trans-siberian express day two

Up at 8am. I ventured out to see whether there had been a change to the toilet situation. There had. Tap fixed and second bog operative. I began to experiment with ways of washing myself in a confined toilet, while the train rocked and the chill was minus 20. Limited success. I spent the morning goofing out the window. Watching. I enjoyed it. The snow covered trees, the passing scenery and its ruggedness. There was traffic on the other line but mainly freight. This is how I spent the day light hours. By 3pm, it would be dark.

Still worried about whether I would be able to convert the dollars, I procastinated in finding out. I figured that the more time I spend in limbo, the better it would be when faced with a 'niet' as I waved my dollar around. I ate some salami. At 9pm, I thought enough is enough. I went to the dining carriage and attempted to communicate with the waiter. A gruesome looking fellow. Yes, they could change the dollars. Relief. At a sh*t rate, no matter. There were only 3 other diners. The menu was limited, the prices were in pencil, and at the bottom it was dated, in print, 1951. Hardly Michelin star. I could perfectly appreciate that this menu was created in 1951 as some of the items were 'Soviet' this and 'Soviet' that! My first meal was 8 euro, one course and a cup of tea. Hardly cheap, just made me think of that pencil.....

Nonetheless, I was starting to get into it. The goofing out the window, the little pecularities and so on. I used the timetable afixed to the wall of my carriage to figure when the train would stop and for how long. I made a point of jumping out at these intervals to stretch my legs and to acquire bread, etc. There was usually some old woman selling there wares. In freezing conditions. Minus 20 plus. These old Russian woman are as hard as nails.

I returned to my cabin and soon the melody of the train on the tracks had me asleep.