Irkutsk and Listvyanka

The journey from Novosibirsk is a lengthy 30 hours or so, departing lunchtime on Sunday, arriving late Monday. Traveller's hint - don't be charmed into buying drinks for the restaurant staff, regardless of their excellent service and friendliness. It gets expensive! At Irkutsk we suffer from the not uncommon problem of travelling by taxi to the hotel in the hands of a driver who hasn't the faintest idea of where to go. After a tour of the city centre and negotiating the fare down by two thirds, we are checked in to the comfortable hotel, and enjoying a late snack and beer in the pleasant bar.

Tuesday morning and it's a tram to the bus station for a day trip to Listvyanka on Lake Baikal. The bus takes just over an hour, and deposits us at a small resort which is geared up for summer visitors, with lakeside beach huts and outdoor cafés. Today, however, the temperature is somewhere south of -10°c, so outdoor tourism has to be undertaken in small doses. The lake itself is spectacular, totally frozen to the extent that the only river traffic consists of four wheel drive road vehicles and a small hovercraft. A barbecue lunch gives a chance to regain body heat before a lakeside stroll, including an investigation of the abandoned ships which are embedded into the ice.

Back in Irkutsk, we enjoy Mongolian cuisine in the evening, by far the best meal of the trip so far. As for Irkutsk itself, it has an appealing city centre, tempered by more of a wild west feel as one goes out of town.

The Siberian Capital

The day train from Omsk to Novosibirsk (Siberia's largest city and Russia's third largest) is one of excited anticipation for me. My first experiences of Russia in the 1980s had been a pair of one month study visits to the city, and I am eager to see what has changed (and what has remained the same) since the economic reforms of the 1990s.

We are back in the hotel in which I had stayed on my previous visit, although the spartan facilities have now been embellished with refurbished rooms (minus cockroaches) numerous bars and restaurants and a "gentlemen's club". We take an evening walk down to Lenin Square, where the designer brands and sushi bars have replaced the state-run providers of essentials. No kvas sellers to be seen on street corners nowadays.

The following day requires a visit to the West Siberian railway museum, a 50 minute journey away by local train. Highlights of this snow-covered outdoor museum include one of the former high speed trains, in which excited enthusiasts can sit in the cab and pretend to be the driver. More exploration of the city by public transport, and we round off the day in a pleasant beer house in the student quarter, although declining the opportunity to participate in the karaoke singalong to Russian translations of Elvis songs.

By the next day we have a free morning before joining the next train, however the temperature has dropped to -25 (plus windchill), and strolling round the city is a less than comfortable experience. Although well wrapped up, the nose and face still feel the effects of the cold, and frozen internal snot is a strange sensation. Still, we manage a visit round the city squares where the residents are enjoying their Sunday morning distractions.

Overall, Novosibirsk very much feels like the city it was 25 years ago, and I get the impression that the economic changes, although marked, have only a superficial effect on the day to day lives of the majority.

Om and Irtysh

The two rivers which converge in Omsk appear to play an important part in the city's economy, judging by the hundreds of container cranes and industry nearby. When we arrive on Thursday morning, the temperature has dropped, and the rivers are barely distinguishable from the snow-covered parks which are an attractive part of the city centre.

Our group has not quite got the hang of a good night's sleep on the train, with complaints variously of excessive heat, "pneumatic drill" snoring, and the usual problem of negotiating one's way to the toilet during the night after a beer too many in the restaurant car.

Despite feeling slightly fragile on our morning arrival, we quickly find the trolleybus for the 6km trip to the city centre, quick coffee and breakfast and bags dumped in hotel.

Then a walking tour of the city centre, and off to experience the suburbs by tram. For some of us it's an opportunity to look out of the window and see what goes on, for others an opportunity to experience the ancient, rattling Soviet-built vehicles on worn rails and observe the operational arrangements.

Returning via a war memorial flanked by scary portraits of local heroes, we walk the 2km or so along the bank of the Irtysh back to the centre, and settle into an "Irish"  pub which turns out to be rubbish (and Andrew is not impressed at having inadvertantly ordered a non-alcoholic lager). We escape to a nice restaurant with a barely-legible menu handwritten in Russian, but we end up well fed and watered.

Early night to try and recover some sleep, and wake up to -18 degrees plus windchill as we return to the station for the next stage of our journey into Siberia. Nice coincidence to see the same conductress on the trolleybus who had sold us our tickets 24 hours earlier (and who suggested that it was quite a novelty for her to see foreigners on public transport). Omsk has a bit of character and individuality , and things are now feeling more Siberian than Russian.

