Ulan-Ude, Russia

With our irregular sleeping habits I had very little faith we could wake up and catch our 7 am train. I spent the entirety of the night catching up on Facebook and reading one of the many books crammed into our packs.



With a short walk to the other end of the city, we arrived at the train station eager to purchase our ticket. Ticket counter to ticket counter we were rejected as the train we planned on boarding did not seem to exist. With one helpful security officer we managed to find the lady who could help us. She however felt that her 20 minute break was something that could not wait. Anxious to make our train we waited until finally, tickets in hand, we were once again aboard the trans Siberian railway.



For the short 8 hour journey we were blessed with the best seats we had all trip, typical to our luck, thinking back to our terrible seats on the 87 hour ride, and quickly made friends with our bunk mates. They were very curious about us, where we were from, how much my car cost, what my parents do, and other seemingly odd yet simply curious questions. In the US we could have had this conversation in about 15 minutes however, with the heavy language barrier this lasted hours on end. The train ride was beautiful with mountains and rivers occasionally popping up. The best part was the train stayed on the shores of the bottom half of lake Baikal where we had spend our last week.





In Ulan-Ude we said our good byes to the newly made friends and began the search for the hostel in a new city. Our hostel was found with out fail (a rare occurrence) and we checked in. For dinner we found a cafeteria style diner making ordering simple as you only had to point at what you want and hold up fingers to show how many you want. Rest assured we managed to screw it up making a big scene with far to many people than necessary trying to help us order our food. With belly's filled we explored around our hostel before returning for the night, excited to see in more depth in the morning.






-living the dream!

Irkutsk, Russia

Tired from the hike the day before, we enjoyed some sleeping in a bit. I woke some time before otter, so I made some breakfast and a cup of tea and relaxed around the hostel. Once otter was up as well, we packed up out gear, taking our time. Eventually we checked out and headed into town to enjoy our last views of the lake. We couldn't leave without frustrating the grocery store lady one last time, so we grabbed a snack before climbing into the minibus bound for Irkutsk. Once back in the town, in the middle of the bustling market, we decided we should find somewhere to spend the night. Shouldering out packs, we made our way across town. Along the way, we happened to run into an American guy who was living in Irkutsk. It was nice to be able to speak to someone in English again. Eventually we found a hostel for the night, a cozy little apartment a few flights up. They helped me write out how to buy train tickets in crylic, which would save us the next day. We then strolled though the city, picking up a bite of pizza and some food for the train. Back at the hostel, we met a couple Canadian girls who we chatted with for some time, and were able to trade some books. This was a relieve as we had both read through all our books multiple times.





- living the dream!

Great Baikal Trail, Russia

We had decided the night before that we should wake early to hit the trail, as we had 20km to cover before dark. Waking at 8, we discovered that it was still dark, and bitter cold. Not wanting to crawl out of our sleeping bags into the cold, we decided to sleep just 5 more minutes. Five minutes later, it was noon and we found ourselves scrambling to pack up and hit the trail. Despite the cold, we could tell the clouds would break soon, a perfect day to hike. The trail was quite amazing, a frost covered single track winding through the forest, dipping up and down along the shoreline.





The trail cut through many dense stands of birch and aspen, as well as many stands of pine. Most were of a variety similar to home, but there were also narrower, smaller pines with vivid yellow needles.





Along the way, we passed many amazing overlooks, some with crude benches set on the shoreline. It took all our willpower not to stop and admire each one for longer than a few minutes. Eventually, though, it was time to eat, so we stopped at one of the best overlooks and had a modest meal of bread, bananas, and salami.





As we got back onto the trail, the sun finally broke the clouds, and for the first time in Russia, it was quite warm. The trail continued along the shoreline, sometimes winding through cliffs, and other times meandered through open meadows.








After some time, the trail turned inland, following a narrow stream up a deep valley. It then began to switchback, steeply, up one hillside. A foot of snow on the trail added to the difficulty. When we reached the ridgeline, we were rather tired, having covered about 18km so far. Talk of food and drink quickened our pace, and we found ourselves coming into town. Right before town, we saw what very much resembled a wolf up in the woods, but we can't be sure as we only caught a fleeting glimpse.
We stepped back onto the shoreline right as the sun was setting, casting a bright orange glow on the water, a great end to the hike.


