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Overall, the Trans-Siberian railway is very monotonous. From Moscow to Tayshet (4515 KM from Moscow and about half way between the capital and the Pacific ocean), most of Russia is surprisingly flat with few landscapes capable of fueling the imagination. On top of this the train stations themselves did not have much to offer during each 20 to 30 minute stops other than some Soviet architecture, other trains and kiosks selling candy, processed foods and cigarettes (apparently, beer was available for those who knew how to find it - it is illegal to take alcohol onto the train, but you can buy beer in the bar or from your wagon’s provonista, conductor…)

 

We discovered one way to take our minds off the unvarying landscape and the mechanical bumping of the train at Barabinsk station (3035 KM from Moscow). For the first time since we boarded the train we encountered some of the legendary Trans-Siberian platform Babushka vendors with their home cooked, Russian delicacies. Naturally, as soon as soon as these new treats became available, we jumped at the opportunity to try things out.

 

How to eat a smoked omul while traveling on the Trans-Siberian with only an (almost) uselless pen knife

 

October 15th, 2013

 

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We found pickles (purchased from an old lady with warts similar to those found on the pickles), meat and onion dumplings, meat-filled hash browns, meat and cabbage beignets, crepes filled with sweet cheese, and a sort of cheese cake that was both sweet and salty.

 

 

The highlight of it all was the smoked omul! This white skinned relative of the salmon from Lake Baikal proved an irresistible purchase, as it represented a tasty alternative to the other fried foods available on the platform. However, as soon as we returned to our cabin, we quickly encountered a first (of many) problems…

 

Smoked fish stinks. It stinks of smoke and it stinks of fish. Not only that the smell attaches itself to anything that comes into contact with it, from plastic bags, to hands to clothes. On top of this the smell lingers and does not disappear when you first wash your hands.

 

 

Two solutions were open to us: throw the fish out the window (which turned out not to be possible as the windows in our wagon did not open); or eat the fish right away. We chose this second option.

 

Of course eating the fish proved to be another challenge as smoked omul is exceedingly hard to cut, especially when you only have a 3 cm long knife.

 

 
How to eat smoked omul while riding on the Trans-Siberian with a (almost) useless pen knife

  • Step 1: Separate the two halves by ripping it in two using your hands.

 

  • Step 2: Use the knife to cut a thin separation between the skin and the meat, then rip of the skin using your hands.

 

  • Step 3: Use the knife to cut of slices of meat. No matter how careful you are, you will still get a lot of bones!

 

  • Step 4: Eat.

 

What we learned:

 

  1. Buy bread to eat with your smoked omul

  2. Plan to drink at least two liters of water per person as the fish is very salty

  3. Buy a proper knife to bring with you on the train (we corrected this error in Mongolia buy purchasing an 8 cm long Kazakh knife!)

 

 

Check out all of our Tran-Siberian photos on our Flikr account.

 

 

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