World Adventure

Hi All,

Exiled to Siberia. Well not quite.

Irkutsk is the eastern capital of siberia and the 'paris of siberia'. It was a trading for furs, ivory, silk and tea from siberia, mongolia and china. Later it was a launching point for exhibitions to Alaska, which Russia owned before selling it off to America. The 'decemberist uprising', a failed coup by the gentry against nicolas I, resulted in many being sent to work in Siberia and some of their extraordinarily dedicated wives followed them over 5000km to live in Irkutsk including the 'princess of siberia', Maria Volkonskaya. This also brought the elements of european society and the inevitable luxuries and infrastructure.

The blue skies meant only one thing. It was going to be cold in Irkutsk. It was -28 deg C when we arrived and stayed a similar temperature for our stay. This presents a problem for sightseeing as it is too cold to stay outside for long. We walked down to the river which was about 1km from the hotel then back again and were completely frozen so decided that it was probably best just to stay put inside for the rest of the day.

So we watched a little russian TV and found that they had a series of ' married with children?' (main character was Al Bundy) and the 'nanny' complete with a russian cast.

Later we decided to head out for some mongolian food at a restuarant recommended by the guide book. Unfortunately the information in the guide book became incorrect by virtue of printing. The prices had risen significantly no doubt in part due to the promotion of the restuarant in the guidebook. We stayed and enjoyed a leg of mutton each with vegetables and a glass of red to wash it down. Nice but overpriced.  

Next day.

Still too cold. We walked out to Kirova park and were delighted to find excellent ice sculptures located all over the park and even a ice slide for the kids. I really enjoyed walking around and even more glad to get into a shop near the park to warm up. We headed back to the hotel as we were being picked up at 12pm to head to Listvyanka on the deepest lake in the world, Lake Baikal.

It was quite disappointing not being able to wander the city as we would normally due to the cold.

Bye,
David and Vanessa