Wednesday 1st July
Arrived at Komsomolskaya station well in advance, bought drinks and crisps and printed off all our tickets for the trip.
The train left on time (I think, no watch to check it) very exciting!!
Sat and read for a bit on the lower bunk. Everyone quiet.
Djalma mentioned something and started off a conversation with the two old ladies. One is short with bleached blonde hair, very tanned, slim legs, a sizeable belly and a magnificent pair of tits, she is prone to giggles. Her friend is bigger, brown haired and likes to cross stitch. We are sleeping opposite a young man, slim build, with very small feet called Sasha and a quiet butchish lady who doesn’t say much.
Very proud of D for such good Russian, managed to follow some of his conversation with Sasha but not much.
Day Two
Thursday 2nd July
Woken up at the crack of dawn by the bloody sunshine, tried to get into the toilets but they were locked. Waited and tried not to pee myself.
Toilet trip successful, went back to sleep and woke up again at 9am.
Have been reading and snoozing all day. We had tuna and rice for breakfast (made before we left for the train). Ice-cream and peanuts for a mid-afternoon snack after a 15 minute stop at a station, goodness knows where.
Have finished reading Bruno’s dream by I. Murdoch, an amazing book. I’m now reading The Master and Margarita (Russian book, seems appropriate!) so far so good, but very weird. Am feeling rather hungry.
Day Three
Friday 3rd July
Woke up stupidly early on the train, 3.30am Moscow time, feeling groggy as hell.
Had a super stale meat pastry thing at the station café, I’m surprised in didn’t break our teeth despite being nuked for an absurdly long time by the stroppy counter lady.
We left our bags at the station and walked round Yekaterinburg for a few hours. We killed some time at Il Patio drinking tea, an Internet café and at Rostiks (KFC) where we met our host Slava.
Slava works in Showbiz, he is a Sunday News Anchor for the state run Tele company. His flat is immaculately tidy and clean, so it’s a bit of a mystery as to why he lets strangers come round a and stay with him.
On the way to his place, where we dropped of our bags, we stopped off at the cathedral built as a memorial to the Romanov family – last imperial family in power before the revolution. It was beautiful inside; I lit a candle for Granny, another for Nan and one for Ma. We then spent most of the afternoon wandering around parks, the town and a shopping centre where we looked for engagement rings and clothes for me. It was so lovely. We had a nap by the river, sleeping on each others shoulders, luckily none of our stuff got nicked while we lay snoozing.
Dinner was with Slava at his flat, helped down by some Kvass, Vodka, Champagne and Guarana. I didn’t manage to stay up for very long and went to bed. D managed to soldier on until 10pm talking with Slava. We both slept like babies on Slava’s old fold out chairs (as old as Slava himself!).
Day 4
Saturday 4th July
Got up at 8ish, awful cramp and the trots both of which have now, thank God, disappeared.
We wandered round Yekaterinburg Ironwork Museum, which was very interesting. We are now sitting in Il Patio, having demolished two large pizzas, Quattro formaggi and a Tarantino – delicious!!
Day Five
Sunday 5th July
Yesterdays train trip was a bit rubbish, we were in beds 38 and 39, right next to the toilets on the corridor. Dinner was the rest of the noodles, a great deal better than today’s breakfast of noodle soup, which was hideous – a nasty combination of noodle soup and more powered soup, not the most tasty combination we’ve tried.
The lady on the train seemed to think that it was totally beyond her duties to give toilet roll when it ran out. What a witch and an impressively moustached one at that.
The train trip was quite uneventful, except for the time we spent trying to sleep, and everything seemed to happen when we were trying to kip – toilet trips galore for the whole of train!!
No lovely people to speak to, an angry looking man and lots of babies and toddlers.
We met Eva at the train station, took our stuff back to her place and then she showed us round Novosibirsk (the largest city on Siberia). We are now back at hers having showered and eaten some delicious cheesecake ice-cream and drunk some gorgeous chocolate tea – as good as it sounds disgusting! We are about to indulge in some salted fish (local speciality), the jury is out on this one, it doesn’t look or smell the most appetizing!
Day Six
Monday 6th July
We are sitting in an internet café, have just emailed Mum with an update, although I haven’t heard anything from her yet.
We got up late this morning, after an excellent nights sleep. We packed up our clean clothes, Eva very kindly put a load of washing on for us. Said goodbye to Eva’s 12 year old son and left for the train station. After dumping our bags we headed off into town for lunch. We ate at a Chinese/Japanese place called Chinatown. My god we were so hungry!
After that we met Eva near the small church (which marked the centre of Russia in old Tsarist times) where she gave us a bottle of Siberian Balsam and we said goodbye.
Eva has been so kind, helpful and generous with her time and energy, almost too much, we were both wondering at how her son Ilya feels at having so many strangers come through his house so often. Her place felt so much more like home than Slava’s immaculately kept apartment, and he has a 5 year old!
Djalma is sorting out more places to stay with couch surfing, this site has been a dream; it’s been so nice to have a friendly face show us round their city. Sometimes it does feel a little overwhelming, but only a little and that’s just because I like my own space and my time with D, especially when it’s just us walking around hand in hand enjoying a new place and each others company. For me this has been the best part of the trip – all the time we’ve had together.
After we finish up here we’ll go and look for a place to post the post cards, buy some more and hopefully fit in another church or the inside of the theatre before we have to go and catch the train to Krasnoyarsk.
I’m now 2/3rds of the way though The Master and Margarita, this book gets better and better, glad I stuck with it.
