11th-16th September

So the 30 hours on the train weren't as bad as what we'd thought. We made good friends with Natalia and had some nice conversations with the 2 elderly couples from Bundaberg in the cabin next to us. We are eternally grateful for SunPath for dropping off our food bag that we left behind at the hostel as there wasn't a food cart on this train, so we would have starved without it. The border crossing from Mongolia to Russia was much more pleasant than the one from China to Mongolia, mainly due to the fact that the bogies didn't need to be changed and it wasn't done at 3am. Although the Russians do like to show their presence. The immigration officers didn't give much away in terms of any emotional interaction and the presence of the German Shepard at the door of our cabin really didn't invite us to make conversation with them. They spoke to Natalia, checked our berth to make sure we didn't have any illegal immigrants stowed away and that was it. No checking of bags or anything.

We got off the train at a place called Irkutsk. There isn't much to this place but it is the stepping stone to Listvyanka on the shores of Lake Baikal. The 1 hour bus trip was painful as there wasn't a whole lot of room and we ended up having to pay for an extra ticket as we had to take up a seat with our luggage. The weather was s*** as well, rainy and windy. The bus driver was nice enough to drop us off at the end of our street so we only had to walk 1km up the hill to our hostel. Belka Hostel was the name of the hostel, a beautiful made house with timber right the way through but very poorly designed. The walls The bathroom door opened right next to the kitchen and the sounds travelled fairly freely between each of the rooms. Our private room was also next to the toilet so unfortunately we could hear everything - EVERYTHING!!!!!

Lake Baikal itself is beautiful. It's actually the deepest lake in the world, storing 20% of the worlds fresh water and could sustain the world's population for 50 years if all other freshwater was exhausted. We learnt all this at the local museum in town. Most of it was in Russian but there were a few posters that were in English so we got the major points. There is also a video tour (all in Russian) to the bottom of the lake that you can experience. Pretty cool and worth the extra $6.

Around the lake there are some amazing walks. On Brenden's birthday we spent most of the day trekking through the woods until we came to a deserted beach that we had to ourselves where we had lunch and chilled. Along the way we found an under-maintained radio tower that we attempted to climb to get a better view over the trees. Probably for the best our vertigo was still running high after the 'death trail walk' in China so we opted out. Unfortunately we managed to lose the Vodka bottle we bought earlier in the day so we had to wait until the afternoon for any drinks. Also our European sunbathing was cut short due to a fishing charter pulling up no more than 50 metres down the beach from us :( After we did finally make it back into town we tracked down another Vodka bottle and sat on the edge of the lake and basically got drunk watching seagulls go about their daily lives. Quite an enjoyable day.

There is also a small museum in town where this local guy makes all these really cool characters out of recycled bits of motors and the like. We spent about 1/5 hour walking around the front lawn of his house admiring the works of art he's created. Definitely worth the visit. Another highlight of the lake is the smoked fish that all the local vendors sell on the side of the road and the local markets. It's beautiful, freshly caught from the lake. Unfortunately for us it affected both our stomachs so we only had it once.

In total we probably spent 1 day too many at the lake but it was well worth it and it was a nice way to start our Russia experience.

17th - 21st September

On Friday we made our way back to Irkutsk and boarded the train to Yekaterinburg. We did have a slight panic attack when we looked at our ticket and thought we'd missed it until we realised that all the trains run on Moscow time - a lesson for all train travellers in Russia. The 48 hour train ride from Irkutsk to Yekaterinburg our longest stretch but it came and went without so much of an incident. The scenery doesn't change a lot either as you go across Russia. It's all mainly just Pine forest and Birchwood. We shared our cabin with an old Russian lady that didn't speak any English but was friendly nonetheless. At least we had a food cart on this train. Somewhere along the way we also managed to find this instant mash potato you buy in a small plastic container. It's like 2 minute noodles where you just add boiling water and mix. It's actually delicious - ah the small things that make your long transit journeys bearable…….

We disembarked the train at Yekaterinburg and walked the 2km's to our hostel. We should have really got a taxi in hindsight. By this stage of our journey our bags were really starting to annoy us. We sort of packed our bags knowing that we were going to be getting a van so we probably put too much stuff in them. And after you've walked 2km's with 20kg on your back plus a camera bag and a grocery bag half full of food you start to question your own logic.

The idea of stopping at Yekaterinburg was to get out of the city and into the Ural mountains. Unfortunately for us the weather was s*** - cold, wet and windy. And again unfortunately for us there isn't a lot to do in Yekaterinburg. There is a really nice museum, some nice churches and a river with a nice promenade. In total we took 3 photos of Yekaterinburg so I think you can understand the extent the city has to offer to tourists. It's a shame as it's quite a nice city. It's probably about 5-10 years away from being a place where tourists would come and visit. Again, we probably spent 1 day too many at Yekaterinburg.

22nd - 28th September

So, back on the train for more Pine forest, Birchwood and instant mash potato - mmmm. 36 hours the leg from Yekaterinburg to Moscow. Our last stretch. We shared our cabin with a Russian couple that didn't speak any English either. And the train ride itself was not without incident as one of the tuna tins we bought half exploded onto Jodi as we tried to eat lunch one of the days. Quite amusing now we look back on it but the smell of the tuna through the cabin and the rest of the train was something we'd both like to forget. But overall the journey on the train was a good one. We're so glad we did it this way, we saw and experienced so much more compared to jumping on an aeroplane for 24 hours. You definitely get more of a realisation of the distance you've travelled.

After disembarking on the outskirts of Moscow, we jumped on the metro and headed towards our hostel. Vagabond was the name of it and it was an excellent choice. It had only been open about 3 months and the staff we were really friendly and accommodating. We were the first people to book directly through their website and not through Hostel World so we got free laundry which was nice. The cleaner at the hostel was also Filipino so we had to memorise some of the Tagalog we'd learnt over the last 3 years to try and make her feel more at home. She was really nice and when we left she actually gave us some Sinigang mix (local Filipino dish) to take with us.

The hostel was a mere 15 minute walk from the Red Square, St Basil's Cathedral and the Kremlin. The first day we tried to visit it was closed - typical, so we just walked around the city taking it all in. Moscow is such a different place compared to what we'd seen of Russia thus far. The main difference is the amount of wealth the city has compared to the rest of the country. Moscow is like any city you would see in Europe but the rest of the country feels like it's got nothing or very little.

Over the course of the next few days, in between the rain, we managed to do the inside tour of St Basil's Cathedral, which is absolutely beautiful and is a must for anyone who visits Moscow. Two highlights for us was listening to a male quartet singing within the cathedral - the acoustics were amazing, and seeing the cathedral again at night - it truly is magnificent. We also did inside the Kremlin, which also has some really nice cathedrals and different architectural buildings. On our last day in Moscow we found a boat tour down the river which is a nice way to spend 2 hours. One of the best times we had however was Friday night at the hostel. The owners cooked a meal to share with everyone at the hostel. This particular night we had Birsh, a traditional Russian soup that was really delicious. And of course there was plenty of wine getting passed around the table.

In total we probably spent 1 too many days in Moscow also. The trip to the airport took us a bit longer than we expected and we almost missed our plane. They were calling the final boarding when we were running down the escalators to the gate. They gave us a dirty look when we finally handed over our boarding passes but hey, who really gives a s***, we were flying to Paris……..

Monopoly Deal Running Total:

Brenden: 28
Jodi: 28