Perfectly on time at the train station of Moscow, we were trying to figure out where our train would leave and found out that we had to go to another station. Apparently, there are something like four train stations near the same subway-station. So, with 18 minutes left, we ran as fast as our backpacks and other luggage(including food for three days) allowed us and made it just in time to the right station and train, the one that would take us from Moscow to Novosibirsk.

So, what is there to say about a train ride of 59 hours and 2 minutes? (OK, minus three hours due to the time zones we travelled through)

Every carriage has an own host, toilet including washing table and tap for hot water. The host was nice, we think, although we could not communicate with her (maybe arriving a minute before the train left, is not the best first impression), the toilet was nasty and the hot water great. Every carriage has about ten compartments with four beds, but luckily we had the luxury of our own two person-compartment for the entire ride.

The first night we had a more or less good night sleep, because we were exhausted from our days in Moscow and the run to the train. Even the bumping of the train, we got used to very fast. The rest of the days were filled with reading; solving puzzles; chatting (starting off with "So, now we have to share our deepest secrets, right?" "O, but, I don't have that many secrets, is there something you want to know about?" "No, I pretty much know everything about you already..." and continuing for two days); getting off at every stop of more than ten minutes (a couple of times a day); eating a lot (note to self: mixing soluble coffee with cola is not a good idea); learning our first four words of Russian (except for "yes" and "no"); and drinking as little as possible, except for the bottle of wodka we brought with us and were not to carry around again after arriving...

Also, we did some reflecting on Moscow and Russian people. Russian people like to talk Russian and are not that keen (understatement) to use any other language or to use gestures etc. Marit can read some Russian, but for the rest, communication is pretty hard and people are not very willing to cooperate. Further, buildings in Moscow are very big, impressive and shiny, but also imposing and full of the power Moscow wants to show off to both the outside world and its own people. Truly impressing at first, but at some point we only were thinking "and another shiny big building..." And at last, people look grumpy and grey and tend to fall asleep everywhere.

The question for the upcoming days in Novisibirsk and Irkutsk: are these Russian characteristics, or only Moscowian? Our first impression of Novosibirsk and its people is that life around here must be better, since the people (finally!) look less sad an grumpy and more colourful.