After visiting Irkutsk, the train took 4 days to reach Moscow. And with that, I completed a traintrip halfway across the world within the world's biggest country, a journey of 9,289 km and crossing 7 timezones.
Living in the train on the world's longest train journey has been very pleasant. Also known as the big vodka train, and to enforce stereotyping, I took two bottles of vodka and one chocolate bar on board to survive the first 3 days of traintravel in the longest traintrip of my life.....luckily locals also sell food on the stations!
From meeting the typical fun-drinking Russian to trying to explain patrolling police-officers that drinking vodka on the train is not an offense (....yes people, vodka is apparently 'formally' forbidden on the train, only beer is allowed......but luckily every Russian knows where to get vodka. Vodka is used for social occasions and considered a mandatory ingredient, and therefore 'legal' in their eyes....I can't argue with that!)
In most cases I saw people coming and going, having hand-and-foot conversations with them to make clear where I was from, and where I was going.
Standard too warm when the coals got thrown in, and then cooling off way to quick. Maybe central heating an idea in Siberia?
At least you didn't get busted easily.