Later on the train - The Train is lovely; wider, more comfortable and better furnished than before, we even have air con. We have just finished a monster dinner of instant noodles whilst looking out at the changing countryside, which now has some small hills - the first we have seen in six days.
We are sharing the coupe with a young couple opposite and an old lady adjacent to us. What a lady, in the three hours we have been on the train she has managed to keep up an almost completely one sided conversation the entire time, with only a couple of short lived intermissions.
She is a sight for sore eyes and mildly offensive to the nose (well meaning but lonely springs to mind). She has large boobs which are propped upon an equally large stomach. Think she might be a little mental. Her face is short and chubby, with bright eyes and a snub nose with flared nostrils. Her dirty grey hair is pulled back into a little ponytail. Without her bra her imposing, saggy bust is a magnet to my eyes, I can’t help but stare.
All the while she’s talking with no prompts at all, other than the odd mmm, ahhh etc from D or the young couple, she’s definitely making the trip livelier. She’s sitting on her bed, legs spread, hands on her thighs, gesticulating authoritatively. I think this trip might start to feel quite long.
Bless him, D is listening attentively although he lost the thread of her ‘conversation’ 5 minutes ago. He tried telling her about our up-coming wedding a while ago, but it was brushed aside as she continued with her monologue.
Apparently the toilet is lovely, I might pay a visit in a mo. D has already taken pictures and I might say it does look fit for a queen. I must get there before it gets soaked in everyone’s pee. Mmmmmm communal toilets.
One thing I almost forgot to mention about our lovely host Eva, was her tour of Novosibirsk.
We visited the small church, marking the centre of old Tsarist Russia, the Youth Theatre which had a nice exhibition (of Sweden) outside, the biggest, second biggest and third biggest fountains of Novosibirsk. We walked along the River Ob which even had a beach and up Wall Street, so called by all the locals because of all the banks along it. We had lunch at a nice café which was spherical and reflective, we took our picture outside.
Day Seven
Thursday 7th July
Food is here!!! (No time to write!)
Day Eight
Wednesday 8th July
Was much too tired to write yesterday. Beginning with day 6 in the evening after the old lady dropped off to sleep, we opened up the balsam and drank it all. Making various toasts to help the Siberian balsam down.
As a result of the drinking, the late night and early morning (they woke people up over an hour before it was due to arrive at the station), we were shattered for most of Wednesday.
We are now sitting outside at Pertsy which is an Italian restaurant.
Have just finished the most delicious lunch I’ve eaten in Russia (feijoada eat outs not with standing) I ate a mushroom lasagne and D had what we thought would be trout but it turned out to be salmon lasagne. The sauce was meaty in a creamy mushroomy way and the whole thing was topped with parmesan cheese. We also had warm garlic and parmesan focaccia which was so light and crispy, mmmm. I’ll be thinking of it this afternoon while I’m tucking into my noodles tonight.
Heading of to the train station now to collect our things.
Just crossed over the Yenesey River having pulled out of the station, we made it to our train with fifteen minutes to spare.
Yesterday we arrived at 7ish in the morning and after dropping off our bags at the luggage room we headed up to the centre. A foot long Subway roll and vast amounts of fizzy pop set us up for the day as we headed to Stolby Nature Reserve immediately after.
The weather was lovely, warm and bright but not too sunny. As soon as we got to the woods we sprayed on the deet guaranteed insect repellent which seems to attract, not repel all the bugs we were trying to avoid. Stolby was beautiful with lots of butterflies, bugs and climbers (of the human variety). We walked all around the park. We saw a friendly or at least hungry chipmunk but didn’t have anything to feed it. We saw a squirrel and managed to get a couple of pictures too. The wild flowers were beautiful; everything was so green and fresh, so pleasant after cities and the train.
Djalma met some locals and climbed a small but difficult rock called the baby elephant. Unfortunately I missed his heroic feat of skill and daring as I wondered off taking pictures and nursing a bad mood. We wondered further up the hill/mountain which got steeper the higher up we got. The views were beautiful, much more so for D who managed to climb much higher than me.
We stopped in a secluded place to have a rest and admire the view. Not long after we began the decent and long walk down to the bus stop. We arrived back in the centre thoroughly knackered, we found a place to eat and recuperate near the bridge looking out over the river. Very beautiful.
After the day’s exertions, the lamb/pork shashlik and the barbecued potatoes were a welcome reward albeit an expensive one. The two beers I drank went straight to my head, by the time Ksusha came to meet us I had to concentrate to put one foot in front of the other and to talk coherently. Neither of which I managed with much success.
Her place was nice, big and clean, without being unwelcoming. She even cooked a dinner, pork and salad with a bottle of red wine. Despite being really tired, I didn’t manage to sleep straight away and neither did D but we woke up feeling much better although a little tired.
Back to Day Eight, Wednesday.
We got up early and took a taxi to the small church on the hill (which is on the 10 rouble note). We wandered back into town with the camera battery dying. We bought some postcards, visited the Egyptian style museum, which turned out to be shut and then another cathedral, this one in the centre with a pretty blue and white façade.
After a lot of walking, rapidly drooping energy levels and increasing hunger pangs we found the restaurant I mentioned a couple of pages ago.
That basically brings us up to date, the landscape outside is beautiful, there are lots of silver birch trees and soft sweeping hills dotted with wooden dachas.
We’ve just stopped at a small station for a few minutes; we’ve been on the train for about four and a half hours. We both had a much needed nap and were woken up by the sunlight and the heat. These carriages are real hot boxes!
