Following our stay in Moscow we got the train to Ekaterinburg. The technical terms of the stretch of the journey is the Ural line, as we pass the Ural Mountains.

On the train this time I was on one of the top bunks. The other person in our carriage turned out to be a young Russian about our age, but he couldn't speak a word of English. We tried to communicate via pictures and guide books but it didn't really work and he clearly looked un-inpressed! In the end he left the carriage and went to the dining car. We spent most of the time in the cabin playing cards etc but decided to go down to the restaurant car for some food and low and behold he was there with about 3 other russian guys drinking vodka like water! They were all really drunk! At first we weren't sitting near them but we could see that they kept looking round and laughing. In the end they came over and invited us to go and drink vodka with them. We all obliged, and between the 7 of us we managed to polish off a bottle of vodka really quickley, probably because every time they poured a shot an equal amount went all over the table! They were being (perhaps overly) friendly and saying we should stay up until 3am until they got off at a station on the route to Ekaterinburg.....and this prompted an older Russian to come over. He spoke ok-ish English and warned us to be careful as obviously he could understand their conversation. He said that some Russians especially boys of that age can get quite aggressive when drunk. Soon after that the restaurant closed and we went back to the cabin. A few minutes later the boys turned up wanting to carry on drinking whereas we wanted to distance ourselves a bit following the advice we had received! Straight away the guy sharing our room got angry that we couldn't understand what he was saying and after saying we were going to sleep a few times he gave us 2 fingers and stormed out! In his state he was capable of anything and we were all sleeping with one eye open until he came back in and fell asleep! Being on the top bunk next to him I couldn't rest until I knew he was finally asleep but being so drunk he conked out immediately and was snoring louder than Sam within minutes! Thankfully he got off at a station at 3am so we had the whole next day without him!

Arrived the next evening in Ekaterinburg to be met on the train by our driver Serge. He took us to the hotel and pointed out some good restaurants so we literally checked in and went out to an Italian across the road for dinner. I had a room to myself this time and made full use of the jacuzzi style shower on our return!

The next day (saturday 1st) was our first full day in Ekaterinburg. We had a driven tour around with Serge and an English speaking guide Gilb. We saw an old KGB building, a war memorial, Cathedral of Spilt Blood (marks the site where the Romanov Royal family were murdered), town hall, Lenin statue etc. Halfway round Serge had trouble parking so he went and left us to walk the rest with Gilb. After leaving Gilbwe had lunch then walked round for a while, along the river and back through the town back to the hotel. Later that day we headed back into town for dinner with the aim to visit an English Pub that had been recommended but the first one turned us away saying they were full and the second was charging nearly 15 pounds for some fish and chips so we cut our losses and walked (almost 2 miles!!!) back to the hotel to go to another restaurant across the road! Certainly topped up our distance for the day totaling about 15 miles! This has become normal and any days we don't walk such distances feels strange!

The next days we had a trip to a Siberian Village about 2 hours out of Ekaterinburg. We got picked up early and met by another guide Anna and Serge who drove. When we got there we got a walking tour around showing us the oldest house in the village, a wishing well as well as blacksmith and agriculture museums. In one of the houses that is used for show I even got to have a go on the instruments used to put bread in the oven as well as a contraption used to lift heavy pots in and out of the oven. I couldn't even lift that! Sam could just about! But bearing in mind men weren't even allowed on the kitchen half of the room back in the day I was impressed at the weight these women must have had! Although saying that, I am hardly domesticated!!!! We were then treated to a performance by about 9 women dressed traditionally who sang a few songs for us and then got us up to join in walking around in a circle back and forth to their singing! It was fun and I was touched by the effort they had all gone to but watching Sam and Karl dancing was hilarious! We were then taken to have some lunch....which was delicious! Four courses of traditional Russian food: Salad, Soup, Meat Dumplings and then Pancakes....well I was in heaven with the later and got a bit too over enthusiastic and had 6!!!!! oops! I did, however, resist the Samorgon spirit that the driver Serge was eagerly trying to make me drink! It was vile!

Back in Ekaterinburg we had a good few hours to waste until our train to Irkutsk at 3am! We went to dinner and were ripped off!!!! We spent well over 1000 roubles each on one course and 2 drinks! Then back to the hotel to catch the world news and F1 results before packing, phoning home, showering etc. Got picked up by another driver to take us to the station, and the journey was painful! He obviously knew we would be early so was driving at literally 20 mph the whole way! Got there and we had to sit in the car for ages as he kept pointing to his watch and shrugging. Finally he let us out to give us a tour of the train station and their murals......before going back and getting our bags.

Thats it for Ekaterinburg. My favourite day by far was to the Siberian Village: everything about it was so good and we had so much fun.