Train - Irkutsk to Yekateringburg - Day 1

First-class on #009 (Baikal)

The countryside leaving Irkutsk on Wednesday 1^st was much more developed than we had previously seen – more roads, well developed towns and cultivation rather than forest. By morning, we were seeing more forests, with rolling country and tall pines, interspaced with some birch.

Overnight we seemed to have been delayed by about one hour, which was whittled down to 30 minutes by evening.

During the day we travelled from Tayshet to Tayga, passing through the large city of Krasnoyarsk. At Ilanskaya, we bought some cabbage filled pastries and large met pelmenis from station vendors. In the afternoon at Krasnoyarsk, we bought some excellent cold beers.

Steam engine display at Krasnoyarsk

Dinner in the dining car was good solyanka soup and some dubious mains. Other than us, the dining car was empty. Since we have our good companion, Garson, in our cabin, we decided to forego the delights of one of the dining car reds and have a Baltica.