Another train story! This time from Kazan overnight to Yekaterinburg, Russia in 2015. It was my second overnight leg heading toward Vladivostok.
My train compartment wound up filled with three older Russians: a gentleman and a married couple. The close confines of the train had a way of gelling its passengers together; I never did figure out if they were related to one another.
This train was older. In new trains, the bedding is in place for the upper berths while built into the seatbacks for the lower berth that only needed to be folded down. This older train had separate mattresses and blankets located within the compartment, requiring unraveling and prepping. The conductor kindly provided the sheets, but passengers were required to make their own beds. I discretely took queues from my fellow Russians for the best approach and quietly went to sleep to the gentle swaying and low rumble of the train.
The following day there was still a few hours until my arrival in Yekaterinburg in the early afternoon. I woke up to find the communal table filled with tea, instant coffee, sausages, cucumbers, and bread. Not to be embarrassed again, I came prepared having brought cookies and pretzels. Placing my goods on the table to be shared became an immediate icebreaker, leading to a dialogue mostly through pictures on their flip phones and my iPad. I learned they were from somewhere deep in Siberia and had many hours to go beyond my disembarkation in Yekaterinburg.
What the table looked like before adding my cookies and pretzels!
In particular, they were inquisitive about my clothing and concerned about me freezing. Pulling up my pants to reveal my ankle, I showed them my long underwear. They laughed, unimpressed, as if to say, “please, long underwear goes without saying.”
Next, I demonstrated that my leather jacket had a special winter liner. This did not excite them. I then pulled out both my Uniqlo vest and jacket made from down, a warm feather found on birds. It was unclear if I was able to convince them that the material was designed to keep warm.
However, I modeled the clothing, putting on the down vest, the down jacket, and my leather jacket with winter liner at the same time. Their fear eased. To further quell any lingering doubts, I pulled out one of my Uniqlo HEATTECH undershirts, designed to keep warm. They felt the material and closely examined it, but were skeptical. I felt grateful for their concern, but troubled that they might be right.
The conductor interrupted my fashion show having had come by to return my ticket. This signaled approximately thirty minutes until my next stop, Yekaterinburg. I would come to learn that on overnight sleeper trains this procedure ensures passengers were aware their stop was coming. I admired how this protocol communicated critical information without needing to speak a word.
// Oliver