We had until 4pm when our train left Irkutsk so after grabbing a quick brekkie at the store which just so happened to be a lot more appetizing than Tim’s cold bacon fat yesterday, we caught the mini bus into Irkutsk. We dropped our bags off at the tourist information center and wondered around the city center for a while.
Irkutsk has been the most user friendly for foreigners and even has a big green line painted on the sidewalk to follow around the city’s major sites. A few more people speak English and some of the menus are also in English which has been a godsend. We have really enjoyed our brief stop over here.
After some lunch we caught a taxi to the train station and as we were looking at the board to see which platform we would be going to, the security guard came over to us with a big friendly smile, looked at our ticket, escorted us to some empty seats and using hand signals told us to wait and he would get us when the time came. So we sat and waited and true to his word he came and got us and told us where to go.
We were in second class this train so were going to have to share a cabin with two others who after looking around would definelty be Russian. But when we got on the train our numbers were not on the door and after going and getting the conductor she pointed to the cabin which is usually allocated for their sleeping quarters which is a two berth. Winning! How we managed that we don’t know but maybe it is because they didn’t want to insult Russians by putting two foreigners in with them!
We arrived in Krasnoyarsk in a snow storm and after walking the 1 km to our hotel we were cold and covered in snow. The building where our hotel was supposed to be didn’t have any signage but the receptionist took one look at us and told us to go to level 8. There were were greeted by two giggling Russian receptionist girls who thought Tim was just hilarious and they were also really lovely and helpful and even registered our visa for us.
We headed out for some lunch and maybe to see a few sites but got as far as lunch and changed our plans because it was horrible outside. Instead we found a supermarket, picked up some food and wine and settled back in our room and spent the rest of the day watching Netflix while looking outside while the snow kept falling down. S
Tim with rocket launcher.
Train station in Irkutsk
What a poser!
At one of the train stops.
The walk to the hotel. We tried to catch a taxi but the thieves were trying to charge us an extortionate amount so we decided to walk instead.
The view from our hotel window.
The snow did make everything so beautiful.