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The perils of following the Lonely Planet guide
Directions from the Lonely Planet book on getting to our hotel in Irkutsk led us a merry dance to the nowhere's-ville end of the tram line. At least 20% of the information we've followed in the Russia LP has actually been wrong. Given a near total economic collapse in 1998 (the rouble devalued by 1000) that's maybe not so surprising. Still, our verdict on Lonely Planet for Russia - very poor! |
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No crime, so why the punishment?
Encamped in a freezing concrete Siberian hostel we dined like kings and queens on mashed potatoes and dodgy hotdogs. With snow falling outside and the temperature plummeting to Siberian levels, it was time for comfort food. |
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It's a travellers' life
Arrive in new place. Meet people. Make new friends. Say goodbye - that's a routine on the road. Braving the freeze in our comically under-prepared clothing (Magnus didn't really check the temperatures for Siberia in September so we only brought clothes for the sub-tropics!), we arrived in Listvyanka chilled to the bone and not sure of a place to stay. Fortunately, we found a beautiful homestay and shared food, beer and vodka with Florian and Nicole from near Munich. From there our paths diverged, with them moving due east towards Vladivostok and us turning south-east towards Mongolia and China. |
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Lake Baikal - the Pearl of Russia
The largest body of fresh water in the world (with an incredible 20% of the world's fresh water), Lake Baikal is truly stunning. After the freezing journey to Listvyanka on the side of the lake, we awoke to piercing sunshine and (comparatively) balmy temperatures. As Cheryl insisted(!), we hiked to the top of a mountain to get this gorgeous view. |
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When you wish upon a ..err.. tree!
At the top of the mountain, hundreds of strips of cloth tied to a tree for luck by picnic-goers and newlyweds. |
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Russian Banya - one for the ladies
Banya is the Russian version of a sauna. It comprises several cycles of dry sauna, wet sauna, beating of the flesh with birch leaves, immersion in cold water then sipping of sweet tea. Here we can see Magnus sporting the beating glove, birch and silly hat to protect the ears from scalding. In addition he is wearing his friend Bruce's favourite piece of clothing, his birthday suit! |
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