HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY : Working out the burst mode on my cameras to catch my Bernstar jumps
BUMMER OF THE DAY: Internet at the hotel was SLOWER than a snail
: Toilet blockage on our carriage – need to use toilet 2 carriages away
WORD OF THE DAY: - always written phonetically. Loo Bloo – LOVE in Russian
We left beautiful Lake Baikal this morning for the journey back to Irktusk, where we spent the day before boarding the Trans Mongolian for our 3rd section of the trip to Yekaterinburg. Another 54 hours on the train, and the group is really looking forward to it. Weird as it sounds, we enjoy the ‘down’ time and getting to talk to each other. I guess that shows what a great group we have, as it could have been really awkward if the group didn’t gel with over 164 hours in the train over 7985km – awkward!!!!
Irktusk really is a beautiful city and this includes the buildings and the people. I was in Russia over 10 years ago in 1999, and it was like stepping back into the 80’s, their clothes were straight from the set of 21 Jump Street. It was really was a funny sight. My, how times have changed. You have never seen so many beautiful boots and jackets in a city – the Russians would give New York and Milan a run for their money, seriously. All shades of colours and styles that you can think of, these woman have them and they have style. They really look awesome, like really awesome.
This is the city in Siberia, that you read about and saw in movies, where people were sent into exile over 100 years ago. As most of them were educated people the city really prospered and became a boom town. Russian artists, officers, and nobles were sent into exile to Siberia for their part in the Decembrist revolt against Tsar Nicholas I. Irkutsk became the major centre of intellectual and social life for these exiles, and much of the city's cultural heritage comes from them; many of their wooden houses, adorned with ornate, hand-carved decorations, survive today in stark contrast with the standard Soviet apartment blocks that surround them.
As we were unloading the van with our bags, it started to softly snow with the temperature at 4C and a slight breeze, it was time to leave this city and head to our next destination. Our train departed Irktusk at 6.40pm – we found ourselves on the actual Trans Siberian train that has come all the way from Vladivostok. It is certainly the best train we have had by far. The seats are more padded, there is a TV in each cabin, more storage and there is a power point in each cabin. At the end of each carriage, there is an electronic screen telling you how cold it is outside, how warm it is inside and also when the toilets are in use. There is also a lady that goes through the carriages for the whole trip, selling snacks and drinks with her little cart – all quite civilized really and what a way to be travelling. As the snow covered houses and scenery outside passes our windows, we need to keep pinching ourselves that we are on the TRANS MONGOLIAN and travelling on a railway that was started to be built 150 years ago.
As we ran out of vodka on the last 2 night journey, we came well prepared this time. As it was also Julia’s birthday today, we decided to turn this night into ‘party night’. It really is the smartest idea to spend this night drinking, as we have all the next day on the train to recover and if you wanted to sleep the day away, you could, and not feel bad that you may miss out on something. The down side, is using the toilet on the train ( which this one isn’t too bad ) and on the really bad side if you feel a little green the next day, driving the porcelain bus, would not be ideal in a small communal toilet. Ughhhh shudder shudder shudder…….
Party night was A-W-E-S-O-M-E. We had dinner in the dining car and we managed to find a cake for Julia before we left Irktusk, and we made her a card, so we sang her song and ate cake after dinner when some Russian guys came into the dining carriage. We told them it was Julia’s birthday, so they bought her a beer and made a toast to her ( which apparently is quite Russian ) – it was so sweet. Our new friends asked us to join them in their cabin for drinks, but we decided to party solo, so we said our farewells and headed back to the party cabin and started our vodka shots for the night. We all bought a different brand of vodka ( for $8 a bottle, why not ), so it was interesting, when we cracked a new bottle how it rated to the one we had finished. Let me tell you they were all pretty rough – but drinking vodka straight, no matter how much you pay for a bottle will always give you the ‘squeezed up face’ look after you down a shot. But when in Russia – do as the Russian do right?
We had a 40 minute stop in Zima at 11pm ( which is also Julia’s surname – and it was her birthday – coincidental maybe? ). Anyway we decided to head out and get some fresh air ( 0C freshness ) and who did we run into? Our Russian friends. Eric, Chris and I were, at this point on a vodka roll, and we were trying to talk to these guys on our own and it was hilarious as they didn’t speak a lick of English and we didn’t speak a word of Russian. They had some bread rolls they had just purchased from a babushka ( called piroshky, which is bread with potato and onion in the middle ) and they gave us a bag of them. They really seemed like nice guys and we bid them farewell again and back onto the train for some more vodka’s.
Well the funny thing to this story is it was around 1am and guess who found us – yep our new friends, and they came baring gifts, a bottle of vodka, a carton of apple juice, some skittles and a block of chocolate for the birthday gal! Well of course you can join the party people. It worked out well as we had just polished off our third bottle of vodka and were thinking about packing it in and going to bed. So the guys were flirting with Julia, and everyone was busy trying to communicate with each other any way we could. With 8 people in our cabin we were having a great time. As we know all good things come to end, including the last bottle of vodka, so we wrapped the party up at 2am after many laughs and many vodka shots.
Prelude:
I pulled up bright as a button this morning. I woke at 9.30am, and was first awake. The others woke at 10.30am and the Californians woke at midday. We think we had about 12 shots of vodka each, plus the beer with dinner ( they are massive here ) so I think ‘bright as a button’ is nothing short of a miracle. Mel and Chris had the ordinaries on till around 1pm – but I think we are all alive and well now and feeling human once again. Chris and I also think that the piroshky’s helped in the aftermath. Think of all that starch soaking up the vodka, between the bread and the potato – I think we owe our new Russian friends a really big THANK-YOU!!!
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