We arrived in Irkutsk this morning and I met the driver, whom at first seemed to have gone a bit wayward. He was in fact a bit lost because they had changed our carriage number from number one to number eight at the border. After I located the driver, we all trouped out of the station and I put the clients onto the waiting transfer bus and then left them there while the driver and I went to see about changing the etickets for paper tickets. Yes, I know, the purpose of and eticket is so that you don't need a paper ticket, but we are dealing with Russians here so logic doesn't really apply.

The driver went up to the information counter to ask where we should see about doing this and the lady behind the counter gave him directions. Although it was all in Russian, I was surprised at how much I actually understood, seems like I've picked up more than I thought.

To the drivers surprise I race off to the correct counter and he gives me this look like, what do you need me for if you understand? That where the understanding ended though, because the lady at the next counter told us to go and use some machines which didn't appear to be working and which required that I go back to the bus and get all the passengers passports, I should have guessed I would need those. Paperwork mad this place is.

I went back to the machine and sat down for a while, hoping someone else would come along and use it. I got up and tried it with a different ticket and bingo it printed out roughly three tickets for every ticket I entered in. This long winded process took about twenty minutes and I finally went back to the transfer van hopped in the front and then we were driven the hour or so out to Listvyanka. After all the stuffing around with the tickets it was now about 9am, hopefully we would miss some of the Irkutsk traffic.

We arrived at the chalet and of course, Nicholai was waiting out the front for us. He opened his arms in my direction before the van had even pulled in and I did the same to him from the front of the van. The van stopped and I got out and as usual he pulled me into a big bear hug and started jabbering on at me in Russia and making excitable gestures. He introduced himself to all the clients, getting especially excitable when he met Maria and Natalie….Russian names. Yes, I've brought you Russians, I exclaim.

We head into the big house and everyone has to take their shoes off and I go about the usual funny business of chasing Nicholai around the house, while he shows me all the rooms for the clients. I then have the clients chase around after me while I allocate the rooms. I give them an hour to get cleaned up from the train and I managed to get in a good shower. Nicholai has put me in my usual room. My room, no one is intruding on my space, in my Listvyanka on this tour and I breathe a sigh of relief as I finally relax from the mornings chaos.

I come downstairs and get everyone to put all their washing in the back room and then head out for the small orientation, there really isn't much to orientate so this only lasts about half an hour. I show the clients the victory monument because tomorrow is Victory Day and there will be a small ceremony here. The hovercraft is sitting on the melting ice, the lake now looks like a giant Icee, hovercraft guy, is unfortunately nowhere to be seen.

It is now lunch time and we all go our own ways, I go to Shury Mury's café where I met Valera to have some lunch with Mike and Denise and am soon joined by a few others. Unfortunately, the café is not serving food until 2pm so we leave to have lunch at the markets. I get a kind of beefy rice, which reminds me of the constant beef on rice dish in Africa.

Some of us then go and sit on the beach, Maria and I try to throw rocks onto random floating pieces of ice, without much success. Hovercraft guy has now returned and I managed to help about six people get on for a ride. I wave them off and then go back to the chalet to catch up on my accounts and to have a rest.

Late in the afternoon I come down from my room and John and Andrea are sitting on the porch near the plunge pool. John is about to go in, he jumps and I think I may have cringed more than he did, I did that last year and I know how cold it is. I forgot how to swim and almost had to be pulled out. I am them (God knows how) peer pressured into going in too and I go up and get changed. I come down and Nicholai remembers my efforts from last year and gets the pool net to scoop me out with! This gets a laugh from Andrea and John, I'm glad I'm going in, I know it will be painful but the freezing water takes about five years off your face. I stand on the edge for a bit and then take the plunge, I forget how to speak instead of swim and quickly resurface and climb straight out.

I sit in my swimmers in the cold Siberian sun, which now seems pretty warm as my skin is singing from its shock. It's at this time Dane, Nat and Maria get back and Nicholai wants to show John and I the sauna. The five of us want to have a go in the sauna, but Nicholai wants to give us the whole Banya, which is a bit expensive. Nicholai explains that the Banya is two thousand rubles, but split between who uses it. That's not so bad actually, so we agree that tonight we will have a traditional Russian Banya after dinner….but for now we sit around for a while and drink traditional Russian vodka.

It's going to take about three hours for the sauna to heat up so we go back down to the café for dinner, which takes us up to about 9:30pm and we are late for our banya. I walk in and the others are already getting ready, swimmers and funny felt hats that Nicholai is making us wear…it quickly becomes apparent these are not optional. Nat's, Maria's and mine are felt bonnets, John has a tri-corner hat and Dane has a captains hat. We are herded into the sauna, which is at a staggering ninety two degrees! The hottest one I've ever been in was the one in Slovakia, which I turned up too much at sixty five… I didn't think humans could survive these temperatures!

Nicholai leaves us all in there for fifteen minutes and everyone starts to really sweat…well everyone expect me, who is like a lizard and barely sweats at all. Nicholai comes in and removes Nat and Maria. The John and leaves Dane and I to marinate for a bit longer, it becomes apparent that I need to stay in the longest and Dane is not about to challenge me for the title of who could stay in the longest and leaves, followed by me two minutes later.

Nat then gets called back in and, after her Maria, we hear a few squeals and giggles as they are being beaten with aromatic leaves by Nicholai. Nat emerges and Nicholai yells, Photo, Photo, Photo and makes Nat run outside and jump into the freezing plunge pool, where Andrea is waiting with a camera. Maria is subjected to this next and Dane goes into the sauna and he and John end up beating each other up with the leaves. John comes out and jumps into the pool and I go into the sauna with Dane who is now beating himself up with the leaves, Its not what it looks like he says to me with a big grin on his face. I'll bet it's not, I giggle back.

Nicholai comes in makes me lie down and then wets another branch, sticks it in the hot fire of the sauna and then proceeds to hit me with the leaves. It's not hard and it's actually quite relaxing, he then leave and Dane and I are left there for a while. Dane then leaves for another jump in the pool, but not before belting me across the leg with his branch on the way out. I'm now in the sauna alone, beating myself up with a tree branch, again I marvel at the fact that I am somehow managing to get paid for this s*** and that this is part of my job. As I wonder this I hear Maria squeal and then whispers of, Don't tell Kris what that was about. Hmmmm…..wonder what I'm in for next, I think to myself. I end up fleeing the sauna as I am now sitting in front of the door and my nasal passanes are actually burning from breathing in the heat.

I come out and then everyone gets a scrub down by Nicholai and has warm water poured all over them. Turns out the last bucket is freezing cold, but John and Dane have managed to keep quiet, so that I won't expect it when Nicholai pours the freezing water all over me. This is of course what Nat and Maria has been screaming about. The water goes over my head and the unexpected cold, makes me let out and almighty shriek, and makes everyone else hysterical. I then run from the sauna and into the pool for the second time. It's funny the pool actually feels quite nice after the heat of the sauna. Jumping in twice, though was not a good idea, the second time was rather painful.

I'd always wanted to experience a traditional Russian banya, but never had enough people or enough money. Another thing crossed off the bucket list and I'm really glad I got to do it with such and awesome fun group of people, I haven't laughed like that for a really long time.

After our banya, we got into our pyjamas and sat in the kitchen chatting and drinking yet more vodka. We went to bed about 2am, and I slept really well in the closest place to home I've got right now.