Trains!

Our train ride was a great success. As we approached, we were a bit nervous, for we were told that we had the most inexpensive seats on the train. So immediately our minds wandered to sharing compartments with chickens and other domesticated animals. As is turns out, the Rotary spared no expense and we were quite comfortable in our cabin (“berth”) which contained four beds and a table. But perhaps our biggest surprise was our send off. A lot of our Omsk friends joined us on the platform directly before our departure and bestowed upon us many gifts, food and trinkets to send us on our way. They brought balloons which we released before our send off and toasted us with champagne! The symbolism behind the balloons is that if you release a balloon upon your departure that you leave an item in your departure city expressing your intent to return. It was a wonderful send off and we were all very sad to move on from our new friends.

Once on the train we spent a few moments getting situated in the compartments, speaking with our neighbors from the Netherlands and getting ready for a 20+ hour journey through Siberian Wilderness. A good portion of our trip was spent at night but since the sun does not completely set until around 11pm here and rises at about 5am we had a good portion of time to sit and enjoy the scenery. There were many small villages with wooden houses complete with large piles of birch firewood. Some of these wooden houses are painted similar colors to the homes in Florida. There are a lot of green and even pink homes and factories. Colors we did not expect to see in Siberian Russian villages. It is tough to imagine how they can survive the winters in such houses knowing that it can get as low -50 degrees!

The wilderness was amazing with birch trees and cattle strewn throughout. Joe won the competition for first identified four legged creature spotted that was not domesticated. It was a rabbit with white feet, of course no one else was around to see it.

We all slept decently well but being in a new surrounding combined with the rocking motions and surrounding train noises provided for sporadic nights sleep. Needless to say we were able to catch up on some much needed rest after our week worth of excursions.

Finally, we arrived on time in Krasnoyarsk with a warm greeting from many of the local Krasnoyarsk Rotarians. We each met our new host families eager to begin the bonding processes all over again. We all visited our new homes, most of them complete with children, cats and in Apartments located high above the Krasnoyarsk Skyline! It is a more mountainous region so the views can be quite spectacular. We are very excited to see what adventures behold us in this seemingly wonderful city!