Russia 2/2

Russia - part 2/2

24. 9. 2017 - 4. 10. 2017     221km 

Moscow - Irkutsk

We wanted to sight see the center of Moscow without our bikes to be able to really enjoy the tour. We aligned with Alexander, our host, that we could also store our bikes at his place. On the way to him we spotted a park which on the first sight wasn’t too interesting. There was a wide asphalt path going through the park. A lot of people were using it on their ride on bikes, scooters or in lines. We connected to the crowd and all the sudden we appeared between colorful flower beds, fountains and imposing buildings. It all seemed incredible. The noise of the city disappeared and we sat on a bench and were enjoying the calm atmosphere.

Early in the morning we packed few things in our backpacks and set off to the heart of the city. At first we got a little bit scared of the Moscow subway with 16 different lanes but fortunately we managed to travel in it very easily. After getting off the metro we were amazed by the tall buildings. On the wide roads there were many expensive cars and side streets were full of tourists but also
Muscovites. Even thought everything felt spacious, airy and clean. Russian women think a lot of their good appearance and we felt a little bit weird in our sporty clothes. We decided to buy some jeans for ourselves at least. So our first steps didn’t lead to the Red Square as you might think but to the shopping mall. Kata was quite sceptic of the mall because of all the pastels in the shop windows. Well we entered and head for the first clothes shop. Sadly, it was only dedicated to children. We wanted to try a different one but when we looked around we figured out that we won’t find anything for us in the six-floor mall. It was all dedicated only to children and pregnant women. We didn’t have any other chance that to go to the Red Square in the sport clothes and go to GUM, a huge luxurious shipping center. The shopping took us two hours. Our thighs got bigger and we just were not able to fit into the favorite slim jeans. But eventually we were successful and we could have gone to Vasil. The colorful towers, which reminds of an embellished cake, were so visible already from far away against the blue sky. It is a very unique building. We didn’t forget to stop by the very famous Lenin Mausoleum. The are no long queues any more. It’s closed because Lenin is falling apart. In a very close distance from the Red
Square there is the Alexander Garden which is again very colorful and decorated by flowers, fountains and you can see the guards change there. Another very popular park is the Gorky Park where you can relax by the Moscow river or exercise in one of the few sport grounds. Later at night
when we were walking around the Red Square again our attention was caught by a very nicely lighted building which was as long as one of the Square side. And then we realized that this was the worldwide famous GUM and that we had been shopping in a completely different poor shopping center before. Eventually it was a good choice because inside of the GUM there are only very
luxurious shops and we didn’t have to be so much chic. To finish this day we just had to get the train tickets for our bikes. The host Alexandr was very willing to help us with this.

And The big day has come. The 3,5 days long journey in the train on the Trans-Siberian Railway up to the city Irkutsk. On this railway we went over 5000 km through Siberia and we ended up in a different time zone. We selected the cheaper (= older) type of train and the 3th class so called “plackarta” which is an open space bed coupe for four persons and another two beds across the ail.

We were warned and scared by other people’s stories. They said it was dangerous, risky in terms of thefts and only drunk people use it. Well, we tried anyway. We put away our bikes in the luggage space which was nine wagons far from our own where we were relaxing for long 80 hours. Every wagon has its own train guard who checks carefully your ticket and passport when boarding on the train and is responsible for maintaining the cleanliness in the wagon.
With bike packs in our both hands we were getting through the narrow ail to our seats. Every bed in the train has its pros and cons. The upper bed is badly accessible and you can’t sit on it. To sit down you need to climb down to the low bed which can be a little annoying for the person under you. Regarding to the luggage space it’s more or less the same for both beds. Nevertheless, we were
happy that our bikes were in the luggage wagon because we could have hardly got them here. The side beds are according to us the least comfortable. People are walking around them all the time, they have much smaller space for your luggage and the low bed is made out of a little table so if someone is sleeping on the low bed there is no place to sit down for the one from the upper bed. We occupied one up and low bed above each other. The travelers were changing along the way. In our coupe there were two of us, an older lady Vera a her daughter Masha. Vera was very curious. Every traveler had to endure her entrance spoken check, including us. We were very surprised how much she knew about Czech Republic and with sparkles in her eyes she didn’t forget to mention the godlike Kaja Gott. She lived close to Irkutsk so we thought at least she and Masha were going with us until our final stop. But what a surprise when they left the train 9 hours earlier. In Russia they apparently measure the distances differently. The daily regimen in the train was simple. You either
sleep or eat. As Czechs always bring schnitzels when traveling the Russians travel with big amount of boiled eggs. You can even get them in kiosk in the stations. Anyway our feet’s got finally some rest. We didn’t have to look after our staff, other travelers were even leaving their valuable things on their beds. There wasn’t anything to be afraid of. And the alcohol? We didn’t even smell it from anybody during the whole ride even though we were so looking forward to taste some home made vodka. The closer we were getting to Irkutsk the lower the outside temperature was falling. Mornings were chilly, the grass was covered by frost. Leaves on trees were colored by all colors or already fallen
down. Despite of that even the time was changing but only behind the windows. On the train and in all stops there was the Moscow time but outside the time was measured according to the time zone of the particular locations. E.g. the time on train was 2pm but outside there was dark because it was already 7pm. We got pretty fooled by this. We thought we were supposed to arrive to Inkurtsk at 10pm but later we found out we arrived at 3am. Grygoiy, the owner of the hostel in which bikers can stay for free, was very nice to us and even at the early morning hour he checked us in. We were very lucky because it was so freezing outside.

We slept over and then head to the streets of the town. Irkutsk is located in the Asian part of Russia not too far from the Mongolian border therefore you can meet a lot of Mongolians and other Asian immigrants here. And if someone thinks the traffic around Moscow is crazy then we say that this was crazy. Most of the cars have their steering wheel on the right side and that’s probably why people drive even closer to walkers and bikers. Everybody was honking on everybody, changing directions quickly, the red one on the traffic lights was not a big deal. At first it was a big shock but we got used to it.

Because our time in Russia was slowly coming to its end we didn’t have so much time to see The Baikal. We were looking forward to see also The Olchon island and the Shaman rock but they were too far away. We chose the option to go to the village Listvyjanka which is located on the cost of the Baikal. Temperature during the day was moving around 4°C but it didn’t discourage us from getting there. The way surprised us a bit, it was quite like to sit on a seesaw – once go up once go down. Along the road there were many yellow birch trees and since there are still many shamans living in this area there were also a lot colorful tapes, so called Obo. Their purpose is to adore the local ghosts. Listvyjanka is a very popular place which smells like a smoked fish from a very far distance. The fish are mostly Omuls which live right in there. Except of Omuls there are also the freshwater seals which can’t be spotted anywhere else in the world. The look at the Baikal lake was amazing. It was lined by snow covered mountains from one side and autumn colored forests from the other
side and the water was crystal clear. It is so huge it looks like a sea. Our original plan was to walk along the old railway so called Krugobajkalsca which was supposed to be built around the whole Baikal. Nevertheless, it was only 85km long eventually and even Czech workers were building it. The walk along the railway is an amazing experience. But we had to cancel this trip when we found out that we couldn’t have gone back to the village anyhow. There was no ferry how we first had thought and the local buses dint want to drive us with our bikes. Therefore, we couldn’t have saved any more time on the way and we had to manage those 70km back on bikes. On the way we at least tried the Omul fish and we have to say it was actually delicious.