Except for the stations in the "big cities" ..... these were the types of stations we "bonded with" throughout the trip

It was at one of these, that the one of the locals officials rushed up to the train & asked if we had a doctor aboard. 

"One of the village women has had a heart attack  !!!"    

 Well, as it happened, we did have a Russian doctor traveling with us, as a member of the staff.     So off she went, to give whatever help she could.    We waited .... prepared to transport the village woman to a hospital in  whatever big city was the nearest, on our route.   Finally the doctor came back ...without the patient. 

We crowded around her ....curious about the condition of  village woman.    

The doctor couldn't contain herself any longer....and began to laugh.

The village woman hadn't had a heart attack, after all.   Apparently, 2 old "babushka women" had gotten into a fist fight ...and one of them had been knocked out.   Which leads me to reiterate one of the "10 Commandments of Visiting Russia". 

 Never mess with a "babushka woman".   ( I think the army used them to train the troops )

Oh yes.....the Russian police were very evident, throughout.

 As to Lenin ?    Well...he's pointing the way to the nearest mall.  ( What else ? )

AHAA !!!!  I was right !!!    THE  MALL !!!   Actually these are the "platform vendors" who offer a variety of drinks and home-cooked snacks to train passengers at each stop. 

 By the way ....that home cooked stuff is pretty tasty !!

And here is their  "Automated Signal System"

As we neared this section, we finally got to see some cow herds.  Now they weren't big herds....and we only saw about 5. 

But it was better than our previous record of seeing only

one cow every 300 miles.

The people in this area are "Buryats"...and look Mongolian.

This is the center of Buddhism in Russia ... so we visited the Ivolgin Datsan Monastery  ( shown below )

Monastery Gates

Main Temple

Temple detail

Prayer Wheels

*************************

After the monastery visit, we were treated to an outstanding open-air folk performance

The fellow on the left, is a "throat singer".  Difficult to explain...and even more difficult to do . 

But basically....by a process of breathing in & out  at the same time, the performer can sing chords.  

We've only seen this done 3 times....and the first 2 times, were in Mongolia ....where the practice is taught .  ( it takes years to perfect ).  You say..."IMPOSSIBLE !!".       Not so.  

In fact, some musicians in the U.S. practice this. 

As a matter of fact, when I was younger, the trumpet  player Maynard Ferguson taught me the breathing process,

so I could increase the amount of time I could hold a note. 

( never knew about the "chord" thing until we visited Mongolia, though )

After the performance, they decided to teach us a few steps.  Thank God, they didn't try to get us to do  "the leap".   What a disaster that would have been !!!!

Whoops !!

Siberian  "Round-a-Bout"

Freeway Interstate Merge

Footbridge with guard tower still intact.

Vladivostok Station ..... Vladivostok was considered a strategic border zone ......so it was a restricted area, completely sealed off to foreign visitors and shipping.

 Actually, even  Russians were kept out of the city unless they had a special pass. 

 ( among other things...it was the home of the Pacific Fleet ).

Passengers who rode the Trans-Siberian Railway had to disembark at a nearby town.....and never got into the city.

The city was opened up in 1992. 

When we made our first visit in 1993, the station and

 the city didn't look nearly as "spiffy" as they do now.

TAH--DAHHH !!!

End of the Line

*************************

Got to go aboard this WW2 sub & wander around.  Big sucker, isn't she ?   Neat Torpedo Room , too  !!

Here's a pretty good shot of the harbor.

It's still the home of the Pacific Fleet ... and you can see the warships & subs, getting repairs and

moving in & out on maneuvers.

However, I understand that there are nearby bays, where they keep the newest ships ...

away from the casual observer.

*************************

Just a tiny travel hint :   Although there are international phone connections available in the major cities  ..... the infrastructure  ( or lack of ) in the rest of the country, 

can make it pretty close to impossible to make such calls.

So...when packing ....don't forget your carrier pigeons.

Da  Svidania