pig fat, beautiful babushkas, and a banya...

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Hey, so its been a busy week, and i dont have much time to fit in all ive done in great detail, so i will do my best, please forgive me!!

Last friday in moscow we finished our first few days of russian life in a traditional ukranian restaurant, with interesting results. we had no idea of what to order, so with what soundeed safest, smoked bacon a seemingly wise choice...what cam out however was essentially just a plate piled with pig fat, totally disgusting, but still a fantstic attempt by us to try everything.
on saturday our train journey to siberia began, and was to be a fantastic 4 days, something which i had not expected. we filled our time with cards and a lot of eating and reading, and in the evening we partook of a little vodka. the 'provodnistas', or carriage attendants, were lovely, and really helpful, and we even managed a few stilted words with some of the other travellers, from russia, ukraine and even kyrgikistan (probably spelt incorrectly). whenever we stopped for any period of time there was an oppurtunity to buy food on the platform from the babushkas, little old ladies wrapped up warm selling things ranging from frankfurters to sauerkraut, dumplings to pies. i tried some meat-filled dough cakes, and it was delicious, proper russian fare.
on one night we managed to decorate one of our compartments and held a fancy-dress party of sorts, girls dolled up, and the lads wearing taches.
we arrived in siberia a couple of days ago and have had a wicked time, experiencing dog-sledding, traditional russian saunas (banyas), and some decent food. teh views of lake baikal were immense, and as it was frozen over we could walk along it to our hearts content. we also did some hiking in the mountains around the area, which was also great fun, if not completely knackering!!
so today we head off to mongolia, from where i will try and drop another message. time to go, off on another train...

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