where in the world are we??
Ah, beautiful Tynda. Headquarters of the BAM - the northern trans-siberian line.
The highlight of this place is definitely all about the train. The station is quite possible the most beautiful I have ever seen, some sort of Star Trek / Soviet hybrid vision. We had planned to sleep in the train 'rest rooms' - you rent them by 6/12/24 hours, but they were sold out (naturally) and in a cloud of 'nyets!' we took a room in a 'kupe' (second class) train compartment that they had parked up next to Platform one. So just like being back on the train, but not moving! It was great, very convenient. And the station has fantastic massive pipes that lead out, overground, to town - presumably with water, sewage, gas, etc. and lovingly cared for as the swathes of asbestos peeling back from them attest to. Pictures of the above, with the ubiqitous smoke stack, to follow.
They don't get a lot of tourists here. And with this beautiful 1970s Soviet architecture, you have to wonder why! Tall crumbling apartment blocks, huge wide roads with massive ditches that have boards or slabs of concrete thrown across so that you can scramble to the stores, Soviet era public sculptures, and beautiful silver birches trees just starting to bud.
The locals stare in shock and horror at us. I am betting on causing a car accident.
We went in search of a restaurant, and after a lot of hemming and hawing came to Midina. Above a Russian casino, they had turned off the lights in the stairwell to discourage customers. Needless to say, we were the only people there, and the waitress was right pissed off to have someone show up. Asked if the place is open, we get a stony faced 'da' and gesture to the empty room
We buggered off.
Off to the BAM museum next, want to find out just how many Gulag prisoners built this train line.
Next up is a mere 55 hours on to Komsomolsk. We are going second class, in a compartment with four beds, and a door, hurrah. This will be our last super big slog, after that we are going to be doing just one or two day journeys. For which my back is very grateful :-) We do need to stock up on food, though, as unlike the earlier trains there are not hordes of babas selling things - from beer to kapusta perishky - on the side of the platform. Rather, here, the train brings in the supplies to the towns on the way.
I was going to go get whipped by birch branches in the Banya - I could really use a sauna - but it's 7C out, raining, and we are cold, wet and hungry. This is great! I love Siberia.
