No.5 on the Siberian Railroad Heading for the West

I took a 3rd class train of the Siberian Railroad from Vladivostok to Irkutsk, one of the biggest cities situated in the center of Russia. Different from the 1st class decorated with luxurious furniture and the 2nd class that lots of compartments stand in a row, we can see the usual lives of the locals in the 3rd class.

The train left Vladivostok station at the scheduled time, 11:02 AM. Although The summer in Russia goes by before we know, it has been still hot in the beginning of August.The air conditioning is a bit strong, but sweat appears on my face when the sun comes in even though we don’t exercise.

I was imaging what I would feel and experience in this long journey while seeing the scenery from a train window. On the other hand, Russian men naked from the waist up solving Sudoku and crossword puzzle, and Russian women chatting with their family and having fruits passed the time on the coach slowly heading for the West. Tourists like me imagine these trains are special because they can connect the big region, Asia and Europe, but the locals recognize them as one of the transportation of their daily life.

A little girl looked 5 years old was eating snacks deliciously next to my seat. After finished having them, she stared me. I wondered that she recognize me as a stranger because we had different looks on our face. We have lots of free time, so I thought I would like tp play with her, but I didn’t know how to do it. I couldn’t expect what she was interested in, so I started mimicking her. When she waved her hands, I waved my hands too. When she grinned, I upswept my lips. Though it was an absolutely simple play, she was looking enjoyable and that made me smile. A communication with strangers is one of the best pleasures of traveling.

At first, she was playing with me in this way for a while, but she started painting on notebook. After 30 minutes, she looked getting bored to do it and lay down on the seats. It was somewhat too strong sun to sit in it, but she felt asleep. The train never speeds up keeps going to the West leisurely. it seems still far to our destination.