One thing I’ve found really lovely so far is the amount of people who have willingly and gladly helped D with his homework.
We are sharing a cabin with a family, some of which are now in our original berths. Once someone came and translated what they wanted us to do (swap our two berths with another two further up the carriage), we swapped no problem. But for the first few minutes neither of us understood what they were asking and thought that they wanted us to separate – no way!!
Opposite us are two old boys, probably in their late 50’s early 60’s, an old lady of similar age with shoulder length white curly hair, glasses, unshaven armpits, who is knitting a bag from what looks like video tape. There is also a young greasy boy who looks like he stopped growing a wee bit too soon, he is very quiet and hasn’t said anything at all yet.
Really looking forward to Irkutz.
Day Nine
Thursday 9th July
In Irkutz in a Chinese café. Had to write some of the things from the menu down;
• Fry sleeve fish
• Meat with white fungus and edible fungus
• Potherd with meat
• Sauté chicken granule
• Cherry meat
• Fry griskin (God knows what that is!)
It’s around 4-5 in the afternoon and I’m now sitting in the most beautiful church I’ve ever seen. We’ve been here for about ten minutes and during that time we’ve been the only people here along with the souvenir lady and the ancient cleaning lady who is now polishing the very gold candlesticks. The air is so cool and the atmosphere is so peaceful. There are two artists or workmen still decorating or painting, I’m not sure as they are both tucked away in alcoves. The artwork is the most beautiful I’ve seen especially the unfinished wall murals which are in only black and white and beautifully shaded. The gold is gleaming and it reflects the light coming in from the windows.
Just now some people have come in and someone’s phone went off, tut tut, bad form! It’s lovely just to sit and rest a while. I’ve lit a candle for Nan sending her my love and a little prayer for her to get better and feel happier – I must write another postcard to her. D also lit some candles for his Mum, Dad, best friend Pri and his two grandmothers.
We are now sitting in Pizza Plus waiting for our chicken and Mushroom pizza. Today has been so long and we are absolutely shattered, we have spent the last eleven hours on our feet in 29degree heat. We wandered round everywhere, first trying to find an internet club, and then we wandered down to the River and back into town to the big indoor (and outdoor) market.
We also stopped off at the old Apteka (chemist) and at a shopping centre where I got some new red shorts – hassled by D to buy something!! We ended up having a business lunch at the Chinese restaurant I wrote about and were very well fed for 100 roubles each – bargain! We also stopped off at a book shop and bought two packs of postcards, a deck of Baikal cards and three small puzzles for Nan. We now need to find a place to sleep as no-one form couch surfing is able to host us.
We’re getting the 9am bus to Olkhon Island tomorrow morning, I hope we’re fighting fit for that – we need a decent nights sleep!
After dinner and still no host for the night, wet back to the internet café and found some hotel addresses.
We found our way to a hostel which was shut and a hotel which wasn’t there. We also found, or rather, were found by a lovely lady called Nina, who first showed us to her friend’s house. Very nice house she said, but apparently her friend was away at her Dacha. She then walked us to Hotel Rus, where for 1700 roubles (they registered only one of us) we stayed in a twin room, how I wish it were a double. After all this walking, I could really do with a cuddle before going to bed.
Irkutsk is a really beautiful city. It was rich before the soviet era and so a lot of the buildings are not monstrosities of practical convenience, but old colonial style eye pleasers (and is of wooden houses too).
Must wind down before bed it’s now around 11pm and we have an early start tomorrow. I’m reading The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse – you can guess from the title it’s an absurd book, but I can’t wait to see how it finishes. Goodnight.
Day Ten
Friday 10th July
It’s now around 8.30am and we’ve been at the bus station for about half an hour.
Sleep was amazing last night, woke up feeling much better but I could’ve definitely slept for another two hours.
I’ve just come back from the station toilet where a lady with dyed red hair charges 8 roubles per person for the pleasure for taking a dump in one of the most majestic toilets I’ve seen yet. Not.
Well more about toilets. We are now in a lovely room on top of a small hill overlooking Khuzhir town on Olkhon Island. Our mini house doesn’t have a bathroom or toilet, just one room with three beds, a double sofa bed, a desk and two chairs. Sounds awful but its lovely especially with the faux tiger skin throws on each of the beds, grrrrrrrr!!!
The toilet is a small outhouse about 15 metres away from the house, it’s a hole in the ground which smells even worse as soon as you contribute to what’s down below. Fortunately the flies had gone to sleep when I visited the loo, so I had only Louis Armstrong for company, ‘Don’t Loose Your Head’ (or your balance) while I used my much beloved Ipod for the light.
Anyway back to today – Instead of the bus, three Marshrutkas showed up and took the passengers, including us to Lake Baikal. The trip which should’ve taken eight hours, took five and we stopped off twice along the way. The weather was beautiful, sunny blue skies and a cool breeze, it was so lovely to travel like that! The roads were mainly tarmacked, although a good section wasn’t and I got a rather tingly bottom from all the upping and downing, I nearly lost my stomach a few times!
We got on the ferry which took us from the mainland (MRS) to Olkhon Island where we paid 25 roubles each for the pleasure of staying a day (because it’s a national park). Once off the ‘bus’ and onto the Island we made our way to Nikita’s Homestead which isn’t so much a homestead as a small enclosed village. It’s all wooden and very pretty, there are people making and decorating things which is really nice to be around. They’re quite hard sell for the tours, which we booked through a local bar instead, but all in it seems very lovely. And Lake Baikal is BEAUtiful.