Deciding to add to the already amazing day, we dipped into a local restaurant, feasting as we hadn't in some time. Content with our full bellies and weary feet, we made the mile walk back to the hostel and enjoyed the sleep of the just, the just plain tired.


- living the dream!

Listvyanka, Russia day 2

Again woke to find the sky overcast, with a light, consistent snowfall. We whipped up a quick breakfast off eggs. I must have bought some bad eggs, because immediately got sick. I felt much better afterward, but decided we should lay low for a bit just in case.
After relaxing, we made our way down in to town to catch the boat that would take us up the lake to the next village. We stopped at our usual store, receiving the usual glare from the lady working; she didn't enjoy our mime routine. Since there weren't any boats at the time, we relaxed around town for a while. Eventually a boat arrived at the dock that the Irish had told us to go to, and it in no way resembled a boat that would carry passengers. We still decided to give it a try, and showed the captain a piece of paper with the name in crylic. He told us to get on board, and we immediately left. It turned out that the boat had been dropping some lumber off, and was making the trip home, so they were nice enough to give us a ride, for a small fee of course.



After an hour on the boat, we arrived in Bolshiye Koty. Walking to the cabin we were staying in, we didn't see another person in the whole town, and wouldn't for our entire stay.


We got to the cabin, turned on the heat, and decided to go explore. It was a quaint little town, and we really enjoyed walking around. It didn't last long, however, because it was the coldest it had been all trip. We were sure the mercury dropped well below zero after the sun went down.












We spent the night eating, playing cards, and making jokes, eventually deciding that we should go to bed so we would be well rested for the Great Baikal Trail the next day.


- living the dream!

Listvyanka, Russia

After catching up on sleep, we awoke to find that there had been a significant change in the weather; overcast, windy, and on the verge of snow. We decided that this would be a perfect day to make our way to the Lake Baikal museum. Being too cheap to pay for the bus (a whopping 75 cents) we decided to walk to the museum. It turned out to be a bit longer walk than we thought, somewhere in the range a 3 miles each way. Despite the biting cold it was quite pleasant.


It had started to snow by the time we reached the museum, so we were glad to get into the warmth of the museum. It was a very well done museum, or at least it looked that way, we still have not learned the art of reading crylic. We enjoyed the pictures, then made our way to aquarium side, which had many variety of fish from the lake, and even had a Nerpa seal. From there we went upstairs to an area you can look at macro-invertebrates under the microscope. This was both of our favorite part indoors, and we stayed for a while. We made our way through the underwater photography exhibit, then headed outside.
The museum had an outdoor exhibit that contained many native trees and plants, including some that were endangered. It was most enjoyable wandering around reading about the plants and comparing the trees to the ones back home. There was also a fantastic overlook of the lake, and the fog gave it an eerie, surreal look.








We made the return trip to the hostel through the snow, the temperature dropping the entire way. It was awesome! We stopped by the store, doing our usual blank stare pointing routine we had developed during the always exciting task of buying groceries. Hoping to make some burgers, we bought what looked like a tube of ground beef. This in fact turned out to be a gigantic hot dog, so we instead fried it up with egg and pasta. Not what we had planned, but delicious non the less. After talking with the group of people staying there for quite some time, we decided we should get some sleep, another big day tomorrow!
- living the dream!

Irkutsk, Russia

After 87 hours, 5 time zones, and half of Russia, we finally arrived in Irkutsk. Our English speaking comrades were immediately picked up by their tour group and whisked away, we, on the other hand, were on our own. We took our time walking across the city, admiring the change of culture since we had crossed into the Asian side of Russia. We eventually found ourselves at the tourist information center which, to our dismay, was closed down for the winter. Instead, we found map and located the bus station we needed to get there. Before heading that direction, we borrowed some wifi from a cafe to let the folks know we were safely off the train. From there we made our way to the bus station, which was in the midst of a bustling market, selling anything you could possibly need, including a stand selling puppies by the boxful. We eventually found our bus after deciphering the crylic sign in the window. When I say bus I am not referring to the city busses you see in downtown Denver, for example. No, these busses are essentially minivans that have a bunch of extra seating packed in. Traveling like the locals is always more fun, so we were excited for the prospect of this bus. We were not disappointed, as the driver weaved in and out of traffic getting us to the lake much faster than it should have taken.
We stepped off the bus and were greeted with our first view of lake Baikal. It was a truly stunning, gigantic lake. For reference, it holds more water than all five of the Great Lakes, combined. It also was remarkably clear, and so clean you can drink right out of the lake. We also were lucky to arrive on a sunny day, so the mountains were visible across the lake.



