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Irkutsk Slideshow
Travel Blogs from Irkutsk, Russian Federation
A warm day in Siberia
This is a top pick! ... of this, as Lena was picking us up for a tour of Irkutsk, so we head down to reception where she was already waiting for us. Irkutsk does not have much to show for, there were three sights that Lena found that we had to see. The old churches, three of ...
Mocka and off to The Distant Land of Valuble Furs
This is a top pick! ... we sat in and watched a DVD with the honcho in the nice warm and made friends with a cat called Red (except in russian). The next day the whole group seperately but unanimously decided we didnt fancy an hours walk to a museum about the lake so we ...
Now we know cold!
This is a top pick! ... arrival in Irkutsk were transferred to a small village on the side of Lake Baikal called Bolshoe Golostnoe (about 110 km from Irkutsk). The train trip was actually quite enjoyable - we had our own carriage (2 berth) and bought enough supplies to feed ...
Trans-Sib Part One
This is a top pick! ... . Eventually, after a total of twelve hours, we were allowed back on the train and made our way into the Russian countryside. The weather immediately became much colder and the grasslands gave way to forests and mountains. We had entered Siberia. ...
Train Happy in Siberia
This is a top pick! ... We gave our attendants nicknames Svetlana and Ludmilla the former being a slim well presented young woman and the latter a stout stereotypical russian tractor driver in every respect,apart from the vivid makeup she wore. It looked as if someone had loaded ...
Lake Baikal
This is a top pick! ... the hostel type culture hasn't really hit main stream here yet. In Listvyanka I stayed with a family, a young Russian couple (early 20's) from Irkutsk were also staying with the family for the weekend. The couple were really lovely and inbetween ...
Russia-Mongolia by the TransSiberian
This is a top pick! ... for a day to see the official border at the Ural mountains. After this, we got back on the train for a further 3 nights to Irkutsk. For some reason our cabin was designated the party cabin, and we had many crazy vodka parties on the train. In order to ...
the Paris of Siberia
This is a top pick! ... ' in the 1930s, such as the huge and probably beautiful cathedral which once stood adjacent to the pretty central park. However Irkutsk now has major social problems that lurk behind the attractive exterior. Still, it was relatively safe in the lead up to ...
Day 9
This is a top pick! ... the ages 20-30. There is a good section of older western tourists too around retirement age, and the rest of the passengers are Russian and Chinese people going about their business. Nobody gets on or off at the stations we pass, though lots will depart ...
Irkutsk and Lake Baikal
This is a top pick! ... So there was nothing left to do but to visit the pizza place, Mmmm pretty good, if any of you find yourself in Irkutsk some Saturday afternoon then I'd recommend the Pizza place just down the street from the big Indoors market. We'd planned to visit ...
Trans Mongolian Express: Day 4
This is a top pick! ... on the safe side though we'd best set the alarms for 5 AM.... make it four. Either way, we were just glad to be through Russian border control. As the day wore on, the JWs asked us if we'd teach them the rules for shithead. They had seen us playing ...
Slow train to Siberia
This is a top pick! ... are also considered to have zero sense of humour and I read somewhere that during a psychological assessment conducted on a group of Russian boarder guards after a shootout, it was found that 70% of the guards were not stable enough to do the jobs and ...
Surprising Irkutsk
This is a top pick! ... tomorrow night it will be a moving bed. During our home stays and also during the two days in Irkutsk we sampled a few local Russian dishes and generally enjoyed the food. We especially liked the Russian beetroot soup, borsch and the local fish ...
Lake Baikal - oh and the fur attacks
This is a top pick! ... got on. The market was fierce however we again get a reminder of how volatile these things can be as a fight breaks out between a Russian woman and a Mongolian woman over a fur coat, and boy is it some fight. We expected the Mongolian Police man from next ...
The Vodka Train
This is a top pick! ... 50 hours passed very quickly, playing cards most of the time, with Lei and Gerry from Australia. Lana and Maria were 2 Russian girls returning to Irkustk after a year studying in America. They taught us a great Russian card game called fool. Guiseppe ...
