The Trans-Siberian Train

I had two trips on Trans-Siberian Trains (definitely not expresses), one going east and one west, but I am combining them together in one blog and will write about my week at Lake Baikal later.
Before that, there are a couple of items I left out of the previous email. The first is my experience in a Russian banya (or sauna to use the Finnish word). There was a banya at the camp in the Altai Mountains and I was accorded teacher's privileges so I could use it free. The sauna room itself is pretty much like a sauna in the United States (although the ones I was in were heated by a wood stove), but there is always an anteroom with steaming hot water in which one can take bucket showers (or wash ones clothes). This room also has cold water for dousing oneself, but at the Festival, the river was right out the front door so one could also dip in the river. Before the anteroom, there is a changing room and then there is usually a relaxation room with a tea pot of some sort and benches and frequently a table where one can drink, eat and hang out before going back to the sauna.
The distinctive part of the sauna experience is the "steaming" with birch branches. This is usually translated as "beating" or "thrashing" in English but that's not very descriptive of the actual process. They heat the sauna quite hot, then one lies down on theomach and they take out the branches which have been soaking in hot water. They hold them up to the top of the sauna to collect hot air and then wave them gently over the body releasing great amounts of heat. Then they press the branches into the body starting at the shoulders and working down to the feet. After that they begin rythmically slapping with the branches gently at first and then with greater force. It takes about five or ten mintues and then you turn over and they do the front. Then you make your way to the river and take a dip. In Altai, there was a full moon so the dip in the river was the most amazing part. I was steamed twice, both times by very accomplished "steamers." I am not crazy about saunas, but the "steaming" and the river were great.

After Altai, Caroline and I went on the bus to Novosibirsk and then waited for our evening train in a most luxurious apartment with Internet, really hot showers, delicious food and great company. Then on to the train.

We left the apartment on Russian time and thus didn't have a chance to shop properly so we didn't have quite enough food but in the morning. One can get off at the longer stops and buy food, but the first stops were in the middle of the night and the platforms were deserted. Also the stops varied in quality as to what was offered. I slept through the best stop. Caroline says she tried to wake me but I wouldn't budge. Fortunately, in the morning we found the restaurant car and had a most pleasant breakfast all by ourselves with a most solicitous waiter. Ham and eggs, coffee, Russian sweet bread, lots of really good butter and peace. It was great. We tried to do this on the way back but because the trains run on Moscow time the timing wasn't right so we had to have lunch instead which wasn't quite as good as breakfast.

The compartments on the train hold four. Two uppers and two lowers. Caroline preferred the uppers because there was more privacy, but I preferred the lower bunks, because I couldn't negotiate the climb in the middle of the night. On the way to Irktusk, we had two very pleasant women in the compartment with us. The way back was more difficult. For some reason, Caroline and I were in separate cars and she was with three women who warmed up to her very slowly. I was in a compartment alone with an older woman who had more memory problems than me and spoke only Russian. With the help of mime and a phrase book, we managed. She wasn't too impressed with an British woman and an American, but there was an Australian couple next door and she was impressed by them. She had seen kangaroos on television and decided that Australia was the country.
Time becomes very strange on these long train rides. It takes 30 hours to get from Novosibirsk to Irkutsk, the jumping off point for Lake Baikal. The trains run on Moscow time which doesn't help and the landscape changes hardly at all for the whole trip. Lots of large fields and lots of birch and pine forest. I slept a lot and I ate a lot, but there never seemed to be a particular reason to do either of them at any specific time. The train rattled, the wheels clicked and then suddenly one was at one's destination.
The ride back from Irkutsk to Yakaterinburg was 50 hours but it didn't seem any different from the first trip. We did manage food better. Caroline and I with the help of our friend Ivan stopeed at a supermarket before we got on the train. Supermarkets in Russia have much more space devoted to delicacies than do American stores -- lots of sausages and prepared meats, salad and fish, lots of cheese, lots of baked goods and lots of beer, vodka and other forms of alcohol. I bought some roast pork and a liver sausage and Caroline had cheese. I also bought some good whole wheat bread and by the time we headed for the train we had several bags of food. By the time we got off, it was almost all gone. I was quite amazed. Caroline spent most of her time with me and the old lady. At one stop, they had crayfish. That was fun. Neither of us had ever eaten crayfish before and Caroline found them quite revolting to look at and touch, but once I had opened them up so she could get at the meat without touching anything disgusting, she found them quite tasty. I have good pictures but I have had trouble connecting my computer via wi-fi and now it is stored in London because I decided not to carry it on the pilgrim trail.
At Yakaterinburg, named after Catherine the Great, we stayed with the woman who has the company that Caroline is laying the piece on. We stayed one night at her apartment and then one night at the amazing apartment that she found for Caroline to stay in for the month she will be there. It belongs to a ballerina in the local ballet company and is all black fringe and acres of gauzy curtains. I found it quite depressing but its location is great and it has all the things an apartment needs so it is really a good deal.
I went to the first class that Caroline did with the company. I am so impressed with the Russian dancers who are interested in experimental work. Very committed, very creative, very inspirational.
The afternoon before I flew to Moscow, we went with Natasha (the company director) to her dacha in the country. It was a collective dacha from the Communist era. Several dachas in a compound each with its own amazingly extensive garden. We munched on carrots freshly pulled from the ground while we made food which included potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, dill, and parsley all freshly picked. Natasha grilled pork and chicken and I made my mother's version of fried green tomatoes (not like the ones in the movie). I flour them and then fry them until they are brown and soft and then add a little milk or cream to make a sauce. They were a big hit. When I wasn't cooking I was running around the backyard with Natasha's two girls, five and two and a half. We didn't have a common language but we stuck out our tongues and made noises and chased each other all around, ending with games of train and "A tisket a tasket" in Russian. This was great fun and made my miss my grandchildren a lot.
O.K. One more Russian blog to go: Lake Baikal