Since or hostel was a mile inland up one of the valleys, we decided to hoof it up there to check in and drop off our bags. We definitely picked the right place, two log cabins set back in the woods, and on top of that, it was extremely environmentally friendly.


After relaxing for a little while, we made our way back into town, first walking up the shoreline to the point, which granted up more stunning views. Eventually we decided it was time for dinner, so we picked up some groceries, then headed back to the hostel for a big meal, where we met a nice Irish couple who would become invaluable for planning our stay at the lake, as they had done most of what we were thinking of doing. Eventually decided to call it a night, grateful to sleep in a real bed.
- living the dream!

Trans-Siberian railway

As long distance train travel has a way of blending together into a seemingly continuous day, a sampling of some of the highlights in no particular order will have to suffice. After arriving at the platform with minutes to spare, we quickly made our way to our seats, finding that instead of the bunks we had reserved, we instead were placed in seats in the hallway, right next to the smoking cabin. Obviously not an ideal location, but on the bright side we had our own table and were more or less comfortable there. Our neighbors across the hallway fit the bill of the the large, intimidating Russians portrayed in movies, complete with scars and gold teeth. There were quite reserved at first, this would change very quickly. Early on, we spent our time alternating between cards, reading, napping, and watching the city quickly disappear into the Russian countryside.






Later on we met a group of people who spoke English and happened to be heading to the same place we were. We spend a good deal of time with them, as we hadn't spoken English with anyone for quite a while. We celebrated one of their birthdays along the way, complete with all the embarrassing activities we could think up.
Another entertaining part of the train ride was our trip to the restaurant car. We had not brought a whole lot of food with us, so we were looking forward to a satisfying meal. I ordered an egg and cheese sandwich, and otter a double order of fried potatoes. What arrived was something entirely different. My "sandwich" turned out to be half a slice of stale bread, a little butter, and salmon caviar. This was my first experience with caviar, it must be an acquired taste. Otter fried potatoes was a greasy, soggy pile of uncooked potatoes.
While the restaurant car left much to be desired, we found a Mecca of delicious food sold at the platforms. At every stop, there was a group of women selling smoked fish, fresh bread, and everything in between. One item we found particularly delicious was sweetbread filled with different types of meat, somewhat like a savory doughnut. Between the two of us we must have eaten 20 of these meat doughnuts along the way.
After some time, our Russian neighbors opened up after trying to figure out how our card game worked. They invited us to sit with them and shared food and drink, and we attempted conversation. Since neither spoke the others language, this involved broken Russian, broken English, and a lot of sign language. Most of the time I'm pretty sure most of the time we were having wildly different conversations, but it was very enjoyable. The only problem we ever had with them was being woken up at odd hours of the morning, asking if we wanted a smoke. Although we continually explained that we didn't smoke and both had asthma, this continued the entire trip, much to our amusement. They were also very curious about my ukulele, which let to a mini concert/lesson, which was very fun.
We each had our own way to pass the time, otter with his music, and I watched the countryside pass trying to identify the trees and plants along the way. I was only able to correctly identify a variety of birch and the same species of aspen that we have in Colorado, but it was an entertaining way to pass the time.
















- living the dream!

Moscow

Moscow
We are professionals at arriving into a city so early stores are closed, it's still dark, and in Moscow's case really damn cold.
Making our way to the hostel we conquered the subway and the Russian streets. The lady at the hostel wasn't all to pleased when we arrived at 5 am when our check in was at noon. We waited around, checked in and with a snack and a nap we were off exploring. Red Square was our first stop and was simply amazing.



After walking though some city parks we retreated to the hostel for some much needed sleep. In the morning we took a free tour around Moscow. He showed us many of the famous churches, shared stories of Russia's past and most importantly spoke English. We were, however, the only Americans on the tour...









