Irkutsk: 14th - 16th January

We arrived into Irkutsk in the evening and were met off the train by Sergei who had the tickets for our next leg and drove us to our hotel - the Hotel Victoria in the middle of the old town. We sampled the local food, beer and wine and retired for the night expecting a good day of exploring the next morning. All looked good first thing, but just as we were about to leave Sue had a funny turn and ended up spending the day in bed which is a real shame. I managed to get out a couple of times though in between tending to the ill and getting supplies from the supermarket across the road. Fortunately Sue's a lot better today and we were able to get out and about. We're back at the hotel now having a drink (cup of tea for Sue - she's clearly not 100% yet!) and killing some time before we head off to the station - there's only so much sight seeing you can do in -15C!

Impressions of Irkutsk is that it's an attractive city - would recommend it as a stop off point for anyone doing this trip. It was dubbed the 'Paris of Siberia' back in the day apparently and while it doesn't really compare now, it's still very nice. We did see an Eiffel Tower ice sculpture, so I guess there's something in it! There's a river running through the middle with the old town on one side making it feel a lot smaller than it really is too (population: 600,000 fact fans).

We took a walk down the main drag - Karl Marks Street - and along the river and through a couple of parks full of ice sculptures and ice-slides which are a really nice touch and are really popular with the kids. Given the temperature won't get back above freezing for a while they're worth the time and effort, don't think it would catch on at home.. We might have headed out to Lake Baikal if Sue hadn't been poorly, but reports are that it's frozen over so the effect might have been lost anyway. One to save for if/when we do this again (in the summer!).

So we're back on the train tonight (9pm) for two nights, arriving into Ulaanbaator at 7am in a couple of days time, so just the one full day on the train which should be a breeze following our last stint! Looking forward to our first overland border crossing - hoping the papers are all in order!