Life On Board #2

We are really getting into the long train journeys and have a good set of routines to while away the hours of having nothing to do and all day to do it in. The first port of call are the windows, looking out of which is like watching the Discovery Channel. You snap out of gazing at the sights not really knowing how long you have been staring into the middle distance. Then there is the food. Maybe a sweet every half an hour, which is a pleasure to look forward to (“Oooh, a chinese milk sweet please!” or “Can I have one of those bright pink Russian ones!”). Then there is a hot drink to pass twenty minutes or so. And then the joy of meal times! Everyone crowds anxiously round to choose their particular brand of instant noodle and then they might jazz it up with canned fish, or have it with vegetables and a hunk of whatever the local equivalent to bread is. Maybe it will be finished with a course of Ritz crackers with peanut butter if we are feeling particularly decadent!

The samovar provides all the hot water and is nestled at one end of the carriage, bubbling away and looking for all the world like a household boiler, but probably not breaking down and needing fixing for vast sums of money on such a regular basis. On this train we are given ornate metal holders for our glasses and use them to make tea, coffee, hot chocolate and, of course, wine. There are also people getting on the train with cold drinks and beers, but we haven’t yet changed up any roubles to try out their refreshments.


The entertainment (after the views, food and drink) are many and varied, but include making a rocket out of an old cardboard box, chatting to people at stops, read our books, dozing, playing on the PSP, bunk gymnastics, playing with pet shops or superheroes and diary writing. Then there is the dreaded ‘Daddy School’ which consists of making the children do an hour or so of something to prevent their brains turning into mush after nine weeks of no school. Maisie usually submits to this torture in a mild way, but then spends ages sighing and noodling and avoiding doing anything of any real substance. Harry reacts in a much more extreme manner and usually tries to escape the carriage. I haven’t yet chased him over the train rooftops, Indiana Jones stylee, but we still have four days of train journey ahead. He is then dragged to the small compartment table, complaining all the way, but eventually settles down to do fifteen minutes of some low level activity before we give up.


One of the highlights however, has been to watch Doctor Who. We have said goodbye to the wonderful David Tenant and have quite liked Matt Jones. Watching top notch BBC entertainment on a train barreling across the steppes is wonderful and we are having to ration out the episodes in order to make season five last as long as possible. After this we have our fallback position which is Bear Grylls; watching him chew on a live grub makes even Maisie more thankful for her mutton pot noodle...