The Amur

On the sixth morning, the train was running through the Russian Far East. The taiga had changed character. The trees were now Korean pine, Manchurian ash, and Mongolian oak. The forest felt closer. This is the temperate rainforest of the Russian Far East, one of the wettest forests in the world outside the tropics.

På den sjette morgen kørte toget gennem det russiske Fjernøsten. Taigaen havde ændret karakter. Træerne var nu koreansk fyr, manchurisk ask og mongolsk eg. Skoven føltes tættere. Dette er den tempererede regnskov i det russiske Fjernøsten, en af de vådeste skove i verden uden for troperne.

Polly was alone in the compartment. Pavel had gotten off in Ulan-Ude. The soldier had moved to another carriage. The new occupant of the upper bunk was a thin woman who slept most of the day.

Polly var alene i kupeen. Pavel var stået af i Ulan-Ude. Soldaten var flyttet til en anden vogn. Den nye beboer på den øverste køje var en tynd kvinde, der sov det meste af dagen.

A freight train passed in the opposite direction. It was nearly two kilometres long, carrying timber. Polly counted thirty-eight flatbeds before she stopped.

Et godstog passerede i modsat retning. Det var næsten to kilometer langt og transporterede tømmer. Polly talte otteogtredive fladvogne, før hun stoppede.

The train arrived at Khabarovsk in mid-morning. Khabarovsk sits on the Amur River, the eighth-longest river in the world. The Amur forms much of the border between Russia and China. From the platform, Polly could see the river through a gap between two buildings. It was wide. It was the colour of strong tea. On the far bank, through the haze, was China.

Toget ankom til Khabarovsk midt på formiddagen. Khabarovsk ligger ved Amur-floden, verdens ottende længste flod. Amur danner en stor del af grænsen mellem Rusland og Kina. Fra perronen kunne Polly se floden gennem en åbning mellem to bygninger. Den var bred. Den havde farven af stærk te. På den fjerne bred, gennem disen, lå Kina.

Polly hopped down and walked the length of the train.

Polly hoppede ned og gik langs toget.

A Russian Far East crane was standing at the edge of a small marsh near the station yards. Almost two metres tall, black and white with red around the eye. The Russian Far East crane is one of the rarest cranes in the world. Maybe three thousand left, breeding mostly in the Amur basin.

En fjernøstlig kran stod ved kanten af en lille sump nær stationsområdet. Næsten to meter høj, sort og hvid med rødt omkring øjet. Den fjernøstlige kran er en af de sjældneste kraner i verden. Måske er der kun tre tusind tilbage, der yngler mest i Amur-bassinet.

Polly tilted her head at it. The crane tilted its head back. Polly walked closer. The crane did not move.

Polly vippede hovedet mod den. Kranen vippede hovedet tilbage. Polly gik tættere på. Kranen bevægede sig ikke.

A conductor blew a whistle. Polly hopped back to the train. She turned and looked at the crane. The crane was still looking at her. Then it lifted its long neck very slowly and walked, in deliberate steps, away into the marsh.

En konduktør blæste i en fløjte. Polly hoppede tilbage til toget. Hun vendte sig og kiggede på kranen. Kranen kiggede stadig på hende. Så løftede den langsomt sin lange hals og gik, i målbevidste skridt, væk ind i sumpen.

The train pulled out of Khabarovsk and turned south. The Pacific was less than seven hundred kilometres away now.

Toget kørte ud af Khabarovsk og drejede mod syd. Stillehavet var nu mindre end syv hundrede kilometer væk.