Back in our room we planned out some of our trip in our books and online before cooking dinner. With eggs and spaghetti we managed to make, in our eyes, a 5 star meal before falling asleep. That sinking feeling of knowing you are late when you wake up is unmistakeable, and with a 200$ train ticket on the line it hits a lot harder. Packing our bags in record time we head up to reception to check out and print out our train tickets. Checking out proved to be swift and simple but as soon as we mentioned printing her face grew grim. The printer was broken and we now had 1 hour to catch a train with no ticket. We went running out the door with very vague directions to a print shop. Somehow stumbling across it we rushed in and immediately begin to attempt to explain what we want to a girl who didn't speak a word of English. This fortunately is something Jake and I have gotten good at and within a few minutes we were off again running to the train station. Walking into the train station with 30 mins to spare, we can't lie, we felt fairly good about ourselves, so much so as to hang out at a bench for a while before beginning the search for our train. With 15 minutes left we showed our tickets to a conductor with high hopes he would show us to our train and for the second time that morning we were met with a grim face. He informed us we were in the wrong train station and sent us into the maze of trying to find the other one. After desperately asking around every block or so for a direction of the station, we arrived to our train with a few minutes to spare. The trans Siberian journey has begun.





-living the dream!

Ukraine

We arrived the next day into Kiev,
Ukraine where we stepped of confident and ready to find our way to Russia. That quickly changed as not a single
soul spoke English or Russian (we have been studying Russian).With our attempts to obtain local currency at the
ATMs, our cards were declined time and time again. After a few failed attempts to get out ticket to
Moscow a nice English speaking man began to help us but after a while it became clear he was trying to scam us
so we left the station and hid in the McDonalds across the street. Using the WiFi we messaged people back home
who woke our parents to help us figure out the situation with the banks. This proved unsuccessful even though
our parents did everything they could. We dipped in the the emergency cash and finally got ourselves out of there.
Moscow bound we boarded our train excited for what the rest of the trip will bring us, and VERY happy to be
leaving Kiev. I'm sure it is a great place just didn't enjoy the train station.


-living the dream!

Poland

Awaking well rested discovering we had slept though our alarms led to a frantic morning. Shoving everything into our bags, finding out where our bus station was, and groceries were done in under and hour. With moments to spare we caught our bus and began the 12 hour journey across the Czech and Polish countryside. 11pm we arrived into a dark and strange city, however our friend was waiting to take us to his house where we were greeted a warm and delicious meal. They showed immense kindness to Jake and I who were complete strangers. The truth was our host Janusz was a friend of a friend of a friend and yet they treated us as I would my closest friends. The next day Janusz took time off work to show us around the old town enough for us to get around, left house the house key, and we took off exploring for hours and hours.



Once we had returned Janusz and Katarzyna took us our for some drinks and food. The next morning we went to a museum about the
Polish uprising, it was an amazing museum.



After we had some traditional polish food before heading off to the train
station where we said goodbye not only to our most gracious host Janusz but our co-traveler Adam. He will head
off to Berlin the following day and will be missed immensely by Jake and I.







-living the dream!

Prague Oct 8

Today while Adam and Otter headed back toward old town, I decided I would explore the part of town near the hostel, because I had heard that there was a lot to see there as well. I walked for a while, eventually hitting the river, then continued along that for a while. I eventually ended up in the Asian market. Prague has a small population of Vietnamese people in the north end of the city, who run the market and many of the convince stores in the area. The market was one of those places you can get just about anything from lightbulbs, to clothing, to switchblades, all very inexpensive. It was very interesting to walk around, but I eventually got hungry, so I stopped at one of the vendors and had a delicious meal. After a bit more exploring, I made my way back to the hostel, where lo and behold, Adam and Otter had just arrived back as well. They had spent the day at a museum for children's art that was done while in concentration camps. It was truly amazing to see how innocent the world is in a child's eyes. We relaxed around the hostel for a bit, talking with people we had met there, then eventually headed back out for food. Appetites quenched, we headed back to old town to see the city lit up. A majority of the famous buildings, the castle in particular, are lit up at night, and believe it or not, this is thanks to The Rolling Stones.














We had some amazing views, then headed back to pack up to leave bound for Poland in the morning.


- living the dream!