Blogs from Russia, Europe - page 2
April 14th 2012
We arrived in Irkutsk early evening and stayed in the Transiberian Hostel – highlight of which was a dog named “Mushy” –Russian for fly apparently. He was a very friendly small black Labrador that sang when cuddled. Irkutsk is a pleasant city and was warmer than we’d been used to; the next day was spent wandering round the centre and the markets, also searching in vain for a tour to Lake Baikal. We discovered we’d arrived inbetween the frozen and unfrozen window on the lake. That meant the ice wasn’t thick enough for driving over or dog sledging, but hadn’t melted enough for the boats to run! Our planned visit to Olkhon Island on the lake was clearly not possible! Not deterred we made our way the day after via tram (the female conductor was very ... read more
April 13th 2012
Krasnodar-Taman-Tuapse-Sochi/ 1.4.-9.4.2012/ Z Krasnodaru se vydavame na vylet smerem k Port Kavkaz, coz je pristav odkud se jezdi na ukrainsky Krym. Zaroven je tato oblast Kubane znama pestovanim vina. V jednom mistnim " vinzavode" si kupijeme par lahvi vina a vyrazime na pobrezi Cerneho More. U mesta Novorosijsk je asi nejznamejsi vinzavod ABRAU DURSO, ktery produkuje nejslavnejsi" ruske sampanske" a dalsi perliva vina. Kupujeme lahev nejlacinejsiho na Helci narozeniny a vyrazime za sluncem. Zastavujeme se v Anape a Gelendziku , prochazime se po mistni promenade, ktera si s nicim nezada se zapadoevropskymi primorskymi letovisky.. Pocasi uz je slunecne a more azurove modre, klidne jako rybnik. V meste Tuapse potkavame naseho znameho a on nam meni zadni brzdove desticky. Zaroven nam doporucuje mista kam se podivat a kde prenocovat. Nocovat budeme na skale za mestem, aspon to ... read more
April 9th 2012
The common theme of the train journey is snow, we spend a lot of time going through silver birch woodlands opening out every so often into grassland. This is interspersed with frozen lakes and rivers. The most interesting thing about the landscape is that what at first looks like a forest around us isn't its an optical illusion - its actually small clumps of trees dotted all over the place - not a place to get lost as there's no points of reference for great distances. Our constant search for wildlife is not too successful to date we've seen a hawk and a couple of geese. Shortly after we leave Balyezino station (where we get breakfast from the platform sellers and are greeted by an array of station dogs on the platform all friendly) the first ... read more
Last day in Moscow, Trans-Siberian and Lake Baikal
Published: April 8th 2012Europe » Russia » Siberia » Irkutsk
April 8th 2012
This one has been a long time in coming. Obviously there was no internet connection on our train, and once we arrived at our hostel in Irkutsk, the manager asked if we would mind moving on to Lake Baikal earlier as there was a few people that wanted to stay an extra night in Irkutsk. We obliged, at a discount obviously, and moved on to Baikal. Unfortunately, our eco-hostel that we were staying in, was so far up a bloody hill that there was nae wifi available. So now we are back in Irkutsk, it's time to recap the last week of events (deep breath). Think when I last left you, it was our second day in Moscow. After I had finished my last post, we decided to go for a wander in order to stock ... read more
