Ulan Ude
Trip Start
Jul 07, 2008
1
6
29
Trip End
Oct 01, 2008
Ulan-Ude,
Siberia,
Russian Federation
Thursday, July 24, 2008
We stayed with a family here and they have been very hospitible and friendly.
The lady of the house, Svetlana has also taken us to see some of the sights around here. This area of Russia is the land of the Buryat people and is also where Buddhism starts to takeover in the religion race. We have been to two buddhist temples around here and had a traditional Buryat lunch in a Yurt (Ger) tent, which we'll be seeing much more of in Mongolia. There was also a marathon game of "knucklebones" which was quite addictive!!
The town of Ulan Ude's claim to fame is the world's largest Lenin head in the main square!
The natural landscape around here is also very beautiful with many rivers and hills around and the thoughts of the people are still dominated by the mightly Lake Baikal where all the rivers flow in to.
Our host, Andrei is involved a big project to build walking trails around Lake Baikal and develop eco tourism in the area, he has been working at it for about five years now and is very passionate about this beautiful area and about the potential for people to be able to enjoy it whilst also respecting the environment, which has long been a secondary consideration in Russia. For more information see www.greatbaikaltrail.org
