Next we had to get ourselves to Moscow! As usual, the two options were bus or train.
The bus was a 16hr journey at 55EUR per person. Not too bad, but another long bus journey might just be the straw that breaks our backs, literally. So we checked out the train options.
For the train, there were first class berths with air-con, a hot meal and even a TV in the cabin. But waaaayy outside our price range. Scrolled down further to the lower price points and the closest price match to the bus option was the third class sleeper cabins. (The third class seats with no beds were even cheaper than the bus but we figured that a bed was worth an extra 10EUR).
So now we had two real contenders for our travel options.
Decided to do a little more research on the third class sleeper. The online community that has taken this journey seems to be pretty divided in its opinion. Some said it was amazing, even better than first class because the open cabins of third class had much better ventilation in the summer. Others basically made it seem like prison where you’d be worried about getting robbed and/or shanked while sleeping.
With no real way to figure out what to expect, we just went with the train option. We figured we’d put all the important stuff in one bag and chain it to whoever was sleeping in the top bunk. I mean, if someone works that hard to get to our measly 200USD (by now our Euros were wiped out and we just had some rubles and USD), then they probably deserve it.
Result: this was probably the best inter-country journey so far!
All aboard!
The cabin was really comfortable with two bunks on each side facing each other, and across a narrow corridor, there were two seats which converted into bunks later on. So a total of about 6 people in our space and overall pretty roomy. Our bunkies were all really nice people too – a Russian lady who didn’t say much, a student/journalist from Moscow, and a lovely Russian couple across the corridor. We got to talking (the student and the couple spoke good English) and were off!
Our side of the ‘cabin’
Top bunk
The train set off at around 5:30pm and we reached the Latvian border sometime before midnight. It was pretty cool because we didn’t have to get off the train for immigration (like we would have to for the bus). Instead, immigration came to us! So the other 4 folks in our ‘cabin’ have it real easy and receive their exit stamps really quickly. For us, the immigration lady is really thrown off by our strange, foreign passports. We didn’t need visas for EU so naturally she is perplexed when she can’t find a visa. She checks with her colleague about visa requirements for us. Then she looks at every single page to try and find out where we entered the EU, and finally discovers that it was by bus when we crossed from London to Paris some 2 weeks ago. And she’s just confused by how we have somehow landed up in Riga from Paris! Eventually, after about 5 minutes that felt much longer, she gives us our exit stamps! Phew!
In a little while, we’ve entered Russia!! Woohoo! The Russian immigration folks get on. And man, are they stern looking! We try to look innocent and smile but that probably only makes them more suspicious. For Russia, we have visas so the documents are less confusing and we’re grumpily welcomed.
The rest of the journey was not so eventful. More chatting with the folks in our cabin, some sandwiches for dinner, and time for bed. Our fears of getting robbed were completely unfounded because the luggage was stored under the bottom bunk and could only be accessed by lifting the bed. So unless someone could lift V (bottom bunkie) undetected, our stuff was safe.
A decent sleep later, we pulled into Moscow at around 10am!
(Comment from V: The beds aren’t terribly long so if you’re taller than 6ft you won’t fully fit on the bed.)
Oh my i would have problems on this bed for sure!