Victory Hotel Irkutsk

... room and we present our goods, 1 bottle of vodka, tomatoes, cheese, meat and crusty bread. They reply by setting the table up, bringing out more food and once our bottle is done, 1 more bottle of Vodka. Vasay was happy with our vodka as it is an export grade (4 pounds it cost) and responds by supplying me with basically a cured pigs fat to eat, mmmm 100% fat. We really crack the ice with our Russian friends and laugh the night away...<br><br>One thing I had trouble with was the time zones ...

... then tell everyone else they were wrong) <br><br>Slept for a good while, woke up around 11am.<br><br>Arrive Russian Border 1pm, Wed Sept 16:<br> <br>We're all told to get off the train. We'd gotten onto a 26 carriage train at Irkutsk and now our carriage was one of only 2 carriages on the entire train and it was 99% tourists.<br><br>We went for a walk around the town - there was nothing there apart from some midge type insects ...

... and forward photos of the scarf in Mongolia, China and Australia. "The all of Novibirsk they thank you big," they assured me, as I unwittingly became a team ambassador!<br><br>ps - the photos I'm taking on the train are not good! I am not keen to get out my conspicuous big camera in a cramped carriage, so I'm using my small one, and also it's almost impossible to find a window open, which doesn't make for good shots of the countryside!

... course, beer)<br><br>I was sharing my cabin with a Belgian couple and a Russian man, we all got on pretty well - you always hope to have good people to share with, when it's for that long in such a small space.<br>I did hear about drunken vodka parties going on in other carriages, but sadly my lot were all very quiet and well-behaved :(<br>All in all, I enjoyed the train experience, but was quite glad to get off when I did. It's been good the ...

... We'd been fairly tolerant for quite a while, Kate watched as Gab physically began to steam, when eventually upon Gab catching MSRM watching her in the mirror span round and spat utterly frighteningly, ' Where we come from it is very rude to stare at women, if you don't stop staring right now I'll cut your penis off' ... There was a silence. MSRM considered this threat. MSRM became MRM. It's amazing how much English Russians can understand when genitals are involved.<br><br ...

... not so many trees, we can now se fields, rivers and mountains.<br><br>BORDER CROSSING<br>We arrived at the border at 18.00 after our passports were taken from us all we were allowed off the train. We were warned it could take up to two hours before it moved off again. But it took 4 1/2 hrs! Fortunately at this time of day it was too hot. <br><br>Unfortnately the train next to us was the Golden Eagle Trans "Sib-Saga" Express! and Carol could see into the luxury spacious cabins ...

... Russia only for it to be fought over by the expanionist players of later centuries. When the mongols and their off shoots the Tartars were finally defeated St Basil's in Russia was built to celebrate this feat. Subsequent Tzars set up the penal camp system in the C16 as a way of holding and developing the region nominally inhabited by numerous non-russian tribes. The infrastructure was there already ...

There was plenty of entertainment on board our train from Mongolia to Siberia, curtesy of the Mongolian 'smugglers' who try to get various goods through the Russian border in secret. Before the train had even left the floors were up, screwdrivers out and every inch of the train was being scanned and used for hiding places. We got asked several ...

... him the name of the hotel we wanted. He eventually understood, and after making a couple of phone calls I think he found one that sounded suitable. He took us to the Hotel Europa (5 stars, no less) and we were able to speak to their reception staff, and at last, use the internet. We noted the location of a number of Irkutsk hostels, and presenting a cabbie with an address, neatly written in his native Cyrillic, took our 3rd and final taxi of the day ...

... taxi for me to the station which cost 160 roubles, my taxi to the hostel when I first arrived was 500 roubles! (50 roubles to 1 GBP)<br><br><br><br>- Anyway so jumped back on the tran siberian to head to Irkutsk which would take just over 2 days to complete. It ...