Coming across on the ferry felt like we were crossing a small sea, which is what the area is called – Maloe More (small sea in Russian).
We rested for a bit before going out – we went out down the beach were there were some Canadians, and we stayed there for an hour relaxing. D jumped into the Lake but I wasn’t about to go in any further than ankle level (and in only my bra and pants, no bikini) so I stuck to paddling, it was bloody cold! We explored a little bit and went to the outcrop of rocks which features on a lot of postcards, called Shamans stone (very spiritual area). Very beautiful.
We returned to the guest house, had dinner and walked up to the top of a hill and watched the sun setting behind some hills on the mainland. It was so beautiful, we took lots of pictures and messed around like big kids. Lots of fun. After that we walked into ‘town’ and booked our excursion to Cape Khoboy, the northern point of the Island for tomorrow, got a couple of beers and walked back home, where we enjoyed the toilet facilities again and went to bed.
Day Eleven
Saturday 11th July
We’ve just finished breakfast which was freshly cooked and delicious, now we’re waiting outside Volna (wave in Russian) for our tour guide to arrive. I am sun creamed up to the max after catching it a little yesterday in the evening.
The sun woke me up this morning and the view from our window looked so beautiful. I’m really pleased we decided to stay two nights. It’s another beautiful day, aside from the dance music, I can hear seagulls, a chainsaw (I think) and the odd car rumbling by on the big dusty/sandy road. Heaven.
After waiting for about half an hour for people to finish their coffees we set off, only to stop less than ten minutes later. Our little mini van had big problems with gears. Another van arrived and picked up where the other left off. After a couple more stops to admire the beautiful scenery we arrived at the Northern most point of the Island. I think all in, the drive took around two hours.
We got out and walked to different points, taking lots of pictures, all of them (I hope) stunning! It s such a gorgeous day, I can hear grasshoppers and crickets, birds twittering in the trees.
After walking/climbing and what felt like, at times, hiking we arrived back at the minivan for lunch. Lunch was simple but delicious- (omul – from the lake) fish soup with potatoes and dill with fresh bread. There was also tea and biscuits for after, it sounds English but it was very Russian!
After a group photo we packed up and were on the road again. We stopped off once more at a small beach with pebbles and rested for a bit.
The last leg back to the drop off point was interrupted by a little stop by a policeman. He took the number plate off of our van and off another van behind us, to take with him back to the station. Apparently this is standard practice out here. I’m just happy they didn’t ask to see our documents has we hadn’t registered with the police at any point of our trip outside of Moscow.
After we got back to Base camp we headed straight to dinner which was…. Omul fish, but really good (as always) with Olivier salad and some other salad, with sweet bread for after. We sat at the same table as a couple of Danes who were very blonde and very lovely. We chatted for a little bit, they were continuing onto Mongolia, China and then Hong Kong, where they are studying for six months.
Now kicking back at our little house relaxing. Another lovely day although heading out later to catch the sunset. The sun is still very warm and it’s not so kind to D’s new raspberry body.
Day Twelve
Sunday 12th July
After relaxing for a bit we got a couple of Brahmas from the bright pink Gastronom, which D’s face blended with worryingly well, and walked down to a small harbour where little rusty boats were piled up on top of each other. We sat with our beer and a bag of peanuts and watched the sun go down together. It was another beautiful sunset, a lot of rain in the distance where the light of the setting sun reflected pink and all different colours on the water. It was the first sunset D has seen where the light reflected on the water was unbroken by anything else, all the way up to the shore where we were both sitting.
We’re leaving the Island today at 11am, Lake Baikal has been so beautiful and such a lovely place to stay it’s definitely one of the most beautiful places I’ve seen.
It’s just gone midnight and we’re sitting in Dima’s flat which is a fair ride out from Irkustk train station. Café Del Mare is playing on the computer and a cup of green tea is in my tummy. I have just emailed friends and family, feeling very relaxed. Dima is going to download some of my photos (and a couple of D’s too!!) onto his computer because he liked my compositions so much (I feel VERY flattered!).
Two polish guys have just arrived, they are also couch surfing, or rather floor surfing tonight. I had a shower almost immediately after arriving here- after 2 days without a shower I needed it! The tiny free banya was fully booked at Nikita’s Homestead, we made do with splash sink showers, which were cool and refreshing although I did feel a little bit silly standing outdoors in my bra and shorts trying to get clean – and not really succeeding either!
The bus back to Irkutsk was actually a bus/coach not a Marshrutka which worked against us time wise because there weren’t enough people, only the final of the three scheduled buses ran, so although we were meant to leave at 11am (the first) we left on the last bus (at 1pm).
In the extra time we had we took some pictures of the small bay where we sat and watched our last sunset (from Olkhon Island) and we made it up to the Island’s blue domed little church. Outside the church cows wandered round chewing on the short green grass and running away from my camera.
Early start tomorrow morning, Dima leaves at 7 and our train at 10am, it would be nice to see a bit more Irkutsk, until next time of course.
Almost forgot to mention prize find of the day, after the short ferry crossing, D bought me some lovely earrings which sparkle gold like the sandy ground of the Northern most point of Olkhon (which I have since discovered is called gold stone and isn’t actually a stone at all but glass).
Day Thirteen
Monday 13th July
Sitting in a café by the station, it’s 9.30ish and we’re having breakfast. Pizza and cold lime beer, it somehow felt very fitting to do breakfast Russian style (although apparently only the skanky Russians do this). We were up very early this morning after a not particularly fabulous night’s sleep, one of the Polish guys snored like a freight train, it was awful.
