Russian Soldier Forces

Between Irkutsk and Moscow we went through a half dozen or so roommates in our four berth train compartment. First we had a pleasant elderly couple headed to there winter home in the middle of no where Siberia – it seems people would want to visit a nice warm beach in the winter but not this couple. They were with us for the first full twenty hours or so. Then after they left we had two young girls join us. They were only on for about eight hours or so and did not speak the slightest little word of English. After they left we got two new men and neither of them spoke any English at all but they had lots of tasty foods, which they willfully shared with us. This was very appreciated since we were now into about fifty hours on the train and had exhausted our food supplies and the dining car left a little to be desired. At last when these two men go off we were left with a good six to eight hours of privacy before they next group of people got on.

So there we were sitting down to dinner on our first night of the 77-hour stretch of train between Irkutsk and we were surrounding by a bunch of young men headed into Moscow for some military training after spending the last few months hunkered down in a Russian base in the middle of Siberia. They were ready to party and little did we know how much they wanted to party. So we started talking to these guys and working our way through a conversation of horribly broken English, but it was fun and the beers kept coming. And these weren’t just any beers they were 6% 24-ounce cans of intense Russian beer. So after about six of these we were having a lot of fun and the war propaganda movies were put on the TV and I was told that I was now a Russian soldier too. One of them then proceeded to take his shirt off and trade it with mine. So after eight beers or so I stumbled back to our cabin to find my beautiful Mary awake and reading and in no mood to deal with my diluted state of wellbeing.

Now a hangover is never a fun thing but usually a few Advil and a couple of glasses of water later you are ready for your day. Not this time – this time we were on a train for another full 48 hours and the train was going over a particularly bumpy section of track for a few thousand miles. This left the upset stomach and headache plenty of room to grow only worse as the day past.

So at last I learned my lesson and this is a lesson everyone needs to follow when riding on the Trans Siberian and drinking with the Russian Army – They have been in a bunker for the past winter doing nothing but shooting their AK-47 and drinking beer. Do not try and keep up with them and certainly do not except the last beer.