We were met at the platform by Costa (our new honcho), who is one of the coolest Russians I have met, and taken on the hour drive to lake Baikal. Once we arrived the first port of call was breakfast and a substantial breakfast it was (two courses!). We then went for a walk in the surrounding hills and it is more than fair to say that we were all awestruck by the beauty and magnitude of the place. We reached the top of the hill to be met by the most incredible v...

We were packed onto the train for what we thought was a three day train ride only to later realise that it was in fact a four day train ride (maybe we should have checked the itinery). As I usually go stir crazy on a three hour train ride to London I was pleasantly surprised when somebody informed me that we had actually been on for eight hours and it felt like ten minutes. The banter between the group is as good as ever and at half way through our epic train rid...

Well yesterday was one of the best days so far as Sarah and I had a lazy day away from the group where we did pretty much nothing all day. Although we did find a great Ukranian restaurant of a side street that did the tastiest food of the trip so far. We then went to a few bars before going and collecting the vodka for the three day train ride that is coming up. Once we had dropped off the shopping I updated this blog then went out again. Unable to find a single...

To update from last time, St Petersburg definitely made a better impression on me as the ice hockey was brilliant. It was as I expected, a high tempo game between St Petersburg and Minsk (from Belarus, I'm sure you know who I was supporting following my experience in Kaliningrad) which reminded me of the NHL. The metro ride back to the hostel was interesting as Minsk won 1-0, Marsha (our Honcho) translated the chanting as "get us to the f***ing beer". O...

Well we have been travelling for all of 3 days and have already had a number of ups and downs. The first leg of our travels was a massive train ride down to London, where we met up with Tim and a few of his friends for a few pints. Then we caught the tube to Brixton for our bed for the night out with Jamie and Emma (Sarah's friends from Glasgow). After a few drinks it was time for bed (including champagne!!!), as there was a big day ahead of us. The first flight...