Irkutsk, Russia

After our time at the lake we were driven to Irkutsk city. We had booked to have a home stay in the city but discovered that all of those who were with us at the lake were going to stay with us at an apartment. The owner of the apartment lived next door and we had the apartment to ourselves. It had 3 bedrooms and a kitchen/dining area and was a short walk from the city centre

The owner took 15 minutes to show us how to lock and unlock the apartment. There was a huge door that needed 3 keys to unlock it. Two of the keys went clockwise while one went anti-clockwise. Once this was opened there was another door that opened with the fourth key. Finally, we had to use an electronic key to open a door to the stairwell. Phew, I have never known anything like it.

The neighbourhood was pretty shabby and unkept but seemed safe enough.

We were disappointed that it was not at all a homestay experience as we expected to spend time with a family and practise some Russian. However, we had a great time with Alex, Spring and Keith.

There were a few old wooden houses left in the city and we were lucky that they were in our neighbourhood. Many have fallen down or been replaced by concrete buildings.




The apartment was on the third floor in this Soviet style block.

We walked about the city to visit the local cathedral, square and war memorial (every town has one, and cities have an eternal flame). We saw many wedding parties as it is customary to visit war memorials on your wedding day to remember those who died for the country. The wedding groups also visit city monuments for photos. The brides wear white or cream and dresses with hooped skirts seem to be the most popular style of dress. The men wear the usual suit. They decorate the cars with balloons, ribbons or plastic flowers and guests carry glasses and bottles of bubbly to celebrate as they wait for the couple.

Lunchtime was a popular time to marry as processions of bridal parties arrived at the most popular sites.

Our guide gave us a city map with internet places marked on it but when she gave it to us she crossed them all out. For some reason, unknown to the locals, the internet places were all closed down. We managed to find a place and there we discovered several people who were on the Trans Siberian train with us so it was a great meeting place.

It was noticeable how many locals drink openly in public. Young men wrapped their bottles of beer in plastic bags but the young girls didn't bother with that. There were lots of older men with swollen faces, scratches, and old and new scars drinking on street corners and in the parks: from falls and fights it appeared. A lot of them looked and smelled like they lived on the street. It is easy to buy alcohol anywhere at any time.

In the evening we ate at a cafeteria. The dishes were all set out and you just pointed to what you wanted. It was priced per 100gms and was weighed and you were charged per gram. They had soup, salad (lots of pickled stuff) and mains of beef, chicken, fish (salmon) and beef. It was nice to have potatoes rather than rice and noodles.

It was noticeable that when we crossed the street, cars blinked their headlights at us and let us cross!

We bought some vodka and had our friends Dee and Derek visit us.

The next day we walked around the city and there was a presentation of diplomas to school children, as well as an exhibition of school projects. This marked the end of the school year and the official holidays for the students.

We visited the huge indoor market and bought some supplies for the next train trip.

Bolshoe Goloustnoe, Russia

We caught a night train from Ulaan Bataar to Irkutsk. It was not dark till about 10.30 so we were able to see a bit of the countryside until then.

The train was full of traders with bags of merchandise that they had bought in Mongolia or China and were taking to Ulan Ude in Russia to sell. We had two Russian girls, Anya (22) and Oyuna (21), from the Buryatia area in our compartment. They had been to visit friends in Mongolia. The traders paid them to put some of their merchandise in our compartment. There were bags of clothes and shoes, and bottles of vodka. Every few minutes traders would come by with plastic bags of goods and put them on the girls' bunk or stuff them in their bags. As we got closer to the Russian border the traders became more frantic looking for people to take their stock.

It took ages to cross the border and over this time the toilets are locked and no one was able to leave the train. The immigration officers looked at our bags but didn't open them. They didn't check the girls' bags either. Several of the traders had their bags weighed and had to pay excess baggage but seemed to be allowed to keep all their goods. As soon as the inspections were over they came to collect all their goods and return them to their own compartments. It was so funny.

The train had no dining car so we had a huge box of food to keep us fed. The coal-fired samovar at the end of the carriage was great to make hot drinks and to warm our boil-in-the bag meals and make hot instant mashed potato. We had bought the food in China and had had enough of instant noodles so enjoyed the stews and curries although they were more expensive.

The landscape changed a lot and the dry grassy hills were covered with birch and pine forest and we travelled along beside Goose Lake.

We arrived at Irkutsk at 8am and were met by our guide Ilena and 3 other travellers, Spring and Keith from Minnesota and Alex from London. We headed off in a van to our homestay by Lake Baikal. Most of the road was gravel and it began to snow a little on the drive and we could see snow on the riverbanks and in the forest. After a couple of hours we had gone the 110kms to the lake.

We found out we were all at the same house and spend the whole time together. The homestay was more like a boarding house really as the family never did anything with us. The mother, Tamara , cooked the meals and then disappeared and we saw family members come and go but they ignored us. It wasn't what we thought a homestay would be like.

Our guide took us for a walk along the lake edge. It was a beautiful day and other than a few birds we only saw 'prairie dogs' popping their heads out of the holes.

Across the lake in the distance were snow covered mountains. The lake freezes in winter and they can drive across to the other side. Lake Baikal is the deepest, oldest and largest freshwater lake in the world. It is 700km long and 74 km wide and holds 25% of the world's fresh water.

There are seals in the lake that have adapted from living in seawater to living in fresh water, but they were on the opposite side of the lake from us so we never saw them.

The homestay was an old wooden house with no running water and a 'long drop' (outside waterless toilet).

