Start of the 9258km Journey West from Vladivostok to Moscow

Day 2-4

Westbound from Vladivostok

Today marks the day I leave the largest city of the far east of Russia and travel 9258 km to Moscow. I have decided to do it with stopovers and experience and share with you some of the remote wonders of this enormous country, places that people across the world know mostly only by name. I've been told that even many Russians have never set foot in those regions, and some even consider Siberia and the Far East exotic.

Below is the entire length of the Trans-Siberian Railway. The more popular route for travelers is Moscow-Vladivostok, so I decided to go against the grain starting at Vladivostok. The effect this way is that you go from sparsely populated, less-civilised 'frontier' towns and wild and magnificent natural scenery, to the densely populated and more civilised west, ultimately ending at the peak of Russia, Moscow.

Marked on the map are many of the stops along the Trans-Siberian Railway. In red are locations I have stopped and stayed at, so you will hear about them in greater detail. Blue represents other stops, big and small, though not all. Yellow if you zoom in are places just off the railway but definitely worth checking out.

Eastern Terminus

I also decided to do the Trans-Siberian in third-class carriages (platzkartny) only. Though there are fewer luxuries and comforts in those carriages, it is still enough for a backpacker with bedding provided by the provodnistas/provodniks, the carriage supervisors. It also allows for a more intimate local experience, being able to meet more locals than tourists, getting to know them, and even having a glimpse of life through their eyes. Knowing enough Russian for a simple conversation definitely helps out, especially in this remote part of Russia.

Once I arrived at Vladivostok Passenger Railway Station, the eastern terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railway, I sort of expected to see a small, very remote terminal needing maintenance. A such, I was a bit surprised by the high level of maintenance and infrastructure.

The train was very long and set to go all the way to Moscow. It was no 001 Russian, which meant it is the fastest and most well-equipped train of the Trans-Siberian route. In front of every carriage entrance stood a provodnista or provodnik. Aside from checking tickets and verifying everybody's identity, they monitor the use of the entire carriage and will make sure that everybody gets off at their appropriate destination. They'll even wake up the correct passengers in the middle of the night. Fortunately, I didn't plan any of my stops to occur in the middle of the night.

Most of my carriage at this point was full of school kids who were probably traveling to a summer camp. The open compartment I was in was practically empty, which changed after a couple of hours at Ussirysk. A middle-aged Russian couple and a babushka became my new compartment neighbours. They were traveling on holiday to Chadobirsk, and were really surprised and quite excited to be sharing a compartment with somebody from so far away. We chatted a little and had tea however soon enough, my Russian ability was running dry so I decided to call it a night.

The Russian Far East - second day on the train

The Russian couple with the grandma got off at Khabarovsk and taking their place were a couple of military guys who later swapped with Russian mothers with young children. The larger of the military guys looked quite drunk already, and for the next 5 or so hours the only sound from them was snoring.

An older Russian man named Ilias joined us as the military boys left late morning. A very joyful man who was always smiling. I passed the time this afternoon by talking with him and practicing my Russian. He told me about how he recently retired but had worked 30 years in the far eastern mines, which were very near the railroad. Ilias also never left Russia and never even visited Moscow. Here in the far, though labeled as Russian and very happily identifying as such, many of the locals have no concern with what happens in the capital Moscow or European Russia in general, and simply regard it as the very distant home of the Russian government and whoever runs the country.

As I was going for a stroll across the different carriages of the 001 Russian, I met a bunch of foreigners in the restaurant wagon; New Zealanders, an Australian, and a Serbian-Australian guy. There was also an older Russian man Voiya who didn’t speak any English but was really happy to drink a round and often egged others to join. We tried some weird Chinese concoction that Tim the Korean Australian brought over from South Korean, only Voiya didn't cringe at the taste. Voiya, on the other hand, seemed to be summoning alcohol from who knows where, and somehow was never without a refill.

In the evening there was an extended stop in Shimanovsk during which I bought some essentials supplies for the next day and a half of traveling (bread, salami, cheese, instant noodles, cold water, vodka). Tim and the New Zealander missed the train though! Without their bags and passports with them, I have no idea how they’ll get out of that scrap.

Deeper into Russia - along the northern border with China - third day

As it happens I was sick and as such spent most of the day in bed. It wasn't even the vodka. All the kids left and wagon 16 was almost empty, and as a result, it was calm and quiet for the next few hours.

On a pleasant note, while stretching my legs at the Amazar train terminal stop, I saw Tim, the dude who missed the train last night. It turns out he and the other bloke caught a taxi as soon as they missed the train to the next stop and made it on time. Apparently taxi drivers like to wait around at these minor and remote stops, particularly during high seasons when there is a greater number of foreigners about. There is at least one every couple of trains who doesn't make it back on time, so for a $100 or so the taxi driver will leadfoot it to the next station that is at least a couple hundred kms away.

The popular opinion abroad of the Trans-Siberian is that most of the local passengers are drunks, and really what is there to do with all the free time. These days, alcohol is actually banned from being consumed in the passenger compartments, and the penalty can be a fine or expulsion at the next station. The locals say it only really applies if you are caught drinking from the bottle with labeling, or clearly reek of alcohol or look very inebriated. Drunk Mikolay from down the aisle sat down next to me and Finn (one of the New Zealanders) and I at one of the tables and kept rambling drunk things. Every half hour or so the provodnista would come with or without a burly security guy and drag him off to the next carriage, but before long he would always somehow make it back to us!

In the evening I visited most of my new friends at their compartments to Polish off a well-concealed bottle of samogon and eat a whole large bag of apricots. Both I purchased from a radiant babushka at one of the stops earlier today. Jack was studying a book filled with the most outlandish pick-up lines in Russian. Before long I went for yet another nap. It is awfully easy to sleep on this train.

Continued: Eastern Siberia - Ulan Ude

Short time-lapse video with the Far East landscape you can expect to see.