Siberia

I was under the impression that Siberia would be a god-forsaken place. It's cold, but compared to the 'Far East' region of Russia which is cold, poor and desolate, Siberia is prosperous, inhabited and rich in natural resources. You see cars, trucks, horses and industry. House doors and windows seem to be universally painted blue, and fake shutters are often painted on the house walls next to the windows. Lots of pine forests abound now.

A couple of major stops during the night, so it was a bit of an interrupted sleep. We've now joined the Trans-Manchurian and Trans-Mongolian lines which both go from Moscow to Beijing but by different routes, so all major trains are now plying the same tracks, and platform vendors are plentiful.

Stopped for half an hour at Ulan Ude around morning tea, and took a walk on the platform to stretch. Its the Buddhist capital of Russia.

Went past Mogocha. It has two claims to fame. Firstly the widest temperature fluctuation - from -60 deg celcius in Winter to +45 deg celcius in Summer, and secondly it was the headquarters of a bizzare Christian sect who saw their salvation in abstinence, and castrated themselves. Can't understand why they didn't just die out!

Arrived in Irkutsk late afternoon, and walked into town dragging our bags through the slush. Found the hostel, which we think is somebody's apartment who rents the spare bedrooms, but its lovely and the owner is very helpful. Did some shopping to stock up for the next leg of the train, and had the luxury of cooking ourselves tea in the kitchen.