Best Eastern Baikal Hotel Irkutsk

... hours. As it turns out we are there for the full 8 hours, boring! Our main entertainment came from two women who jumped in our carriage to get across the border, they have seen and done it all before so make light of the delay.<br><br>We drink a commical big beer with Mick and laugh about the day. Our main meal has been 3 pot noodles, will worry about my salt levels later...<br><br>One more night and a 6.30am arrival into Ulan Bator (UB)<br><br>Sain Bain uu <br><br><br><br><br><br>

... intense (we found out later that there was a problem with the electrics and they could not turn the heaters off!!) so after I'd finished storing the bags up top I was drenched!<br><br>So we took our seats and found ourselves face to face with a Russian woman and her daughter. They did not speak a word of English, we did not speak a word of Russian. Me thinks this is going to be a long journey!!<br><br>The train eventually set off and we ...

... Russia is a left hand drive country and as I walked down any street I couldn't pass 4 cars in a row with steering wheels on the same side. My only (bad) guess was that there were plenty of stolen cars imported from Japan or England!?<br> <br><br>LISTVYANKA<br> <br>I caught a bus up to Listvyanka, the tourist office was shut and the Tran-Sib Lonely Planet had no map and not much info on the town so I just went for a walk down ...

... which are dotted throughout. Also there was an incredible memorial to Peter the Great on the edge of the river near Gorky Park which has a huge amusement park. We got off beyond Red Square and walked back along the river, through Red Square which was now open after the concert the night before and noted how truly magnificent it is in its size. Then we had lunch in the same complex we'd had a drink the day, and then ...

... regular intervals. Traveling from East to West you have to put your watch back regularly, which means that there are no 24 hour days - they last either 25 or 26 hours depending on where you are. In San Francisco I bought a PDA to keep myself organised, and it displays the time in three different time zones. On the train I had them set to London time, Moscow time (all trains in Russia run to Moscow time, even if they are several time zones away. If they didn't ...

... plaque identifying the subject so I could be wrong. After our brief detour it was on to the Metro for WEVA. After lunch we took our queue from stream three and had the afternoon off, heading back to the Izmailovsky Markets. We did at last find the markets and they lived up to expectations. They were in two parts, an outer precinct where you could buy clothing, DVDs and other domestic items and an inner precinct with a five rouble ...

Days 31-34 Moscow The best nights sleep I've had in weeks, the gentle rhythm of the train and the sturdy mattress on the bunk are a winning combination. I'm mortified to find out later that that my cabin mates look a lot less rested because I kept them up all night snoring, I had told them to wake me if I did but they were to polite to do so. Our new Honcho is called Anastasia and is the most experienced and also the the best honcho we ...

... constant heat, we have been seeking ways to get in out of the sun, so we spent some time in the State Department Store (Gosudarstvenny Universalny Magazin or GUM). It is filled chock-a-bloc with high-end fancy shops which seems a far cry from the old soviet days where there were long queues of people waiting to buy basic drab goods. Now there are no queues and the shelves are stocked with designer goods and clientele whisk in and out carrying the ...