Day 26 & 27 - This trip just gets better, but not warmer

Licking ice sculptures can seriously damage your tongue

Irkutsk - Listvyanka - Lake Baikal

6,256 Miles  GMT +9 hours Temp -19

We had most of the day to explore Irkutsk, starting with a beautiful sunny morning but still bloody freezing. Sadly the museum to the Decemberists was closed. However we did find some of the original wooden houses from the late 1800’s, Bogoyavlensky Cathedral, the 18^th century Saviours church and a collection of ice sculptures in the centre of town. It was immediately obvious when walking round today just what a wealth of cultural diversity there is here. Tuvans, Buryats, Mongols, Russians, Poles and at leat one Geordie. I’ve seen more ethnic diversity today than I have in the rest of Russia combined. I’ve also seen more fur coats than I think I have in the rest of my life, but this is the commercial centre of the Russian fur trade. The mink slippers were tempting but the hat is more practical.

The people are brilliant, so friendly as they are used to tourists here and quite a few people are learning English and want to speak and practice. People seem a lot more relaxed here, so chilled they take camels for walks.

Lena challenged me to eat ice cream outside at -19. Well howay, how hard can it be lyke? Two bites, it stuck to my mouth and protruded like one of Madonna’s famous cones. Lena and Anya ended up on their knees in the snow laughing, and I needed to wait until she stopped and got me a cup of tea to release me from the ice cream gag. Combined ages of 130 something, going on 9. 

Ice breaker waiting for Spring

My love of six degrees of separation has been further fed. The ship in one of the photos is one of the ice-breakers from Lake Baikal parked up for the winter. In the local museum I found out that the original ice-breaker was made in kit form and came from Newcastle England, it’s long gone and languishes at the bottom of the lake somewhere. Some research required when I get home, as my grandfather might have had a hand in making it.

A local train to Listvyanka, on the shores of Lake Baikal, followed by a trek to a bus stop for a bus to our final destination, Buguldeyka. The bust top was in the middle of nowhere. I asked Lena if she knew where she was going, “oh yes, I was here four years ago”……not the kind of reassurance I was looking for exactly, however we did find it. The bus was late according to the timetable, which is a first, so we had to run round the bus top periodically to keep warm – tuggy round a bus stop in Siberia, who’d have thought it, this trip just gets more surreal by the mile.

probably the coldest bus stop in the world

We are staying in a small wooden cottage right on the side of the lake. It’s next door to our host’s Sergei and Alina, and are delightful and so hospitable. The fire and stove was ready lit for us, fresh fish and bread in the larder, they have shown us the wood pile and told us that if we need anything just to ask. 

The cottage is small and very rustic but it’s homely and truly Siberian. Buguldeyka is a tiny village of around 18 wooden houses, and bar that doubles as a village shop. This is kind of the Lake District of Siberia but without the tourists or the sheep.

The lake is the world’s deepest freshwater lake. It contains more water than all of the North America’s five great lakes combined. It’s 395 miles north to south, 37 miles wide and more than a mile deep. That’s one hell of a puddle. However, at the moment its one hell of an ice rink, frozen to a depth of up to 10ft, and it’s crystal clear if you wipe the surface snow away.

Torvill & Dean eat your hearts out :)

Day 23, 24, 25 - Frozen out of Krasnoyarsk, onwards to Irkutsk

Girls night out in Irkutsk

6,194 Miles GMT +9 Temp -11

We travelled to Krasnoyarsk on Wednesday evening, arrived on Thursday afternoon. We were planning on staying there, however our carriage attendant Anna told us shortly before we arrived that it was –34 with freezing fog. Even the locals avoid that, so with the train stopping for around 20 mins, Lena purchased new tickets, Anya went in search of Chocolate and I took photos of the station mosaic before we jumped back on the train for the 27 hours journey to Irkutsk.

