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places cattle grazed and to our surprise there were often leftover haystacks. We saw no bales of hay.
The contrast we had to grapple with was the sameness and poverty of the villages located near the train tracks and otherwise isolated from contact with the outside world. The villages were made up of small wooden dwellings, usually one story high, unpainted or painted long ago, lined up in rows facing a mud street. Our journey took us through Siberia’s back yards. These yards were picturesque, no piled up junk cars or dead washing machines, but it was picturesque poverty, not prosperity. Only in cities and on their outskirts did we see paved streets.
Each house was surrounded by a small paling fence. Large stacks of wood were already anticipating winter. Most of the garden area around the houses was devoted to rows of potatoes. Often we saw potato patches planted outside the villages too on what seemed to be railroad property. Shrubs and trees around the houses produced berries and fruit. Plastic-covered frames were used to start and protect other vegetables. We did not see chicken coops or pig pens, but they may have been about, only a scattering of geese.
Living close to train tracks
92.6%