JAN 28, 19 .. OUR LAST FULL DAY IN TAYSHET (TAISHET) RUSSIAN SIBERIA
Tomorrow morning Mike and I will be leaving Taishet on the 9am Trans-Siberian Train heading for my home-away-from-home, Irkutsk.
I have published a post on blogspot showing some scenes of Taishet.
http://bobbacaps.blogspot.com/2019/01/jan-28-19-tayshet-sound-it-as-taishet.html
When I arrive home in Irkutsk tomorrow night the 29th of January, it will mark completion of two full months (November 30, 2018 – January 29, 2019) of travel here in Russian Siberia.
My truth : IF you are ever going to visit the Russian Federation, begin with a visit to Siberia.
My truth : IF you are ever going to visit Siberia, visit during the heart of winter.
This morning at 8:30am Mike and I were on the platform at the Railway Station to make 100% sure of where we will need to be tomorrow.
So far only Patti knows about the nightmare of our departure from Mariinsk last Thursday the 24th of January.
Mike had gotten us to what he believed was our correct train boarding platform. I, on the other hand, had a bad feeling about being on platform 3-4. I had asked Mike to be sure which platform we needed to be on before we actually went to it. I did NOT NOT NOT want to walk up 60 snowy/icy steps, walk across the snowy/icy flyover and then walk down 60 snowy/icy steps and be on the wrong platform.
In the two photos below, you can see the overhead flyover and the steps down to the platforms.
Sure enough, last Thursday in Mariinsk, a train slowly rolled in on a different/distant platform than we were on. I said to Mike, “That is our train Mike.” This was my worst nightmare happening. We had to walk back up 60 snowy/icy steps, walk across the snowy/icy flyover and then walk down another 60 snowy/icy steps.
When we did this we were on the wrong side of our train!
Finally after a passionate and heated discussion between Mike and the train conductor on coach 12 she allowed us (evidently against regulations) to ‘cut through her coach’ to get to its boarding side. This saved us from a third set of 60 steps up and 60 steps down. Then we had to run-like-hell from coach 12 all the way to our coach 16. We made it with no time to spare.
So today we made a dry run. We now know precisely where we need to be and where tomorrow’s coach 11 will be when the train stops. We’ve three (3) minutes time to board.
Then, after we’d seen Train 100 come in and leave, Mike talked to a Taishet Railway Station supervisor who said to Mike, “Call this phone number in Moscow.” Mike did and Moscow said, “Talk to them in Taishet!”
Mike talked to a different Taishet supervisor.
She said, “YES! We will have our staff carry your bags to the train, then onto the train, and to your compartment. The train will not leave until you are settled.” Then, pointing to me she asked Mike, “How much does he weigh?”
She thought Mike wanted ME to also be carried up 60 steps and down 60 steps and then on board the train!
I told her, “I can walk myself.”
More to come.
Cap and Patti
- JAN 27, 19 .. I LIVE IN A WORLD OF ONE-LINERS
- JAN 29, 19 (Part 2 of 2) .. OUT OF TAYSHET.. ON TO IRKUTSK RUSSIAN SIBERIA
4 thoughts on “JAN 28, 19 .. OUR LAST FULL DAY IN TAYSHET (TAISHET) RUSSIAN SIBERIA”
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Now here it is in print .. your worst nightmare .. being on the wrong platform for your train departure in Mariinsk, after having asked that it be confirmed you were in the right place. I cannot imagine how fast my heart might have been beating having to make a last minute change with all those steps. And then, you ended up on the wrong side of your train. I had not known that one last detail! So, in Tayshet you have scouted things out at the railway station the day before departing and you already KNOW FOR SURE which platform to be on … this with the train only stopping for what you have been told is a THREE MINUTE stop. Smart! Hope this trip is another good one. You’ve had a great two-month run, but I know you will also be glad to get back to Irkutsk and your apartment. Love, Patti
I didn’t mention this : The lady supervisor here in the Taishet Railway Station told us that, because of us (me mainly although Mike too is struggling) the train will be stopped for eleven (11) minutes. Wow huh! All of this being due to Mike wanting to make this an easier departure for the two of us.
In Mariinsk the train is scheduled to be stopped for 20 minutes. Had that not been the case we’d simply have missed the train. It was a job to get our stuff up onto the train from the wrong side and then back down off the train onto the proper side of the train and then to hike/run from coach 12 down to coach 16.
YOU and only Greg and other India train travelers can fully appreciate this situation. Much Love .. Cap
Okay, that was a laugh out loud! The Railway Station supervisor wanting to know how much you weighed! Too much.
If they were going to carry me onto the train, they needed to know my weight. I assured her I could manage to get myself onto the train. I weigh 81 kilograms. Smiling .. Cap