"Beautiful Russia" Russia by malinaberg

Russia Travel Guide: 14,174 reviews and 35,871 photos

Me and my boyfriend (both of us speak Russian) travelled from St Petersburg via Moscow to Chabarovsk. Thats six amazing days on the train! We continued by train and boat to Sachalin, where we turned and went back via the beautiful city of Irkutsk by Bajkal. During this trip we hade the most fantastic encounters with Russians; I have never met such a friendly people. The Russian cuisine is also great; even for vegetarians!

The Train

platskartniy

The russian trains are excellent and, as opposed to the Californian, electric. We bought the tickets in St Petersburg, and boy, that was an experience! It took us a while (read hours) to figure out the queue-system, but other than a few weird looks we were treated like any Russian traveller. We chose 'platskartniy', the cheapest ticket, which means you get your own bunk but share the train car with about 50 people. There are walls that make up 'compartments' with 6 bunks, but there are no doors. This, my friends, is the best way of getting to know people!

Food

Bjorn making soup

There is one samovar in each car, and it's keept hot day and night; perfect for making tea and coffe. We had brought soups, but when we got tired of it we resorted the tasty pirogues sold by babushkas and dedushkas at the train stations (~10 cent). They also sell all kinds of interesting items; pastries, candy, nuts, pancakes (bliny), fish and more.

Our fellow russian train-mates ate mostly noodles, the kind that is cooked with hot water only.

Last visit to Russia: Jul 2001
Intro Updated May 25, 2003
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Written May 25, 2003

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Comments (8)

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suvaa003 Jun 21, 2004 at 6:56 AM

great tip and loved your page, yep Russian people are so nice, and the food is good
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Pablos_new Jul 9, 2003 at 12:01 PM

"Platzkarta?!" for 6 days!!!! Koshmar! ;-))) What an experience!
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Guantanamera May 29, 2003 at 11:59 PM

The trains I took to and from Petersburg were pretty crummy... But I did like the funky Lenin head design on the fabric!
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Pavlik_NL May 6, 2003 at 12:12 AM

Good tip on what to take on the longest rail in this world. Hope to do it once myself, all the way East to Wladivostok and on to Kamtchatka. Thanks, please add more. Greetings, Paul
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Rubik Nov 5, 2002 at 2:34 AM

znaesh Russky?
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patrikske Jul 5, 2002 at 1:25 PM

Very interesting page !
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Wiktoria Jul 3, 2002 at 6:57 AM

Fantastic picture! Can`t wait to hear more of your great sto
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Gili_S Jul 3, 2002 at 6:56 AM

Beautiful picture & great story any more coming?