Despite being only a day east of Moscow, the temperature has started to fall. At our first stop in the morning in Kirov the temperature is -9C. The fresh snow covers black ice, and I manage to fall over and make a fool of myself in front of some very tough-looking soldiers. They would look even tougher if they put their boots on though – it’s obviously not very cold to them: they are wearing a strange outfit of combats together with slippers in the snow.
I’m settling into a train routine already. First thing each morning I have an admin session, procure food and water from the platform at the first stop, and then head to the restaurant for breakfast. (I don’t tend to eat lunch, as the days are short.)
I then spend the morning writing and the afternoon reading, but hoping off each time the train stops.
I’m not sure what Sergei, the providnitsas, makes of me, but I think he realises that I might have played this game before. Like some sort of higher order Masonic secret, I indicate quietly that I know about the secret cupboard in the outer compartment. This is the place where I like to chill wine and store cheese. We didn’t do a funny handshake, but he gets out his special key and opens it up for me.
Of course, I actually have this key myself, but I don’t feel it is quite right to reveal this to him. It’s the same key that opens my window and allows me to reduce the temperature in my compartment from roasting hot to about 20 degrees – or well below freezing if I get it wrong. I do this under the cover of darkness and close it again at major stops. Ice quickly forms where moisture from my breath hits the freezing outside world and this needs to be carefully removed before the window can be re-sealed properly. I have a special tool for this purpose – it’s an unmodified RZD coat hanger.
