and Ray and I.
Siberia covers 13.1. million square kilometers, approximately 77% of Russia’s total territory or 10% of planet Earth’s land surface. It has an extremely cold climate in winter (average low is in the -40 C range), but in summer, temperatures can be in the 60s. The soil is poor and dry. The active layer is less than a meter deep. That is why we didn’t see big trees in Siberia; most of them are shrubs, birch, and pine.
Siberia was inhabited by indigenous people as early as 300,000 years ago. Nomadic tribes such as Huns, Mongols and Manchus frequently fought battles in the southern part of Siberia. Russia emperors started to settle this area in the 13th century. We went through 8 time zones and gained hours as we headed west. We didn’t see many big agricultural fields except patches of potatoes . Most houses along the route are wooden structure showing signs of hard life there. Western Siberia is swampy and boggy, lots of mosquitos and bugs that made people’s life tortuous. This area, however, is rich in minerals and forest products. The Gold rush of the 1850s made it the wild wild East just like the wild West in the States.
The train averaged about 100 km an hour so it was not a fast train. We made several stops along the way. Ulan Uda, Lake Baikal, Irkutsk, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg and Kazan before reaching Moscow. Traveling through Siberia (plus a 500 page book “The Conquest of a Continent” Ray studied through out the trip) gave us an insight of the history, people and life in Siberia.The train made a special trip along the Circum-Baikal route which runs along the shore of the Southern extremity of the Lake Baikal. This track was constructed in 1896-1900 and was quite an engineering achievement. There were 39 tunnels and 86 km of retaining walls built to link the “Golden Buckle on the steel belt of Russia”
We took a boat ride on Lake Baikal – the world’s oldest and deepest (5000 ft deep) fresh water lake. It’s coast line measures 1300 miles and contains 20% of the world’s fresh water. Over 300 streams and rivers flow into Lake Baikal but only the Angara river flows out. We didn’t get to see the world’s only fresh water seal but did taste the local famous Omul fish which was delicious. Some of the brave passengers took a dip in the lake (water temperature at 7 degree C) and earned a certificate and a free glass of Vodka. A Siberian picnic was served by the shore and a musician played beautiful local songs on an accordion. We got off the train and spent a day in the town of Irkutsk – the Paris of Siberia. We saw many wooden houses with intricate patterns which was very popular in this region. We saw the brightly painted Epiphany Cathedral and the status of Alexander III who was instrumental in building the Trans Siberia Railroad. We even enjoyed a concert in a home of an 1800s exile whose wife, with the help of her wealthy relatives built a beautiful home that used to host mini musical concerts. Our Hotel in Irkutsk had a wonderful view of the Angara River. The weather was a pleasant 68 degree. – perfect weather to walk around and explore.
In Kazan, one our fellow travelers from England accidentally found her husband at the Cauldron wedding chapel. Her husband was on a Classic car rally driving 13,000 km from the Great Wall to Paris. They were not able to communicate much due to the poor connection of cell phones. What a surprise when they saw each other and we all got invited to view the 110 classic cars in the rally. That was quite a treat!
For one of the off the train dinners we went to a summer home (Dacha) about 30 minutes from town. The family has a large yard filled with magnificent gardens and a small barn for their goats and chickens. All the dishes served were produce from her garden. The cabbage salad was the best I had ever eaten. The cucumber, the tomatoes all were fresh and packed with flavor. The vegetable soup were topped with home made sour cream, the potatoes and meat balls were cooked with herbs and the spicy mustard (ray’s favorite) were also made by the family. During the meal, our guide Valeri showed us how Russian made vodka toasts to families, to friends and dinner guests. It was the best meal we had on the trip.