Report #6: Ulyanovsk to Moscow

We just made the 6:15 PM departure of our train out of Ulyanovsk to Moscow. Before leaving we went to the supermarket and bought sausage, water, cucumbers, almonds, goat cheese, and bread for a picnic supper on the train. We had a full first class compartment to ourselves. I highly recommend it becuase the coach accommodations are much more spartan and if you do not buy the whole four person compartment, you may ride for 16 hours with unpleasant strangers.

It was a big relief when we pulled out of the station and were on our way. As difficult as Ulyanovsk had been, the train was a good place to decompress, relax, re-charge, and re-group for our next move. We watched the countryside roll by until it got dark, then broke out dinner. Threre was a gentleman walking the passage selling snacks and beverages and I bought two 20 ounce bottles of beer from him for atotal of less than $3. Things were getting better. Here are a few things that made our trip in general, but train travel especially much more pleasant. I put photos of each in the replies below too.

1. A little bottles of Purell hand sanatizer that comes in a rubber harness. I clipped onto my backpack sternum starap for fast access. DW bought them at target. We have a larger bottle in our baggage to re-fill from.

2. A small Leatherman type tool with bottle opener, needle-nose pliers, knife, etc. Good for making field repairs and preparing food and opening bottled beverages.

3. Small reading lights witha spring clip on one end and a flxible shaft. We got ours for about $10 at Borders. Great for reading or subdued lighting. A lot of rsidential lighting in Russia is flourescent, very bright. I use it to get up to go to the lavatory at night without turning on the lights and waking up DW.

After dinner we pulled out the DVD player and watched three episodes of Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm from HBO. More humor livened our spirits.

After the episodes ended we went to the lavatory, prepared for bed, retuned to our compartment and dozed off to sleep. I slept great to the rocking of the train despite thin walls between compartments that transmitted the sound of a gentlemen in the compartment next to us snoring like a Homelite chainsaw part of the night. Luckily one of his compartment mates was kind enough to kick him for me.

Exactly as scheduled, we arrived into Kazansky Station in Moscow at 9:52 AM on Saturday (March 26) where our Moscow coordinator met us as we alighted from the train, took us to his car and drove us to our lodgings.

DW in train compartment


More of DW in train compartment


Easy access Purell


Leatherman type tool


Mini-book light


DW preparing our feast


Many a tale has emerged regarding the lavatories on Russian trains. Here are a couple of photos from ours. Pretty good I'd say considering what expected


And the sink