Day 13 and 14: More Irkutsk

Day 13 and 14: More Irkutsk

Now that we were back to Irkutsk we had plenty of time to relax. Because of the reason that we had Sunday, it seemed to be appropriate to visit another church. Lucky me, that it was not a catholic church and there was no church service, so we could go back to the city and on the market watching clothes for 3 hours!

The next day we walked along the Angare up to the dam. Behind the dam is the old museum ship also called Angare, which we visited. After a good lunch with fresh Omul we crossed the dam. That seemed to be a good idea, but actually was not. On the other side was nothing to see and we ended up in some kind of industrial suburb. We couldn’t catch a taxi, so we decided to go into a garage nearby and ask if they could call us as taxi. None of them spoke English – what a surprise – but we could manage that they made the call for a taxi. So we were waiting there, but the taxi never appeared. After half an hour of waiting, one of the boys at the garage asked us if he could drive us. We agreed and he drove us directly back into the city. So that was our small adventure aside of the tourist trails.

Day 12: Lake Baikal and Listvjanka

Day 12: Lake Baikal and Listvjanka

It should be some sort of a highlight on our trip, to go to Lake Baikal. Listvjanka is a small village at the lake with a nice harbor. It is actually some sort of weekend trend for many Irkutsk inhabitants to go to Listvjanka and have a picnic at the lake. So we were there at a sunny Saturday and it was really crowdie. But we managed it to get a table at the lake and had a wonderful dinner like all the Russians. And finally what is a village without a church so we had to go there and see it. Unfortunately the Hotel we had was not very nice, so we decided to go back to Irkutsk and make our short trips from there.

Day 11: Irkutsk

Day 11: Irkutsk

Irkutsk is a nice city and it is obviously that the economic is growing very fast. They are building everywhere new houses or renovate old heritage.

We had a nice walk through Irkutsk. We visited some Churches around the Kirov Square then went to the market. Afterward we had a nice café at the new wood house place, walked the Island of the Youth and finally went at the Tsar memorial.

Day 9 and 10: From Novosibirsk to Irkutsk

Day 9 and 10: From Novosibirsk to Irkutsk

What did you do if you have to hang out for 35 hours on the train? Now there is not much to do than: watch the landscape; take some pictures; go in the restaurant for a café; sort out the photos; take mo pictures; having dinner; write on my blogs; go to bed; have breakfast, take more pictures……

The landscape is not bratty much changing and after a while it is not so much breathtaking to see the endlessness of Siberia. But autumn give nice colors and the weather is not too bad. Since we started we haven’t seen many clouds, it is something we call an old women summer (in autumn continental-weather can be very stable so anticyklons can stay for more than 3 week over middle Europe).

To be honest, the temperatures outside are fine here in middle Siberia but at sunset when the sun shines directly in the wagons it gets uncomfortable hot inside. So I don’t want to make this trip in the summer.

We are now for 34 hours on the train and I’m getting tired. We are really happy that we will be in Irkutsk in one hour, get off the train and have a fresh shower in the hotel. I cannot understand how some dudes can do the whole trip at once. Fortunately we already mastered 5100km and for the next 5 days we will stay at the Lake Baikal.

Day 8: Novosibirsk

Day 8: Novosibirsk

Novosibirsk is quit a nice city, but it couldn’t keep up with the charm of Omsk. The main attraction is the Lenin Memorial at the Lenin square in front of the Opera. The Culture Park is a nice place for relaxing and entertainment. There are lots of attractions like the big wheel. We had a nice sightseeing day with a good café on the terrace of a café next to the Sibirskaja Metro Station.