...but not for long

The 1830 train leaves Nizhny Novgorod bang on time, en route from somewhere in South West Russia to Severobaltaisk at the north end of Lake Baikal. Our journey is relatively short, twenty hours or so to Yekaterinburg (known for a while as Sverdlovsk, and now Russia's fifth biggest city). On the way, we pass kilometre post 1777, where an obelisk marks the entry into Asia.

In a way, this is the first time that the real frustrations and pleasures of travelling around Russia reveal themselves. The train is unbearably hot (35 degrees considered an acceptable daytime temperature). The coping strategy is to go and stand in the gaps between the coaches with the snow and ice to cool down every so often.

Arriving in Yekaterinburg in the Tuesday evening rush hour, we take the Metro and tram to find our hotel. Receptionist is clearly not happy in her work, but processes us efficiently into our adequate accommodation. Now noticeably colder, the snow ploughs are out, road traffic skidding and it is occasionally treacherous underfoot. That said, the substantial manpower and resources put into clearing the snow means that the city is kept moving. Indeed we understand that this is a warm spell, with temperatures due to drop to a more seasonal minus 29 later in the week. The brewery restaurant which we had heard so much about is shut, so we revert to a very pleasant Czech restaurant.

The following morning, we cross the substantial lake in the city centre on foot (very frozen) to find the memorial to the last Tsar, who met his downfall here. In contrast, a world leader who started his political career in Yekaterinburg was one Boris Yeltsin. I guess that it's difficult to design a Yeltsin statue that doesn't look humorous, but I think that this memorial does the former president justice.

The rest of the day involves exploring the city on the extensive tram network (all working fine despite worsening weather conditions). Finally a visit to the railway museum (closed) and to the supermarket to buy beers for the train.

Definitely feels like Russia now - despite its preparations for the world expo in 2020 and plenty of evidence of modernisation, Yekaterinburg appears to be resisting westernisation for the time being.

Still in Europe...

Saturday 15th Feb. Moscow is becoming like any European capital city, yet still retains the character bestowed by its architecture, sprawl and recent past. One night in Moscow (good to catch up with Mark,  Gavin's University pal) is followed by a brief reminder of the city centre tourist trail. Then, a hurried Metro journey to Kurskaya station for the premier train to Nizhny Novgorod. Some disappointment to find a crowded commuter-style train rather than the expected Sapsan high-speed, and after politely moving someone out of our reserved seats we sit down for the four hour journey. Arriving in darkness it's tricky to get a handle on the scale of the place, but the short taxi ride to the hotel gives some clue, with a substantial river crossing and frequent changes in altitude. A walk through the rundown back streets leads us to a pleasant city centre, reminiscent in some ways of the Baltic state capitals. The discovery of a brewery-restaurant fulfils sustenance needs.

Monday morning, and a daylight stroll to the city centre with impressive views over the rivers Oka and Volga, both largely frozen solid. Temperature is just above freezing, although plenty of snow, ice and slush underfoot.

A couple of Metro rides, visit to the park, long foot crossing over the Oka, quick look at the Kremlin and tourist area, late lunch, then off to the station for the first "proper" train journey of the trip. Nizhny Novgorod might be worth further exploration - plenty to do being fourth biggest city in Russia, and mostly rather attractive and fun.

Pre-departure snags

With less than two weeks to go, all travel, visas and accommodation are booked (in no small part thanks to Andrew who has trawled the necessary websites and gained large amounts of cashback on his credit card!). The dates of the trip were planned around known work commitments many months ago. Inevitably a project timescale has slipped, and the serious question was asked a few days ago by our employer as to whether we could postpone the trip (with suitable compensation). Well, no, this time they'll have to find a way to work around it!

So, here is the plan:

Saturday 15/02 Fly to Moscow
Sunday 16/02 Train to Nizhni Novgorod
Monday 17/02 Overnight train to Yekaterinburg
Wednesday 19/02 Overnight train to Omsk
Friday 21/02 Train to Novosibirsk
Sunday 23/02 Overnight train to Irkutsk
Wednesday 26/02 Train to Ulan Ude
Thursday 27/02 Double overnight train to Khabarovsk
Monday 03/03 Final train to Vladivostok
Wednesday 05/03 Fly to Seoul
Saturday 08/03 Fly to Heathrow

Many stopovers allow contingency and sightseeing. Future blog posts will tell more. Main concern now is deciding on suitable clothing to pack for temperatures in the -30 degrees celsius range...