I hadn't traveled too far down the line before someone else came into my compartment. Then a little later a third person. With the three of us and all of our luggage, you can imagine how cramped it became. The three beds are one above the other. The top one is about six feet above the ground. The middle one collapses during the day but when it is folded up you cannot sit up in bed. I am in the bottom bunk. I didn’t need to use my sleeping bag as sheets and blankets were provided.

My two traveling companions are both Russians. They don’t speak any English but we have managed to communicate through German and sign language. Obviously not much good for small talk. Each carriage gas two attendants (provodnik) who look after us. Unfortunately, neither of them can speak English too – though they seem to know some German.

I found my mattress to be quite hard though I did manage to get some sleep. I had brought along some ear plugs for such an occasion so I put them to good use last night. We were all woken up at about 3.30 a.m. by some border guards. The first one was a lady who asked us politely for our passports. She only glanced at them briefly before moving on. I thought that was it so I started to put my passport away. But then a different guard came in (sterner looking) and turned on all our lights. He also checked our passports, studying it more carefully and then stamping it. Apparently we had just arrived in Poland. The name on the stamp was “Kunowice”.

This morning I got up at about 8 a.m. It was a bit difficult washing in the small cubicle at the end of the carriage and as the journey progressed, it became a bit smelly in there as well. The toilet doesn’t flush as such. You press a foot pedal and this opens a trapdoor at the bottom and you can then see down to the tracks. Very basic. There are instructions in various languages but none in English.

By this time I was a bit hungry so I asked the provodnik about buying food. I had a little difficulty in communicating but I gathered that there was no food on the train – only drinks, both hot and cold. I think he then said something about a restaurant at Brest. However, I wasn’t too sure if he meant a restaurant car would be attached to the train there or if I could get off at the station. So, in the meantime, I made do with half a packet of crisps (which were actually quite filling) and a cup of tea.

Surprisingly the day passed quite quickly. Most people spent the time either standing in the corridor looking out of the window or sitting on their beds. I alternated this with reading my book and listening to some music.

For lunch I had a cup of soup which I had brought with me and the remainder of the crisps. Not very appetizing but enough to fill me. A few hours later we reached Terespol, which is the Polish checkpoint. We had our passports checked here again and then a little way down the track Russian border guards came to check our documents. One of them took away our passports and another dealt with our Customs Declaration Form. I was given this a few hours earlier and as it was all in Russian I had to ask my two companions for help. It proved to be quite fun trying to fill it in. I wasn’t sure if it was correct but the border guard seemed satisfied and stamped it for me.

Whilst this was going on, other guards were searching the carriage. Not for contraband but rather for extra people who might be hiding. My rucksack wasn’t searched though the bags belonging to my two companions were then thoroughly searched.

After all these formalities had been completed, a diesel engine was coupled to the rear end and we were then shunted backwards and forwards for a while and then pushed into a shed. Here we were again shunted backwards and forwards. It then occurred to me what was happening. The railway system in Europe is narrower so the bogies have to be changed for wider ones before entering Russia. I could now see what was going on because our train had been split in half so that they were now parallel with each other. Basically, giant hydraulic lifts raised the carriages from below and the bogies were rolled out. New ones were then rolled back in. We were then joined back together before being shunted back to the station platform.

I only found out at that time that Brest was the border checkpoint. Apparently I could have got off in the bogie changing sheds and walked to the station to buy some food. I only realized this when I saw people getting back on. Never mind. When my two companions realized I didn’t have any substantial food with me they generously shared their evening meal.