The easiest and cheapest way to travel through Russia is by train. As there are no motorways a few hundred kilometres away from Moscow (I was 1,600 km as you can read here….), it is almost impossible to use a car. The 11 hour train trip cost me around €25 ($30) where I had a shared bed in a 4 person cabin. This was 2nd class on the train. In first class, it's 2 people to a cabin. By the way, it you ever travel to Russia be aware that all trains are scheduled by Moscow time! I got confused many times as we had travelled through many time zones. Imagine that you are in Vladivostok and bought a ticket for 9AM. To be on time, you will have to get a train at 4PM local time. This is because there is 7 hour time difference between Moscow and Vladivostok (or 6,400 km). It was only a difference of 2 hours for me in Ekaterinburg and 1 hour in Izhevsk. Working out the time of each stop gets very confusing!

About Izhevsk: the city is the capital of the Udmurt Republic and its population is 600,000 people. You could compare it to a small country inside Russia. People there are not Russians, they are Udmurts. They have their own customs, flags, traditional food, clothes and even the language is completely different from Russian. Izhevsk is known by its military and heavy industry. During the USSR period, the city was a closed secret city for a while. You needed special permission to visit the city. The most famous industries here are AK47 (Kalashnikov) guns and LADA cars.
In Izhevsk, my apartment was on the 13th floor. The view from there was amazing!

This place is around 40 mins away from the city centre and it is considered to be a kind of suburb. However, the density population is pretty high because all residential buildings have at least 5 stories and with most having 9 floors.
In that evening I went for dinner in burger restaurant. I found it strange that they gave us black gloves to keep our hands clean but it worked out really convenient.

The next day, I picked up some traditional shoes called Valenki. They are made out of wool and that’s it! It's warm, comfortable and perfectly suited for Russian cold weather. I wish we had them here in Ireland but it is too wet. They need a layer of frozen snow around them to keep the warmth in. I couldn't wear them in the city centre as the snow was too slushy.

It was pretty cold in Izhevsk, but that does not mean that everyone stays at home. I would say quite the opposite – it is the perfect time for winter activities. The first thing I done in the snow was to go tubing and I have to say it was great craic!! I'd definitely recommend giving it a go if you are in Russia one day.

The Russian story continues in the next part…