In the yard was a newly built banya- traditional Russian sauna house. The firebox was lit to heat the water and heat the sweat room. You sat naked in the sweat room and then bucketed hot and cold water over yourself to wash as they do not have showers. It was very nice after a long walk and there was a bunch of birch leaves if you wanted to beat yourself to release the toxins in your body, but it was nice just to have a warm wash.
The banya
We visited the local primary school but the children were on holiday so we looked through the windows. It was furnished with basic homemade desks and very little else. There were no modern teaching aids at all.

The main employment for the villagers was fishing and forestry. We saw several young people drinking vodka and bonnet surfing during the day. There were lots of drunk men in the street as well.

The local Russian Orthodox church was open so we visited it. The women had to wear hats and the men had to take theirs off. The priest invited us in and he went off to his house nearby with his wife. The churches are built like a star or cross. All religions were stopped in the 1930s but are openly practised now.

Elstei Ger Camp, Mongolia

We visited another ger camp outside of Ulaanbataar and it was quite different form the one in the Gobi. It was surrounded by rolling hills and had sheep, goats, horses, cows, and yaks feeding on the ranges.

The horse on the left has his tail wrapped in a stocking. His tail will be used for the strings on the traditional fiddle.

Narki, our guide taught us a knuckle bone game in our ger.

We had to stop for this herd of yak as they crossed the road.

We saw a hawk swooping down on a duck and ducklings. This traffic policeman was more interested in being able to catch the duck so he could roast it than sorting out the traffic that had also stopped to watch the hawk.

An evening dust storm.

We climbed to the top of a hill and guess whose huge statue we saw in the distance!
We are off to catch a train to Irkutsk and will get back to the blog once we are in Russia.

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

After our time in the Gobi we caught the local Mongolian night train to Ulaanbataar where we did a short city tour.
Train station

We visited the main square which was full of secondary students who have examinations at this time.

There is a new Government house that will open soon. It has an enormous glass front and huge columns. An enormous statue of Genghis Khan fronts the building.


The Gandan Tegchile Temple covers a large area in the middle of the city. There was lots of construction going on to rebuild paths.

The temple was full of the students walking clockwise around the sacred poles, and spinning the prayer wheels for good luck in their exams.

These boys were ringing the bell from a tower.


A view of the city from Zaisan Hill Memorial. The memorial was built by the Russians to commemorate war dead. Students like to spend time at the monument so it is covered with graffiti.

Gobi sights, Amiah, Mongolia

The Khamar Monastery (for Red and Yellow Buddhists)is situated in the middle of the desert with about 14 monks based there. Danzanravjaa was a famous Mongolian educator, artist, and literary figure in the 19th century and established the monastery in 1890s. it was destroyed in 1930s when all Buddhist worship was halted and thousands of monks killed.

Near the temple were caves where the monks practiced yoga and meditated in isolation for 108 days at a time.



A large bowl of offerings to the gods- sweets, biscuits and bread.


Genghis Khan lends his name to many products in Mongolia and vodka is one of them- Chinggis in Mongolian. The vodka is also used as an offering to the Lama gods.

Shambala



A tiny, tiny lizard




Can you imagine that there are traffic signs in the desert?
These beautifully coloured flowers manage to survive.

Gobi desert, Aimag, Mongolia

These are the piles of dried dung that are piled up around the animal yards and provide a layer of protection for the animals from the wind and cold.

The camel owners aged 22 and 23. The wind had a bite to it so we are all wearing hats and jackets. Out of the wind it was very hot. The camels have felt mats on their backs.

This boy was visiting with his dad to help erect the ger. He had on the traditional tunic and hat. It was school holidays and they were extended by a few days as there is some kind of hand and foot virus that is affecting children and seems to be prevalent around the towns near the railway lines. It is also affecting children in China we heard. To prevent the spread children were sent home for an early holiday. This young boy thrived on helping with the camels and getting into all the tasks around the camp.


We enjoyed riding the camels. They had just been shorn and the hair sold so they only have hair on top.

As soon as we finished erecting the ger this bike and sidecar pulled up. The driver and a passenger unloaded 2 nanny goats and 4 kids from the sidecar!

Erecting a ger, Gobi desert, Aimag, Mongolia

We visited a camel breeding camp. When we arrived we found they had loaded up their ger and belongings onto a trailer and were moving about 3 kms away. They move each season. The camp was run by a 22 year old girl and her 23 year old husband. The 60 camels were inherited from their parents and had about 8 new babies.

They had to get water from a well and carry it in large plastic drums. Dung was collected from their animals and dried for fuel for their steel firebox for cooking.

A wind up dynamo radio was used to listen to music and to keep up with the news and like most Mongolians they had cellphones but I don't know how they recharged them as there was no electricity.


Four trellis sections were folded out to make the circle. The birch wood frame was joined with ties made from animal skin. The low door was fitted to the trellis and it was strapped together.


The round centre piece represents the sun and its rays. It is partly covered with plastic and has a hole for the stove chimney. Two painted uprights support the centrepiece and these uprights represent the husband and wife and one should not walk between them.


Thin painted supporting poles slot into the centrepiece and are tied to the trellis walls.



The roof is covered with a cotton cover.


Thick felt made from sheeps' wool is wrapped around the roof and then covered with plastic.

The sides get the same treatment as the roof. For the snowy winters extra layers of felt are used.

The felt is covered with cotton covers and the sides are all strapped together. You can see the orange painted furniture waiting to be put together again. The floor is covered with felt and then carpet and the sides are decorated with colourful cloth.

It took about 1 1/2 hours to put the ger up and then we drank green tea with camel milk and had a bowl of fermented camel milk which tasted like a tart yoghurt.