russian border guards - part 2

i am not sure yet how many stories i will post about russian border guards. nor how many i should, really...

last summer, i decided to see russia. i mean, really see the country and travel around all over. so i went on a trip across the country, across siberia, some 9300 km from moscow to vladivostok. the good old trans-siberian!

when i boarded the train in ulan ude (capital of buryatia, east of lake baikal), i was going on my longest train ride in a row - approx. 60 hours to khabarovsk. since the cheapest class was all booked out, i travelled 2nd class, in a little "kupe". the kupe is meant for 4 people with a door (3rd class, or "platskartny", doesn't have a door and resembles more like a big, open sleeping camp - or refugee camp, as lonely planet put it...).

so there i go, i found myself in a kupe with some border guards, my specially beloved russian official-type...

after some silent and shy minutes, the party gets going. the border guards (and two other guys who joined the kupe) unpack all their food and drinks. in the real russian fashion, they share all they have with everyone else in the kupe.

and so i found myself drinking 3 bottles of vodka (5 people!) in the course of about 4 hours... and that was right after lunch, it wasn't even evening yet... also, i don't even particularly like vodka...
(now don't give me that line "you could have politely declined" - this DOES NOT fly with russians, esp. not with the border guards, trust me. that would have been like punching them in their faces. not a good idea. the only resistance you can put up is saying only "tzhut-tzhut" please = "a tiny little weeny bit")

admittedly, though, i had a great time with them... they were a lot of fun...