Proper cold

We are now out of Industrial Siberia and at what is considered to be the gateway to the Far East. We have recently passed by the Sayan Mountains and through the Altai & Tuvan Republics in the snow. We saw a few Yurts/Gers and some herding nomads on the way here. For the first time I realised how far away I am from home, even felt a bit homesick. For the rest of the journey we will have the Mongolian then Chinese border to our right, and on the left mostly the Siberian wilderness.

We arrived at Irkutsk on Friday evening. Thankfully the Hotel Gloria was Glorious – the room was like a real hotel room. It had carpet on the floor, there was a bath – praise be, the heating works properly, the staff have stamped our papers for 10 days for free - bliss. Now I know why Lena loves Siberia.

We went in search of a restaurant just a few doors away, and met the women in the photo above who invited us to eat with them, as two of them are learning English. They were just lovely, we shared a couple of bottles of Mongolian Merlot, and they recommended the Mongolian BBQ, which was excellent. We were invited to go onto a night spot with them, but we politely declined, as we’ve been warned about women in fur coats previously. 

We walk dogs, Siberians take their camles out..........

We spent Saturday exploring Irkutsk, which is a truly multi-cultural delight, as well as being the former home of the Decemberists, a group of Russian folk heroes who I’ve detailed below. 

One of the originl homes built by the Decemberists

 Irkutsk was founded in 1651 as a Cossack garrison to control the indigenous Buryats. Irkutsk was the springboard for the 18^th century expeditions to the far north and east, including Alaska, then known as Irkutsk’s American district. As Eastern Siberia’s trading and administrative centre, Irkutsk dispatched Siberian furs and ivory to Mongolia, Tibet and China, in exchange for silk and tea. A major percentage of the city was burnt down in 1879, However during the 1880’s there was a large gold rush in the area and the city was quickly restored and rebuilt. Known as the ‘Paris of Siberia’, Irkutsk did not welcome news of the October revolution, the cities well-to-do merchants only succumbed to the red tide in 1920.

Former residents of Irkutsk the ‘Decemberists’, a group of aristocratic, liberal leaning army officers, who had occupied Senate Sq in St Petersburg, in an ill-conceived coup against Tsar Nicholas I. The date was December 26^th 1825, hence their soubriquet. The mutineers were poorly organised and outnumbered. After a stand-off which lasted most of the day, the Tsars troops opened fire, killing about 60 people, the rebellion crumbled. Five leaders ere executed and the remaining 121 were sentenced to hard labour, prison and exile in Siberia. They became romantic heroes of a sort, but the real heroes were their women, many of who abandoned their lives of comfort and sophistication to follow their husbands or lovers into exile. The first was Yekaterina Trubestkaya who is alleged to have travelled 6000 km by coach to Nerchinsk and then on arrival went straight to the silver mine to find her husband.

Others had to wait for months in Irkutsk or Chita for permission to see their men, meanwhile setting up small social circles, and over a period of two decades the exiled families opened schools, formed scientific societies and edited newspapers.

The Decemberists were granted amnesty when Nicholas I died in 1855, and while some of them returned to St Petersburg, some remained and their legacy provided the early infrastructure of the area.

Our next stop is Lake Baikal, where we are apparently staying in a traditional Siberian cottage for a few days.......its just a train, a bus and a bit of a walk ........to be continued

Day 22 - Novosibirsk - Forever in my memory ....for lots of reasons

the lovely women of Novosibirsk

5,062 Miles GMT  +7hrs Temp -18

Up early again this morning to be at the station for just after 5am, for our 7 hour journey. 

Very few people on the train but we paid the now customary 200 rubles(£4) to the provodnitsa because they’ve all been lovely.  We had two Russian Sailors, Valerie and Alexei, in the next carriage. They came to say hello, so we shared our picnic with them as kind of brunch. Their train had been searched yesterday too.They are on their way back to Vladivostok, both 19 and very big football fans, took the mickey out of England because Russia is getting the World Cup, but they had both heard of Newcastle United. Six degrees still holds true, even in Siberia.

a spot of painting in the park

We had an interesting walk around the town, especially the outdoor market, with women standing all day working in these temperatures. One of them was selling hot soup so we stopped and the women who were standing and talking just joined us into their conversation, which had two amusing aspects. The first being that they thought I was blind because I was wearing sunglasses, and so were highly amused to find out that I was foreign and in Russia in the winter. The second was that they offered me two places to get a good cheap fur coat, which in isolation wasn't funny, however............... We left the market to go and find our hotel, which turned out to be the kind of hotel that rooms could be booked by the hour, with a few women outside, all very friendly and wearing fur coats looking for business.