Dima was so lovely, it was really nice staying with him, even though it wasn’t for very long. We got up around 6.30 and headed out at 7am, we got the number 16 Marshrutka back into town and wandered around the three churches, only one of which we went into. It was during the middle of a service, just for ladies it seemed. There were only women – about seven or eight and another one who read the service. The air was heavy with incense and candles- warm, fragrant and relaxing. D really liked and was impressed by the paintings et al but there were aspects I didn’t really like – in the bottom sections of some of the murals looked rather too hell-like for my liking with big red dragon snake things.
We then wandered back to the station and here we are, Fairytale is on the radio and is surprisingly good for the Eurovision winner. Another beer for the road and we are off to catch our train.
It’s now 11.30ish (am), on my third beer and fading fast - passing by LB now – catching glimpses of blue water covered in a blue haze. Have just written nine postcards to: Nan, Mum, Dad, Kate, Mike, Sus, Jude, The Wife and Cam. Am all worn out – can’t take this rock’n’roll lifestyle!
It’s now about 4 in the afternoon, we’re sitting in a café in the middle of nowhere after walking past loads of wild strawberry sellers on the way from Vydrino station, also in the middle of nowhere. The train journey was short but sweet. The view of LB from the toilet was amazing.
We stopped by the Snowy River and went for a swim, the water was bloody cold but not enough to put us off! We stayed a while in the shade to dry off slowly, also using D’s new chamois leather, ooooo!
Have finished off rice (plov), mushroom, cucumber and mayo salad, back on the road for a 5km walk to civilisation.
Day Fourteen
Tuesday 14th July
It’s 6.40am and we are sitting in Vydrino train station which is deliciously warm after a very fresh walk here. We got up well before dawn - at around 4.45am. We packed up the tent we hired for the night and set out on the road, the sunrise was really pretty although every time we stopped to take pictures we were devoured by the persistent mosquitoes.
Yesterday after leaving the café we walked for another hour and a half which seemed so long, but we arrived at the warm lake just in time – before I collapsed with fatigue! We went for a swim in the lake, I chickened out of swimming to the other side, and chose to read my book – The City of Falling Angels.
While I was waiting for D to recover and swim back from the other side, a young boy- Danila (10 years old) and his Mum came and spoke to me, he was learning English and had lots of questions, he was very sweet.
The weather looked pretty rubbish, so instead of sleeping under the stars (and a blanket of hungry mosquitoes) we rented out a tent from the administration. We put up the tent and tried to get a campfire going, the only thing that caught fire successfully was the toilet roll we used as a fire starter. It was fun to play camp though.
With only inflatable mattresses, the clothes on our backs, each other and a bin bag for warmth, I can’t say it was the best night sleep either of us had, the wind came in sudden bursts and frightened the life out of me (us).
We woke up before the sun and set off to the station. Our train was a little late but we got on and slept, we were woken up twice by ticket ladies. We missed what we thought was our stop and got off at the next one, which actually was our stop and an old guy gave us a lift into town (for 30 roubles) which is right on the shore of LB.
Now sitting in a Stolnaya, drinking tea and eating liver and kasha (only D not me).
We have been to see a monastery which is being renovated, everyone working on it is a volunteer. The front part of the church inside is finished and is beautiful, and the rest is being worked on. On the way out I got given a flower which is now being pressed in my book (flower has manked and died). We got shown around the site by some of the volunteers and two of the young men at university showed us other landmarks and stayed with us while we ate lunch. One was training to be a diplomat and was learning Arabic and the other was doing something similar and a different language.
We are now in Ulan Ude, after a crushed up two hour ride in a Marshrutka. Managed to sleep for a bit but I mainly read.
We managed a final dip in LB, we went down to the water front, got into our togs and jumped in, well almost. I managed a crippled hobble to the waters edge, a body dunk and was straight back out again - drying off with D’s super towel.
Am killing time in the Irish pub while D is watching a game of table of football. The Guinness, while much anticipated, doesn’t taste the same, the pipes probably need cleaning.
First impressions of UU are average. Irkustk takes some beating. But the centre looks much nicer than the area near the train station. The weather is gorgeous, we have been so lucky. In some ways it now feels like the trip has come to an end but I want it to go on for much longer, although it will be great to go home to my awesome sister Katie and the rest of my wonderful family.
I have just played a game of Foosball – Brazilian All Blacks against the German Geographic’s – we won! (I scored two goals!!) 10 – 1, SCORE!!
Made it to the semi finals, and the finals, and we WON!! We have just been presented with our prizes – two red beer cloths – must go outside, cool down and relax – it was a very tense game. All the losers had bone crushing hand shakes – Hah losers! We are the champions.
Day Fifteen
Wednesday 15th July
Seventeen mosquito bites accumulated from LB and the warm lake – very impressive as D is much tastier than me and usually gets all the attention – not that I’m complaining.
After we left the bar last night, we wandered around UU centre, it was so nice – elated from our victory on such a lovely warm evening. We saw a super bendy lady and Lenin’s big head – the biggest in Russia, and probably therefore the world.
Finally made it out of the hotel at midday and are now sitting in an Uzbek restaurant. OH MY GOD. We have eaten like kings, the food was superb, we had:
Uzbek flatbread ‘without which does not manage any feast’ quoted directly from the menu.
Fresh cooked Samca (straight out of the oven with no nuking!)
