..lots of degrees; and the "P" button on this keyboard is about as useful as a Russian receptionist so reader, you will have to forgive the typer and the typing.
So the ferry ferried and we ended up in France. Picked up a lovely turbodiesel golf in Cherbourg and off we chugged to Mont-St-Michel. Spent a few days on the island staying in an old tower with views over the delta, tripped around to St Malo, Granville, an Alligator/Turtle/Lizard sanctuary with giant turtles and lots of chubchubs. Next on to Paris for a random valentine's dinner of pizza and free booooze in the...unusual...boutique hotel.
So the ferry ferried and we ended up in France. Picked up a lovely turbodiesel golf in Cherbourg and off we chugged to Mont-St-Michel. Spent a few days on the island staying in an old tower with views over the delta, tripped around to St Malo, Granville, an Alligator/Turtle/Lizard sanctuary with giant turtles and lots of chubchubs. Next on to Paris for a random valentine's dinner of pizza and free booooze in the...unusual...boutique hotel.
Then the trains started. Off to Koln, then 2 days to Moscow. Great fun, 2 english carriage-mates, Dan and Daisy made for good cards and beers in the restaurant car. We haven't had reception since Koln though so we couldn't meet up afterwards. They're off on the Vodka train now, probably gee-eyed in Ulan Bataar as I type.
Checked in to a fantastic, if sullen, hotel close to the Kremlin and met Donagh for a lash of beers. MOLA Moscow sounds like a bundle of architectural fun. T
he cold started to kick in right around then, getting down below -10. The next leg was the 5 night train across Russia to Irkutsk, close to lake Baikal, the deepest and most voluminous body of fresh water in the world. We have been meeted, greeted and escorted by our guide, Alexei, who teaches English and tolerates tourists in his spare time. We headed out to Litsvyanka, small town on the lake edge, for a few days. At the moment there is up to 3 feet of ice across the 60km by 360km puddle, so people ski, iceskate, make ice sculptures and joyride on the lake all day long. We took a quadbike tour across the ice, Fiona was less than impressed with the diehard driving skills of her otherwise flawless travel companion. Lots of fun.
Between Lumnilogical institutes, fish markets, tours, walks, snow angels and general rowdiness, the 2 days in Litsvyanka were busy and fun, you could almost forget the cold if you moved around enough, closed your eyes and imagined a Kerry beach on a rare, warm, summer day.
he cold started to kick in right around then, getting down below -10. The next leg was the 5 night train across Russia to Irkutsk, close to lake Baikal, the deepest and most voluminous body of fresh water in the world. We have been meeted, greeted and escorted by our guide, Alexei, who teaches English and tolerates tourists in his spare time. We headed out to Litsvyanka, small town on the lake edge, for a few days. At the moment there is up to 3 feet of ice across the 60km by 360km puddle, so people ski, iceskate, make ice sculptures and joyride on the lake all day long. We took a quadbike tour across the ice, Fiona was less than impressed with the diehard driving skills of her otherwise flawless travel companion. Lots of fun.Between Lumnilogical institutes, fish markets, tours, walks, snow angels and general rowdiness, the 2 days in Litsvyanka were busy and fun, you could almost forget the cold if you moved around enough, closed your eyes and imagined a Kerry beach on a rare, warm, summer day.
Back in Irkutsk, we await the train to Mongolia where we have another guide, more tours, more cold and kilometres to get through. Technology eludes us for the time being, we will be throwing up a load of daft photos as soon as we come across the right combination of high-speed connection, decent computer, USB cable, card reader and some spare time.
Til next time,
S and F
