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!