We also had some super salads D had ‘oltin-larz’ with tomatoes, cucumber and red pepper. Mine was salad ‘Navruz’ which was mouth-wateringly good – aubergines, cucumbers, peppers and lots of strong garlic – heaven!
For the mains we shared a plate of Plov – sweet Mary it was delicious, the rice was perfectly cooked with strips of carrot and some chickpeas, it was rich with oil (I think from the lamb) and topped with tender roasted mutton. I wish my stomach was more easily extendable or that I didn’t mind being fat!
We are now slowly trying to finish off the soup, which I chose from the menu because it sounded funny. ‘Mampa’ – ‘Meat of veal, juicy trickled pastries, Uzbek style, fresh vegetables, a radish and greens’!! It also was fantastic, I have to say clear soups are really growing on me.
The bill has just been paid and after the advertised 20% discount it came to 759r, it was the best fed we’ve been for the equivalent of £7 per head – Stonking – definitely coming back here tomorrow.
After leaving the restaurant feeling very fat and very happy, we walked around trying to find a universal adaptor, having no luck we got the tram to The Nature Museum, which we easily could have walked.
The museum was absolutely stuffed with stuffed animals, some of them quite amusing and some of them really quite eerie – with crazed wonky eyes and odd poses. The rooms weren’t very well lit so at times you would look up to find an eagle or a few birds directly overhead. I was impressed by the number and variety of animals they had on show. They also had some fish, bottled in preservatives, including some really ugly transparent white fish which are the most numerous in LB. D wasn’t impressed at all - ‘BORING’.
After the museum we wandered down to the Odigitria Cathedral and then onto the river. By this time it was raining although not too heavily. I tried going to the art museum, but it was too late and had already started closing. Instead I joined D at an internet café and emailed everyone back home.
We then wandered across to another church – Troitskaya Church – in the middle of an incredibly beautiful service. Two ladies were singing from a book, their voices blended together so wonderfully it was really moving.
We walked, very slowly, all the way back to the hotel, I was feeling very light-headed and tearful after staying inside the church. We stopped to buy noodles for the train journey, Buryatia Balsam, biscuits and juice for our fifty two hour train trip tomorrow.
We are now sitting in our sumptuous hotel room having photographed the hallway which looks like a random hospital corridor, the mouldy, flaking bathroom with the lopsided, wonky toilet and our delicious lemon yellow bedroom. We are packing for tomorrow and drinking beer, a lovely end to a lovely day.
Day Sixteen
Thursday 16th July
We are back in the Caravan restaurant from yesterday, we have just ordered and I’m feeling very excited about lunch!
We got up early after a goodnight’s sleep – the beers helped! We went to the centre and did some present buying, unfortunately I missed some really nice presents at Olkhon Island, kicking myself now. So far we have picked up a couple of UU bags with the massive Lenin head on them, some fridge magnets, a Russian amber pendant for Kate and a lovely Bolsco fleece jacket for Mike which I really love. I keep turning my nose up at stuff which is making it difficult to buy things for other people.
Tried to clothes shop for a bit but that didn’t really happen, buying things for other people is much more fun!
UU has been really lovely, it feels really spacious and a lot of the buildings are really nice and well proportioned. The weather has also been gorgeous, it had us slapping on the sun cream before going out every morning.
One thing that does strike me is the number of serious alcoholics at any time of day, it doesn’t matter whether it’s 8 in the morning or 11 at night. On the odd occasion it can be quite funny but more often than not it’s really quite tragic and deeply saddening. Another thing which drives me nuts about Russia are the un-even steps, rarely the same height they catch you out if you are not paying enough attention and send you sprawling!
Food is now here – WOW!!
I am almost too full to write, we ate:
• Beef Plov – dribble dribble dribble – so good.
• A chicken, pepper omelette thing but the egg was really thin, very tasty!
• Aubergine salad like yesterday
• Mountain of cabbage, pepper and something else, delicious
• Flat Uzbek bread, yum yum!
• The most amazing cheese plate with really tangy, crumbly, holey cheese covered with grapes and walnuts
• Another six samcas, four for the road, D the pig, ate two.
• Delicious green tea
• And a kiwi and cream pudding for me
FATTIES!!!
Day Seventeen
Friday 17th July
We are now sitting on the train after a fairly good nights sleep. We arrived in plenty of time for the train and since then it has been pretty uneventful. We are in berths one and two again and sharing with a very nice older lady, short brown hair, very neat and tidy and a much younger girl who came dressed up in a colourful crochet skirt, matching top and with jewelled evening shoes. She promptly changed into her travel gear which was really quite cute which included very short shorts and pinks socks with blue flat sandals. Not sure where we are passing through but as always the landscape is very pretty. Not really much to write about at the moment, D is asleep looking like an angel. There isn’t much to do except read, write or contemplate my navel. I have been doodling the place names in English for all the places we stopped at on the train, think they look quite cool. I can’t wait to make our book for the trip, it’ll be so cool compiling everything we’ve collected, written down and photographed.
