After 3 incredible weeks gallivanting around the countryside of Mongolia it was time for us to make a move and head back to civilisation... in Siberia... in southern Russia.
To depart Mongolia we jumped aboard the world famous trans-Siberian railway for our 24 hour journey from Ulaanbataar to the city of Irkutsk in Russia, our gateway to visit the world's oldest and deepest lake, Lake Baikal. With our expectations set to rock bottom, we arrived at the station to an incredible surprise that our train was not some Soviet-era throw back with rooms that resembled a prison. Instead, we were riding in the relative comfort of a brand new carriage that was more comfortable that most of the beds we stayed in during our time in Mongolia. We spent the next 24 hours playing cards, eating salami, reading, eating more salami and even sampled the produce in the dining carriage - it wasn't mutton so it was incredible!
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| Our brand spanking new train for the 1st leg of the Trans-Siberian |
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| Classy! |
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| KG fired up for our first non-Mongolian meal in 3 weeks! |
We eventually arrived in Irkutsk and were greeted by our Couchsurfing host Maria who was nice enough to take us in for a few days and show us around town (and let us harass her cat). To say we were surprised by Irkutsk is a massive understatement! It proved to be a beautiful little city on the side of a river, with excellent restaurants and some awesome coffee (finally!).
After a couple of days we headed down to Lake Baikal to the small village of Listvyanka where we proceeded to do absolutely nothing for 3 days. We continued our trend of doing absolutely nothing whenever we are near a large body of fresh water. During these visits, we find it acceptable to do nothing but eat as much food as we can get our hands on, get well acquainted with the local breweries' finer work and play an astronomical number of card games. So for 3 days, we rotated between napping, eating, playing cards and even managed to throw in the occasional stroll along the lake side to find some different places to eat. Because this was a stressful few days we then headed back to Irkutsk for a few days of doing more eating and drinking!
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| On the shores of Lake Baikal after trekking with our CS host Maria. |
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| Saying goodbye to Olga, our delightful guesthouse owner in Listvyanka. |
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| Our daily stroll down to the markets and restaurants in Listvyanka. |
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| KG hanging out in Kirov Square in Irkutsk. |
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| The "old town" in Listvyanka. |
It was now time for our major train trip - a delightful 40 hour journey from Irkutsk to Omsk, another small Siberian town in Southern Russia, this one just a bit closer to our eventual destination of Kazakhstan. This time our train was a little more like what we expected: a lot of wooden panelling and a bathroom that looked like it had been pulled straight from the 1940s. We passed the time in a very similar fashion to our previous trains - cards, salami, beer, books and instant ramen.
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| "Ulaanbataar to Moscow" - our second train on the Trans-Siberian |
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| No idea what hour out of the 40 hour trip this was - cards and beers! |
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| KG in one of the random stops between Irkutsk and Omsk - completely over by this point and refusing to pose. |
Russia continues to surprise us when we arrived in Omsk - a town that had been given a tourist rating of 1/10 online. Omsk turned out to be a beautiful little town with some fantastic restaurants and cafes, and enough to keep us busy for more than a few days. We spent a few days rotating between napping, sampling some amazing cafes, the beautiful old town and we even managed to squeeze in a feed at McDonald's - it was superb. We hit up Couchsurfing again and met Alyona, who showed us around for a few days and took us out for a great coffee and drinks at a couple of Omsk's awesome bars.
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| We Love Omsk! |
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| KG hopping her way through an archway in Omsk as she makes a wish with our Couchsurfing hosts. |
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| The Assumption Cathedral in Omsk. |
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| Tom not sure what to make of this monument in Omsk. |
For our trip from Russia to Kazakhstan we had the choice between a 17 hour train or a 55 minute flight, both of which were roughly the same price. We took the flight in a heartbeat and prayed to never have to spend 40 hours on a train ever again.
Next up, Kazakhstan!
Yeah/Nah Index
Irkutsk - Yeah, if you're in the area it's well worth a gander.
Lake Baikal - Yeah, why not? Check it our for a few days.
Omsk - Yep, especially in a couple years when they have finished prettying up the place.
Tran-Siberian Railway - If 40 hours in a room the size of toilet is your thing - deffo!
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