Olkhon Island, Crossing the border into China

---

Hi All

We're in Guilin now, but before we reveal all on that particular subject, we will update you with what went on at Lake Baikal on Olkhon Island...

We spent three days on the island, in the most beautiful surroundings, in a little wooden guest house. Olga, our host, cooked us great food (normally Omul fish - unique to Lake Baikal), and with no showers, we used the banya (extremely hot sauna) to keep 'clean'. Even the long-drop toilet didn't smell too bad.

We did an excursion to the far side of the island on our first full day, which effectively meant a ride in a Soviet-era '4x4', driven by a grizzly old Russian chap who took a fancying to making jokes at Sam's expense, whilst Laura laughed and encouraged such behaviour. The views around the island were stunning, and watching the weather approaching from behind the mountains and across the lake was truly dramatic. We had Omul soup cooked on an open stove on the peninsula for lunch, and then headed back for more Omul at Olga's.

We had the second day to ourselves, and despite some pretty heavy thunder storms, managed to watch a glorious sun set, throw pebbles on a deserted beach, had some drinks with some chums from the bus adventure, and of course, eat some Omul.

The island was worth every second of the ridiculous journey to get to it, and the wild-west-esque village in which we stayed had to be seen to be believed. It got electricity 5 years ago...

The bus ride back to Irkutsk was far less dramatic, and despite some serious cramming, we returned to Irkutsk in one piece, went for drinks with 2 Canadians and one Japanese girl whom we had befriended on the island, who were the other residents at Olga's. We of course went to the Liverpool theme pub, which mainly consisted of maps of merseyside doubling up as coasters. Please, when we say 'theme pub', do not think in English terms. They are empty establishments in Russia, whose proprietors are perplexed and delighted when they meet someone from the 'themed' area for the first time...

We were at the train station in Irkutsk early the next morning, ready for a 3 day train journey to Beijing. We were to be in an empty cabin, and furthermore an empty carriage, for almost all of the 3 days. It gave us time to reflect on Russia, the people we had met, the things we had seen, and the grades of vodka we had sampled. Russia was better than we could possibly have imagined. It's not an easy place to visit, for many reasons, but most simply, it does not go out of its way to accommodate tourists. The few tourists we met in Russia we tended to re-meet as we crossed the width of the country. It was a fascinating place as much for its history, as for where it is currently. The people appear immediately hostile, yet it seems to be the Russian way to be guarded at first. We found them to be warm and generous, and it was them that thought we had the heavy drinking culture. Siberia is vast beyond words, but it has unexptected beauty. We were travelling at the perfect time; the trees were brown and red, the skies were clear, and the winter was still months away. We want to go back in the depths of winter, but that is for another time...

After one and a half days on the train we reached the Russia-China border, and 12 hours later, we crossed it... Our bags were searched, questions were asked, photo viewings were requested, and they took a particular interest in Laura's reading material: the highly controversial Jane Austen's Persuasion. Anyway, we eventually got across, and were met with the bright lights of China, which was a significant contrast to what we had left on the Russian side. Within 10 km, it was obvious that one of these countries was developing at a rapid rate, and one was struggling to halt a slide.

We reached Beijing on the 18th September very early in the morning, and through a humid, polluted fog, we navigated the narrow streets (the Hutong) and made our way to Flowering House Hostel...

We will update with what has happened since in due course.

Hope this was a bit more brief than the last few entries!

Much love, Sam and Laura

---