Trans Siberian Train, day 2 (or 3)

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Wednesday, 9th October – Trans Siberian Train

“8am local time (somewhere between Moscow and Beijing), 6am Moscow time – the train will remain on Moscow time until we reach Beijing. This initially entertains me but is becoming increasingly confusing. I adjust my watch accordingly so as to ease myself in to changing time zones, and to arrive in China at a reasonable time of day. It makes for more complicated station stops though, assuming the train is running to schedule.

I’ve just realised the last entry was probably yesterday, so Tuesday not Monday, or Wednesday, possibly.

Early morning calm and more trees are yellowing or have lost their covering for the winter. A soft pink/peach filled the sky earlier but now it is a purple grey with smatterings of blue and white. The stark trees continue to line the tracks. The ‘bathroom’ is becoming increasingly fragrant. Ingenuity through necessity I’ve had a warm wash from the boiler this morning, taking great care not to drop anything on the floor.

The attendant has returned the creased, yellowed, slightly stiff netting to the lower parts of the windows, serving neither function or aesthetic. It is removed again as soon as she is out of sight, folded unceremoniously and stuffed through the elastic cord suspending it, so we can watch the travelling landscape. 

The gentle swaying of the train and the noise as everything moves with it is vaguely calming. The temperature reads 27ºC above the door at the end of the corridor – it is very hot, we are not allowed to open the windows. We’ve tried, they are quickly closed again. Communication in this respect is clear and facial gestures and hand signals indicate that window opening is not approved of. I don’t know why. Perhaps to add to our discomfort. It feels punishing rather than comforting. Two more time changes are passed through and my watch is duly altered. I think that makes five, or six, and another night is spent on a train. I’ve relinquished myself to the journey and its time frame. The one thing that is certain is that the train will ultimately arrive in China. Everything else is frivolous detail.
For the wilderness, there is great activity on the railway. Lines are busy, long freight trains take forever to pass, blocking light for many minutes at a time.”

Mongolia

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Watched over by a black bird, my pebble left at the Ovoo was inspected. Stones are stacked as offerings to protect the community from bad spirits.

Bexhill to Bexhill

Trail of breadcrumbs, Mongolia (Leanne Vogler, 2013)

Bexhill to Bexhill

Ovoo, Terelj National Park Mongolia (Louise Kenward, 2013)

Bexhill to Bexhill

Trail of breadcrumbs, Mongolia (Louise Kenward, 2013)

 

Paris with Annie

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After three months back in the UK it is time to make new plans. Next month I get back on the train and take the ‘budget’ Orient Express route to Venice. On my way to an arts residency in Italy I will stop in Paris and Turin before reaching wonderful Venice. Heading south I will join seven other artists for a 7 day residency.

Plans are still germinating for what follows between leaving Italy and reaching Vienna. Reconnecting with friends made in Canada, a trip to the Christmas markets was arranged while in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

Another journey another journal. Hotel Meurice, Paris may not be my accommodation during this stay, but I shall find it and marvel at the views of the Tuileries Garden Annie enjoyed. With the interiors designed by Philippe Starck, Le Meurice is described as ‘one of the most elegant hotels in the world’. Her first journey through Europe to Switzerland, Annie Alnutt as she was then, travelled by train. Again, I suspect our journeys will be rather different but with parallels nonetheless.

Lake Baikal

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Boarding the train at Barabinsk the last stop is Irkutsk. The ‘Paris of Siberia’ we are told. We do not believe. It is a little dour as cities go (even for Russia). It has some of the scale of Russian cities visited but without the sparkle. We are now deep in the depths of Siberia and for that reason alone it is exciting.

From Irkutsk it is possible to reach Lake Baikal, the largest (and possibly oldest) fresh water lake in the world. It has been there for twenty five million years. This is all very impressive and stories go, as they so often do, that a dip in the icy waters will bring eternal youth. I’m afraid I ducked out of the challenge and instead opted to crochet. There are no particularly sheltered spots anywhere, least of all at the lakeside. So after regaining feeling in my fingers  I chose to place three pebbles on a piece of driftwood and left them to fend for themselves.

Bexhill to Bexhill

Lake Baikal, 2013 (Louise Kenward)

Barabinsk

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The first pebble was more of a stone than a pebble. I’m not certain what the difference is, but train line stone chippings were the best available, and suited the purpose well enough. It became apparent that this was likely to be a common situation. Travelling by train so much, without access to beaches, railway chippings work just as well. They aren’t smooth, or as nice to handle granted, but the size is right, they are readily available, and they are directly connected to the journey.

This was my first. The stone was collected at Omsk station (Siberia) during a stop on the Trans Siberian line. It is a careful choice, trying to find the most even, rounded piece, of ‘suitable’ size. Like Goldilocks, it could be neither too small nor too big. Clambering across the tracks was a common enough practice here so I had a decent chance to find ‘the right’ one. It is a big station, there are a number of tracks and platforms, babushka’s selling things made of cabbage and potato, bundled in many layers of clothing. Passengers from the train get off to stretch their legs or smoke a cigarette. Guards stand at carriage entrances wearing heavy navy woollen uniforms with smart hats and stern faces. Station attendants check things and pace the platform purposefully.

I boarded the train as it prepared to move on. I made a cup of tea and settled in to the next part of the journey. My tea went cold, and by the time we arrived at Barabinsk my first stone was ready.

Bexhill to Bexhll

Barabinsk, Siberia – ‘trail of breadcrumbs’ (Louise Kenward, 2013)

Bexhill to Bexhill

Barabinsk, Siberia – ‘Trail of Breadcrumbs’ (Louise Kenward, 2013)

As much care and consideration was taken as I could afford on the placement of this stone. The stop was not very long and I was not keen on getting left behind. It is another two or three days before the next train to Irkutsk. Shortly after the stone was placed, another train came into the station, rolling along the track above it. My stone was safely under the train and a part of its surroundings, it’s journey had begun.

Botanical Gardens, St Petersburg

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“I hope to discover that these were here when you visited Annie [Annie Brassey]. I’ve yet to learn more of your time in St Petersburg, but I think I can assume there wasn’t a burlesque club opposite. The rivers would have been here though, palaces and churches…
It is a welcome sanctuary from Nevsky Prospect [the Botanic Gardens]. Tour completed, spoken entirely in Russian, I am none the wiser but enjoyed access to the temperate green houses. The warmth and luscious greenery of the inside contrasted starkly with the lacklustre and bitter cold of outside.
…Collected small stone and three acorns. Admission ticket stitched into diary and leaf that fell from tree as I was writing.”