I do think it’s a bit of a shame that D hasn’t kept a little diary as well only because both of us will have remembered different things. I will probably start typing up my notes when we’re in Riga, we have quite along stopover. I must say I’m not feeling so fresh, really should have a wash and brush my teeth but I just can’t be bothered. I am sleeping a lot and reading the Gangs of New York, which is nothing at all like the film (although very good) there is only one chapter dedicated to Bill the Butcher and that’s when he meets his final moment. I finished the City of Falling Angels yesterday which was an excellent book about the destruction and restoration of the Fenice in Venice, would really like to go to Venice with D sometime, it is so beautiful. Must stop writing drivel, get back to window gazing or reading my book, might be time for a cup of tea…
Day Eighteen
Saturday 18th July
It’s about 4pm local time, we have about seven hours to go until we arrive at Khabarosvk. Not feeling cabin fever-ish but it would be really nice to get off the train we haven’t stopped for several hours now. Breakfast was hot sweet tea and biscuits. My sugar intake soars every time we get on the train. Lunch wasn’t long after, noodles with tomato and a salad. Have been reading and sleeping all day, played a couple of games of solitaire for two and D has studied a lot, he is writing postcards now.
The landscape was flat for a while but is rolling now, everything is green and covered with trees 90% of which are Silver birch. The weather is cloudy but sunny, it rained a bit earlier on, the first semi-rubbish weather we’ve had since Yekaterinburg. Gangs of New York s really interesting but gory. Incredibly bored at the moment, really really BORED.
Day Nineteen
Sunday 19th July
It’s about 3pm and we’ve just made it onto a boat cruise round the bay of Khabarosvk. WOW what a morning it’s been, Veronika met us at the station last night, a young, petite, blonde Russian citizen originally from Lithuania and really really friendly. We went back to her friends place, dumped our stuff and headed back out into town. We ended up in a quiet bar on the water front which was and still is, packed with funfair attractions and rides. We had three beers and some crisps and sat chatting. We then went walking and saw two of the most beautiful cathedrals, which we’ll visit later on this afternoon. It’s so lovely on the boat, we’re inside – air con!! – It’s hot and sunny outside, really muggy but the front is beautiful. We are passing a couple of building sites now though.
By the time we had finished photographing the churches and made our way back home, it was 4.40 in the morning. It was such a good night and after two nights of no alcohol D and I were drunk after one beer, after our third we were very merry.
This morning we woke up very late at 11am, having been full of good intentions to get up at 8.30, and we were out of the house by mid-day. We walked to the market which was fantastic, the first part was open and all fruit, there were stands after stands of berries all of them arranged beautifully. After that came salads, piles of dusty red tomatoes and stacks of cucumbers, everything looked so enticing and fresh and it was so beautiful. After that we entered the tented areas and saw rows upon rows of potatoes and then onto more fruit and finally we were indoors.
We are now sitting in Green Plaza it’s about 8pm and we are shattered, but to finish this morning and this afternoon.
The indoor market was buzzing with activity. We stopped at a salad counter where the world’s best salesgirl plied us with free samples without saying a word, we could’ve stayed there all morning and not needed to buy lunch after, she gave us so much. The most impressive section in the market was the meat – it was immense, with every kind of cut on display and butchers at work in the open. We watched a sheep’s head being expertly chopped up, its big wobbly eyes still whole at the end, nice precise work!
After the market we met Veronika at the Regional Museum which was by far and away the best museum that either of us have ever been to, the displays were brilliant. There were several sections, the one I liked best was the first we went to, full of stuffed animals. But it was totally different to the crap museum in UU, the artwork and layout of the exhibition was superb, the backdrop to each of the scenes were curved and so created a depth to the display, it was so well presented. There were loads of grannies in charge to ensure that you didn’t take any pictures or touch anything. We all wandered down to the waterfront where we said goodbye to V and went on our boat ride.
After the boat ride, which was relaxing but hot (and I got my bum wet) we went on the dodgems. It was so much fun. D rammed me and my car pinged back and hit the edge and my neck snapped back, I have been walking round looking like I have a broom handle up my bottom.
It’s now 9.30 in the evening and the train is leaving the station. Khabarosvk has been so beautiful and we’ve had such a good time here it’s a real shame to leave it behind. The buildings and the layout of the city were so lovely and it being on a river made our evenings and afternoon strolls really wonderful. We didn’t have enough time to do everything here and we missed the new church (built two years ago) but we did have a really busy day sightseeing.
We also rented a pedalo for twenty minutes and peddled round a pond, D steered us under the fountains so we got wet, his idea of a good time apparently!
We are in the train sitting with a guy called Victor having the usual chitchat, we had a bit of a struggle opening our window but the boys managed it, and a lovely breeze is now clearing our stuffy coupe.
Day Twenty
Monday 20th July
Not sure what time it is now but the weather is miserable and grey. Viktor disappeared at some point during the night and was replaced by a big, fat Russian Mama and her young daughter who woke me up.
Getting to sleep was difficult last night, as soon as I lay down I didn’t feel very well and was eventually sick in the toilets after I mimed vomiting to the train lady who opened up the toilets for me especially, just as well!
I have been reading about Vladivostok and I must say it doesn’t look so interesting, I hope it’s not true, a lot can change over five years (how out of date our guidebook is) it would be a bummer to spend the last part of our trip somewhere rubbish!
Well we’ve made it to the Russian Far East, weather is miserable but it matches my mood. I’m feeling rather depressed that its al coming to an end. This trip has been amazing, I want to go back to the places we loved and spend another week in each one – LB, Irkutsk, Olkhon Island and Khabarosvk in particular.
We are heading out into the grey drizzle having just finished an early lunch at Republic which is just opposite the station. The food is okay, not hot not cold and not expensive.
Good grief, this weather really is miserable, I take it back about it matching my mood, I’m not this miserable.
We trudged round for a while trying to find and internet café, what a mission and a wretched one at that. We’re now in a shopping centre food court having trudged round several jewellery and clothes shops.
