27th & 28th May Lake Baikal

After arriving in Irkutsk at 1.24am Moscow time (2.24am local time) we transferred by mini van to Listvyanka. We arrived 20 minutes before the ferry was due to depart to take us to Port Baikal. It was very cold. with ice still floating in the lake. We all pulled out our warm jackets, beanies and gloves to try to keep warm. We had a 10 minute walk from the pier to Natalya's B&B where we stayed for 2 nights. We had a lovely breakfast of blinni with jam and yoghurt. Some of us managed to have a shower before the hot water ran out and then we rested before going on a walk to the local railway museum. The museum was quite interesting with models, old photos and tools etc used on the circumbaikal railway. We walked back to the B&B and after lunch we headed off along the train tracks to have a look at one of the many tunnels built for the railway. It was a great walk (8km return) after being on the train for 4 nights. Looking out into the icy waters we were trying to imagine what it would be like to live here in winter! After our walk we used the Banya (Sauna) at the B&B which was very warming. We spent the evening after our lovely dinner of fish, rice and salad, playing kelly pool.

We woke at 5.20am to catch the 6.10am ferry over to Listvyanka as for the day. Ken and Kim had to leave today to catch the train as their visas ran out early so they had to leave Russia a day early and  this is the only ferry until this afternoon. We saw Ken and Kim off in their taxi to Irkutsk and headed to the hotel with Boris to use the wifi.

After using the internet we headed off for a walking tour of Listvyanka. We stopped off at a place  called Retro park which is described in the lonely planet as "a garden full of wacky sculpture pieces fashioned from old Soviet-era cars and motorbikes.

We then headed off to the shore walking through the residential part  of the town seeing the old and the new.   We stopped to play around and have a rest.

  David spent half an hour skimming stones on the water while Catriona had a cat nap. We bumped into the rest of the group who had slept in and caught a private boat over. They had already been up the cable car and were heading in the opposite direction. We walked further along the shore and went iceburg walking before heading off to find the cable car to the top of the mountain. It was not very high but we had great views over Lake Baikal and down the Angara river.  We caught the chair lift back down and walked to the ferry lading point  where we met up with the others again in time for the 4.15pm ferry. The rest of the evening was spent drinking vodka/beer and playing uno.

24th - 26th May, Trans-Siberian Railway to Irkutsk

We woke at around 7.30am after a reasonable nights sleep. We had porridge with banana and honey for breakfast. The day was sunny and we passed rolling hills of pine and birch trees. There were also many cute little villages. Boris gave us all a Russian lesson for buying food on the station which was very interesting. The 12 of us jammed into our room for the lesson. We had 3 stops through the day at 10.30am and 3pm for 15 minutes each and at around 11pm at Yekaterinburg.  We sat around in Ken, Kim, Scott and James' cabin drinking and chatting until the final stop, then headed off to bed.

The rest of the trip was much of the same, eating, drinking, reading and sleeping. We jumped off at stations where we stopped for 10 minutes or more. Some of the buildings on the stations were very elaborate, one even had chandeliers. It was a very relaxing journey.

The train arrived at Irkutsk at 1.25am Moscow time and we disembarked ready for our trip to Lake Baikal.

No Internet

Hi all,
On the trans siberian for the next couple of weeks and we don't think we will have internet access. We may be able to do an update in Ulan Bator, but not sure.

Cat and Dave

21st - 23rd Moscow

We transferred back to Vladimir by minivan and picked up a local bus to Moscow. The journey through the countryside was enjoyable and not what I had expected. Most of the way was lined with forest. We encountered a bit of traffic as we drew closer to Moscow, but it was not too bad. The traffic in the other direction was much worse. We made it to Moscow in 3 1/2 hours. We caught the metro to Mayakovskaya station which was 2 blocks from where we were staying in an apartment that is a B & B. Belinda and Boris were staying in another apartment about 10 minutes walk away so they met us downstairs at 5pm to go on our orientation walk and dinner. We went to Red Square and saw the outside of Lenin's Mausoleum and St Basil's Cathedral as well as the walls of the Kremlin and the GUM store. There were many people out and about as it was Friday night and even though it is further south than St Petersburg it is still light until after 10.30pm. After Dinner David and I headed back to the B&B while some of the others headed off to night clubs, two making it home 30 minutes before we set out the next day.

