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