>>213615911
>but i hope they allowed you to at least sleep in your sleeping bag in the hall?
I didn't ask but in hindsight I should have.

>or you could sleep in the train station building or something?
I did that in Irayol actually, which is a railway stop on the way to Vorkuta. The waiting building for passengers operates non-stop, to my pleasant surprise.

>can't imagine sleeping literally outside when it's -8 C.
Without proper preparation you can't. I used a bunch of socks as makeshift gloves kek. You can manage to survive the night without frostbites, but falling asleep is largely impossible. That being said, -8°C was the absolute low in Northern Komi. On the way up North night time temps would usually be a few degrees below freezing. It was uncomfortable but somewhat manageable. My last really pleasant night was in Latvia though. Started waking up cold in Novgorod Oblast already.

I have done some winter touring since, and with good preparation you can ride and sleep comfortably in some ridiculous temperatures. I went to Norway last winter and temps went down to -19 °C in the Dovre Fjell. Coldest I slept outside was around -14 °C.