22nd After breakfast we met Boris at the station and headed off to see Lenin and have our tour of the Kremlin and Armory. We waited in line for about 20 minutes until the Mausoleum opened and there was a bit of pushing as a tour group tried to squeeze in ahead of us. David put a guy in his place and one of the other guys on the tour said he should wait his turn as Lenin was not going anywhere. We all filed past the very pasty looking Lenin and back out into the sunshine. Our guide explained different things about Red square and we then walked through the Assumption Cathedral which was built between 1475 and 1479 and like many of the churches here is filled with icons covered in gold. On our way to the Armory we stopped to watch a parade which is only on at 12pm on Saturdays. It was quite interesting to watch the marching and horses on parade. The  Armory is a treasure trove, full of jewels, carriages and coronation gowns from as far back as Peter the Great. It was overwhelming to see all the gold and precious stones not only in the form of jewelry and decoration but in the clothes and on the horse blankets. After the tour we had lunch in the gum store and then headed off to pick up our tickets to the ballet. Back at the hotel we had a rest before 7 of us set off to the Bolshoi to see La Fille Mal Gardée which started at 7pm. It was great to see the ballet. We sat in the middle tier next to the royal box, we had an excellent view of the whole stage and orchestra pit. All the dancers were excellent/ funny. The ballet was about a mother trying to marry her daughter off to the "stupid" son of a wealthy vineyard owner. The daughter "Lise" is in love with a farm boy. In the end Lise and the farm boy are married and the mother is happy. After the ballet we met up with the rest of the group and had dinner, then we went for a walk to the Arbat - full of buskers and street performers. We left the group and headed back to red square to see it under lights- spectacular.

After our late night we still managed to get up at 7am. After breakfast we packed our bags and set off to do a walking tour in one of the oldest parts of Moscow - Kitay Gorod, which was settled in the 13th century. We started at the Hotel Metropol then walked passed the 16th century fortified wall of the city. We wound our way through Kitay Gorod walking past the Synod printing house where Russia's first book was printed in 1563. We walked past a couple of monasteries, the old stock exchange    the old merchants' court- Gostiny Dvor, St Barbara's church, the old English court, St Georges Church, and All Saints Cathedral. We also walked up a little back street to see the Church of the Trinity in Nikitniki. At the end of the walk we headed down to the river and caught a ferry from Bolshoy Utinsky Most travelling past the Kremlin, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, which Stalin had destroyed and planned to build a 315m-high 'Palace of Soviets' which never got off the ground so the cathedral was re built.   We passed a statue of Peter the Great ,Gorky Park, Olympic Park and finished off at Kievsky Vokzal and caught a train back to red square and had lunch at the Gum store again.  

After lunch we caught the metro around to have a look at the art on many of the different stations. 

We met everyone at 7pm and caught the metro to the train station ready to board our trans-Siberian train bound for Irkutsk.

20th Suzdal

We arrived at Vladimir station at 5am and transferred to Suzdal by minibus. We were able to check in to our rooms, so we had a sleep before setting off for a lovely breakfast of pancakes, boiled eggs, bread, cheese and jam at a local woman's house . As soon as we arrived back at the hotel we had to set off on our 3 hour walking tour which ended up taking 5 1/2 hours. A few of the highlights of the tour were the Kremlin and The Nativity of the Virgin Cathedral which was founded in the 1220s. Inside it is covered in 13th and 17th century frescoes and also has 13th century gold on copper doors. Inside the Kremlin we walked through the Archbishop's chambers which houses the Suzdal history exhibition. Other highlights were the Museum of wooden architecture and peasant life, We finished the tour at the Savior Monastery of St Euthymius which contains the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Savior and a prison set up in 176 for religious dissidents. We listened to the bells of the Cathedral at 2pm and set off for lunch. Along the way we came across an old lady selling what Boris called Russian lemonade. We had a glass and it wasn't too bad, later we found that it was kvass, a fermented rye bread water.

