i am a few minutes away from heading off to the train station to catch my 88-hour train to Moscow, which involves travelling thousands of kilometers across Russia and crossing five time zones. given the extremely high cost of a kupe (2nd) class sleeper ticket, i've opted for platskartny or 3rd class, which is described by lonely planet as a "refugee camp", and my handbook as "not advised for long journeys", but it's the mode of transport that most backpackers are now favoring, given that it's 20% of the cost of a 2nd-class ticket. and i hear good things about it, despite the bad press from the guidebooks.
there won't be any blog updates for the next 4 days until i reach Moscow. looking forward to experiencing one of the world's most famous train journeys, and the longest train journey of my life!
Comments (2)
Wow, that sounds sooo wonderful. Good luck! Stretch a lot! :)
Posted by Esther | July 29, 2006 3:31 AM
Posted on July 29, 2006 03:31
Hey, I am originally from Russia (it's north-western part -- over by Finland (as my name might also suggest), and I have taken similar train rides a lot in my life. (Never a 4-day one though -- the longest was about 2 days from Arkhangelsk to Moscow and then on to St. Petersburg).
Have fun and be careful as I was robbed on a train once! Don't go into any kupes where strangers offer to play cards with them as you will definitely be taken advantage of.
P.S. I have been coming to your website over at downtempo.org for the past 3 years and have enjoyed it a lot. Again, good luck and take care!
Posted by pomor | July 31, 2006 6:40 AM
Posted on July 31, 2006 06:40