Eastern Europe

First impression

My first impression of Eastern Europe was pretty crazy. In the middle of the night, the compartment door on the train through Hungary was suddenly wrenched open. Two customs officers wanted to see our passports and gave them back to us. A short time later, the door flew open again - it was about 2am. A woman came in with a vacuum cleaner and vacuumed our compartment. A few minutes later, the door opened again and a man with a sprayer on his back "disinfected" everything. I tried to open the window, but it was locked. The whole car smelled really bad afterwards. It all happened while the train was crossing Hungary. You could still feel the Iron Curtain very clearly back then.

Soviet Union - Trans-Siberian Railway (approx. 8,220 kilometers from Moscow to Nakhodka near Vladivostok)

The train continued across the border to Poland. In the morning we had coffee or tea and our passports were checked again. We weren't allowed to leave the train in Warsaw because we were only in transit. The train stood there for five hours. Suddenly, an official came into our compartment with a suitcase and explained that we had been in Poland for more than four hours and that the law required each of us to change 10 US dollars. We asked: "What are we supposed to do with the zlotys? There's no way we can spend the money." We couldn't change her mind - and a policeman had also joined us. So we were given a lot of Polish zlotys. After a while, we went into the restaurant car and asked for something to eat. An old man who knew a bit of German said: "I can make you a nice sandwich." He had fresh bread, cut off two thick slices, opened a large can of "Made in USA" ham, spread butter on the bottom and mustard on the top and put two thick slices of ham in each sandwich. We ordered a beer each and gave the man a few extra zlotys on top of the price - the sandwiches really were in a class of their own. I always had these zlotys with me on the whole trip. You couldn't exchange them anywhere.

Experiences on the road

This trip was truly unique. We were picked up from our hotel and taken to the train station in Moscow for the Trans-Siberian Express. We boarded the train and had a 2nd class compartment with four padded couchettes. There was a toilet in the carriage and a small compartment with running water for washing. There was also a samovar for hot water, which was fired with wood. And two conductors looked after the carriage - they brought us a large glass of tea in the morning and once in the afternoon.

The conductors also kept an eye on the passengers

They brought us crispbread every morning. While we ate breakfast in the dining car, they tidied up our compartment. In Moscow, the Intourist agency had given us a lot of meal vouchers - one for breakfast, one for lunch and one for dinner every day. I was never able to eat all the food I was entitled to. That's why a bill was written for every meal and I was always given an amount back in kopecks because I hadn't used it all up.

The normal people used the train

As soon as the train set off from Moscow, the dining car was overflowing with food and drinks - there was even stuff under the tables and benches. It wasn't a tourist train, but a normal train for locals. There was 1st class, 2nd class and a restaurant car. We were served our meals in tin plates. That didn't bother me - if you eat out of a tin bowl... At the very back of the train was 3rd class. Simple people sat there who you never saw in the restaurant car. Most of them brought their own food: bacon, cheese and often transparent bottles of something to drink. Haha. The train even had its own radio station where messages were broadcast. Every now and then a man would come through the carriage to keep order, especially if someone had had too much to drink. The windows could only be opened a small crack. Later I'll tell you what I did with the kopecks I collected in a plastic bag at the end of the trip!

Encounters and landscapes on the Trans-Siberian Express

The landscapes were very varied: huge birch forests, then again dense pine forests. At the small stations, when the train stopped, you could buy radishes, roasted potatoes and other things from older women. The women often carried their goods in converted baby carriages. The line was mostly electrified, with a small section also operated by steam locomotive and sometimes by diesel locomotive.

The military got into our car

At one station, about 10 young soldiers got into our car. They had everything with them: Kalashnikovs, complete parachutes and all their other equipment. The conductors told them to sit on the floor in the aisle and not to go into the compartments. I couldn't accept that. There were still two free beds in our compartment, and because we had also done military service in Switzerland, we told the conductors that two soldiers could sleep in our compartment.

They picked two and told them insistently that they had to behave well. (I didn't understand Russian, but the tone of voice said it all).

We got on as well as we could with the two soldiers. They slept in our compartment for three nights and also offered us sausage, bread and something to drink.

As they left the train, they shouted "Do svidaniya!" and "Sasebo!" several times. (or something like that).

In general, we always tried to talk to as many people as possible on the train. It was very interesting how most of them talked about their country and politics back then. They often ended the conversation with the words "Sovietski Soyuz".

The train ran day and night until we arrived in Khabarovsk. This city lies on the bend of the Amur River and is not far from the Chinese border. After checking into our room, we set off on our own and visited some interesting places: the Khabarovsk City Park, the Khabarovsk Cliff and a lovely walk along the Amur River.

From Khabarovsk to Nakhodka

The following evening, the Intourist representative took us to the train. I was really amazed when we boarded - no comparison with the train from Moscow to Khabarovsk. Pretty conductors, 2nd class with four berths, which were nicely furnished with sheets and cushions. Everything was very well looked after.

This last section was almost a luxury.

At the time, there were many tourists on the train who had flown by plane from Moscow to Lake Baikal and on to Khabarovsk and spent their last night in the Soviet Union on the Trans-Siberian Express. I hardly saw any ordinary people. We went into the dining car - all the tables were covered with white tablecloths, gold-plated cutlery and beautiful china. I think we were the two youngest people in the whole carriage. Everyone else was much older. The wait staff were all pretty, well-dressed women with big smiles. The food was comparable to a good Western European restaurant: starter, main course, dessert, good wine or German beer.

Incidentally, we also ate well in the dining car from Moscow to Khabarovsk, but much more simply.

Our ship is waiting in the port of Nakhodka for the crossing to Japan (Yokohama)

We arrived in Nakhodka in the morning and drove straight to the port. We boarded the ship - a Russian ship. We spent two nights and three days on board. The crew was impeccably dressed, some even spoke a little English. When we left the train and boarded the ship, they took the last part of our Soviet visa from us.

We got a good cabin, the food was okay, and there was entertainment in the evening (it wasn't an ocean liner after all). And lo and behold - the mostly female crew were happy to be invited to dance. Many male passengers naturally tried to get closer to the dancing ladies. At midnight on the dot, a male ship's officer came on board, blew his whistle three times - and all the ladies were gone. The same program on the second evening. We were no longer surprised, we now knew that you couldn't expect anything other than dancing from the ladies. We just thought it was funny.

Big difference in the last section of the Trans-Siberian Express

After dinner, I remembered my plastic bag full of kopecks. What to do with it now? Just wait until I'm on the ship to Japan and throw everything overboard? As a joke, I said to Rolf: "I'll ask if we can get vodka for the kopecks."

The waitress laughed, went into the office and suddenly all the employees started laughing out loud. And sure enough - four bottles of vodka (½ liter each) appeared on the table. So what now? We couldn't possibly drink that alone. I told the waitress to ask the other guests if they would drink with us. Practically everyone agreed. It turned out to be a really nice, fun evening.