Irkutsk (Siberia) By Miriam xo

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And now to Russia. After a 30hour train journey (where the high points included yet wnother game of scrabble and an interesting tinned peach eating episode-(see pictures) we arrived in Irkusk, a town bordering Lake Baikal. Not only the worlds biggest lake (the distance from end to end is the same as that from Moscow to St Petersburg) but one which houses thousands of species, 75% of which are idiginous to the lake.
On arrival we were introduced to our host family and settled in Isbah where we would be staying for the following 3 days. Our lovely russian guide then took us on a walk up a mountain (hugly steep and a struggle to our muscles which had just about dies from lack of movement whilst on the trains) There were police and army barring the base of the mountain who at first refused to let us through as the President of Russia was coming to visit the lake adn they thought we might be English spies planning an assasinationa attempt (which was hightly unlikely considering 3 out of 4 of us still though the President of Russia was Putin) Luckily however our guide vaugely knew one of the officers so we were let through and were able to climb to the top (and slide back down on our stomachs). At the base of the mountain we visited teh lake museum where we saw two nerpa nerpa, the indiginous seal of the Lake and met the Russian FBI, still there from teh Presidents visit and regarding us suspiciously. After a lovely lunch of Omlu (the indiginous fish of lake baikal) cooked for us by our host we spent the afternoon partaking in much revalry on teh frozen lake, particularly seening how fast we could spin on the ice (see picture with James and Miriam), dragging each other along by our feet, ice bowling, ice pictures and seeing the many icesculptures around the frozen lake.
The following day we had bookind to go snow mobiling. Huge fun, James drove slightly like my grandma and in contrast Alice drove like a maniac which culminated in her driving out snowmobile off teh side of the road down a hill, and I'm ashamed to say that we lay in a mound of snow wetting ourselves laughing while James checked for broken bones and the Russians swore profusly adn tried unsucessfully to drag the snowmobile back up the hill. We we're both after this banned for driving for a time adn each assigned a burly Russian complete with fur hat and army gear. So despite that at times (thought he did improve a lot) James's driving did resemble that of a mobility scooter he was perhaps the most sucessful in that he retained use of his snow mobile throughout. Slight mishaps aside we took a beautiful route through Irkusk's mountains and birch forests. For the last hour of the ride me and Alice were given back the use of our snow mobile to speed over the frozen lake (perhaps because there was nothing to hit (not that we didn't try)) and spent the journey swerving to hit piles of snow so we flew off the ground, earning more irritated glances from our Russian guides. The afternoon was spent again on the lake sledding on cardboard down thesides. We spent the eavning wandering around in the freezing cold (now -18) and finally fining a bar where we played cards and enjoyed Russian beer.
Our third day was spent indulging in more snow themed fun and much more of our hosts scrummy Russian food, most of which included sour creme. Our water during the stay was collected from teh lake and melted so we collected ice blocks from teh lake for our water. The night was ended (as several during out stay did) in the Russian banya. There are no showers in the Isbahs so washing is done in a dry sauna with bowls of warm water.
All in all an amazing stay, teh lake and mountain were beautiful adn we will miss greatly our hosts food as we once again go back to a diet of cold beans, stale bread adn instant noodles.
love ( and lots of it )
Miriam xoxoxo
The afternoon in particular was spend sculpting highly unsucessful ice sculptures.

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Photos

lilly and alice
succeeding to eat entire peach halves!

MIMS HAIR!!
on our last night on the train she attempted to braid her hair without use of a mirror......hahahahhaha

our village on the shores of the lake
our house is the tall yellow one on the right

a frozen cross
russians believe jan 19th was the day jesus was baptised and so they make crosses out of ice and go swimming in the frozen lake on that day, its apparently meant to be warm in the water.

the ribbons on the railing at the lookout
its a buddhist tradition, tying a ribbon on the railing gives you a wish.

the view from the top
its very blurry because it was snowing, but basically its a section of the lake that isnt frozen because it's a river.

mim and alice's room
and lilly redoing mims failed braids

the sauna
russians call it a banya, and you shower there as theres little running water in the winter.

the dining room
the food was EXCELLENT! and there was lots of it.

mims nose/ski slope
we were having a discussion about who's nose would make the best ski slope...

Comments

[HANNAH WOOOO]

Ok by now I'm sure you are all getting sick of me and would really appreciate some sensible comments on your blog. Tough. I'm back for more hilar Hannah humour (alliteration too, aren't you lucky) so man up and deal with it. So basics I BURST out laughing at one of Mim's lovely photo comments. '...but basically its a section of the lake that isnt frozen because it's a river' AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH a section of a frozen lake that isn't a frozen lake because it's a river. GOOD ONE. Also, the 'Mim being Mim' photo is quite possibly the best photo EVER. Closely followed by the photo of your ice tower. AHHAHAHA I LIE I LIE.. I just saw the photo 'Ugly Lilly in the bar' AHAHAHAHHAHA IT WINSSSS. And I think the fact that you all look like eskimos (though that is apparently a politically incorrect term nowadays, or so I'm told.) (also just to add to the hilarity I just wrote 'nowagays' by accident. HAH.) (Also I seem to be using a lot of brackets though I'm not sure why. I think it's because these bits have to be said in a kind of undertone, so just imagine me saying something quietly on the side before continuing with all my amazingly intelligent thoughts and views on the topic). SO (see what I did there..?) I must be off to eat soon, but I just realised that I never finished my eskimos comment because those naughty brackets are out to get me, and I have now forgotten the point I was going to make. SO I shall be off to eat and will catch up with you lovely travellers soon, don't you worry. x x x x x x

[Jane]

aww it all looks so exciting, jealoussss! glad it's going so well :) when are you guys in europe? because if you're in prague on 18th there's a chance I could visit you... Jane xxx