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The political state of Russia emerged following the expansion of the principality of Muscovy - emerging from Mongol domination to conquer and absorb the surrounding principalities. The Romanov dynasty continued this expansionist policy. Peter I extended Muscovy's rule to the Baltic Sea, and the Russian Empire came into being. The dramatic fall of the Romanov dynasty, the formation of the USSR under Lenin, the brutal dictatorship of Stalin and the Cold War placed the USSR at the forefront of world politics. The USSR dissolved under Gorbachev, and 15 separate republics were formed in 1991. Although vastly reduced territorially, Russia remains a vast and powerful state, retaining political influence in the region and worldwide.To be updated

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By Tony and George
July 22nd 2009

Back to Irkutsk and Onwards to Ulan Ude Europe » Russia » Siberia » Irkutsk

Sunrise from train

It was time to say goodbye to Olkhon Island and head back to wonderful (not) Irkutsk. The 6 hour bus ride was rather uneventful, the highlight was discovering the worlds worst long drop, seriously it was disgusting, poo everywhere, all up the walls and even on the walk up to it!!!!! Upon arrival in irkutsk we dumped our bags at our hostel (Downtown Hostel 1080r for 2 in a dorm) and headed out for a slap up italian where G's pizza base was made out of filo pastry (interesting!!!) but was nicely washed down with some yummy vino before heading to [View Full Entry]

By MikeandJulia
July 22nd 2009

Day 1 - on the train from Novosibirsk to Irkutsk Europe » Russia » Siberia

Baikal 004
Mike is drinking tea from a traditional "train" glass

Russian trains are nothing like other trains. Journeys take days. A train trip is a part of your holiday - after all, you spend a lot of time reading or playing cards. There is a number of traditions that Russian people follow when traveling by train - even the most smartly dressed people usually change into a track-suit and slippers. As soon as the train departs, people get hungry. They usually bring food with them - roast chicken, boiled eggs, tomatoes and cucumbers and quite often, vodka. At every stop locals come up to the train selling food - most often [View Full Entry]

By Paul Casey
July 20th 2009

Siberia - Middle Earth Europe » Russia » Siberia

Breakfast table
on the Trans-Siberian train

Getting on the Trans-Siberian rail network was amazing. We got onboard and settled in for a 70 hour plus journey. Luckily we only had three in the cabin and not four. Space is always a premium especially on a longer journey like this. We had visions of drunken Russian soldiers swigging vodka and roaming the train, but this did not come to pass. Apart from two Germans in another cabin, we seemed to be the only English speaking people in the carriage; everyone else was silent! We were sharing our cabin with an old Russian lady; we called her ‘Biddy’ as [View Full Entry]

By Tony and George
July 19th 2009

The Most Amazing Place on Lake Baikal - Olkhon Island Europe » Russia » Siberia » Olkhon

Lake Baikal at sunset

Facts about Lake Baikal: Lake Baikal is in southern Siberia and is also known as the "Blue Eye of Siberia". It contains more water than all of the North American Great Lakes combined. At 1,642 meters (5,390 ft), Lake Baikal is the deepest lake in the world and the largest freshwater lake in the world by volume. Lake Baikal was formed as an ancient rift valley, having the typical long crescent shape with a surface area of (31,722 km2/12,248 sq mi), less than that of Lake Superior or Lake Victoria. Today we were heading to Olkhon Island, 500km from Irkutsk in [View Full Entry]

By Tony and George
July 18th 2009

Cold and Drizzly Listvyanka Europe » Russia » Siberia » Lake Baikal

Up the hill where we stayed

Today we headed to the shores of Lake Baikal to a small village called Listvyanka. Its been slightly spoilt by some new garish big hotels being built next to the very cute wooden houses but our home for the night was amazing, it was 1km up a valley and in a big wooden chalet, our room was on the top with a private balcony overlooking the valley and the lake beyond. This was Baikal Chalet for 40 euros a night but well worth it. We had a nice relaxing day here, we bumped into the irish girls from our hostel so [View Full Entry]

By Sam Broad
July 18th 2009

Moscow and the transsiberian Europe » Russia » Northwest » Moscow

Fountain

5 days spent in Moscow... 5 days of disorientating linguistics and incomprehensible street signs. The Kremlin, Red square, Lenin's embalmed body, some great Russian and foreign encounters, a few beers and vodkas, and all of this followed by a trip on one of the greatest railways in the world... [View Full Entry]

By Paul Casey
July 18th 2009

From Russia with Love (HAHA) Europe » Russia » Northwest » Saint Petersburg

Train expert

We got the train to St. Petersburg from Vilnius in Lithuania on Monday night at 6:30pm. It’s always anxious times when arriving in the station to try and figure out the platform, train number, carriage number and cabin number, especially when everything is in a different language. However this time around we were more prepared and I used my secret weapon Google translator to assist me. We boarded the train for a 15 hour journey to St. Petersburg over night. Not many people speaking English around here but luckily onboard I got talking to a French guy who was a teacher [View Full Entry]

By ThroughMyEyes
July 17th 2009

St. Petersburg, Russia Europe » Russia » Northwest » Saint Petersburg

On top of St. Isaacs Cathedral

Well it was time to leave the car with no top in Finland and take a 6 hour train to St. Petersburg Russia. Daddy had always wanted to go to Russia and I was looking forward to it as well as daddy bought tickets to a ballet, Swan Lake and I also had seen pictures of a building that looked like a cake. On the train, daddy "accidently" sat in first class and we were in a cabin with 3 guys, two from England and a Canadian. They were touring with Brittany Spears and set up the show for her. They [View Full Entry]

By Tony and George
July 15th 2009

Being Lazy in Irkutsk Europe » Russia » Siberia » Irkutsk

Trolly Bus

We arrived in Irkutsk in the evening and after we found our hostel we headed out to find food but to no avail, so we ended up purchasing some bread, ham and cheese and of course beers and headed back for an early night. After 3 days on a train doing nothing you'd think we were itching to get out there and see the sights but to be honest we couldn't be bothered so we parked up in a bar with some outside space so we could sit in the sun and drink our way through the day. Tony had read [View Full Entry]

By Tony and George
July 13th 2009

55 hours hours to Irkutsk Europe » Russia » Siberia » Irkutsk

Back on the Train

When asked what the cabin on the train is like well picture a small wooden box the size of a prison cell if you will, now add 4 people in that space and imagine that box shaking for 55 hours and you pay for the pleasure......!!!!! A slight exaggeration but you get the point, its really fun and you will be amazed how the time flies - yet another example of time warp Russia. Today we set off on this 55 hour journey, on the train the carridges have a toliet each end, the centre is all cabins and then there [View Full Entry]

Provinista - Don't Mess With These People

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