Fur coats galore, but I declined

The railway museum, which we also declined

Lena was mortified, as she has booked the hotels, telling us that it had been advertised in the newspaper. We have of course been completely sympathetic and not pulled her leg at all….haha.  We tried two others, but they were pretty awful too, as the city is a big dormitory for workers in mining and oil, so we decided to leave tonight for Krasnoyarsk. 

The chapel of St George, which used to mark the centre of old Russia

As it had started to snow heavily and we had about four hours to fill so decided the cinema might be good, it was, it just wasn’t the good we expected..….. Star Wars Episode II, dubbed in Russian. ‘могут быть силы с вами’ – ‘may the force be with you’. Laugh, I think I’ve got a suspected hernia, as the whole film was dubbed in Russian, very badly, by one person. I took my balaclava out of my pocket to bite on, tears rolling down my face. 

We might not have stayed in Novosibirsk for long but I think I'll remember it for a long time.

Day 21 - Omsk, it wasn't named after a womble

Approaching Omsk

4,681 Miles GMT +7hrs Temp -16

A lot of the buildings are nondescript, presumably built in the soviet era, one or two very old timber typical Siberian buildings remain, but looking slightly the worse for wear. We took refuge from the cold briefly in the Dostoyevsky literature museum. Lena and Anya were allowed in but I’m not because I have a camera, and the museum keeper is obviously a stickler for rules, as its in a my bag. “But you have camera, not allowed in with camera” Lena interprets. He won’t allow me to give him the bag either, so I told them to go ahead, while I walk up and down outside. They weren’t in there for long. When I asked if there was anything interesting Lena told me they had some drawings by Dostoyevsky, but quickly adds “It’s a good job he could write, because he couldn’t draw”

We did the local art gallery, which looks a little tired but there are some really interesting paintings, all by Russian artists. Alas no photographs and no postcards. We then move to the Liberov Centre, which celebrates the life and works of a Siberian artist A N Liberov, a folk painter who was I’m informed is the master of the Siberian landscape. I liked his work but again, no photographs and no postcards. 

Omsk Station

Lunch was in one of the bars that appear to occupy one in three of every building, in the area. Apparently Omsk is kind of a dormitory town, with many people working out in the mines, forests and oil fields further away, its quiet during the week but at weekends it becomes the wild East.

We walked through the park and the military hardware as Lena described it in her childhood is still in evidence here too, a tank here, a rocket launcher there, even a fighter plane. This city was closed to anyone but residents and military staff here, due to the concentration of military enterprises. This is a city with the population and the land coverage of the whole of Tyneside - and they closed it. It’s inconceivable to me.

Uspensky Cathedral, Omsk

Cathedral interior

Our final stop was at the Cathedral. The original building, consecrated in 1896, was demolished during the Soviet era, but was rebuilt in the 1990’s although I would never have guessed. We had a look inside and priest appeared, he was very welcoming and told us about the building and the icons.

Our hotel is called the Hotel Ural, We’ve nicknamed it the urinal as it’s grim, no carpet, nylon sheets and there is no hot water between 10pm and 7am. Beware 2* hotels in Russia. Don’t even think of a 1*, it’s probably the back of a Lada. 

2* discomfort

Days 18, 19 and 20 - The urals and Ekaterinburg, and now off to explore Siberia

local transport

Volchikha – Revda – Yekaterinburg - Omsk

4,119 miles GMT +5 Temp -17

Back safely form the Urals, which was great fun and we rounded it off with snowboarding and falling down a lot.

