I concluded that it was a grandmother with the little boy, the man, a solo traveler. From the Trans siberian endless steppes became more entertaining when another two Russians who were friends of the men joined us. All of whom proceeded to get very drunk, so by ten o’clock they were well on the way to settling in our bunks, something I objected to, but managed to get rid of them as diplomatically as possible.
While the men had been drinking I noticed grandmother had slipped half a sleeping pill into the wee boy. He slept all night! The other half she had taken to assist her in doing the same. He was such a cutie, but no wonder he was so good, his grandmother appeared to be threatening him with a knife at one point, but with out understanding the language it was hard to decide what the problem was. The endless steppes stretched for kilometers, broken by cemeteries, sad looking villages that were so far from any sort of civilization one wondered how people coped with the isolation. I guess after living for generations in the same environment, that there was nothing to miss.
If you want to go to a city, you just got on the Trans siberian train. So strange seeing this huge train stopping to drop people off and pick others up, There was a couple of stops where the locals greeted the train with local food, crafts and smoked fish, though where the fish came from when you were living in the middle of a desert. Some had set up stalls, others just walked along the train with their wares in baskets. There was white patches like snow, in various places that we passed, I found out from a most helpful and friendly young man, that it was salt. He spoke some English and we passed some the time chatting
The stops were long enough to let passengers off to browse and enjoy the scene. The dining car attached to the train was in name only, there was little food to mention, although it had places to stand and enjoy drinks. The only beauty of the dining car was that it had an open window for taking videos from, where the carriages, had the windows kept closed. The samovar was most useful for the soups and coffee I had with me.
Having the bottom bunk means having safe storage under your bunk. Short of lifting you off, it provided security for my Ipad and backpack. The compartments stow all luggage of the four people allocated the bunks. There is storage above the door as well as under the bottom bunks, some open, some secure.
A peaceful night that soon passed, and it was back to another day of the endless deserts, strangely not in the least boring. The Ipad was a wonderful source of entertainment. I carried extra power packs in case there were no charging facilities. While there were some, they were in the corridor of the train and I was loathe to leave any thing out of sight. So stayed with the packs.
Another night on the train proved an interrupted one, the sleeping pill did not work on the child, who woke about 3am and refused to settle again. They departed the train at 5.30am; I was pleased to see them go, but felt sorry for the wee boy. Woken early there was nothing to do but to watch the scenery as we approached Almaty. After the brown and tedious scenes from the last day and a half it turned into truly stunning morning. The sunrise touching the tops of snow capped mountains in the distance, beyond the soft green tips of spring on the trees. Spring flowers so evident, the standard of homes above what I had seen previously. A truly stunning and beautiful arrival. A couple of hours later the Trans siberian train arrived in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
The young friend I had met, stayed with me until the guide arrived to drop me at the hotel; he was kindly concerned that I would be left alone in a strange country.