Jam and gin

Continued from ; Listvyanka on the lake

Irkutsk - the China express

21st February 2004

I've got my ticket for the next leg of the journey . To Beijing , on the Trans-Mongolian section of the epic railway. Time to stock up on provisions . In the market I could have bought some nice puppies but settled instead for fruit and general foodstuffs and a present for Nadia. In return she presents me with a full jar of her delicious blackcurrant jam. A keepsake. Something to tuck away for hungry moments. What a beautiful gesture. I also had a parcel to post to the UK , and she'd already taken care of it. But alas, a can of Gin and Tonic that I had included is refused by the Russian postal authorities and returned to me instead. So I stow it in the main pack. I am equipped to deal with most emergencies now. With jam and gin.

Ulan Ude

5.30am , Irkutsk railway station. I wait in the departures hall being driven bananas by a sort of fairground attraction game of grab and drop the fluffy teddy into the basket. The electronic tune it plays repeats itself over and over. Train number 4 comes in on time. It's a Chinese train this one , and I'm sharing the 4 berth compartment with a group of stunning Chinese models all desperate to impress the Englishman with their erotic fantasy dancing and lingerie. Yeah, I wish. I am actually sharing the compartment with a Chinese man and his young son who is about 2 or 3 years old. We round lake Baikal at sunrise . The orange glow reflecting off the ice through fir trees is a real wonder. When the train stops, there is a frenzy of activity on the platform as hawkers shake handfuls of Omul fish at us like bunches of evil smelling flowers. I do very little except eat my provisions and sleep. There is a lovely old steam train at Ulan Ude where the Trans-Mongolian line branches off southwards. The main line we have now left behind points ahead to Vladivostok. Japan and the Pacific Ocean. A railway that spans two continents.