We returned to Ekaterinburg for the Romanov experience, as it is the city where the Tsar and his family were murdered. For long time the ‘Impatiev House’ was a museum but eventually it become something a shrine and so was demolished. In its place now, something hideous and Disney like, so no I didn’t. Out of the city there is a church complex built where the bodies were discovered. Presumably those who take pilgrimage to this are ok as it’s a trek and a half and nobody can see you . . . . . oh and they don't rip you off.

church of the blood tourist experience

church of the blood forest monastery and chapel

And so ready to move on, Galina made us a picnic for the train, and told me to come back in the summer If I return and she’ll keep me busy in the Dacha garden. I feel sad leaving, I’ve loved being here and shown this side of Russia and everything connected with it. If something else on the trip tops this, it will have to be very special.

Ooh nearly forgot to mention the circus, which we enjoyed yesterday - this is not circus as you know it, this is circus in purpose built building and a big part of Russian social life.  

hedgehog and clowns - a great combination

We’re back on the train now with a 14 hour journey to Omsk. I’ve had my history lesson for today, at this rate I’ll be doing a GSCE when I get back.

Omsk started life as a Cossack outpost in 1716, and by 1824 had replaced Tobolsk as the seat of the Governor General of Siberia. It became a major dumping ground for exiles. These included Dostoyevsky, whose ‘buried alive in Siberia’, which describes the writers wretched Omsk imprisonment 1849-1853, during which he nearly died.

The Soviet government preferred the young Novonikolayevsk, now Novosibirsk, as the administrative centre of Western Siberia, prompting the mass transfer of administrative, cultural and educational functions from Omsk, dampening the city's growth and sparking a rivalry between the two cities that continues to this day. The city received new life as a result of WWII, because it was both far from the fighting and had a well-developed infrastructure, Omsk was a perfect haven for much of the industry evacuated away from the front in 1941. Additionally, contingency plans were made to transfer the provisional Soviet capital to Omsk, in the event of a German victory during the Battle for Moscow. At the end of the war Omsk remained a major industrial centre, and became a leader in Soviet military production, which meant it was closed. Following the collapse of the Soviet era military production was cut drastically and quickly, which led to high unemployment and great social problems in the city, as it did in several cities in Siberia.

Day 16 & 17 - Ekaterinburg - I wish I could bottle my experience

ooh it's cold

Two days together again – afraid no wi-fi yesterday

Day 16

4,039 Miles GMT +6hrs Temp -22 

I’ve had a quiet day today, the furthest I’ve been is the Banya – to dry the washing, don’t get excited.

Lena and Anya have been into the city this morning, but I stayed here to give my face a rest from the cold. 

I’ve not mentioned the weather so far. What’s it like at –20? I’m using total sun block on my face to stop the glare from the snow burning my face, as well as stopping my balaclava from freezing to my face. I’ve been getting through one stick of lipsalve a day to stop my mouth freezing shut. I had been wearing sunglasses up to Perm for the glare but then I had to swap to snow goggles, as the wind was making my eyes water and then freeze. I can only talk outside without covering my face for a couple of sentences, as it feels like I’m chewing and swallowing razor blades. Apart from that I’m fine, my various layers of thermal clothing are keeping the rest of me warm.

Galina came round this afternoon and has been just a joy to behold.  She went through all of the photos very carefully, asking Lena lots of questions. I have a few on my laptop from home of Tynemouth and northern England, so I showed Galina those too. She was fascinated by the sea and beach. She asked me what it felt like to stand on sand, which took a bit of doing, I’ve not thought it about it before. 

I made shepherd’s pie and cherry crumble, with some of the bottled cherries, form the orchard, carefully shadowed by Galina, who asked Lena to write down the recipe for the crumble. She's going to entertain her friends with "continental" food. We offered to take her home after dinner tonight, but Galina was having none of it. “I’ve been coming here for over 70 years, save your energy, my feet know the way home.”