After lunch we went to a games arcade and I got my behind thrashed both in table hockey and car racing. D won all three games for table hockey and two out of three for the racing, so I am the loser fair and square! After picking up some shopping we met our host Alexei and got on the bus for the thirty minute ride to his place which he shares with his wife Kristina and his cat called Kot which is Russian for cat. When we arrived at his flat he insisted (before I’d even taken my shoes off) that I have a shower, almost to the point of rudeness but he was just trying to be welcoming, rather than telling me that I stunk (I hope!!).
Day Twenty One – Final Day
Tuesday 21st July
Wow! Army assault course from the flat this morning, we waded through flooded swampland, leaping daringly from rock to rock or on occasion, a lake of a puddle, all the while keeping pace with the far superior stamina of our beast master Alexei. I managed to keep my spirits up by ignoring the wet and disregarding my own (very important) personal safety during this urban jungle run. The torrential downpour plastered our clothes to our bodies, pants and socks included. My trainers held about five litres each and made wonderfully squelchy noises every time I put my foot down.
I woke up with a mild hangover after our mini celebration last night. It included champagne and peach juice, Burytian Balsam and berries from the garden. After many toasts and shooting of the Balsam, Alexei brought out the hookah and we all got very light-headed passing it round. It was a really nice way to end the trip, they were a really nice couple and I think Alexei is coming to stay with us for a couple of days before going to St Petersburg to get a job.
Back to this morning, we got so thoroughly soaked on the way from the bus station to the train station that puddle jumping seemed like an excellent way to finish off the jump of getting as soggy as our clothes and shoes would allow. Unfortunately the best puddle jump wasn’t captured on film as my camera refused to work!
We are heading over to collect our bags and then catch the bus to the airport (from outside the train station). We are now running with our tanks on full, we are back at the same place as yesterday morning opposite the station with the statue of Lenin outside pointing to Japan.
Crikey!!! We’re now on the plane but not before a great deal of stress and surprise!
We arrived at the airport in plenty of time for our flight, or so we thought. In fact our flight had been moved forward from 3.45pm to 11.30am and had departed well before we arrived at the airport at 2pm. We had no idea about this despite trying to check the website to confirm our flight time last night, which was impossible because the website was so crap. So having so idea what had happened, when it was our turn at the check in desk, the lady didn’t have our names on the flight list and after several different girls came and spoke to us D went away and sorted it all out and got us onto the flight we were already trying to board. A mad dash across the airport ensued as we legged it through security – the X-ray machine stopped and we had to wait for it to reboot, with half our bags still inside!
Anyway here we are flying, we will stop at Abakan or somewhere in Siberia, we won’t have anytime to change our stuff in Moscow as this stopping flight will take much longer than the flight we had originally booked. We are praying that someone will be able to collect our suitcase from Boro for us and meet us at the train station, fingers crossed! Funny as it sounds, I guess I prefer train travel to plane travel, the air is so dry in here, my eyes and the inside of my nose hurts, no doubt my face will be cracking later! Well at least I’m now dry and so are my pants and trousers, hooray!!
We are now in Abakan, Siberia (which is very near Khabarovsk) for an hour, the sun is so hot that it’s impossible to stay outside for any length of time. There isn’t much to report except that D has just dropped the most evil smelling rotten fart and has now disappeared off to the toilets to get rid of the cause of it.
It’s now almost 9pm and we made it to our Riga train with thirty minutes to spare. What a mission! Our plane touched down fifteen minutes late which put us into a state of panic as did, what felt like, an excessively long wait to disembark and then for the airport bus to complete the excruciatingly long trip to the Airport building. Once it stopped D was out of the doors in a flash while I got stuck behind a fat Granny, I had to restrain the urge to elbow her aside and run for it too (we were back in Moscow after all). Nevertheless I eventually managed to overtake her and waddle quickly to the taxi rank with my bags swinging all over the place.
After the lazy mofos at the taxi rank had overcharged us – 800r for a ten minute trip!!! We were off again, this time at top speed, weaving our way through traffic keeping at around 140kmh. We legged it down the metro steps running all the way to the platform, the open waiting doors and onto the train.
For the next thirty minutes we sorted out our stuff, re-arranging and re-packing things into different bags, got really stressed, even more so when we discovered that we had left EVERYONE’s presents behind, probably in Vladivostok. We were both so gutted when we realised that we didn’t have them with us, we were both really looking forward to giving Mike his big red jacket and Kate her green amber pendant and all the other bits and bobs for Gabby, Sus, Jude and Cam Anyway at least all the stuff is replaceable and I guess we’ll have even more fun as we now get to do the shopping for a second time! The only difference being that next time we’ll send them home rather than lugging it round with us only to leave it behind somewhere else.
We arrived at Vokzal station to find Lorin ready and waiting for us on the platform with our red suitcase. Seeing him there was such as weight off our shoulders and he put the smiles back on our faces, what a legend! I really don’t think he realised quite how much he helped us out and put us back on our feet! After a quick chat we got onto the train and were told in no uncertain terms by the ticket lady that she was well within her rights to refuse our travel worn tickets. Anyway she didn’t and we are now heading to Riga, sitting opposite an adorable lady called Lida who has a daughter-in-law called Sarah. She has dark red/deep plum hair and big lips in a slightly lighter shade than her hair, she is an absolute sweetheart and is sharing her sweets with us.
This doesn’t really feel like the end but I guess it is – we are now on our way back home to Mum.
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