http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Irkutsk/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , Russia , Siberia , Irkutsk en-us Sun, 06 Dec 09 09:18:43 +0000 Sun, 06 Dec 09 09:18:43 +0000 Yli 5000km jlkeen vihdoin Irkutsk. Saavuttiin viidelt yll lumisadetta 5 C ei paha. Pienesti ihmetytt se ett valtaosassa autoista ratti sijaitsee oikealla vaikka tll oikeanpuoleinen liikenne. Irkutskissa on asukkaita 600 000 ja hmmstyimme kuinka nykyaikaista kaikki tll rdquokeskell ei mitnrdquo onkaan. Keskustassa vieri vieress Adidaksen Benettonin Nokian ja muiden http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Irkutsk/blog-454988.html Irkutsk to YekaterinburgPacked and on the train shared open third class compartment with Alexander x Russian born in Kazakhstan some sort of police work. and Licka 20 headed to Novosibirsk. No English but it developed with time and still no Russian on my side. Starting to recognize the sound of some words like harashaw good fine all is well. Visited several hours and got off at station http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Irkutsk/blog-448290.html Well hello. Sam here again and you guessed it Laura is snoozingWe've just got back from Olkhon Island on Lake Baikal and I'm writing this entry stood up in a hostel in Irkutsk the nearest city to the lake 70km or so I believe. Czech out the metricRight when we last wrote we were about to head off into Yekaterinburg. I can report that we feel we saw some right proper Russia. It was marvell http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Irkutsk/blog-436441.html Hi FolksIt's me again I know it has been a while but finding access to the web in Siberia is like finding a needle in a haystack......Rite we arrived in Irkutsk saturday week ago after 78 hours on the train which was quite an experienceMoscow has treated us very well and it was pretty emotional saying goodbye p Our train departed at 23.30 sharp so we were there at least 30 mins in advance http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Irkutsk/blog-435644.html Already 5000 km done.... still 4000 in front of us To sumarize the famous TransSiberian Express stress at the beginning who in my room how can I stay 4 days in a train unique experience during the trip cool people nice landscapes good organisation... but happy in the end to get off and sleep in a real bed take a shower and not living with stangers in a very limited space In the wago http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Irkutsk/blog-431339.html Debarquement du train mes jambes refonctionnent correctement c est bon j y vais. Je retrouve mon hotel sans problemes une ligne direct par le tram place a 020 E. Je m installe il y regne une tres bonne ambiance je discute 2 min avec une chinoise et des qu elle a su que j allais a Beijing elle me file direct son mail et me propose de me faire visiter sa ville cool Qu est ce que les conta http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Irkutsk/blog-429358.html We arrived to Irkutsk at around 6 am local time.The train station was the same as a train station in any other city throngs of loud taxi drivers some drunk and homeless people dodgy characters travelers with various items of luggage. We found a taxi which would take us to our Couchsurfing host a girl called Lena. Now Mike had couchsurfed before when he'd needed to a place to stay in Mosco http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Irkutsk/blog-424524.html So I've made it as far as Irkutsk the lake Baikal... the far side of Russia. Last stop before Mongolia.The lake Baikal is quite a sight cliffs on all sides pine trees all the way down to the water. An old railway line winds along the coastline and a daily service for tourists crawls the tracks making many picturesque stops.Baikal is the deepest lake in the world and contains one third of the fr http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Irkutsk/blog-422584.html 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 itUpon arrival in irkutsk we dumped our bags at our hostel Downtown Hostel 1080r for 2 in a dorm and headed out for http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Irkutsk/blog-422530.html 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 out http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Irkutsk/blog-421391.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Irkutsk/blog-421390.html Day 153Today we were woken early as we had arrived at Subaatar the Mongolian border crossing. The train sat stationary at the platform for approximately 2 hours before the officials came onboard to collect our passports and departure cards. The toilets would remain locked the whole time while the train was parked it was going to be a long wait. After searching the cabins our passports were retu http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Irkutsk/blog-415242.html hellip And All The Fresh Water You NeedPicked up from the train station at Irkutsk we were whisked through the city to Lake Baikal about an hour out for our home stay. Meeting our host we were pleasantly surprised to find tea and biscuits waiting for us and even more so when we realised our host had a good grasp on the English language.After 36 hours on a train you can imagine what the fir http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Irkutsk/blog-408220.html Leaving Tobolsk station I managed to give myself my first proper injury of the trip unless you count bleeding feet from a million blisters. I tripped on some dodgy paving and carrying both bags I couldnt balance properly so ended up falling flat on my face. Giving myself a nice bruised and swollen nose somehow worse than when I headbutted the steering wheel of the van I crashed Very sexy graz http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Irkutsk/blog-407731.html After all the hassles of buying the tickets it was incredibly easy to catch the train. We left the hostel at 6.30am and were at the station by 7am. Found the platform easily and the train and our bunks we had hoped to have the four bunks to ourselves but there was already a norwegian installed. We got ourselves set up and the train pulled away from the station. There's not a lot to do on the http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Irkutsk/blog-407251.html On 16 May at 9.10 we arrived at the station in Irkutsk after 52 hours on the train. We were then taken to the village of Listvyanka about 1 hour drive. We shared the car with Natasha from South Africa and Derek from England. Both had been traveling the Trans Siberian from Beijing to Moscow so Ben and I had plenty of questions. They told us the stories of the Mongolian traders crossing the border http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Irkutsk/blog-405987.html there must be more http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Irkutsk/blog-403532.html OKAY HERE GOES PAY ATTENTION IT GETS COMPLICATEDARRIVE MOSCOW JUNE 4 ARRIVE IRKUTSK JUNE 8 SIBERIAN EXPRESS LEAVE IRKUTSK JUNE9 BAM RAILROADARRIVE SEVEROBAIKALSK FOR THE CAMPCAMP JUNE 12 22BACK TO IRKUTSK FOR 10 DAYSA SIDE TRIP TO MONGOLIAPRIZ. NATIONAL FOREST FOR 2ND CAMP ENGLISHPRIS NATIONAL FOREST FOR ENGLISH HOME AUGUST 3 MAYBE http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Irkutsk/blog-402121.html The train from Moscow to Irkutsk and then Lake Baikal was 4 nights on the train. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Irkutsk/blog-397927.html 23h00 un soir de mai en gare de Yaroslav a Moscou. Deux Ecossais et un Suisse deambulent sac au dos a la recherche du train no 10 a destination d'Irkutsk en Siberie. Apres quelques errements on les aiguille sur le bon quai. Le train le mythique Baikal est deja fin pret pour le depart. Devant la voiture no 14 les trois larrons presentent billets et passeports a la provodnitsa la responsabl http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Irkutsk/blog-397243.html