Long train ride

I've been on the train for the last 3 nights/4 days, so I'm kind of glad to be off! I started in Irkutsk, Siberia (near lake Baikal), and are now in Suzdal (a few hours from Moscow.) I've seen my fair share of birch and pine forests, and crossed a few large rivers too.

The train was certainly comfortable and spotless, with the provodnista (or cabin attendant) vacuuming, and cleaning a couple of times a day. I shared a cabin with a lovely retired Russian couple, who looked after me and tried to talk to me - looking up things in the phrase book all the time, pointing out out landmarks etc. In the cabin next to me there were 2 American students (one of whom can speak some Russian), and in the one on the other side 2 Canadians, so we also enjoyed chatting when we'd had enough of reading and staring out the windows. The only thing that was really a bit disappointing was that there weren't the promised trackside food vendors... only at one station where homecooked food was being sold from baskets, otherwise it was just small kiosks of packaged food. So the 15 to 20 minute stops while certainly welcome, ended up being more of a stroll than anything else. The other thing thats got to be mentioned is that it snowed yesterday... but today I'm walking around in a T-shirt... go figure!