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Published: September 28th 2007
VIEW ACROSS LAKE BAIKAL, SIBERIA
THIS DAY WAS SO UNBELIEVABLY COLD...now in mongolia, home to genghis khan!
spoke to soon about the weather not being that bad in irkutsk, the next day was really siberian, well below zero and a biting wind that cuts right though all layers of clothing. lake baikal was a great sight, took the bus there on wednesday morning, about 1 hour from irkutsk. got out of the bus at the lakeside village and was taken aback by not only the view but how cold the wind was. my warm clothes and hat are just about ok for the urban streets of moscow but they were not up to scatch (alas) for the remote shores of lake baikal. guess ive packed for 2 years in south east asia, not 2 days in eastern siberia!
great views accross the lake to already snow capped peaks to the south east, which i believe to be the khamar-daban mountains (they dont have snow in the summer, so i guess winter is here already). the trees are already bare of leaves too.. didnt go to the freshwater seal circus show!. the water was remarkably clear. i planned to stay all day but id think i'd freeze to death, so
just stayed for the morning and took bus back to irkutsk.
found the market when i got back, lots of stalls selling good quality counterfeit cds of quite new music!! there were also a lot more asian looking peoples around the market in irkutsk.
i have just arrived here in ulaan bataar from irkutsk this morning. train views were more varied, reminded me of peru. passed along the opposite shore of lake baikal (in the dark), then after turning off the main trans siberian line at ulan ude, finally arrived at the russian / mongolia border at 1pm irkutsk time after leaving irkutsk at 9pm the night before (ie very slow going!).
after setting clocks back 1 hour to mongolia time (same as beijing time), it was 12 noon. didnt stop endless faffing with border controls on both sides until about 9pm!!!! ie 8 hours of hanging around the train!!. (this wait is actually in the timetable for this daily train!) the train toilets were locked during this time so had no choice but to use the pay per pee station facilities staffed by the rudest russian women yet (she had her scowl to a fine art!) eventually
then set off for the 9 hour overnight journey from the border to here in ulaanbataar. mongolia's capital (and lets face it only) city..
glad to report peoples are more openly friendly here, very asian looking, typical mongol eyes and black hair, so may venture to a local discotheque this weekend!
lot cheaper here, only 12 USD a night, double room with en suite hot shower with view of the mountains.
have a week here before train over the gobi desert to beijing, only 32 hours this time! (inc promised 3 hours at border for "bogie changing"! what joy...
plan to go horseriding and stay in a ger camp while im here. weather is typical high altitude desert climate sunny and warm(ish) in the afternoon (but well below freezing in the morning). UB is also very dusty.....
gotta go now before this computer keyboard drives me crazy!
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teg
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Manners and service
Hey Steve, thanks for putting the link on your wall, I've subscribed now, so should get updates. it's been so hilarious to read all your comments about service in shops etc.. You say you've learned a lot about manners, does that mean you'll be less abrupt yourself in your next fron of house job? Will be really really interested to hear how much it has cost you in total when you get to bangkok, would love to do the journey one day