...after two years here I'm reasonably used to the little oddities that Russia throws up, to the point of being immune. Still, there was a rather strange incident that occurred yesterday on a train, which tickled me. We had just had a halfway break in a station (5 hour trip), and needed to buy another ticket, as the journey was divided into zones, and a seperate ticket was required for each one. The ticket guys came round, and informed us that we should have jumped off the train to buy a ticket at the station, and they weren't allowed to sell us one. Instead, we would have to pay a fine. Our irritation quickly turned to amusement, when it transpired that the fine was 1/3 of the price of the ticket! So, we coughed up, and the ticket guy then gave us an official slip of paper saying we had paid. Except we only got one fine slip between the four of us, the other three "fines" having disappeared into his pocket! There were three inspectors on a full train, all in on the scam. No-one had a valid ticket, so at a quid a passenger, I reckon they must have been having a few drinks between them last night.....
RE: Vodkas all round then? Salut. Ten packed carriages, approx 100 people a carriage, most of them ticketless. Fecking hell, they'd be on more than vodka I suspect!
