The Size of Russia

Baikal Express, between Tatarskaya amd Baradinsk, Russia

It's amazinghow much time you realise you have on a train ride of this magnitude! On both sides of the train the landscape races past, extending as far as the eye can see, dotted here and there with small villages. Every few hours (!) we reach a larger town and stop. As the second day draws to a close and we've just covered a bit more than half the distance I begin to realise just how big this country is. The awe is building, you might say, with every kilometer we cover.
And after some time you realise that you've done you could to pass the time before. Played chess with Mikhail - check; read Chinese book - check; talked to fellow travelers - check; ate food - check; taken a nap - check; followed landscape for a few hours - check. Now what? Go through the cycle again?
It's not so much boredom - it's always interesting to look outside again - but you realise how long time becomes. It crawls by like a snail, like the endless distant horizon. And so I look on as the sun sinks to another fiery death behind the trees.