It's 4am and no one is awake, except for me. I can hear the breathing and snoring all around me. Sniffling and lightly coughing, I try to keep as quiet as I can as I wash up and pack my bags. I eat a simple breakfast of yogurt, a banana and orange juice and then I am out the door. I feel like I am sneaking out, but in reality I just have to catch a very early morning train. I met some very nice people here in Irkutsk, but now I am leaving them behind as I travel on to Mongolia.

Irkutsk, formerly known as the "Paris of Siberia", is situated 64 km from the natural wonder that is Lake Baikal. Lake Baikal is the deepest freshwater lake in the world. It contains more freshwater than all of the Great Lakes combined! This is what I came to Irkutsk to see, so I stopped at my hostel and immediately set up a trip to Olkhon Island as well as reservations at a Homestay on the Island.

I wasn't really sure what to expect, but I got up early and got on the bus to Olkhon Island. The bus wasn't really a bus, but a old Soviet era minibus or van. It could fit about 15 people and had the absolutely worst suspensions. The trip to the island took about 7 hours and included a ferry ride, but the whole time I was bouncing and vibrating all over the place. I tried to take a nap, but the vibrations just wouldn't allow that to happen!

We finally arrived at the island and a New Zealand woman, Sara, and myself were dropped off at this little home in the tiny village of Khuzir. This was my homestay, which is where a local person opens up their home for you stay in, so that you may get a little experience of how they would live their normal lives. I was staying in a lovely place, whose owner, Nina, was absolutely amazing. She was a sweet older Buryat woman who was a former German teacher at the local school. She could speak Russian, German, Buryat and a little English. She brought Sara and I to our rooms, which were in little log cabins. The rooms were fairly comfortable, but a little cold, however Nina provided space heaters for us. Sara got her own room, but I had to share with a German, named Christian.

The people on this island live very simple lives, which can be quite harsh at times as the weather is ever changing. The summers can be warm and dry, while the winters are bone-chilling cold. It get's so cold that the entire lake freezes over and one can walk across the lake with no problem! There was no running water at my homestay, as all water was shipped in from the lake, and to get hot water you had to heat it yourself. They did have electricity, so there were lights and water could be boiled for tea and other purposes. The toilets were just holes in the ground, which took a little getting used to. I eventually got used to it, but I'll tell you what, my knees were just not meant for squat toilets!

Nina did have a shower, but it had a tank on top of it to put the water in and had to be refilled all of the time, but it also meant that the water was always cold. The shower is also outside so on those cold mornings, with the wind whipping, the thought of a shower was not enviable. I did attempt it one morning, but it didn't last long as I think I would have gotten hypothermia or something. However, Nina did have something to make up for this; a banya!

A banya is basically a bath house and sauna in one. It took Nina about 2 hours to warm it up, but once it was, it was amazing. She had a wood burning stove to heat up the room, that had a water tap attached to it. So, you go in the banya, undress and fill these large bowls with the boiling water and wash yourself. Don't worry, there was coldwater provided as well, to cool the water down. Basically, you wash yourself with the hot water and then sit in the sauna. After a while, then you would go outside to cool off and then repeat the process. You get one hour to wash and relax and it was exhilarating! I was surprised at how clean I felt afterwards, despite the fact that you are sweating the whole time.

I was on Olkhon Island for 3 days. It is an absolutely stunning place. The village I stayed in was the largest on the island and is interesting. It has no paved roads, but plenty of dirt roads. It also had lots of random cows and stray dogs walking around town. I was awakened to the sounds of cows mooing every morning! It had plenty of cafe and places to sign up for excursions on the island, but since it was at the end of the tourist season, several places were shut down. However, the best part of the village is the cliffs overlooking the lake. The views are absolutely beautiful!

After settling in to our rooms, Sara and I walked around the village and saw some of the views from the cliffs. We also had some traditional Buryat food, which were basically dumplings with meat. They were good. We also signed up for an excursion to the northern tip of the island for the next day.

The excursion to the northern tip was a jeep trek, with a little hiking added in. It took about 8 hours and you got to see some of most amazing scenery of the island. Unfortunately, Sara wasn't feeling good, so I went on my own. However, there was a group of Americans also on the excursions, so I wasn't all alone. The trip was a lot of fun, and the views of the island were stunning. We got a lunch of fish stew with tea and a salad of tomatoes and cucumbers. There was several times where we would get out of the jeep to hike, including at the end. However, on the last hike, I must of taken a wrong turn or something, actually everyone did, because we ended up going down this dirt road by some houses and the lake. It seemed somewhat normal, but it was weird, because at the end of the road was a gate and in between us and the gate was a chained up dog! Every time, anyone would pass, the dog would lunge at them. There was enough room to pass, but I am pretty sure it scared several people. One guy, didn't even see the dog and the dog nearly got him!

The next day, the winds were whipping and it was really cold! It was my last day on the island, however I really didn't want to get up. The weather didn't help at all. I forced myself up though and decided to walk around some more, which was probably a mistake and also probably why I have a slight cold right now! The sun came out later in the day, making it much more pleasant. Having somewhat recovered from her sickness, Sara and I went walking around again and to get some food. I had some fish, which the island is known for, which was really good. Then we watch a gorgeous sunset, which was a fitting ending to my time of the island.

The next morning, we said our goodbyes to Nina and started the 7 hour trip back to Irkutsk. It is actually a really pretty ride, with lots of pine forests, with the needles changing all sorts of different colors, from red to yellow to orange. Sara and I were both ready to get back to the city though, mostly because of the WiFi. The island didn't have any and we both wanted to catch up on some things. It's actually kind of sad how much we rely on the internet. I have no problem getting away from it, as I haven't been able to get online for most of this past week, but it is still seems to rule much of what I do. For example, I always try to find a hostel or hotel that has WiFi. Of course, a lot of it is just because of this journal and keeping in touch with family and friends, but also for booking hostels and doing research on certain things and of course keeping up with the news. It has become almost an essential part of daily life, but it was actually nice to get away from it for a few days on Olkhon.

Back in Irkutsk and I have decided that it is probably time for my Russian experience to come to a close. I have very much enjoyed Russia, probably more than I thought I would. It is a stunning place with gorgeous churches, gorgeous women(!), a deep historical past and rich traditions. The food has been excellent and even the gruff exterior of some of the people have occasionally melted away to show just how friendly the people can be. Will I ever come back to Russia, I really don't know, maybe someday, but right now it is 4am and I am sneaking out of my hostel, on to my next adventure in Mongolia!