Lena as written about her experience of growing up in closed city during the Soviet era:

I was nervous about bringing Gail here to the Dacha. I have not shared this place with anyone out side of my family. That summarizes my suspicious nature and this is where I was taught to be suspicious. Not to trust anyone outside of my own family.

I was suspicious of the blog too but maybe this is true Glasnost (openness).

I was born in this city. We did not live here in this Dacha full time, this was our escape from the grey city of factories and everything Soviet. We had an apartment that none of us liked, but that is where we were allocated to live. Our previous family home which had also been built by my ancestors was demolished along with others to make way for concrete apartments. This place is far enough out of town not to be disturbed.

From Easter to September my mother would see us off to school and then come here and we would come here after school for a few hours. On Fridays we would stay here for most weekends.  In winter we came for the day occasionally, as it can become inaccessible in bad Siberian winter (bad Siberian weather is beyond –30)

The city in 1970's and 1980's was more like a military camp than a city. The parks and playgrounds had tanks and rockets in. We had lessons at school in first aid and what to do if the city was attacked. There were bomb shelters all around. Looking back the whole city was a bomb. If there had been a war and ours had been hit no amount of shelters would have saved anyone. There was a system of sirens which would have been used in the event of an attack. They were so loud. Most times we were warned it was a drill but sometimes there was no warning. It was frightening to be child then. The threat of the cold war felt very real, even though my mother did her best to reassure us it would not happen. My father was in the army so not home much, not that it mattered he live by my mothers Manifesto not the party one.

In 1979 there were a lot of deaths in the city suddenly in one week. We were told it was food poisoning. My mother did not believe it. She moved us here for a few weeks until there were no more. She was afraid the water was poisoned in the city and we have a well close to here. Years later I found out she was partly right. It was not the food, it had been an anthrax leak from a chemical plant. If the wind had been blowing in a different direction things would have been very much worse. 

When I left Yekaterinburg in 1982 to study and go to the officers academy, I swapped one closed city for another. I was fortunate to have that opportunity. I had friends at school who wanted it too but they were not accepted. The long nights of reading and learning with my mother helped me. They didn’t have that opportunity. Their parents were not educated and worked in factories.

I was at the academy for four years where I studied Russian history and literature and I was trained to be an officer.

I come back here when I can, this is my home. It is still my escape although last time was almost two years ago.  Galina takes care of the Dacha for me when I am elsewhere. Coming back here puts me back in touch with myself. It reminds me of where I came from and the journey I started when I left. I have seen lots of things in that time, some good some not so good. There have been a lot of changes in Russia, but not enough for most people and some too late for others.

I would love the personal freedoms that my friend Gail has, but I would rather wait for them than pay for them with other peoples dreams. There are still closed cities today. The end of the Soviet regime did not end all Soviet practises in Russia.

The dog sledders: Nicholai, Lena, Oleg, Pavel, Grigor, Me, Urie

Convoy

Coffee break

Day 17 - Off to the Urals for some snow fun

We were up early and on a local train before 7am this morning. We have arrived at Volchika – Wolf Mountain, which is one of the many winter sports resorts in the Urals. We’ve spent today on a Dog sledding trip, along with a few others. It was fabulous. Tonight I know where Wolf Mountain gets its name from, we heard them calling. It is an astonishing sound floating in the night air. 

Night approaches and so do the wolves

Day 14 & 15 - Ekaterinburg - Stepping back in time

 

Welcome to Ekaterinburg

4,039 Miles GMT +6hrs  Temp -9 

Our journey to Ekaterinburg was splendid, the landscape through the Ural mountain range with pine forests and small villages of wooden houses was very beautiful. I spent most of the journey glued to the window watching Russia go by and daylight disappear into one of the starriest skies I’ve ever seen.

The first village in Asia

We’re staying at Lena’s family ‘Dacha’, which she had kept as a surprise. The Dacha is a Russian institution that dates back to the mid 18th century, essentially a holiday home, ranging greatly in size and stature, but always with a garden that is used to grow food. 

