Blogs from Irkutsk, Siberia, Russia, Europe - page 17

Today is V Day in Russia. We left the home stay after a large breakfast @ 9:30 then went back to Irkutsk where we went round the Decembrists museum which opened for the group especially as it should have been closed for v day. We then checked in our hotel and in the afternoon I walked round the town and saw the eternal flame and various churches. In the evening went for a group meal then returned to the hotel. We were advised to turn our phones room phones off as the staff give rooms a call asking if you need any extra services. ... read more

The town for disembarking the train was Irkutsk, which we reached at 5:40am local time or 0:40am Moscow time. Our Russian travel agent was even prepared to phone us to make sure we woke up for it, and had briefed the local guide who was meeting us from the train with orders to board it and find us if we didn’t appear. As it was we were up and ready in good time but at a pitch black Siberian station in a snowstorm we were relieved to see the guide (Sasha) and driver (also Sasha) waiting for us. Because of the snow we had a slow drive (and the driver stopped a number of times to offer help to cars that had come off the road) from Irkutsk to a settlement called Listvyanka on the ... read more

Dag drie in de Baikal-express richting Irkutsk. 2716km afgelegd. De trein dendert door. Binnen is het bloedheet, buiten -22 of meer. Taisha slaapt, Babuska zit aan haar voeteneind te praten met Marina en Aksana, de twee vrouwen die onder ons slapen. Aksana probeert iets in het Engels te zeggen, het kost haar veel moeite omdat ze al heel lang geen Engels meer heeft gepraat. Bij woorden die ze niet begrijpt zegt ze: "difficult, no translate". Taisha wordt wakker van de trein die stopt voor een station, ze brabbelt wat woorden in het Russisch vanachter haar lakens. De radio speelt nu klassieke muziek, dan weer house of typisch Russchische muziek. Marina biedt ons een zak met gedroogde vruchten aan. Lekker bij de thee uit de Samovar! (ketel die in iedere wagon zorgt voor kokend water) De dag ... read more

Well I have left the comfortable surrounds of Casa Del Gregory and am now back on the road to head east for home. A wonderful introduction to a new city I had almost forgotten what it was like to negotiate public transport with all my stuff with me, and after getting past a scary Russian immigration lady I then had a local bus to the metro, two metro lines and a 15 min walk to my next destination in St. Petersburgh. No trouble except for nearly getting my backpack stuck in the bus door on the way. I am also back to the internet cafe search so forgive me if this time I just run through what i've done really quickly. St. Petersburgh Hermitage museum which is in the Winter Palace provided 4 hours of looking ... read more

Day 113, 21st September Kujtun - Zima - Kutulyk Nothing else happened last night after the fight and the militia turning up - it could have turned out much worse actually, our bikes could have been stolen, I could have been killed, we BOTH could have been killed… those guys had Kalashnikovs and who would have found our bodies in the wilds of Siberia. I surveyed the early morning scene. There was blood splattered around the tents, God knows how that got there…. Then, to my horror, I noticed my flick-knife lying on the grass, open! What the f*** had gone on last night exactly? I heard the guy drive away in his truck, I’d hit him hard, I know that, did I threaten him further with my knife, did he come to the tent? Was ... read more