It's our last full day on this amazing island and I've really enjoyed it. On the final day me and Ange decide to hire some bikes and ride to the other side of the island. The aim is to ride to Khardy-Aman bay but somehow we only end up via Shar a Nur lake again. We meet some random dogs, followed by some random drunk dudes who tell us where going the wrong way. "Why ride bikes?" He asks leaning way too close, so I get the whiff of beer on his breath. When we drop off the bikes I meet Michael, the guy who made jokes with us whilst hiring us the bicycles. "Drink tea with me." He insists. I ask Ange, she begins to shake her head but Michael is already pouring us a ... read more

"I'm sorry your tour guide got drunk last night so your tour has been cancelled." Natalie looks at me defeated by the situation. She is exhausted. Exhausted with having to work seven days a week, deal with tourists all day long and local tour guides getting drunk and not showing up for their shifts. "That's Ok" I reply. "How about a horse riding tour around the island?" I ask. "Horse riding tour?" Mum chimes in realising what's about to happen. "I've never been horse riding. Lets go for no more the 2 hours." Two hours I think to myself, that's nothing on a horse. Like a small trail ride. "Ok mum will go for 2 hours the rest of us are happy to go all day." I say,and I note that Ange and two other Russians ... read more

"Do you believe in God?" He asks me as we sit on the boat and the wind whips at our hair. It's early August, the peak of summer, but we've done the right thing by bringing our warm coats for this boat ride. The wind out on Baikal Lake is fierce and were traveling over 2 hours to get to the other coast. He is in his 50's or 60's and he is wearing a cowboy hat with Russian writing that says Черное море (Black sea) in Russian. "Yes" I reply. His name is Donald and he is traveling Russia from Cornwall, England. He is hosted by Luda a local Siberian from Irkutsk. "Why?" He asks me. Following these exchanges a long philosophical debate ensues, which makes the time passing to the Zundusky Bay seem like ... read more

It's hot, sunny and things are getting a little sweaty. It's only 7am but this is Siberia baby. Temperature fluctuation is huge here, with summers reaching the +30 degree Celsius highs, meanwhile winter can fall as low as -67 degrees Celsius. Having spent 41 hours on the train to Chita we are ready to stretch our legs and embrace summer time fun in Chita. By this point we have traveled 3,289km consecutively by train through Russia. Chita, like Kamchatka and Vladivastok was formerly a restricted military city. Post loosing its military status and due to tis proximity to China the city developed rapidly and somewhat unevenly. You can see modern high rises right next to broken down wooden houses. From those wooden houses grandmas still continue to fetch water from a pump outside which I've read ... read more

"Hello might I join your conversation, my name is Edward" is how me, mum and Ange are greeted in perfect English. We're on the boat back from Ruski Island when this cute 8 year old kid approaches us to practice his English. He is very proper and he also tells us, amongst his hobbies are reading books such as Dostoevsky, Tolstoy and Agatha Christie to name a few. He has even read Master and Margarita! Well me and Ange are most definitely impressed, I think back to when I was 8 I was more then likely picking my nose and climbing a tree or something. Maybe I was reading something highly cultured like the Babysitters Club but I never quite made it to Dostoevsky, not even now in my 26 years of living. I made a ... read more