Best Eastern Sun Hotel Irkutsk

... smile. <br><br>Over the course of the 4 nights we wake to an ever changing landscape and slowly integrate into the rhythm of the train. Vasay and Llena turn out to be great hosts, he is a fireman and her a nurse, so are educated and patient enough to communicate enough information for us both to feel comfortable.<br><br>Midway through the trip and after many trades of fruit, Helen and I go for it. Crack out the Vodka and nibbles, lets drink like the Russians! Vasay and Llena head into ...

... Tuesday Sept 15:<br> <br>I met my compartment-mates:a really great english couple called Dom and Maxine.<br><br>The other was a guy called Russ -<br>mostly a nice guy, but about once an hour he'd become the most annoyingly dogmatic person I'd met in a long time, probably<br>ever. (We'd be talking about anything from history to politics and mid conversation he'd quote some unsubstantiated factoid to prove his side of the ...

... favourite football team (not on my radar!), and despite clearly failing their credibility test, repeatedly gave me the thumbs up and told me I was "a cool girl"! They tried hard to ply me with beer and vodka but I had to politely decline, on account of not wanting to oversleep and miss my next stop. They happily donated me a team scarf and then, on learning of my planned route, excitedly gave me their email addresses, asking me to ...

... unidentifiable meat and rice or potatoes and salad, really surprisingly good. Then the rest of the day is whiled away reading, sleeping, gazing out the window - it's been very relaxing. I made sure I got off at every stop possible, it was fun to watch all the traders on the platform selling food and drink to the passengers. I bought a few things, they sold everything from bread, pastries, smoked fish, noodles and complete pre-packed meals (and ...

... probably be explained about the Russian train journeys is that largely there is very little to look at through the window, meaning most attention is drawn towards activities in the cabin.. for most people this means reading or listening to music, doing oddly mutated 'small cabin' tricep dips/crunches between the bunks, that sort of thing... for MSRM this meant staring at us, constantly and unwaveringly. Apparantly Russians don't believe in the concept of staring = extreme ...

... has long gone. They were also suffering from subsidence. The crooked doors, roofs and windows looked a bit comical, yet most were still inhabited.<br><br>At 4.30am we left Olga's residence to board the train which took us into Mongolia.<br><br>This train was not as good as the previous train. We had ben warned by a couple travelling in the opposite direction to us that for them the trains got better - so for us they can only get worse!<br><br>By the way, scenery is getting much ...

... meal over a fire prepared by our heroic guide who somehow lit and maintained it without firelighters and in the pouring rain to feed us all.<br><br>Some of this Siberian spirit is still alive and well when you consider the history of Siberia itself (so named by the local Buryat tribe) as it has hosted many adventurers including Ghenghis Khan whose Golden Horde subjugated most of the continent ...

... at us. We gathered that he couldn't help us, and left without paying, much to his annoyance, surely doing nothing to remedy Russian distrust and dislike of ignorant and demanding Westerners.<br><br>2nd taxi - this time we would just ask him to take us to any hotel, where they surely would have internet and would very probably have English speaking staff? <br>The cabbie we found was really confused with our request, he desperately wanted us to ...

... owner made me a drink called 'Grog' which was a mix of tea, lemon, honey and lots of vodka!<br><br><br><br>- So i sought of gathered that tourists pay more for things in Russia but to what extent I didnt know until i came to leave Yekaterinburg and the owner booked ...

... also funny. You are also charming. You make me laugh. And I like you very much.&#8221;<br><br>The dimples are back up again. <br><br>&#8220;And if you lived here, I would go out with you,&#8221; she continues, &#8220;but you don&#8217;t so <br><br>what does it matter?&#8221;<br><br>She had a good a point. So I let it go. An hour later I saw her off at the train station as I boarded for Ekaterinburg. Two days on a train. This should be good.