A few from the Trans-Siberian
Saturday, October 17th, 2009
Tundra & tracks, Mongolia
Our earthly possessions on the Siberian leg of the trip.
Entering Northern China
Irkutsk: the old and the new
Waiting (-19 degrees, which we were assured was "warm" compared to February temps)
Drinking neat vodka with our new dining car friends. One bottle per 3 people, until it's drained. This is the Russian way.
Ah, Siberia
The Russian train - we switched to Chinese soon after
Lenin gesturing out across Irkutsk
Traditional wooden Irkutsk abode
Smoking break - in a T-shirt!! brrrrrrrrr
The beginnings of Mongolia from train
An interminable wait. With cold comes patience, it appears. They do say riots always happen on very hot days. . .
Ice piles
Surprised the next morning when the dining cart had transformed. It went from Russian, to Mongolian, to Chinese. But from your carriage, you couldn't tell. It was like climbing Enid Blyton's Magic Faraway Tree each morning!
Mongolian livestock
Back to Siberia, from the train
More Siberia from train
Train stop, as abuzz as it gets in such cold
Mongolia
Irkutsk home
Irkutsk home
Irkutsk home
Irkutsk locals
A mystical day in Irkutsk. The trees looked like white coral.
Picknicking in furs at Lake Baikal for Russian New Year
Picknicking in furs
Frozen shoreline of Lake Baikal
Couple at Irkutsk's Winter Wonderland
Rugged up little'un at Winter Wonderland
It was all about smoked fish at Lake Baikal
Happy Russian tourists