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Published: August 25th 2007
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Babushka
An elderly woman in Siberia... Hello all,
After escaping in Mongolia, we forced ourselves back on the train for more fun... yes, the Mongolia-Russia boarder crossing is a minimum of 10 hours, and our train did not disappoint. We arrived at the boarder and having been wisely informed to pee before the arrival due to the provistas locking the bathroom doors for the entire duration, foolishly thought we were ready. Of course, having forgotten to pack enough food (time constraints and such) I decided to jump off the train and hit up the little vendor. I left my valuables... and I mean all my valuables... with my friends and jumped off the train, bolted into the store, grabbed an instant noodle package, and headed out to the train... only to find the train, and my friends, passport, money belt, etc, gone. After a few heart palpitations and a minor heart attack, I decided my best option was to sit on the platform and wait. And so I did. For quite a few hours... turns out part of the 10 hour boarder crossing is that they have to change the wheels of the trains... we learned this as my travel companions were on the train when
Me...
at Lake Baikal - the largest freshwater lake in the world - you can actually get vertigo while swimming :0) they lifted it up for a few hours during the process... I donĀ“t know who was better off... I had food but no hot water, they had hot water, but no toilets!
Luckily, I met a few other perplexed travellers and preceded to have wonderful conversations and lose track of the lengthy wait. Back on the train, we wound our way to Siberia, and dug deep in our suitcases for pants!
Once we were in Irkutsk, we noticed not only the drastic and contrasting change of the developed city, but the scowl and coldness that masks the Russian face. However, we looked past this and enjoyed the new cultural interaction while we set up a trip to Lake Baikal, the largest freshwater lake in the world.
We started in a hostel lacking water, flushing toilets, hot water and electricity. Have you ever tried to shave your legs in the pitch dark by candle light with ice cold water and a cough.... not a pleasant experience... but we made due, and made our way to the lake... unfortunately with less preparation than necessary.
Once we got to the island and were booking accommodation and a tour (you
Mmmm, solid coffee...
yep - when instant packaged coffee reaches a new low - dampness is simply not ideal... must use a tour to get to any interesting part of the island) we realized we had not managed to stop by the ATM. Usually this would not be a big deal, but this was the island with no running water, and no ATMs! Faced with a dilemma, we did the only natural thing we could - opted for a nice tour and food-money over accommodation. Deciding that camping was something we all enjoyed, we overlooked that fact that we were in Siberia and had no tent or sleeping bag. Of course, we were wise enough to budget vodka into our food allocation.
Needless to say, the vodka was not quite enough... but we did Manage to meet two Polish couples (one of which took Julie in their tent) and we had a late night of vodka and camp fire to ease the sleeping transition. Unfortunately, it was short lived and a few hours later we were awake and forced to a pre dawn beach walk to ensure the blood was flowing... After one night of this, we found a sympathetic fellow who offered to change some of our left over Mongolian currency for the local currency so we
And, of course...
Vodka (in style, no less... who needs glasses when you have bowls!) could afford a place (meaning 4 beds with a thin sheet - no toilet, electricity, or water, but walls and a roof were sounding like heaven). The transaction was smooth and John and I set out to book accommodation - returning to our Friends on the beach for a final bonfire. Late into the night we were running low on firewood, so we packed out stuff and headed for our little abode. Unfortunately, luck was not with us. We wandered for 2-3 hours, unable to locate the place that the booking lady had driven us to in a frenzy earlier on. So, with a key in hand, and found empty beds somewhere, we finally accepted defeat and curled up by the cows at the side of the road for an hour or two of fitfully cold slumber. Moral of the story: Siberia is cold. Reading ahead is essential. :0)
More adventures to come... hopefully ones involving less shivering and aches!
Trish xxx
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