Baikal Plaza Hotel Ulan-Ude

... sky was bright and clear and, as we chugged through cleared, drained, cultivated areas the sun intensified the gold of the crops and gave the occasional groups of ramshackle wooden houses a quaint, homely air. We stopped at more frequent small stations, where traders appeared, selling snacks and drinks and fur hats from their carts and baskets. I would like to travel this route in February, the coldest month, and see the same ...

My body clock is pretty messed up at the moment. So far we have passed through 5 different time zones on our jounrney. The train runs on Moscow time and even though we runonRussian time we are realistlically 5 hours ahead on Mongolian time. <br><br>I managed to wake up at 7:30am Mongolian time or 2:30am Moscow time to catch the sunrise over lake biakal which was pretty nice. <br><br>We managed to reach the Russian border ...

... presence on my soul. He&#8217;s always been there for me even after breaking up and vacation, time away, and some good conversation I think was the right combo to clear my head a bit from the usual grind of life to realize what&#8217;s really important. So tonight, after nearly 4 weeks of vacation, time to think, and also plenty of conversation with Gary, I decided rather than waiting til I got home and talking about it more, I just would call him now and ...

... and when Finola tried to buy some strawberries we had a group of people laughing at us and quoting rip-off prices. By the end of the day we were very, very, very pleased and relieved to go to the train station (we went by cab because we could not summon the mental strength to deal with the local bus) and get away from Irkutsk.<br><br>Russia was bizarre. It certainly had its good bits, but it's not yet an accommodating tourist destination. Even ...

... above in front of the peanuts. Still, that was good to waste some time. With the air con off as the train is at rest we spent an hour and a half on the platform until the Provotniks herded us back onboard. Was this it? Were we ready to leave? Of course not. At some point we got given forms to fill in in duplicate and after another hour Russian passport control deigned to give us our passports back. Now all we had to do was have customs make a thorough search ...

... for our 12-day Scandinavian cruise. <br><br>But Vera was a lovely half Russian-half Buriat woman who I quickly warmed up to. She was homesick for her hometown in Ulan-Ude while I was homesick for a good conversation in English. We had a great time together that I decided to ask her to meet me later that evening.<br><br>Seven o&#8217;clock. The elevator door opens. She sits on the sofa looking like a piece of heaven. I walk out ...

The next day I arrived in Ulan-Ude. The city is distinctly different from what I believed would be Russian. The majority of residents are Buriat, who are descendants of Mongolia, and had occupied the land before the Russians. However, eventually they ceded their sovereignty and became part of Russia. <br><br>My ...

Hey guys - it's going to be a quick post because I'm in an internet cafe and want to get going. Last night, I stayed in discussing Russia with the only other person in the hostel, a Canadian girl from the east coast. We were going to go out for beer and food, but the weather was so horrendous that we decided against it. So, at midnight, I climbed up into my bed and pulled the rough woollen blanket up around my face as the wind howled outside and lashed rain against the ...

Ok, I know that every man and his dog probably use that title when they get to Russia, or any other FSU country, but I just had to and I don't care if it's overdone! I left Ulaan Bataar on Tuesday, and as our train snaked its way out of the city and into the half-light, past ger encampments placed right next to factories belching smoke, I had to wonder if any of it had really ever happened. My entire stay in Mongolia seemed surreal ...

Apres nos quelques jours vers le lac Baikal nous avons prolonge le plaisir des jolis paysages en prenant un train de jour qui longe le lac pour rejoindre Oulan-Oude. On n'a pas ete decu, il y avait des magnifiques vues sur des montagnes surplombant le lac tout blanc. (mais a travers les vitres sales du train, les photos ne passent pas bien...) Ca vallait bien les 7h de trains... Arrives a Oulan-Oude, Tatty nous attendais avec sa soeur. Oulan-Oude ...