On the platform at Irkutsk we were met by Helen, our tour guide for the next two days. Although all of our group were in the same carriage, number 9, Helen seemed to think she had one more guest who had been travelling in carriage number 7. We all stood around whilst she went to investigate. Several minutes later she reemerged with a new addition to our party, Tobias from Germany. A twenty-something who had been travelling as a solo passenger starting his trip in Moscow. Until now, for reasons best known to ‘Go Russia’, he had been escorted around Moscow and Yekaterinburg as part of a German group (quite understandable). However, now he is alone so I guess the other Germans had taken a different route. Tobias spoke English fluently so immediately was ... read more

Yekaterinburg was founded in 1721 by Peter the Great as the area is rich in iron ore and, as at this time, Russia was embroiled in the Great Northern War with Sweden, Peter gave instructions for new sources of iron to be sought. He named this city after his new wife Catherine (not to be confused with Catherine the Great who came later!) Yekaterinburg is the 4thlargest city in Russia after Moscow, St Petersburg and Novosibirsk. The population is just over 2 million. Yekaterinburg is technically in Asia at the foot of the Ural mountains that is traditionally the border between Asia and Europe. The temperature in Yekaterinburg was much colder than Moscow at a fresh 6 degrees Celsius. I have decided to wear two watches to try to beat the confusion of Moscow time versus ... read more

It’s full steam ahead in Moscow. Today we met bright and early, at 9am, for our next excursion. All excursions on this trip are fully included. That doesn’t make you feel so bad if you decide to drop out of any part of it. Natalia, our Moscow guide, did mention that yesterday’s sightseeing would be by car but today’s excursion around the Kremlin and Armoury, followed by a tour of the most elaborate metro stations, would all be by that dreaded word in Roisin’s vocabulary, the MOSCOW METRO!! As our hotel is about an hour’s walk from the Kremlin and it was unlikely that we would be piling in to a bunch of taxi’s at ‘Go Russia’s’ expense, the next most convenient and by far the cheapest mode of transport is the metro. As we were ... read more

It’s amazing how many people we know or have met who have experienced the diverse adventure of the Trans-Siberian railway. From a friend I met through following Liverpool and England’s (lack of) fortune who started the long trek by train from the UK to Moscow via Belarus to friends we met whilst at sea (although we only found out quite recently) who journeyed back in the day when the Russian words perisroika and glasnosthad yet to make it in to the Oxford English dictionary!! This trip has always been near the top of our bucket list (along with being zoo keepers for the day!!) However, it was our good friends Donny and Marie who convinced us to step up to the plate. They provided the name of the company and in doing ... read more

Geo: 43.257, -2.92344For once, the ship was right in its forecast of the weather. Roisin had a terrible night last night. You would expect by now that she (we) are used to the sea being a bit choppy!! The pitching and the rolling of the vessel is not the issue. It is the angle to which the ship is cutting through the water. This creates an uncanny crashing sound that I find difficult even to associate with water smashing in to the hull. Furthermore, the commotion accompanying the movement of the ship sounded like someone has smuggled a lawnmower aboard, and not a flymo either but one of those petrol engine types with the built-in seat!! It sounded like the crew were having races around the passages at two in the morning!!It was finally time to ... read more