Part 12 - Day 1 on the big train - Moscow to Perm

I slept through our first stops at Vladimir and Nizhny Novgorod and our first proper stop was at Kirov, already 917km down the line. This was where our second Trans-Siberian myth was debunked. Every guide book and blog tells you how to expect the chaos on the platform of dozens of vendors selling delicious home-cooked food, souvenirs, etc. This is what we saw when we got to Kirov.





Tidy platforms, occasional kiosk. This was a pattern that was going to repeat on every stop for over 48 hours. Probably a consequence of the train not being busy - and the vendors at every stop knowing this - but it was still a little bit disappointing.

Next stop four hours later was Balyezino:





This was where I decided to try my first box of Russian noodles. Quite edible.





After that we crossed the Chetspa river. A lot of the river shots are marred by ugly bridges inconveniently getting in the way of the camera.



For the first day we saw lots of trees - mainly birch, and quite a lot of wooden shacks which are probably houses. This is very typical of the view you get for the first 2,000 km.





You get the odd tractor as well.



A few hours later we were coming into Perm, crossing the pretty Kama river.



The train stops at Perm 2 which is a station on the ugly suburbs. As is often the way on the route, the best buildings are usually the stations themselves.







Managed to pick up some food from the cafe in the station. On the left, cold fish with chives. No taste at all. On the right, cold liver (described to me by the girl in the cafe as "beef") in cold gravy. At least that was quite tasty.



I made short work of the beers though. The one on the left, Stary Melnik Svetloe, is a Moscow beer. It's very nice indeed.



The last places we saw before it got dark were the Sylva river at Kungur. Already crossed two time zones today!