Irkustk (again) and the Third Train

(Olkhon - Irkutsk 300km/186 Miles)
Total distance traveled = 6426 km/3991 Miles

I had another day in Irkutsk to break up the journey. I was in the same hostel again with Crystal and Chris, so we wandered around the city together checking the places we hadn't had time to see before.

One of these places was the site of the 'Decemberist Houses' - a few houses where exiles who had tried to stage a coup again the Tsar(Alexander I) had lived. I'm not sure what the city was like in the 1800's, but the houses didn't fit my idea of 'exile'. They were large wooden houses, two stories, that looked like they had about 8 rooms. No photos I'm afraid, as my camera battery ran out. Maybe I can nick one of someone else and put it on here later.

After wasting a bit of time at the hostel, I wandered down to the station to catch my next train. More train facts coming....ready? The trains on the Trans-Siberian express are numbered, with the faster trains having a lower number. The fastest and most luxurious is number 1, also called the 'Rossiya'. I'd previously taken train number 7 (2/8) and train number 361 (6/8). I guess that in addition to the number the age of the train plays a role, as today was number 9 but it seemed nicer than 7. It was cleaner, had triple glazing, and other little points like curtains in the corridor (do you have corridors in trains? can't think of a more appropriate word at the moment though). The only negative point about these new features was the windows. While I'm sure the triple glazing is useful in the winter, the design of the windows meant they opened on a hinge rather than sliding. Fine for letting in air, but not great for taking photos out of the train.

I was sharing the compartment with a family again. This time a mother, father, and their daughter (Anya, Viktor, and Nastya). Initially they didn't seem very keen to communicate, and aside from introducing myself we didn't say much. The first 24 hours or so passed in this way, with us only communicating to say things like 'excuse me', 'do you want to use the table?' etc. Viktor seemed to know some English, but his wife and daughter didn't (or didn't let on).

It wasn't until the next night (after he'd had a beer) that Viktor asked a few questions about me. Anya didn't join in, but helped him quite a lot with vocabulary when he didn't know a word in English. So, I discovered that Viktor is an electrician from St. Petersburg and Anya is from Ulan Ude. They'd been to visit her family and had a short holiday on Lake Baikal too. The next day he surprised me again by attempting more conversation and asking for my email/facebook address too. I guess he want to practise his English. Not sure if that will actually happen, but maybe he's more comfortable writing than speaking. Nastya was friendlier too and tested me on Russian numbers (I still forget the same numbers a lot - 4, 6, 9, and 10). Other than the people in my carriage, I had a few quick chats with an Australian guy travelling with his sister, and a couple of Russians called Igor and Michael who stumbled past one evening drunk before taking a photo of me and saying any random English words they could think of.

The next stop is Yekaterinburg (also spelled without the 'y'). Chris is, again, staying at the same hostel as me. He's travelling on a different train and arrives about 20 minutes before me, so we arranged to meet at the station and search for the hostel together.

Few more photos here....
http://s214.photobucket.com/albums/cc250/davingtonsmythe/Japan%20to%20Russia/Train%20to%20Yekaterinburg/?albumview=slideshow