The magical Baikal

We were still a bit dizzy from the birthday party when we were leaving Irkutsk the next day, but the goal was set, we're going to swim in lake Baikal today. We decided to do it in the first possible place to reduce the amount of driving to the absolute minimum. And we decided to continue our journey with Gerrit, as after few weeks of driving alone we could really do with some nice company. The roads were so bumpy and curvy that it was hard not to get seasick, but already the first glimpse at Baikal made us forget all the inconveniences. Impressive is definitely the best word to describe it. Followed by amazing and magnificent. The first beach we found turned out to be a perfect location, so we didn't need to spend more time searching for a good camping spot. We could just grab the towels and go for a swim. And we did. And no, it wasn't cold, it was simply freezing. But it felt great anyway.

The weather in this area is changing quite quickly, jumping from burning sun to rain before you can even notice. But we didn't mind. After 4 weeks of driving a few hundreds kilometer a day we simply enjoyed the fact that we can stay at one spot and finally get some rest. And there's no better place for it than Baikal. So the plan for the next few days was set. Little driving and lot of camping, always along the water. And I can tell you it was a brilliant plan!

We spent the next day in Tunka Valley, which really offered us many wonderful views. I made 150 photos that day and loved every minute of our ride. I was just a bit disappointed with the village that awaited us at the end. Arshan seems to be more touristic than anything I saw in my entire life. And it's this awful type of tourism, meaning plastic souvenirs and popcorn on every corner, all the way to the famous waterfalls. But we did our best to concentrate on the nature, ignoring the people and the plastic surroundings. And it worked quite well, but still we decided to spend a night outside of the place, along the river. And we found a perfect location. Clean, warm water, enough wood for fire and some fantastic views. And when I thought it can't get any better than that Gerrit came up with an idea to bake a bread. It really was a perfect day.

And we got a message from Emma that they found a perfect camping spot on Baikal and are staying there for a day or two, so we decided to join then the next day. And the place was lovely indeed. Private green space with view on the lake and again some nice fire place. Before I came here I was wondering why there aren't any real camping places in Russia. But who needs a professional camping place if you can simply stop your car anywhere on Baikal? No one will bother you, you can make fire when you wish to and instead of an old rusty shower you can take a swim in the world's deepest lake. I wouldn't change it for anything.

And once again we could experience the famous Russian hospitality. There are not that many shopping opportunities in the small Baikal villages, so we didn't have that much food to share. We were even a bit worried if we all will have enough for a nice supper. But then Anton turned up with his family. They were camping next to us and heard us speaking in some funny languages, so they decided to come and visit, bringing along some Russian cookies and home made lecho. Suddenly our supper turned into a real feast! And it got even better when we admitted we haven't tried a local fish yet. Anton's wife, Evgenia came back with 3 of them. We were full before our grilled meat and potatoes were ready at all :) And it really was the best food I got in Russia so far! And once again my limited Russian skilled proved to be enough to spend a lovely evening talking about all important issues. I guess it only needs a good will and some creativity on both sides and then no words are needed. We definitely had fun! And full belly! 

Reunion in Irkutsk

We were happy to find out that the roads were not as bad as we expected, which allowed us to reach Irkutsk in 2 days. Unfortunately due to another time change we arrived late in the evening just to find out that the whole city goes to sleep at 22:00. We were walking through the center hoping to find an open restaurant, but we knew it was a lost case. Finding food between 10 pm and 10 am the next day often is in Russia. And suddenly we saw a fully packed Toyota parked along the street. We couldn't believe our eyes when we saw it's actually a German car. It had to be the guy Emma and Andy told us about. I mean, how many Germans with a Toyota can drive this way at the same time. We looked around but the driver was nowhere to be found, so we decided to leave him a letter with out contact details. We only managed to walk a few meters when we heard someone running down the street screaming out names. It was Gerrit, the guy we heard about and he just got there too. We didn't manage to find a place to grab some food or a beer, so we ended up picnicking in front of the only supermarket that was still open. Back then we didn't know we will actually end up joining forces and discovering Baikal region together.

Reaching Irkutsk so early left us with enough time to apply for the visas before the weekend. We went to the consulate early in the morning, prepared for a long queue and endless paperwork, but we were nicely surprised. We didn't have to wait long and there was only one short form to fill in and a very friendly English-speaking workers who helped us answer all the tricky questions. No invitations, no confirmations from the hotel, no further issues. When we were done they only showed us the price list, with different amounts depending on how long we want to wait for the visa (1, 2 or 3 working days). After our Omsk experience we took the express visa and were extremely happy when we picked it up the next day. And we found a VW garage who checked our Karossi just to make sure he's still in best shape. He is! And they definitely had fun checking it.

