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Somewhere in Belarus...
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Half an hour or so after I wrote that last entry, the fun really began. I ordered a Bockwurst (is this part of the fun? I'm not sure...) and boarded my train to Moscow. A few minutes after finding my 3-bunk cabin, the conductor came in to check my ticket. He was drunk. He didn't speak English, and I don't speak German or Russian (well not at 9pm and sober!) and he just chuckled and walked off. Since then when addressing me, the conductors (all of them) have said "hello England".
There's one person in this carriage who speaks English, a Belgian man. Only, he doesn't speak Russian or German, so he's of little use to me. His wife, however, speaks French and Russian - success! The people I'm sharing a cabin with are a young Russian couple, with their 3-year-old son, Sasha. They've completely taken over the cabin, but they do keep giving me food (they bought me an ice cream earlier), so I figure it evens out. Apart from that, I've lived on bread and tuna paste today - must prepare a bit more before my next train journey!
I slept through most of Germany, and woke up as we were pulling into Warsaw. The train stayed there for at least an hour while some carriages were added and others were taken away - a great opportunity to stretch my legs! The conductors always leave all the train doors open when we stop like that, so sitting in the vestibule is quite pleasant, especially in this heat.
We had another long stop in Brest, on entering Belarus. First came the customs folks in their massive uniform caps, looking very officious. Passport checks took about an hour. Then, after stopping in Brest station, the train pulled into a large, covered train yard. Here, the carriages were lifted one by one, and the wheels (or bogeys) were changed to cover the standard Russian railway track. This took at least an hour, though it was quite interesting to watch - no doubt a train enthusiast's wet dream. I went to the toilet in the train yard, and when I came back, the carriage was 2m off the ground! We then spent another hour inexplicably waiting in Brest station.
Impressions of Belarus... lots of forest, communist architecture, and farms. I also saw an actual, real-life gypsy caravan! Sometimes zooming past things at speed has its advantages, I doubt I could've resisted the urge to try out my Borat impression on the locals..
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