13 April: The train just keeps rolling.
Russia is one big country, the largest in the world. Just in Siberia there are over one million lakes, one of which is Lake Baikal – the deepest lake in the world. Even though Lake Baikal has a slightly smaller surface area than Lake Superior, Baikal is so deep that it has more fresh water than all five Great Lakes combined; one-fifth of the worlds supply of fresh water.
We will be on the Trans-Siberian Railway for seven days total, (five time zones) for a distance of 7,857km (4,715 miles) from Beijing to Moscow. And, we missed the portion of the railway that continues east 2,180 miles to Vladivostok on the Pacific Coast.
Today, I started self medicating with an antibiotic, Amoxicillin. This, not because I know it is a good choice but it seems the best of what we have available and I really don’t want to see a doctor, especially a Russian doctor.
All day we have been anticipating crossing from Asia into Europe, somehow most of us were in the dining car having dinner when it happened and we missed it. Charlotte and Steve saw the monument but didn’t know what it was until I explained.
Betty and I did see it 6 years ago. The crossing from Asia into Europe is marked by a granite oblisk about 15 feet high alongside the railroad tracks.
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There’s a fresh smattering of snow on the ground. Still in the birch forests just east of Tyumen. We went through Omsk at 1:40 in the morning. I missed it.
AN IMMENSE EXPANSE!
I jumped off the train in the afternoon and bought some M&M;’s and 5 bottles of Stella. Chuck got a bag of snow and cooled his beer. We both attracted quite a lot of attention but the Stella and M&M;’s were worth it. Fran