The Train to Mongolia We got up at 4:00 am as we were on the 5:05am train out of Irkutsk. Before we could leave the hotel, the lady who looked after the floor had to inspect our room to make sure we had not trashed it - not sure how she was going to tell as trashing it would have been an improvement.On the train we were sharing our compartment with 2 other Brits who had come through the Ukraine and southern Russia. We managed to get a couple of hours sleep after ...

We were up early to pack as we were off to Irkutsk. It was a good day to leave as it was raining. Our first stop was the hotel to get some money as I had miscalculated on the number of beers last night and was 3 roubles (75p) short on the fare. At the hotel, panic set in - the ATM machine not working. The contingency was another machine we had been told about in the village 2km away. After a 45 min walk, I found out I had been miss-informed - it was a telephone t...

We have stayed in a small village at the edge of Lake Baikal and have had a really good time. It started by being dumped at Irkutsk station at 6:00 am - not the best as we were both starved of sleep as we were adjusting to the new time zone - now 5hrs ahead of Moscow (8hrs on UK). After eventually getting a bus to Lake Baikal, we went through lovely country side - thick forest turning golden with views over the river Angara. We arrived at Listvyanka - a tiny vill...

On the train to Irkutsk. As we only had a 90 minute journey to the main line where we changed trains, we had cheap Plascart tickets (3rd class sleepers). This is certainly a step down in luxury - very thinly covered seats - 6 to the space used by 4 in second class, no privacy - all in all not the place to spend the night.We got to Taiga station where we had a 3 hour wait for the next train which left at 2:00 am. We decided to get a bite to eat so wandered down t...

Our first job in Tomsk was to get a ticket out - guess that sums up the place. I used my best Russian on the ticket lady who pointed me at the information lady who spoke good English. That made the process quite painless. The weather is grim - wet and cold. After a taxi to our hotel, we manage to check in early and get breakfast - a dubious looking omelette. We then decided on a shower and a quick snooze before moving off to do email and have a look at Tomsk. The...