Irkutsk Hotels - Reviews and Rates

We knew we were in for a cold start once of the train as on our last night on the train we had woken to snow, it was a great day for looking out the window!

However we arrive at 6.30 am in Irkutsk and new two things we no when we arrive it will be dark and cold. Helen organised as ever has the directions it says a 10 minute walk, lets ho...

I have already
mentioned the train and platform traders and I reckon they must surely be a
post Soviet phenomenon.
Another manifestation of the small entrepreneur is to be seen in the B&Bs on offer. Tatanya, or Tanya, as she calls herself on her web-site , is a charming, helpful young Muscovite.. From wh...

Hello people, I came back yesterday morning from a 9 days trip at the baikal lake...It wasn't plan, it's a long story that i will make very short cause i'm really in hurry... In Ulaanbaatar, I met Jurek from Poland nickname ( Russian commander) this is another long story... He came to Irkutsk 1 week before me, we planed to meet but we didn't rea...

Honcho was Anatallia - famous for side carpets (viewed whilst swimming in Lake Baikal & at the Banya (local sauna)). Not pretty, but he made up for it at Karaoke! Lake Baikal is the deepest fresh water lake in the world - also the coldest as we discovered when we jumped in from a boat. It is however suppose to add 25 years to your life so it...

Finally after months of anticipation we make our way across Mongolia and into Russia. It really was an experience! From the hugely long border crossing - arriving at 4am at the border and not leaving until 1pm - the Russians like to rubber stamp everything over and over again. We got glared at by a handsome young customs man, growled at by track...

Some pictures from the ride from Ulaan Baatar to Irkutsk!! Was an experience in itself!!!! The conductors on our train demanding we "pack" some of their brand new jeans and hand bags in our luggage to hide from customs???!!!!! They got busted anyway! He he he!! But, 5 or 6 hours later once customs was sorted, we fianlly got moving....

Arriving back at the hostel, we were thrilled to find out that one of us had remembered to book beds, even if we were sharing a fold-out sofa bed - it beat hiking our stuff across town to find another hostel. That night, we tried a new way of passing the time - drinking. It was good. We spent the evening swapping stories and advice with everybod...

So I am a firm believer that "country people" are made from a tougher stock then you're "Average Joe." Being a country boy myself I need to let it be known that I am not a "poosie", but when it comes to Siberian winter I have been reconsidering that last statement! So get ready for this....... 2 days ago it got down well below a -30 degrees C (t...

Listvyanka to Bolshie Koty to Irkustk Got free breakfast from Tanya before heading over the road to meet the Omuls and Valere who had not had such a hearty breakfast. Valere told us we were to get the boat from Listvyanka at 12 noon and after deciding we had too much stuff, we left some behind at the apartment while Valere went back to his house...

So I made it to Irkutsk, the third and last stop in Russia, and what an adventure it was getting here! The train was one of the most amazing things I've ever done! I had this idea of being in a compartment with Westeners/Russians drinking vodka all day, eating, playing games, but it didn't end up like that. When I got to the platform for the tra...