Step into the untamed expanse of Russia’s wild heartland
There are many reasons not to go to Siberia.
Temperatures are below zero for most of the year and the locals are renowned
for their frosty demeanour (манера поведения). But as
a rule, those who decide to take the journey don’t regret it.
Siberia is where the
Tungushka meteorite fell in 1908, devastating hundreds of square miles of
forest.
One
form of extreme tourism is trainhopping, which is growing in
popularity.
Trainhoppers cross Siberia on suburban (пригородный) trains, long
distance passenger trains and even freight trains. Encounters with fellow
travellers in open carriages are worth more than a thousand guidebooks. And the
landscape seen through the window, rushing along the route of the
Trans-Siberian railway, will stay lodged in your memory (память) forever. In a letter to Cherry Vanilla in 1973,
David Bowie described his journey across Siberia in an old
Soviet train: “All day long, we were travelling along the majestic forests,
rivers and wide plains. I could not have imagined that there are still spaces
in the world filled by such virgin wilderness.”
Siberia
scores top points for its ubiquitous (повсеместный) wild beauty though it doesn’t score so highly on
service and comfort. Which is more important? That’s for you to decide.
