Best Eastern Hotel Zvezda Irkutsk

... still within their enclosed grounds, is a block of “luxury apartments”. They are also the owners of an adjacent shop supplying not only visitors but also the local community; the lady buying her weeks’s supply of cat food weighed out from a large bag of dried food and another lady clearly getting a bit of credit as her purchases
are noted in a book..

A traditional village with ...

... guys buy Genghis Kahn Brand Vodka.

Dom, one of the Dutch guys and I go over to Russian guys compartment to help with the Genghis Kahn vodka.

I wake up Russ and drag him up to Russian compartment.

Russ leaves after 5mins and 1sip of vodka

Dom, the dutch guy and I keep going until about 3am.


Arrive Ulan Bator 7am, Thurs Sept 17.


Woken up by Russ at 6:30am

Feeling like ...

... into a hefty supply of alcohol, results in a lot of testosterone flying around. But they were all very good-humoured, despite their tough image, and when one of them, a little too vodka-soaked by midday, refused to be deterred by my linguistic incomprehension and persisted in harangueing me, the provodnista soon sorted him out. I have no idea what she said but I recognised her expression as one I have used many times in the ...

... on lake baikal.

Lake Baikal is a lovely place We stayed in a "Home Stay" about 40 miles from Irkutsk.
Another traveller was staying with us he is Argentian and doing thre trans siberian the othet way to us. So we have swapped our experiences with each other

The home stay was very comfortable and the lady of the house provides all meals.

I will not mention the toilet is outside at the bottom of the garden and has a wooden seat above an open pit.
Also our ...

... on the platforms and being ordered back on the train by the Russian guards only to jump back on the platofrm to sell more clothes once they have disapered. i have not eaaten anything in the food car yet because it is overprices and apperently not very nice, good job I brought all my food with me. It is easy to buy food at the stops I managed tp buy some panckaes, salad and ...

... and 3 nights on the Moscow train - we got on at Yekaterinburg you may remember - this fabby hotel is like a very upmarket R&R joint. The train became a bonding experience for our little band of English speakers and we arrived in perfect weather. Yesterday however, it tipped down but not enough to dissuade Dave, Kate and me from doing our siberian trek which included staggering views and a hot ...

... Moscow, but to no avail...

Taxi - surely a taxi driver should know where the internet lives?
We found a taxi and asked for the internet, he said that he could help, told us the fare and took us on a 15 minute drive, curiously going in circles, either trying to make the drive seem longer to validate the cost, or perhaps unsure of the location. He eventually pulled up outside a building that had all of its shutters closed, and starting ...

... Next stop for me is Mongolia so will have a nice border crossing with plenty of stories no doubt. Not sure what is going on back home as havent checked the news or anything for a while but hope England is doing well in the Ashes!



Talk Soon,

Cheers!

... is poor, a Russian woman will still fall in love with him if he makes her laugh, if he makes her smile, if he makes her feel like the most beautiful girl in the world."

I turn to her and shake my head.

“So you’re calling me fat and ugly?” I say.

“Yes,” she responds.

The heart sinks. The dimples are gone.

“And…” she pauses, smiles and says, “you ...

... Finally, the girl collapses against her mother, and I can breathe a little easier. Unfortunately, I have to see her get out of the marshrutka proudly holding onto the bag when we reach Listvyanka. I actually didn't think it was physically possible for such a little thing to produce so much. I think I'm traumatized for life.

We finally arrive at Listvyanka. It has an odd atmosphere - part English holiday town set against a West Coast backdrop ...