Have you ever felt too uncomfortable to sleep, due to noise, humidity, temperature or hunger? Have you ever gone 4 nights without showering in those conditions? Have you ever questioned your decisions? Luckily, I’ve done all of that and more on the train from Moscow, Russia, to Almaty, Kazakhstan. Due to the singularity of the trip (I mean, it’s just 4 days on a train), there isn’t a ton to say, but I’ll share some of the stories about this epic, once in a lifetime (seriously, I’m not doing that again) journey!
So after my last note (April 6), I took the metro to Paeletskaya Station, which conveniently, is directly attached to the long-distance train station of the same name (love when that works out!). For a moment I was a bit nervous about the legitimacy of my ticket, since I booked it online a while back, and didn’t have anything to show for it. When the train arrived “Alma-Ata 007”, I walked out to the tracks, and was a little disheartened to find the quality of train to be slightly less than my recent long-distance sleeper train in China. It’ll be a story right? Correct. I found my car, and (YES) the conductor had my name on his list.
First impressions: the train was about average size, dark, a little humid, with a running carpet down the aisle. I found my little 4-bed kupye compartment, and a Kazakh family (mom dad and 8 year old daughter) looked up at me and greeted me in Russian. I greeted back..an after a string of consonants and vowels returned to me, I had to come clean. “[ya ne ponimayo pa-Ruski]” I admitted- ‘I don’t understand Russian’. The father, a short, stocky, bald man, immediately made clear his disapproval in my existence, while the mother continued to consul me in Russian. The daughter took her opportunity to practice some english. We smoothed things over, and it all worked out OK after I shared some cookies with the group. I rolled out the thin mattress and put the provided bed sheets over it. Packed away my bags and settled in. This was gonna be along haul.
We begin: And we’re off. There aren’t any surprised to how trains run. So for the rest of the essay, imagine large metallic clicking, slightly swaying, and movement at 40mph for then next....whole time.
Bathrooms: It gets it’s own shout out. Take a look at the pictures in the Central Asia album. Classy. It wasn’t too bad though. Before heading to bed, and each morning, we’d all take turns washing our faces (hand towels included in our package) in the little sink, and doing our business. The instability of the car made for interesting tactics, but things worked out ok, and it definitely was not the worst train bathroom I’ve been in. That goes to India...which was simply a hole in the ground sans toilet, and the walls well...decorated...
Food: The strategy here was to bring your own for the whole journey. Luckily, I thought of this before hand, adn stocked up on some bread, salami, cheese, an what I thought was ham slices in a tupperware which turns out to be a liquid cream-of-idk that I quickly ejected from my possession. It was meager, but it worked. I ate at the restaurant car my last evening as a little treat (posted a picture-the soup).
The route: So we headed southeast out of Moscow and eventually crossed into Kazakhstan at the Ozinky/Semiglavvy border. This was in the middle of the night and involved Russian guard dogs all over the place. Stamped out...went a mile or two...then Kazakh guars hopped on with their own less-intimidating dogs to stamp us in. We then continued on for a bit...and left Kazakhstan at the Chingirlau/Iletsk border...then it got slightly confusing since about an hour or more later we entered...Kazakhstan..again (at Zhaisan). Apparently Russia cares slightly less about this little piece of itself, and we didn’t need to get stamped in/out again (hey I’m not complaining). Then it was smooth sailing from there.
The people: So me and my little Kazakh family had to say goodbye son after our second entry into Kazakhstan. They packed their things, and the father (we were friends my now) wished me good luck in english. I thanked him in Kazakh, shook his hands and enjoyed the cabin all to myself. For about 10 minutes. Then on came a mother and her 6 year old daughter. This seems to be a pattern. She was a very cute little girl who spoke some english phrases (and was VERY excited to try them out). She sang, she danced, and I ended up babysitting her for about half of the trip while mom was off flirting with random guys.
They left early morning of my third day (like Jesus leaving the tomb), and I was kinda happy to see that mom go.Then came a full crew of people. One middle aged Kazakh man , a young Uzbek guy, and a grandmother and 4 year old Kazakh pair. We were all headed to Almaty, which was kind of a fun concept now, and they were excited to hear the Russian/Kazakh I had picked up on the route. Needless to say, this was a good crew and we got along great. A special shout out to the crew at the restaurant car, who I spent most of the 2nd day with, playing backgammon and gong back and forth with english/Kazakh words.
But alas, just one night with the power-cabin of Almaty-bound passengers, since that morning, after 4 nights on that train, I was finished. The non-showering was surprisingly not bad at all. I made some good acquaintances, and as I had originally intended, got to see the landscape unfold.
The history of the steppe covers thousands of years- from the oringial turkic peoples that settled the area (essentially the ancestors of the caucasian race), to the Kazakh peoples, to Chinggis Khan, Russia, and an independent Kazakhstan, the steppe has been there. I loved watching it unfold into a massive grassland int he north, to beautiful rolling hills towards the south, and even mountains in the southwest. The natural resources, beauty, and history of the steppe made the journey enjoyable, and like I had a front-row seat to a bit of history. I wouldn’t do that again, but I am officially glad I did it! Until next time!
-BK