When we arrived in Ekaterinburg we left out luggage at the station to go shopping at the market and Supermarket. No ‘buyski one get oneski free’ here or Tesco. I recognised some of the labels, as it’s just the use of cyrillic writing that differentiates some of the items from home, although some of the labelling is quite hilarious. Laden like pit ponies with shopping and luggage we took two buses and then had to walk about three miles down a snowy track, but finally we arrived at the Dacha. 

Google maps failed here

 It took a little while to warm the place up, with a wood fire and wood burning stove. There is electricity via a generator, but we just used candles and oil lamps. It’s delightful here. I wouldn’t swap this for unlimited time in the best hotel in Russia. It’s like finding the real Russia and stepping into a Chekhov play. A bit like a Russian version of Beamish. When we finally had dinner on the stove, Lena gave me a guided tour and told me about her family and the history in the Dacha. The snow was blowing against the windows of the wooden cabin, built by Lena’s great great grandfather in 1800’s. Family pictures of her ancestors, who have mostly made the furnishings in the house, the men making the furniture and the women having made the rugs, quilts and cushions. In a wardrobe, her mothers wedding dress, and her grandfathers boots. In the living room, a small Russian orthodox shrine, rocking chairs by the fire, a chess set made by her grandfather, along with old family military awards and more family photos. 

The kitchen

 

 I fell asleep while I was writing this last night, so you’re getting a double edition today, as I’m finding the time zone changes confusing and don’t think I can write this a day behind where I am. I get confused enough has it is.

I woke up early this morning, got properly dressed this time, to see the outside of the Dacha and the garden as it was too dark last night. The garden is covered in snow, it stands in a small orchard of cherry and apple trees with a garden on the other side about the size of two bowling greens.

An English breakfast followed, which was well received. I asked Lena about the other small building, which I thought was a tool shed. “No that’s the Banya, the sauna. The tradition is to go in there and heat yourself to sweating point, then beat yourself with willow or oak twigs to get the circulation going, before dowsing yourself in the snow or cold pool or river, repeating the whole process several times times. All part of the experience Gail” – laughing her head off. – “Bugger off!” my reply.

The Banya

We’ve had a visitor today, Lena’s Aunt Galina. We gave her some of the M & S Goodies, shortbread and marmalade, which she seemed genuinely delighted with. She talked almost non-stop for an hour through Lena, asking me questions about England and my family and Anya about hers, until finally Lena asked her to take a breath, she chuckled and said she would go and sort out lunch. As we ate she asked if I liked the dacha, and I told her I thought it was beautiful, and I felt very privileged to see it. It was just a shame it wasn’t spring or summer to see the garden and orchard. Lena told Galina I used to be a gardener. Well that was it, out with the vodka, I was hugged to near suffocation, followed by an offer of adoption :)

After lunch we cleared the table and Galina brought out photo albums, some of the photos went back to the 1920’s. The albums are effectively a chronicle of the Dacha and the family. It was fascinating to be guided through them by Galina and Lena. The women were dressed just like northern fish wives, right up until the 1960’s, with long skirts, long aprons and headscarves, working away in among rows of beans or up ladders picking fruit. The men leaning on hoes and forks smoking pipes. It took me back to my grandparent’s allotment, all those years ago, and Galina was very interested to hear about it. 

Galina

We’ve spent the whole day with Galina and her lovely cat Ivana, who she carried here in her shopping bag. She told me stories of the good old days and the bad old days through Lena and Anya. Galina is 79, she left school at 16 and became a nurse. She’s never left Ekaterinburg, she said by the time she could, it was too late. She brought out some of the postcards that Lena has sent her, and said that she had seen some of Russia through them.

Galina is going to return tomorrow, I’m going to cook something English for her, as she was curious about what we eat, and we’re going to show her the photos that I’ve taken so far on the trip, as she would really like to see them.

We’re going to stay here for a few days. The trip has been fabulous but it’s been quite relentless, we’re all ready to slow down a little and re-charge our batteries and this is the perfect place.