Blogs from Irkutsk, Siberia, Russia, Europe - page 6

Moscow, ridiculous prices, riddled with corruption and filled with new Russian millionaires. These thoughts fade away while standing in the grand space that is Red Square. The Kremlin, the Apex of Russian political power dominates one side of the square, the huge ornate GUM shopping centre graces the opposing side and at the far end with its distinctive architecture, the colourful domes of St Basils Cathedral keep drawing your attention. These landmarks scream Russia more than anything else we've seen. The sky darkens and the blue skies fade away, the wind whips around our legs rapidly gaining force and a few snowflakes begin to fall, is this the start of something that will make, such a beautiful sight even more magical? The few flakes rapidly turn into a blizzard, the wind forces them horizontally into our ... read more

Dag 1: Na inderdaad wat de boekjes zeggen, wat zoekwerk (er liggen drie treinstations bij elkaar, uitsluitend syrilische belettering) op het juiste station uiteindelijk een groep Duitsers gespot. Deze groepen bestaan uit mensen van ongeveer 50+ en zijn meestal georganiseerd, dus makkelijk herkenbaar. Aangesproken en gevraagd waar ze naar toe gingen. Bleek dat ze in dezelfde trein zouden zitten als ik. Gevraagd of zij wisten welk perron het was. Bleek dat ze een gids hadden, die over vijf minuten zou arriveren, relaxed! Zat in coupé met een Fin en een Rus. Rus sprak gebrekkig engels en wilde heel veel praten, was wel grappig trouwens. Had me de eerste avond al meteen impopulair gemaakt. Geen douche, alleen een wc'tje met een wasbak en omdat ik een handwasje ging doen en om elke 2 kraanbeurten er een pomp ... read more

Trans Mongolian Express to Ulaanbaatar Boarded the train for Ulaanbaatar, which had Mongolian staff working on board. The train was the oldest yet, but the windows opened fully in each cabin, which made a nice change. The forth person in our cabin was Jean - a very chatty French man who was doing the Trans Mongolian trip from St Petersburg to Beijing in 3 weeks with very few stops. Also on board was Liam and Angela, who recognised us from Listvyanka. Liam was on a 5 month trip similar to ours and Angela, a friend of Liams was travelling with him for the first 3 weeks, to Beijing. After a few vodka's, Jean mentioned that he had a funny French movie on a USB key, so we watched it on my netbook in our cabin. After ... read more

I booked my ticket to Irkutsk in advance with an English travel agent. I'm sure I was ripped off on commission but by the time I got to Russia the train was booked out so it actually worked out pretty well. I travelled by 3rd class platzcart because it was about half price. It's effectively an open carriage with 60 bunks. I went into it with the attitude that it probably won't kill me. I wrote most of this on my iTouch while on the train. Day 1 Covered in sweat freak heat wave about to die.37 degrees! Not a single backpacker in sight! Oh dear god. It's been 10 minutes and already I desperately need a shower! Assuming all foreigners are complete idiots a Russian woman made my bed! Nice! Day 2 Air-conditioning does work ... read more

The bus trip back to Ulan-Ude was uneventful. This time I got to sit next to a Russian guy who didn't speak any English so it was a load of laughs :(. Next day caught the day train to Irkutsk which skirts around the Lake Baikal. Unfortunately the weather wasn't that great, so the first look I got of it through the train window was in the rain and a bit gloomy. The weather did clear up a bit though and I went a bit nuts with the camera even though still on the train. We also went through a couple of long tunnels which I think must be part of the Circum-Baikal route. Arrived in Irkutsk about 4pm and found my hostel. As it stays light for so long I still had about 1/2 day ... read more