Most valuable Russian phrase you can learn..."air-conditioning"

Well we survived the first night on our Trans-Mongolian Train bound for Irkutsk, Siberia. The journey should take approximately 89 hours and will cross 5 time zones. We arrived at the train station with all our luggage and groceries unsure of shopping opportunites - especially beer access, turns out no need to worry), a huge Western contingent garnering much attention as we struggled to load our cabins with absurd amounts of possessions.

We are travelling second class which means four of us to a cabin with 4 bunks and one small table. (Will and Sara - the British couple - were lucky enough to score a tiny 2 bunk cabin, that will describes as quite a bit more cozy than his loo at home). The furnishings are fairly comfortable, for a train. Currently we are approximately 20 hours into the journey and I am extremely proud of our accomplishment.

Like I so often do...I overplan my time for journeys such as this...I envisioned reading 2 books, composings several blog entries, learning Russian fluently, maybe even penning a novel of my own...so far we managed to get our Russian Provodnitiza (carriage attendant) to turn on the air conditioning. I cannot stress what a HUGE accomplishment this is - anyone planning on doing this trip (I'm talking to you Stephen), learn the Russian words for "air conditioning". I also drank a lot. Don't judge me, drinking helps take your mind off the fact that you are being actively baked on a moving train. (prior to this the only real reprieve were platform stops for ice cream)

Well less than a day into our journey and we have managed to make ourselves as conspicious as possible (I blame the drunk British folks I am travelling with). As some of the only English speakers on the train our time is highly sought after by a few of the Russians who are wishing to learn English. Our cabins are constanly visited with invitations for meals in their cabins or to meet for a drink in the dining car. As none of us actually knows Russian (Pete knows the most with about 20 phrases), we spend a lot of time with charades and flipping through the English to Russian Lonely Planet phrase book.

Other moments are spent gazing out the window...watching Russia fly by...quite a different feel than the big cities we have been exposed to.
I will give this one fantastic piece of advice to anyone travelling this route - get your hands on a "British gas key". It's a plastic key that happens to fit into the locks that Russian Rail uses. This valuable tool gives you freedom, you can secure your own belongings without having to wait for a less than hospitable Provodnitsa (train attendant) to do it for you. Warning...all operations around the using the gas key must be covert in nature...don't want to be discovered with this contraband.

I can tell my next few days are going to be in a sort of Rosetta Stone - beer induced haze as our train rumbles along to Siberia...will write a bit later, going to climb up to my bunk for a nap.

Dasvedanya