At lunch few of the group had a degustation menu of medovukha, honey ale that was drunk by the princes of old. In the evening we all headed back to the same place we had breakfast for a wonderful home cooked Russian meal and Vodka.

15th to 19th May, St Petersburg

After our long bus ride to Istanbul we had our farewell breakfast with the group, said our goodbyes and set off for the airport. We had a good run in the taxi and checked in no worries. It was the easiest most hassle free airport we have encountered, taking less than 30 minutes to get to the departure gate. Our flight was good, only a little turbulence until we ascended above the cloud.   We arrived at St Petersburg airport and descended the staircase onto the tarmac where a bus was waiting to take us to the terminal. Passport control and customs were a breeze. Our pickup was waiting for us and the drive to our hostel was enjoyable and did not take long. It is always very interesting arriving into a new country and looking at all the signs and advertising. Our driver pointed out a few landmarks along the way, including the victory square and the Kazan Cathedral. We checked into the Nevsky Hostel and decided to head out to dinner. We found a traditional Russian restaurant which ended up having live entertainment. There were two groups of entertainers, there were three in the group of entertainers in our room and they sang traditional folk music which was very good.  After dinner (after 9pm) we  walked around the area close to the hostel. It was amazing walking through the streets at his time of night and it was still light. We were going to head straight back to our hostel walk by a waterway called Moyka river and stumbled upon the State hermitage building. It is absolutely beautiful. This photo was taken at 10.30pm!
We then walked around to the Church of the Savior on  spilled blood , it was 10.45 so we decided to head back to the hostel for a good sleep. Our first impressions of St Petersburg were good. It is a beautiful city and we were looking forward to our next 4 days here.
16th We were on our way at around 9am for a walk around historical St Petersburg. We set off down Nevsky Prospect and found a little cafe for breakfast. It reminded me of a Russian version of Starbucks. We then set off to palace square to see the hermitage again. In the centre of the square is Alexander column. We took a few photos of the hermitage and set off along the Moyka river, walked through the Mikhailovsky Gardens where we stopped for a rest
before going into the Church of the Savior on  spilled blood. We are so glad we spent the money to go inside the Church which is now a museum. Words can not describe how beautiful it is and how much work has gone into its building and restoration. Here are just a few photos from the inside. All the walls are mosaic and the floor is patterned marble, absolutely exquisite.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
We then set off to the Russian Museum, housed in the Mikhailovsky Palace. Unlike the Hermitage which has art from around the globe, the Russian Museum is a history of Russian art. We were allowed to take pictures inside which we found quite astounding. We could have spent much longer here but we had to keep going with the walking tour. Not only were the paintings and sculptures of interest but also the building itself.
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
After the Museum we were quite hungry so we found a cafeteria where we had a great meal that included soup, a drink, a main dish and salad for only 125 Rubles (close to $4AUD). We were quite full after lunch so we set off again on the walking tour. We passed by the singer building and the Kazan Cathedral on our way to the Bank ovsk most, one of the most photographed bridges in St Petersburg.
We walked passed the first indoor shopping centre down to Anichkov Most with it's 4 rearing horses.  This was the end of the Historical heart of St Petersburg walking tour. We decided to walk to the start of the Zayachy & Petrogradsky walking tour which included the Peter and Paul Fortress where on the embankment of the island there were many locals sunbathing and the artillery museum One observation of St Petersburg, and this may be Russia in general, is that the women tend to wear very short skirts/ dresses and very high heels, as can be seen in this shot that looks like two prostitutes being picked up in a stretch limo.This was the only photo we could get without looking as if we were taking photos of the women. We had another stop at a coffee shop did some grocery shopping when we found a supermarket and caught the Metro back to Nevsky prospect. The station was far underground and was closed off to the tracks by automatic doors that opened when the train had stopped.   It was only a short walk back to the hostel and we ended up staying in for the rest of the evening, updating the blog and uploading photos onto flickr.
17th Today is the first day of our Trans Mongolian Express Intrepid tour so we had to check in to our new hotel. We packed up our bags, left them in a room at the hostel and set of for Peterhof. Peterhof, also known as Perodvorets or Peters Palace, was initially built by Peter the great and added onto by many of the other Tsars. It has 150 fountains with the centre piece being the grand cascade, designed by Peter himself. We caught the hydrofoil from the wharf opposite the Hermitage for our 1/2 hour trip on the Gulf of Finland to Peterhof. We walked from the dock up along Water avenue and spent the next few hours wandering around the grounds. The fountains and buildings were all very impressive.
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
We arrived back in St Petersburg at around 3pm, headed back to the hostel, picked up our bags and set off for M hotel. We checked in and tried to call Chris on Skype but to no avail, we did manage to have a good chat with Steven, Veronica and Jessica though so that was good. We had a meeting at 6pm and met the new group then set out for dinner at a local restaurant specialising in Russian and Georgian food. Our tour leader Boris, who likes to be called Bob, said that Georgian food was a favourite with Russians. After dinner we set off to go to a brewery, but when we got there they would not let us in as they were closing in 45 minutes! David and I headed back to the hotel and a few of the others ended up staying out till 3am.
18th Another walking tour day. We woke at 7am as we had made a Skype date with John and Lorna for 7. 30am. We had a good time chatting with them as they were here this time last year at the end of their Beijing to St Petersburg GAP trip. We had breakfast downstairs before heading off on the "Mariinsky walking tour" from our Lonely Planet book. We stopped on the way to go inside St Isac's Cathedral, it was huge and beautiful but not as impressive as the Church of the Savior on  spilled blood.
This is one of 3 20 tonne sculptured brass doors in the Cathedral.

