(Written on the day, after we boarded the train.)
[Irkutsk is 5185 km from Moscow and 4104km from Vladivostok (9289km from Moscow), the official end of the Trans-Siberian railway. Our group will travel for four calendar days, three nights and over 70 hours, almost 5000km from Irkutsk to Vladimir.]
On the train! We lucked out - this is the nicest carriage we've had yet. Not only is there air con, we also have a window that opens. The seats are extremely comfortable with radio jacks and lights on each end of the bench. There is even a flat screen TV (with three Russian stations) and a power outlet! This is the life. The bottom beds are seats with a drop down bed, which means that people aren't sitting on your bed the whole day. Everyone is ecstatic about the train carriage - we were mentally preparing for three days of shitty train so this is heaps better than our expectations. The only small problem was the dusty floor, which I "mopped" with a few bits of toilet paper before we put anything under the seats. Our berth was completely organised before the train even pulled out of the station.
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| Cleaning our berth floor |
Today I woke up at 7am after a somewhat ok sleep - better than the previous night anyhow. Nikolai made fried eggs for breakfast served hot off the stove at 8am with bread, cheese and more of the delicious cowberry jam. Steph kindly braided my hair while we waited to leave. Max arrived at 9am to take us to Irkutsk. Big hug and kiss from Nikolai as we walked out into the sunshine (finally!). Unlike the last two days, this morning was crystal clear. The views over the lake were incredible - snow capped mountains on the left and green hills on the right. A small town, which I believe was Port Baikal lined the waters edge. I sat in the front of the van and Max chatted with me most of the hours drive to Irkutsk. He even gave me a few 10 ruble coins which are unique because there are cities on the backside. The tree-lined road had rows of trees as far as the eye could see. The trees must have been cleared to make way for the road, as it was the only break in the forest.
Our first stop in Irkutsk was Volkonsky's Manor House, the home of Count Sergei Volkonsky, a museum with original furnishings and family pictures. After completing their terms of labor near Chita, many Decembrists settled in Irkutsk with their families, who had earlier followed them into exile and the Volkonsky manor reflects their way of life. The mansion, built in 1838, is set in a courtyard with stables, a barn and servant quarters. After ten years of penal servitude (1826-1836) in Zabaikalye, the Volkonskys were sent to live in Urik where they stayed until 1845. Having gotten permission to leave for Irkutsk, they arranged for their house to be transported and by 1847 the erection of the house had been finished in Irkutsk. All the wallpaper on the first floor of the house had been renovated based on scraps of the remaining pieces which were sent to St Petersburg. By Siberian tradition, the wooden ceilings were neither plastered nor whitewashed. The most impressive room has a pyramidal piano from the late 18th century (which I think they said was one of two in the world). One of the upstairs rooms, less decorated than those downstairs, had a photo exhibition including portraits of Maria (Sergei's wife) and other 1820s women who romantically followed their husbands and lovers into exile. It was an interesting glimpse into the lives of the Decembrists; it sounded like the women get the worst end of the deal but were extremely devoted to their husbands.
[Background on the Decembrists Movement (courtesy of Lonely Planet)
"Across Siberia, notably in Irkutsk, Chita and Novoselenginsk, interesting museums commemorate the 'Decembrist' gentlemen-rebels. This group of aristocratic, liberal-leaning army officers had occupied Senate Sq in St Petersburg in an ill-conceived coup against Tsar Nicholas I. The date was 26 December 1825, hence their sobriquet.
The mutineers were poorly organized and outnumbered, but Nicholas I was loathe to mark the start of his reign with a full-blown domestic massacre. After a stand-off, which lasted most of the day, troops fired several canister shots into the square killing about 60 people. The rebellion crumbled and five leaders were executed. Another 121 organisers were sentenced to hard labor, prison and exile in Siberia where they became romantic heroes of a sort. But the real heroes were their womenfolk, many of whom abandoned their lives of comfort and sophistication to follow their husbands or lovers into exile. The first was the faithful Yekaterina Trubetskaya. The story goes that having travelled 6000m by coach to Nerchinsk, she immediately descended into the silver mines to find her husband.
Others had to wait for months in Irkutsk or Chita for permission to see their men, meanwhile setting up small social circles that encouraged 'Western civilization' in these hitherto wild-east backwaters. Over two decades the exiled families opened schools, formed scientific societies and edited newspapers. Maria Volonskaya, popularly known as the 'Princess of Siberia', founded a local hospital and opened a concert theatre, in addition to hosting musical and cultural soirees in her home.
The Decembrists were granted amnesty when Nicholas I died in 1855. Although many of them, including Maria Volonskaya, returned to St Petersburg, their legacy lived on for decades".]
From the museum we walked past the yellow Prebraheniya Gospodnya Church and stopped into the tourist information center before heading to the area with examples of traditional Siberian wooden houses. The izbas (log houses) main decorative features are carved, brightly painted window frames. It was a beautiful day for walking and after snapping a few pictures of the houses, we enjoyed lunch at a cafe. There weren't any seats left at the tables where my group was sitting, so I ended up at my own table for lunch. It was the first time I felt somewhat lonely on this trip and was surprised that only one group of people said something to me. Maybe I was just in a strange mood, but I felt left out.
We headed to the outdoor market after lunch, which boasted tons of produce. Vegetable seller after vegetable seller followed by a series of berry (raspberry, strawberry, blueberry, etc) sellers followed by a group of fruit sellers. There were so many stalls! I purchased a couple of nectarines for 17 rubles and then two apricots for 12 rubles. Both women selected the fruit on my behalf. I didn't appreciate this, so when I went to buy the apricots, I picked up my own and showed it to the woman. She didn't understand and handed me a bag with two apricots, so I took them out of the bag and put my two in. She reacted harshly and grabbed the plastic bag back to re-weigh it; I owed an extra two rubles but was pleased that I had gotten the message across.
After the market, we stopped into the hotel with internet and I finally posted some updates on my blog. As I mentioned on the post, I was unable to spell check and didn't have time to edit, so I'm slightly embarrassed at the quality of the posts. Oh well. I ventured outside again with Stuart, Shelley, Kristy and Steph to quickly check out pl Kirova. The magnificent Annunciation Cathedral that once dominated pl Kirova was demolished during one of Stalin's bad moods and replaced by a concrete regional administration building, the ex-Communist Party headquarters. Behind this were two churches. The whitewashed 1706 Saviour's Church has remnants of murals on its facade and across the street was the Organ Hall. Down the road on the riverfront was the eye-catching Bogoyavlensky Cathedral with salmon, white and green towers. We didn't enter either church and had a quick stroll on the Angara river before returning to pl Kirova for the supermarket.
I picked up some supplies for the train and when we got back to the hotel, we found out that Max was running late. We had almost an hour there, but somehow the time managed to pass without doing much. Max appeared at 5:35pm (instead of 5pm) and we loaded the van as quickly as possible. Fortunately, Intrepid allows tons of extra time to get to the train, and we boarded by 6:10, with twenty minutes until departure. And as I already said, we are totally cleaned up and ready for our 70+ hour journey.
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| Our home for 73 hours |
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