Поезд #4

With my wake-up knock at 6:40 am, I slowly got out of bed. Chloe and I had opted in for the breakfast add-on that this hostel offered. Considering I would not have woken up without some food and coffee, it was the right idea. Usually, I skip breakfast and go straight through until lunch. After eating, Chloe and I said our goodbyes as she had to hit the road to the bus station to find the right bus to the right place; booking online seemed a bit risky. I slept a bit more before finally rolling out of bed around 7:40. I showered, packed up, and headed straight to the train station. Just as I suspected, there was no security to pass through, just as when I arrived in Irkutsk. It’s pretty strange since Russia has had its fair share of terrorist attacks on its soil, and the trains are federally controlled.

I looked at the board to see which platform I needed to get to; platform 3. I found my wagon, showed the attendant my passport and made my way to my window seat. This leg of the trip is about 8 hours (I know, not that long). However, what makes this leg so great is that the train tracks wrap around the coast of Lake Baikal, providing a fantastic scenic movie as you travel from Irkutsk to Ulan-Ude. While my window wasn’t the cleanest, I didn’t mind. The 8 hours on this train flew by, and I got plenty of work done.

When the time came, I got my stuff together and hopped off the train in Ulan-Ude. This station was much more ornately decorated than the one on the other side of Lake Baikal in Irkutsk. Again, there was way less security here. After locating my hostel, I realized I needed to use the footbridge that connected all the platforms to cross the street and climb down the stairs. My hostel was right in front of the stairs – at least, this would make getting to the train for Vladivostok very easy. Off into the city!