We also paid the extra money to climb the 262 steps up to the colonnade for the magnificent views over St Petersburg.  We also managed to go to the Mariinsky concert hall and buy tickets to an organ recital for tonight. The walk ended at Nikolsky Cathedral which was a long way from our hotel so we ended up walking back to the cafeteria we had been to on Sunday, for lunch before returning to the Hotel. We managed to have a long chat with Chris before having an afternoon nap and setting off to the recital. It took us 1/2 an hour to walk to the concert hall but we made it on time. The recital was wonderful, we did not expect to enjoy it so much as the organ is not the usual instument we listen to. The organist ended up doing two encores because everyone enjoyed it so much. We bought a salmon and white sauce crepe from a little stall in the street for dinner, it was delicious. We met up with the rest of the group in the lobby at 12.30am for our canal cruise to see the opening of the bridges.


19th We spent our last day in St Petersburg visiting the Hermitage. We had prepurchased our tickets online so that we did not have to wait in a queue. When we arrived we found a place to redeem the voucher we had for the tickets but could not find the entrance other than at the end of a long queue. We waited for a while but did not think it was right. We saw people entering through the exit so Catriona walked over to the guard on the exit door and showed him her ticket and was waved through, so David left the queue and we both made it inside. We started our tour in room 100, the ancient Egypt room. It was like being back home seeing the sarcophagai and hyrogliphics, except here we could take photos.

We then went through the Roman sculptures, greek gold and Italian art. We took photos of Leonardo da Vinci's Benois Madonna and one of Raphael's. We also admired the decorated ceilings, parquetry flooring and massive marble columns. We walked through Spanish art and also the Pavillion hall with it's chandeliers and gold on white. The centre peice of the room is a huge peacock clock which was built in 1772 and still works. We had lunch and continued on through the gilt Armorial Hall,

1812 war gallery Great Throne room and then through German, English and French Art. We walked through the private chambers of Alexander II and Maria Alexandrona. We were getting tired but decided to see what was on the 3rd floor and we were very happy we did as we saw the Impressionist and Post Impressionist paintings of which we took a few photos such as this Monet - Lady in the garden, which was painted in 1867

We were absolutely exhausted and trying to find our way out when we stumbled on the Russian culture, Middle East and Prehistoric artifacts sections. We finally made it out and walked back to the hotel ready to leave at 4.30pm for our overnight train to Vladimir. We shared the cabin with Jude and John from Melbourne.