Blogs from Siberia, Russia, Europe - page 37

We're currently in Irkutsk, Russia having left Hong Kong, flying through Beijing to Ulan Bator, taking a 5 day horse trek in Terelj National Park, back to UB, and then on the train to Russia. Tomorrow we leave Irkutsk for Yekaterinburg. It's 2 nights/3 days away on the train, we'll spend a long day, and then we're on to Moscow, another day or so away. We've had a problem with time and internet recently. When we have a lot of it (like on a train), there is no internet. When we have internet access, there is much else we'd like to be doing too. We'll back fill with stories and pictures at some point. Stay tuned, but not too closely, it might be awhile... --Eric... read more

We arrive in Siberia at 6am, pitch black and cold. After 4 days with our cabin friends we say good bye - wish them luck and wonder if we'll ever see them again. Get picked up from our tour agent and get taken to Hotel Anagara. According to the guide books this hotel is one of the most upmarket and classy in Irkutsk. Inside the reality is more Gulag in style, a truly Soviet building with (I'd like to believe) is a State Radio hanging in the corner of the room - with only 4 stations (none of them working). The bathroom and shower is an all on one design, like you'd imagine a prison cell to be. The 3rd floor restaurant where we head for breakfast is drab and happiness-less. Breakfast is some very sad ... read more

Tried to hide Tim in an empty cabin last night because of his incessant snoring. Holiday ended when at 4am the train stopped somewhere in the middle of no where and our cabin was occupied by a very confused woman demanding her bed back. Breakfast was a peasant affair of stale bread, delicious cheese and my own coffee recipe of instant coffee and condensed milk syrup. Suffering from the 'Trans Siberian Time Warp' - all of the trains run to Moscow time, but in reality we should be 3 hours ahead. So while it is 9.30am Moscow time (and the perfect time for breakfast) it is really 12.30noon out here in Siberia. We decide to stick to Moscow time. Market sellers board the train today selling woolen scarves and socks. "Nyet" to that we say. Outside ... read more

We are in Irkust now, more than half way through our Trans-Siberian journey. Train life is great. We are catching another train tonight to Ulan Bator. Over the past 4 nights we have played lots of cards, lost and won loads of small money and drank some vodka - of course. The cabins are 4-berth and quite spacious, although we all needed a shower! Stopping at stations is a lot of fun. We can get off for 15 minutes or so and buy some goodies from the old ladies who come down to meet the train. We are getting more and more adventurous with the food we are trying, which will undoubtedly lead to food poisoning! We visited lake Baikal for two days. It was beautiful there, the largest fresh water lake in the world. I ... read more

Hello all, We've arrived in Krasnoyarsk yesterday. Having spent the night in a very dodgy location, we have relocated to a nice hotel today and explored town. We are leaving for Yekaterinburg tomorrow. As some of you will know I lived in Moscow for 5 months back in 1995 and have been to Russia twice before that spending three weeks at a time in Kirov (Vyatka as it is now known) to do a summer course. The stories are coming back slowly and am managing to bore Vicky to death with them. My Russian is very rusty - during our trip to Krasnoyarsk we shared our cabin with a Russian; to his credit he kept trying and we managed a conversation between my Russian, his rusty English and sign language from all three of us. Having ... read more