Siberia

I'm currently in eastern Siberia in a college town of 600,000 called Irkutsk, which is on the main Trans-Siberian railway line & about an hour from Lake Baikal (the deepest lake in the world). I've found a broadband internet connection again, yessss. Ah, gotta love broadband internet!

Did I mention that I went clubbing in Mongolia? It turns out Mongolia has a few good clubs (& with 70% of the population under age 35 they're even thumping on weeknights!) so a group of us headed to one called Muse one night. They played mostly American music & of that mostly hip hop, which was fun. There were even some impressive Mongolian breakdancers really goin' for it! And with a liter of vodka selling for $3 in supermarkets & $6 in clubs, drinking is super cheap. Super cheap = good.

Yesterday we arrived in Irkutsk & bussed it to Listvianka, a fishing village on Lake Baikal. Both were stunning. We've been lucky to have beautiful sunny days too, which makes for good pictures. We stayed with Russian host families for the night -- Kristin & I were paired together with one lady who was nice enough & just let us do our own thing. Unfortunately I must've eaten something bad on the train to Russia (my bet's on the sausage I got at the station) cuz I suffered through all day bouts of diarrhea. That accompanied by severe stomache cramps & waves of nausea made for some serious unpleasantness, but I'm heaps better today. It seems to be cycling through the group too as at least half the group has been through the exact same thing. At least we can sympathize with each other & someone always ALWAYS has toilet paper on hand. Fun times & noodle salad. It's all a part of traveling. ;o)

Last night a group of us went to a Russian-style sauna (banyan) where you alternate between sitting in the boiling sauna & sweating your @$$ off, taking lukewarm showers, drinking hot tea in the cooling room, & beatching each other's backs with birch branches (!). It's all supposed to be very cleansing & I did indeed feel refreshed afterwards.

Today we drove back to Irkutsk, the "Paris of Siberia", toured a museum, ate some Russian pancakes, & now I'm now sat at an internet cafe. It's a student town so will probably go to a bar tonight. Tomorrow afternoon it's back on the train for 3 nights/3 days -- the longest stretch yet! Then we'll be in western Russia. At least the next train has a dining car -- our last one didn't & we had to bring enough food with us to eat (slightly annoying). The traveling life can get a bit old livin' out of the backpack & such (good thing I brought lots of clothes so I have lots of choices) but seeing all these new places is very cool indeed! Thanks to everyone who's emailed & I'm REALLY looking forward to seeing you all when I get back!