My 050 train from Minsk to St Petersburg was much more pleasant than my my previous 1249 train. Apparently the lower the number, the better the train! My journey was helped by sharing a cabin with Ala and Vladimir - two very friendly Russians. Vladimir was an extremely lively character and insistent on sharing his supper of meat, bread, cake and vegetables with Ala and myself - his Russian pride and generosity towards strangers really shone through.He even went through photos of the last 10 holidays that he and his wife had been on!
When I arrived very early at the Hostel in St Petersburg, I was lucky to meet Alex from Southampton at the hostel who had taken an early flight, and is also taking the Intrepid Trans-Siberian tour. So we headed down to the river for a boat tour.
