In Siberia (with apologies to Colin Thubron)
Hi Guys, Sorry to have been away so long but we had problems with t’internet last time we tried to up-date you. We have been to Moscow and seen all the sights there including the Kremlin, Lenin’s mummy, St Basil’s, GUM etc etc. Moscow was very hectic after St Petersburg and full of angry people who shouted at you for getting the slightest thing wrong. So it was a relief to get on the Tran-Siberian and head out for Irkutsk. We travelled in the lap of luxury in a 4 berth compartment for just the two of us. And food was provided which we hadn’t expected as we had stocked up with the inevitable noodles before getting on. So we looked out the window as Russia flashed by and read our books and played Scrabble and cards and slept for 4 nights and 3 days before getting off early on Monday morning in Irkutsk. Charlie may be interested to know that in a town we passed through somewhere in the middle of Siberia there is a Palace of Culture of the Builders of Combine Harvesters!!!!
Everything in Irkutsk is closed on a Monday (well, the shops and the market are open but all museums and touristy things are shut) so we wandered around and chilled out a bit. It was a pleasant relief from Moscow, nowhere near as fraught.
Then on Tuesday morning we caught the bus to Listvyanka on Lake Baikal where we met our guide, Valera, for 3 days hiking. Lake Baikal is wonderful. We walked for about 20k along the lake shore in the woods, masses of wildflowers and butterflies of all sorts. Ann tripped over (admiring the scenery!) and took a lump out of her knee and, worse still, her trousers. All our meals were cooked for us over a log fire by Valera, who made us soup every day for lunch (once from mushrooms we had picked in the woods) and then rice or pasta for dinner and porridge and new laid eggs for breakfast. We hiked to a little village on the first day and camped there. You can’t get there by road, only by boat and foot (bit like Inverie but no pub!). They also have bears in the woods but deeper in than where we were. But they had eaten a horse about 5k from the village recently! On the second night, after exploring the area during the day, we had a banya (a Russian sauna). It was extremely hot and we were provided with birch twigs to hit ourselves with. I believe you are supposed to dive into the freezing lake afterwards but this seemed a bit extreme to me. Wimp! On the following day we hiked back over a 900m hill, through the taiga. All in all a very good trip. Back in Irkutsk now to catch the train for Ulan Bator this evening. We are experiencing our first days rain since we left. Can’t be bad.
How was Ullapool? Hope you all enjoyed it.
kt_m_white