In the last episode we left our heroes during their tremendously dangerous odyssey from Bolshiye Koty to Irkutsk. The storm grew strong and inside the ferry they resorted to… listen to music and audio books.

Well, it was some quite strong weather and while we were actually traveling on a river, it felt like rough sea. But nothing to be really worried about. We got picked up at the ferry terminal to be brought to our accommodation. Since Irkutsk seems to be missing a decent drainage system, the streets seemed to be an extension of the river Angara. Having a chaotic road system doesn’t help either.

But they managed to bring us to the Trans-Sib Hostel, which is actually more a home-stay. Just that they didn’t want us to stay, or at least couldn’t since they didn’t have a free room for us. They must’ve been surprised, since we only booked a few months in advance. But the good news was, that the agency actually brought our luggage. So for the first night, they shifted us into the Good Cat Hotel, which was kind of an upgrade. Going from a two bed home-stay to a four-bed hotel (which we didn’t have to share) is quite good. We wouldn’t have minded if we had to stay there. On the next morning, they picked us up again and brought us to the Trans-Sib, where we would spend the next night.

Before that, we set out to explore Irkutsk of course, which also included some Geocaching. We walked around through some urban parts, to the statue of Alexander III, who is responsible for building the Trans-Siberian Railway, to the statue of Lenin at the corner of Lenin Street (there can’t be a Russian city without one) and Marx Street. We tried to get souvenirs to no avail and so just got some postcards, and after walking a little further had dinner and coffee.

The rest of the day consisted of washing cloths and being online. The next morning we left the Trans-Sib for the Transsib and were bound for Ulaanbaatar.

[Images will have to follow, because the internet (or at least our connections) in Mongolia and China sucks!]