Day 22 - On the Train

Our 18 hour train ride followed lugging our bags up and down numerous stairwells as we made our way across the tracks to our platform. Calories consumed earlier in the evening were easily worn off with the effort.

Boarding was reasonably painless as we bade goodbye to our guide Irina. We quickly made up our bunks and by 1:00 AM were ready for about eight hours of sleep. For a change the train temperature was not excruciatingly hot and a comfortable night was reported by most. 

Little by little we woke to coffee being made from hot water in the samovar and quiet rustlings as each cabin stirred.  Like sqirrels (Caschy) we dove into our shopping troves and enjoyed various breakfast snacks. 

The day passed idly as we read, watched videos, chatted, and gszed out the large windows to see large towns, industrial complexes, and vast birch forests speed by. Our misconceptions of s barten and wild Siberia are wuickly bring dispelled.   This is a widely populated area with large cities and intricate infrastructure. 

Our destintion at the end of the day is Novosibirsk-Russia's third largest city with 3.5 milluon people. A 10 hour itinerary awaits us tomorrow!!!

Finally at one stop we saw the local vendors we had tead so much about. Furs and fish were the choices in this town. Shocked that no one in our group jumped at the opportunity.