The Purple Penguin

An update from an Internet cafe in Irkutsk – with loads to say! The train ride was good – we have pictures of trees, train stations, trees, train carriage, trees, trains, trees and maybe a few pictures of trees! It was surprising how little the landscape changed once we were outside of Moscow. It was mainly taiga with some marsh and stayed that way. Joe was disappointed with the Urals as they are quite small and not Alp like at all. They are more like the Smoky Mountains in the eastern US. We travelled first class which was a new experience. We had a little cabin to ourselves, in fact for quite a bit of the trip we had the carriage to ourselves! We were the only ones in the carriage travelling all the way from Moscow to Irkutsk; other people got on and off at various stations. Our meals were brought to us and we were generally looked after, but weren’t allowed to go exploring around the train. The one time we did go exploring one of our carriage attendants caught us and was a bit cross. So that was the end of the exploration of the Trans-Siberian train! We did get out at stations and walk – each area/station had their own speciality. So we started with people selling glass and china, then knitwear, then fur, onto smoked fish, and then veg and bread. The attendants all knew what to get off and buy. We didn’t get much as we got meals on the train, but Joe tried the caviar bread (yuck, but he seemed to like it) and we had ice cream at one stop.

We arrived a bit early in Irkutsk – all the way accross Siberia, four days, and our train is early. Maybe Railtrack should get some lessons! So we were standing on the platform looking around a bit lost at 3 in the morning, but Sergey (our guide) turned up right on time and whisked us out of the station, through the taxi touts and into a waiting car. We’re staying with a local family in a little house on the outskirts of town. Our host does work with Greenpeace locally and so it was arranged through the office. It’s a nice little place and it’s great staying with a family and seeing how they live. We have been well fed as well. But our first morning it was a cup of tea and off to sleep – we were too wound up about missing our stop to get any sleep on the train.

We were up at 9 and got a shower! What a luxery. I’d managed to wash on the train (we had hot water) but that was by filling the sink with water and pouring it over me with my mug. It was wonderful to get under an actual shower and feel clean. Then we were off around Irkutsk. The first day was just walking around the town – several times. We went to the train station, which is across the river Angara from the town, and arranged our tickets to Ulan Bator – which was an adventure in itself – then across the river and along the Angara. It was a beautiful day, very sunny, and a holiday (Victory Day) so everyone was out walking along the river or in the city centre enjoying the holiday and sun. We sat in the centre for a bit watching people go by and generally had a lovely day seeing the city.

The next day, yesterday, we headed out for Lake Baikal. Beautiful. Very short time there, so we have to come back and spend a few days actually at the lake. The diving should be wonderful. We did dip our hands in (5 extra years of life according to legend). We also walked a bit along the shore and up the cliff for a view over the lake. Got hit by squally rain but otherwise it was nice. On the way back to Irkutsk we stopped at the open air museum, which is where several types of Siberian wooden buildings have been brought and rebuilt or reconstructed. Had lunch there – smoked omul bought at the lake, stuffed bread, blinis, vodka and even Lake Baikal water. So a very interesting day.

Speaking of food – since we’ve arrived in Irkutsk we have been very well fed. We get breakfast at the host house and the table is loaded with food – we’ve had buckwheat, omlette, and rice cereal and those always served with cheese, sausage (more like what we would think of as hot dogs), bread, cream, boiled eggs, sweets. We have also tried or been fed dumplings (more like stuffed pasta, but steamed) with sour cream, blinis, omul caviar, loads of salads with mainly cabbage, beetroot, carrot, cucumber and tomato, all sorts of breads – generally wonderful food.

Today we have been ‘doing’ museums – just two. The Regional Museum and one of the Decemberists houses – the other was closed for repair. So an interesting day for me, boring for Joe.

We are off again tomorrow evening around 8.30pm heading for Ulan Bator. We’ll be in UB until 18 May and hope to get out of the city on a trek – possibly off to the Gobi desert! Sergey has been in the Gobi so we’re getting pointers. We have had a wonderful time here – our host family and guide have been more than wonderful and we have enjoyed being here. Just have to come back to spend more time at the Lake! Hopefully we can update when we get to UB!