Pallada Hotel Novokuznetsk

Trans Siberian Express 12th - 15th July So the 'Rosea' is a train and a half, we were in 1st class this time which mean the beds are pre-made (ohlala), we have a/c as opposed to a fan and there's a tv (which didn't work but no matter), meanwhile are new mates are in a regular carriage that has broken a/c so thay was pretty rough - we lost the a/c for the last day and it was yuk. Amazingly Siberia in summer is hot and sticky. Also the dining car has chips and ...

I didn't wake till 10am after a great nights sleep (booze induced and we got that window closed finally). After a big breakfast we stopped at Omsk and I went and found Bristol Steve who had an extendable squeegee sponge. I mixed up some travel wash and water and we set about cleaning the cabin's window. It was pretty dirty and you need a clean window to take pictures. One of the guards complained that hurling water ...

So we went to Yaroslavsky train station to figure out Russian platform numbers and work out where the 68 to Tayga left from. With a little luck and lots of judgement we boarded our carriage and sat back in anticipation of meeting our companions for this two day leg of the journey. It turned out ok as a Russian family emerged out of the darkness and we set about many hours of comedy Russian and English, with hand gestures and ...

... corridor, as there were sockets there. I went to keep her company. The compartment door next to the socket was opened there were 3 men inside, one Mongolian in appearance the other two looked Russian. They started to try and talk to us. Our best attempts to communicate were not going too well until Paul walked past. With his Russian phrase book we were invited into the room and quickly established names. Lorraine returned back to the room having charged her phone enough. The ...