Ulan Ude to Irkutsk and back.

       When we last left you, we were headed to Ulan Ude from Chita. We had a quick overnight train ride and arrived in Ulan Ude in the morning. Had difficulty locating our hostel due to lack of instructions and signs, so we ended up staying in a different hostel. Once situated, we set out to tour the city. The first stop was the square where there is reportedly the world's largest Lenin head statue. Being somewhat skeptical, we had to check it out. The head did not disappoint!

Lenin's noggin in Ulan Ude

Log church at the open air museum

After that we got our bearings in the city, found a pizza place, checked some internet and made a plan for the next few days. The next day we headed to the open air museum, and although it was -4 Fahrenheit, we still enjoyed our day outside. The museum featured a bunch of different dwellings from Russia's unique indigenous people from various points of time. The park must be great in the summer, but we found it just as enjoyable in the snow. 

 We decided to walk a ways back to the stadium and another datsan before catching a van back to the city center. Once in the city center, we dined at the “Irish Pub”. There we made another 

friend, Dima, who wanted to practice his English with us. He was very curious about America and he asked us many questions in English and Russian. He suggested that we spend the next day going to the area's Buddhist datsan about 30 minutes from the city.

Buddhist datsan outside of Ulan Ude.

We went to the datsan the next day. We got in the van and took it to the end of the line as we were told. Then this man in the van asked if we were going to the datsan. I replied that yes we were, and he said in Russian, “follow me”. Normally, I wouldn't follow strange men, but he seemed to know what he was doing, so we got in another taxi and proceeded to the datsan. He asked questions, told me my Russian was “not bad” and we found out he was another railroad colleague of dad's. He got out before us, but told us where to get out of the taxi. We've met a lot of helpful people on our trip, and things would have been more difficult without them!

We toured around the datsan, which was pretty. The area around it, the countryside was also very beautiful. We came back and returned to our old pizza haunt, and then packed for another night train to Irkutsk, which is our last stop on the Trans-Siberian. We arrived in Irkutsk quite early in the morning after another short train ride. We booked a hostel online and took a cab there. It was a little difficult to find (they're not big on signs here). Once inside, the woman explained that they were doing repairs and we couldn't stay there. She said we could stay at another guesthouse, but the owner only spoke Russian. She called the woman to say we'd be coming and gave us a map with directions. We walked over to the guesthouse, but when we knocked on the door the woman inside replied that she wasn't taking in any guests. Frustrated and cold, we went to look for a hotel lobby to sit in and plan what to do. We found a hotel quickly and just decided to stay there for a few nights. It was a little more expensive than we were used to, but the convenience was worth it!

Once showered and rested, we set out to see the city. Irkutsk was really beautiful with a lot of old architecture and many beautiful churches. There was yet another Lenin statue to view as we got ourselves oriented to our latest city. Went to the regional museum and learned about local life. We had delicious dinner of local fish from Lake Baikal called the omyl.

One of many Victorian era buildings in Irkutsk.

Lake Baikal after the sun came out.

The sun hitting snowy Lake Baikal.

The next day we headed to finally glimpse Lake Baikal, the largest fresh water lake in the world. The day was gray, cold and windy, but our spirits could not be dampened. The lake was one of the places we had the highest expectations for. After our one hour van ride, we finally spotted the lake. We were in the town of Listvyanka which can be very touristy in the summer, but now there was almost no one around. We walked along the lake, dipped our hands in the water and found a few rocks and pieces of sea (lake) glass as mementos. We then walked to the museum dedicated to the lake, where we learned some facts about the lake, saw wildlife specimens and viewed the aquarium. At the aquarium we were able to see the famed nerpa seals that are found only at Lake Baikal. They had a sad, smallish tank, but we were mesmerized at how torpedo-shaped they were and what graceful swimmers they were. As sad as it was, I was glad for the chance to see them. After the museum, we had lunch at a small hole in the wall overlooking the lake. We had some smoked omyl and some Russian peroshki which are filled vegetable or meat pies. There wasn't much else to do in the town, so we decided to catch the next van back to the city. Had another great dinner of local fish prepared in “Baikal style”, with egg, sauce, carrots and spices. It was delicious!

Classy white fish "Baikal style"

We awoke the next morning for our last day in Irkutsk. We spent the morning at the city history museum. Many great photos and artifacts from different time periods in Irkutsk's history. Afterward we did some souvenir shopping and had our last true Russian blini (crepe-like pancakes). We saw the open air market, bought some fruit and then made some preparations for our upcoming train/bus ride to Mongolia.

Another view of Baikal from the train.  

Us on the train to Ulan Ude with Baikal in the background.

The next morning we woke up early and headed to the train station to catch our last Russian train. We decided to take a day train back to Ulan Ude so that we could see the lake from the train window. The train route hugs the lake for about 250 kilometers, providing a really picturesque ride. Arrived in Ulan Ude at night, spent the night at our same hostel and woke up early for our 12 hour bus ride to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The bus ride was better than expected and offered some amazing views of the Mongolian landscape. Will update you on our Mongolian adventures soon!