One of my greatest fears before embarking on this trip was that I'd be stuck in a train compartment for two days with some big drunk Russian who would force me to down shot after shot of vodka with him. Fortunately that didn’t happen. Everyone I shared the four-person second class cabins with was very pleasant. It is custom to bring a lot of food on the train and share all of it, and passengers tend to get into a rhythm of eating together at the same times. Sausage, cheese, bread and chocolate are the staples. These three guys were my cabin mates for the longest leg that I rode, from Yekaterinburg to Krasnoyarsk. All three of them were from Vladivostok, going home to visit family after working in European Russia. They loved my digital camera and I let them take several shots at some of the stations, but they were a bit blurry. It was a relief to be with some younger guys who understand that we speak different languages – some older Russian people will just keep talking to you and asking you questions, although you don’t need to understand Russian to know what those questions are, because they’re always the same: How old are you? Are you married? Where are your parents?