International Railroad Discussion > Interior of 1st Class Russian sleeper

Pictures of a typical fairly new Russian sleeping car, in this case 1st class. Very comfortable, quiet, and smooth riding. Amazingly I had the two berth room to myself all the way from Beijing to Moscow. Last year I had a roommate on the Rossiya between Moscow and Irkutsk. Of course the cars have a samovar that always has hot water 24/7 perfect for making a cup of tea or coffee, heating some noodles. The provodnitsa cleaned the entire car several times a day and the restrooms were as clean as an operating room.

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Tha nks for the pix. I've been trying to convince dear spouse to do Hong Kong-Beijing-Moscow-London, pretty much the longest trip I can put together by rail. She's cool with all of it except the Russian part. Looks to be a decent sleeper, so maybe this will help.

Through car, all the way Beijing to Moscow?

march_hare Wrote:
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> Tha nks for the pix. I've been trying to convince
> dear spouse to do Hong Kong-Beijing-Moscow-London,
> pretty much the longest trip I can put together by
> rail. She's cool with all of it except the
> Russian part. Looks to be a decent sleeper, so
> maybe this will help.
>
> Through car, all the way Beijing to Moscow?


That would be a great trip though you can put together one a bit longer. It's possible to travel from London to Singapore by rail except across Cambodia, I did that last year. It took three months but it was very worth every minute of it. Both routes from Moscow to Beijing, via Manchuria and Mongolia have through cars. You will find that 2nd class is much cheaper than first, the cars are identical except the 2nd class car has four berths per room. A great resource is seat61 dot com, Mark Smith is the expert on rail travel world wide.
I have pictures of that trip on Flickr, message me if you would like the url.

march_hare Wrote:
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>
> Through car, all the way Beijing to Moscow?


Not just one car, but enough to be called a "train"....

I was in an SV (1st Class) sleeper several weeks ago between Lvov and Kiev. Very nice.....although the travel time (dep 10:50 pm, arrival 6:40 am) doesn't really allow one to really enjoy the accommodations.

Pics forthcoming.....

chs7-321 Wrote:
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> march_hare Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> >
> > Through car, all the way Beijing to Moscow?
>
>
> Not just one car, but enough to be called a
> "train"....


Very correct chs7-321!

chs7-321 Wrote:
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> I was in an SV (1st Class) sleeper several weeks
> ago between Lvov and Kiev. Very nice.....although
> the travel time (dep 10:50 pm, arrival 6:40 am)
> doesn't really allow one to really enjoy the
> accommodations.
>
> Pics forthcoming.....

Really looking forward to seeing them! I've always wanted to visit Lvov, heard nothing but good things about it.

GettingShort Wrote:
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>
> Really looking forward to seeing them! I've always
> wanted to visit Lvov, heard nothing but good
> things about it.


Very nice and friendly city.....language-wise too.

I was born in Kiev and immigrated to the US when I was 9, thus while I understand Ukrainian, I cannot really speak it. All interaction with locals was in Russian from my side. Replies were about 50/50 Russian/Ukrainian......such dual-language conversations are in fact very common on the street in many places in Ukraine.

While this contradicts current Russian propaganda, it is in line with most blogs of Russian citizens who have visited Lvov in recent 6-8 months.

Most Ukrainians seem to be fluent in both languages. My friends son speaks only Ukrainian at school but Russian is their normal daily language even though they are Kiev born and raised. BTW, if you want occupy a room alone in a first class sleeper it's easy. Just book both beds. All you need is a name and passport number of a friend and ticket. They don't care if they don't show up.

andersonb109 Wrote:
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. My friends son speaks only Ukrainian at
> school but Russian is their normal daily language
> even though they are Kiev born and raised.

Significant majority of the native inhabitants of Kiev, despite it being the capital of Ukraine, have Russian as their first language. In fact, traditionally Kiev has been a Russian-speaking city even before Soviet days (with it being the third largest city in the USSR, it's prob not much of a surprise). However, most of those same Russian-speaking people are also fluent in Ukrainian, and a typical native "Kievan" in the present day is likely to hold a set of political views that might seem contradictory to an outside observer.

GettingShort Wrote:
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> chs7-321 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I was in an SV (1st Class) sleeper several
> weeks
> > ago between Lvov and Kiev. Very
> nice.....although
> > the travel time (dep 10:50 pm, arrival 6:40 am)
> > doesn't really allow one to really enjoy the
> > accommodations.
> >
> > Pics forthcoming.....
>
> Really looking forward to seeing them! I've always
> wanted to visit Lvov, heard nothing but good
> things about it.

I'll be there in a week for a wedding! I will be traveling Frankfurt - Berlin - Warsaw - Krakow - Lviv outbound and Lviv - Kosice - Prague - Dresden - Leipzig - Frankfurt return. The downside is that I am recovering from mono and am on doctor's orders to stay away from alcohol for the next six weeks, which will certainly affect my experience at the wedding!

pennengineer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> GettingShort Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > chs7-321 Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > I was in an SV (1st Class) sleeper several
> > weeks
> > > ago between Lvov and Kiev. Very
> > nice.....although
> > > the travel time (dep 10:50 pm, arrival 6:40
> am)
> > > doesn't really allow one to really enjoy the
> > > accommodations.
> > >
> > > Pics forthcoming.....
> >
> > Really looking forward to seeing them! I've
> always
> > wanted to visit Lvov, heard nothing but good
> > things about it.
>
> I'll be there in a week for a wedding! I will be
> traveling Frankfurt - Berlin - Warsaw - Krakow -
> Lviv outbound and Lviv - Kosice - Prague - Dresden
> - Leipzig - Frankfurt return. The downside is that
> I am recovering from mono and am on doctor's
> orders to stay away from alcohol for the next six
> weeks, which will certainly affect my experience
> at the wedding!

Mono or not, sounds like a great trip. I'm headed over there myself November 4. Flying LAX to Istanbul, 4 days in Istanbul then on to Moscow where I'll join up with the Young Pioneer Tours, Eurasian tour. Moscow, Belarus, Kiev, Chernobyl, Transnistria, Moldova, Bulgaria and then all the Balkan states including Albania. One of the great international pub crawls, with a few trains thrown in.