Category: 2018 09 US Russia

In glorious sunshine we made a trip to Tarbagatay today. This is a pretty old village about 50 km from Ulan-Ude. There still live many "old believers" . This is a small Russian ethnic group that split from the Russian Orthodox Church in the 17th century and was sent to Siberia by the Tsar. We have discovered a small church (which was unfortunately closed), a cemetery above the settlement and many colorful wooden houses with ornate shutters! If you wish, you could book a cultural show for tourists there to get to know the customs of the "Old-Believers".

We are just a little streaked through the streets. The bus ride by regular taxi alone (approx. every 30 min from the bus station for 110 rubles per person/trip) was already worthwhile because of the beautiful landscape.

Also for Ulan-Ude we had a little time to explore it afterwards. The Lenin head is already very impressive!

Silke

We had places in the 3rd place today. Class reserved because we were only on the road during the day for about 8 hours.That was totally OK for this trip.

The compartments are not closed with a sliding door. On the opposite side of the aisle there are also bunk beds, where you can turn the lower bench into two seats with a table during the day. The headroom is slightly lower than in the 2. Class.

A service employee came by the place with a tray and sold us Piroschki with apple and potato filling.

The route along Lake Baikal offers a wonderful view of the lake!

Silke

We explored Irkutsk on foot. Very nice was the walking route "Green Line", which can be comfortably run in 2-4 hours. The green line is marked not only in the city map, but also on the sidewalks. In front of the numbered sights there is an information board with Russian/English/Chinese descriptions. We found the 130th district particularly beautiful, a pedestrian area with pretty historic buildings and many restaurants. Right at the front we received "Babr" the Siberian tiger beaver with a sled in the mouth, the heraldic animal of the city.

Silke

At 12:30 a.m. we went on a somewhat rickety bus to the ferry to Irkutsk. On the mainland side we were able to switch to a more comfortable model. About 18:15 we reached the bus station Irkutsk after 300 km! A taxi took us to our very nice accommodation!

Since there are two washing machines here, we use the evening as a washing day!

Silke

A picture says more than 1000 words!

Silke

The thread is out! It was surprisingly easy! A bit of back and forth, whether something is firmly seated, one side cut just above the skin with scissors, and pulled on the other side at the knot. We had already got iodine in Moscow. I'm glad that all this heals well and hardly hurts anymore. That would probably have been done by a shaman, or Reiner after the video course, or a nurse from the hospital ward (there is also an ambulance here!). But then I trusted myself!

We were in the city again and found many beautiful photo motifs. A harbour with colorfully painted shipwrecks, a pretty little church on a hill and quirky souvenir shops, e.B. in a yurt or with a bear at the door!

Silke

Today we did a lot of research here on Olchon thanks to the stormy rainy day with felt 3 degrees! During our short walk to Lake Baikal we had to circumnavigate many puddles. There are no paved roads or footpaths here yet! The photo shows the main street of Khuzhir.

Silke