First taste of Russia
This is a top pick! ... like rolls with fillings, book diving and accommodation for Lake Baikal and use local transport. Our recognition of the Russian cryllic alphabet gradually improved and we had fun reading different signs and being pleased with ourselves when we could ...
10 hours early for a 56 hour train trip
This is a top pick! The only way of catching a train I ever discovered is to miss the train before. - G.K. Chesterton · Irkutsk, Siberia, Russia · Prague time +7hrs · Days to get to Prague - 17 Eating a chunk of them time zones After getting back from Lake ...
Top and Bottom 5 Things in Russia
This is a top pick! ... (Smash) 1 - Nastrov'ee, Vodka, Pickle, Pour, Chat and repeat. Bottom 5 5 - Police 4 - Slippy Pavements, Wet Feet, Ice etc 3 - Visas 2 - The Language barrier (and apparent miserableness of Russian Folk - They make me look happy) 1 - Travelling on a ...
Pearl of Siberia
This is a top pick! ... trays below are any indication! This leg of the journey was a little laborious however, with a crossing of the Mongolian/Russian border and a scheduled six to eight hour delay at a small station called Naushki just inside Russian territory to wait ...
'The Train Across Half of Russia'
This is a top pick! ... . Myself and Shannon shared a cabin with Vladimeer and Ivan who were both off to Vladivostok (7 days!!!). Vlad was 'An officer of the Russian Army' who's favourite sayings were 'Sit Down Please', 'Thank You' and 'You're Welcome'. Ivan was a bit more of a ...
Damn this place is Cold!
This is a top pick! ... train tickets and assisted us in finding the left luggage storage in the station. With our bags in storage we got a taxi into town. Irkutsk was very quiet at 8am in the morning with not many people on the streets. It was extremely cold as we made our ...
TRANS-SIBERIAN TRAIN #10
This is a top pick! ... on his way to Vladivostok. We ambled around Irutsk feeling uninspired. It was a real shame that Russian Experience didn't arrange a "Buddy" to show us around. Irkutsk was the capital of Eastern Siberia and has a lot of interesting history - but without ...
Mother Russia...
This is a top pick! ... and helpful fellow. When we arrived we were greeted by Vitali, Jack was away on tour. Vitali confirmed many Russian stereotypes of unhelpfulness bordering on hostility but we did eventually convince him to please speak to the Russian person on the ...
Russian Nightclubs
This is a top pick! ... a short journey this time, only 12 hours and overnight so it shouldn't be too bad. Last night Chris and I went to a Russian nightclub, seeing as we missed the one in Ekaterinburg. Stratosphere was an interesting experience. The first thing you see when ...
Falling in the deepest lake in the world!
This is a top pick! ... , that was my carriage, left on its own for another 3 hours. What would I do if I missed my train? We arrived into Irkutsk very early. I was asked by the hostel to kill two hours at a cafe in the station so I did. Walking over the bridge to ...
Fish Flakes for Breakfast?
This is a top pick! At 2am our locomotive pulled into a quiet station on the edge of Lake Baikal, famed for its fresh fish (being the largest fresh water lake in the world!). Tilly had decided she was going to have one of these finned beauties before the train had even ...
Bilzzard In Deepest Darkest Siberia!
This is a top pick! ... planned for longer at the Lake than us and hoped the conditions would improve. We elected to go back into the city of Irkutsk, after quickly getting a few pictures of the famous Lake Baikal and having our breakfast finally at 3pm at the guest house where ...
Irkutsk, the final stop in Russia
This is a top pick! ... , some Russians who were also staying in the same place were eating and drinking vodka, and they invited me to join them! Again, Russian hospitality. They spoke a little English so we got by, and drank a fair bit of vodka, good stuff too! The next day ...
1st stop in Russia. Only 5185km to Moscow
This is a top pick! ... ), is one of the largest cities in Siberia (population over 600,000), is an archbishopric of the Russian Orthodox Church and is the administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast (an Oblast being an administrative region, much like a state). According to my ...
The trans-mongolian route. 48hrs.
This is a top pick! ... for. Its got a great walkway by the river and the prices aren't bad especially if you are coming from Moscow. I met a wonderful Russian lady, Yulya, who introduced me to her friends and showed me around, which made the whole experiance that much better. I ...