Irkutsk is probably the main city in Siberia and the closest to Lake Baikal which is the reason that we got off the train really. We got off reeking and wanting a shower but it took us ages to find the hostel and when we did the guy wasn't there so we had to call him. I could have cried!! We did get in eventually and to be fair the place was nice and clean and more like an apartment than a hostel. The place doesn't seem that well known because there was only one other couple here. It was just [View Full Entry]

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This part of our journey involves a 4474 km train ride from Moscow to the City of Irkutsk in Siberia. The rail system in Russia appears to be the feather in their cap. It prides itself on its punctuality and I can testify to that. Apparently railways managers get a hefty bonus each year and the punctuality of their trains is a big part of it. All trains countrywide run on Moscow time, which leaves it a bit difficult to keep track of the time, as we are going to be crossing 5 time zones on the way across. When we [View Full Entry]

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We moved onwards to Moscow. We had planned to spend a day longer but when we booked our train tickets we had to leave earlier than expected so we only really got 1 full day to schmoose Moscow. As with St. Petersburg it wasn't even close to being enough. Train tickets proved alot more difficult to book here than St. Petersburg. The Station area was split into 3 distinct stations, its massive and we couldn't find anyone that spoke English. We were been sent from pillar to post and it was getting very frustrating. We lost most of the first day [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in St. Petersburg on 21st September after an overnight flight from Dublin with Balkin Air. There was a stop over in Riga along the way and it was late afternoon by the time we got here. First night was spent in the Pushkin Park Hostel who had provided our Visa Invitation Letters and were Registering our Visa's for us as well. Place was nice and clean but a wee bit expensive so we only stayed one night. The second place was a bit different, they had a cat that had the run of the place. It lay and excreted [View Full Entry]

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