Trans-Siberian Railway Day 2: Somewhere in Siberia
Unsurprisingly, I woke up still on the train. The lights were out, and since I had slept all day, I couldn't sleep anymore. It looked like no one was charging their devices, so I went out in front of the restroom to charge my phone. However, the conductor who was cleaning signaled for me to go back in and sleep. I guess on the Trans-Siberian Railway, lights out means you have to sleep. Of course, it doesn't mean they'll scold you if you don't fall asleep immediately; it just means that once everyone is asleep and the carriage gets quiet, you shouldn't make noise and should go lie down. There are no exceptions to this rule, whether you're a soldier or a civilian. My battery was dying, but the conductor lady spoke so fiercely that I gave up on charging and was about to head back. Just then, a soldier who looked like the youngest in the unit sharing our car was guarding his battery. Seeing my situation, he asked for my battery. I'm not sure if I understood him perfectly, but it sounded like he was offering to watch over my charger until the next station, telling me to leave it and go to sleep. They don't smile much, but the people here treat us so well that consideration seems ingrained in them. Looking at the photo, though, I'm not smiling at all either. I've completely become Russian.
Thanks to him taking over battery guard duty, I was able to lie back down and fall asleep. I woke up well-rested to a late morning. Actually, I have no idea if it's early morning, late morning, or lunch. My watch roughly points to morning, but since our phones have no signal, we don't know what time zone our train is currently in, so we have to carefully watch what everyone else is doing. The time difference is one thing, but what I really can't get used to are the sunrise and sunset times. The sun rises so early and sets so late that you can't tell the time at all just by looking out the window. On top of that, our train's route keeps heading further north, so the latitude is increasing and the days are getting even longer. Because of this, the already confusing time has left me completely clueless about what time I woke up, how many hours until the sun goes down, or whether it's currently morning or lunch. I finally understand why all the train stations unified their clocks to Moscow time. If it were just tourists, this alone could have caused a massive panic, but fortunately(?) I am surrounded by 27 hungry soldiers with perfect biological clocks. They never eat earlier, later, or skip a meal. So, there's no need to overthink it; if I just eat when they eat, I might die from overeating, but I'll never starve to death.
I was thinking about getting some sleep after breakfast, but an English-speaking woman showed up with the soldiers and tried to strike up a conversation with us. Seriously, what was she doing yesterday, only to show up today? I feel like we wasted a whole day of fun. Her name is Oksana, or 'Oksy' for short. She's 22 and married, but even though she's married, she's traveling alone to Moscow to meet an online friend she's been gaming with for a year. ~~A wife who does housework but isn't great at it and loves gaming...~~ She has a pretty Japanese-style tattoo on her right arm, and fittingly for that tattoo, she has a very unique vibe. She really loves computer games and warmed up by talking about games for about 30 minutes, before soon taking on the role of interpreter between us and the surrounding soldiers. Not long after we started talking, more guys gathered around, and we began excitedly asking and answering questions in earnest.
"What do you do?"
"Why do you come here?"
We started talking about everything from obvious questions like these to personal curiosities like what games we like and how much an iPhone costs in Korea. You have no idea how hard we tried to have this conversation with each other yesterday.
Oksy, seriously, thank you. Your tattoo is really nice for $80.
After chatting excitedly, well past lunchtime, I looked out the window and noticed that the snowy fields of Siberia had quietly disappeared, replaced by sprawling plains. An endless plain stretching literally to the horizon was passing before my eyes. Then, by evening, a swampland unfolded. It feels like I'm passing through every type of terrain on Earth while riding a single train. A train where completely different landscapes unfold as time passes—I finally understand why people put the Trans-Siberian Railway on their bucket lists. As I get more and more used to riding the train, there's absolutely no time to be bored.
I think I'm really in luck today. Following Oksy in the morning, this time some guys who installed a translator app on their phones came over to talk. Their names are Genghis and Solbon. They look like they have Mongolian heritage his name is literally Genghis, like Genghis Khan and are very curious guys from Ulan-Ude. Fitting for their age 22 years old, more than a dozen years younger than me, they are extremely interested in electronics and are also very curious about how Russia appears to foreigners.
Besides electronics, we asked each other about various things, but what sparked curiosity on both sides was the difference in military life between Russia and Korea. In Russia, they have conscription and have to serve for a year and a half, during which they aren't allowed to drink alcohol while in transit or on base. Not knowing this, I offered them tequila twice, but they absolutely refused. If they were Korean soldiers, they probably would have looked around, downed it in one shot, and wiped their mouths clean, but these guys truly wouldn't touch it. On the outside, their behavior seems free and there doesn't seem to be much of a strict hierarchy, but internally, it looks like a military with stronger discipline than I thought.
Asking and answering questions about Russian food, Korean food, girlfriends, and whether we have kids or not, the frustration of not being able to communicate yesterday completely melted away. We showed them the photos we brought and finally wrapped up with talk about games, and before we knew it, it was evening. I can't remember if it was a blog or a book, but I read that when you ride the Trans-Siberian Railway, you grow fond of whoever is in your carriage. Sure enough, I've already grown attached to the 27 soldiers here and the grandmother sitting across from us. Unlike yesterday, we are now sharing food and drinks with each other, racing toward our common destination of Moscow, even though we're all going for different reasons.
Expenses (per person) None
Total Travel Expenses 525,936 KRW + 12,081 R + $53.16