Irkutsk itself it's not a bad city, but not an amazing one neither. For some reason the drivers there seem to be even more aggressive than in Omsk, making crossing the street a real challenge. But the place has a few nice buildings to offer. Fortunately we met a very nice Swiss couple who were much better prepared then we were and helped us explore the most important bits. We took a long walk together enjoying the company and for David the possibility to speak his mother tongue again.

We could finally relax. With visa in the pocket, some new friends made and Emma’s birthday party waiting for us in the evening. And we even got a place in the most popular hostel in town where we could finally take a warm shower. It was more luck then we needed and we spend a lovely evening talking, exchanging experiences and having fun. Or at least it was so until I fell asleep in the middle of the party, but I guess that's nothing new to those of you who ever tried to party with me... Soon I'll become an internationally known party-sleeper :)

Tomsk and the race towards Irkutsk

After our adventures in Omsk we decided to leave ourselves enough time in Irkutsk just in case we had some problems with the Mongolian visa. Everybody said it's a formality, but then again they said the same about the Kazakh one. And too much time is not a problem as we know we will be able to spend it nicely on lake Baikal. We were even wondering if we should go to Tomsk at all or just drive further towards Mongolian consulate, but so many people told us what a nice city it is, that we decided to give it a try. And I won't be exaggerating if I say it changed our journey for good.

Tomsk really is a nice city. Small, sweet and with this unique atmosphere only student cities can have. And it's full with wooden houses we came to love so much. We were really having some good time there. And then it got even better.

We decided to find a hotel as it was finally time to take a hot shower again, but the first one, the Sputnik Hotel didn't really convinced us. The building and the interiors certainly remembered the times when Lenin was still a baby, but the prices where on quite a modern European level. Unfortunately it is a very popular combination in Russia. So we decided to trust Lonely Planet again and went for another place. When we saw their parking we already knew we're staying there. There was a Toyota Hilux parked just in front of it with a self-made world map on one side. As a overland traveler you develop a strong curiosity for other peoples cars and that was the first foreign one we saw, so few minutes later we were watching the car from all possible angles. The sticker in the front was saying it's owner plans to circle the world in 800 days and that was enough for us to stay in a hotel and try to find out more. Even if the hotel was at the 5^th floor without a lift and we knew we will need to carry about 60 liters of water to fill out tank again.

We didn't need to wait long until we heard some noises downstairs. 2 people unpacking the car. We haven't seen any foreigners since we left Moscow so we raced down to talk to them without much thinking. And so we met Emma and Andy two Brits with their perfectly equipped car “Bee Bee”, who are really planning to circle the world in 800 days and choose Asia to be the first step (for more check www.aroundtheworldin800days.com), choosing a similar route to ours. I can't even tell you how nice it is to talk to people who actually share your plan and ideas. And they told us there is one more guy from Germany a day or so ahead of us, trying to do the same thing. We finally felt we're not the only crazy people in this world Since I have to say that not only some of our friends and family found our idea a bit strange, the Russians are regularly laughing at us too. Every time they see our car they want to know if we really did drive from Germany on our own and they always find our answer hilarious. When we want to make them laugh even more, we tell them we're actually heading to Mongolia and then they are already laughing so hard they can hardly breath. And if we think they can handle a bit more we add, that it's actually our honeymoon. You should see them then...

Anyway we decided not to spend too much time in Tomsk and meet Emma and Andy again in Irkutsk, hopefully with our Mongolian visa sorted out.

We decided to take the shortest way to Irkutsk, sleeping along the highway (if you can call it this way) to save the time. We already tried it once or twice so we knew we'll be fine. There are always quite a few guarded parking spots with 24h restaurants along the main road where you can sleep and grab some nice Russian food. When we were stopping at one of them that evening we couldn't expect what's awaiting us. The place was run by 2 very friendly ladies, Natalia and Nadjezda, who welcomed us warmly and told us to park the car right next to theirs so that they can keep an eye on us and make sure we sleep without problems. But it took a while before we could actually go to sleep. They too wanted to know where we are from and what our plans are and they too laugh a bit when they heard we drove all the way from Germany. We decided they can handle the honeymoon part too, but this time the reaction was different. They found it brilliant! And wanted to know how long we are actually married. Funny thing is, it was actually exactly one month. Racing to Irkutsk or not they decided we need a proper celebration. After few minutes there was chocolate and a bottle of Russian cognac on a table and we spent a lovely evening using our limited Russian skills to discuss politics, family plans and all other issues. David even got some clear instructions about buying a house, planting a tree and having at least 3 children.

We also got to know the local truck driver who helped us plan our way to Irkutsk, providing us with information about the road conditions and helping us pick up a place for the next night. The general rule is: follow the truck drivers. Sleep where they sleep and eat what they eat and you won't have any problems in Russia. I have to say it worked for us. If you enter a bar with a huge menu ask any truck driver which food he can recommend and you will end up with a list of 3 or 4 dishes. Later on you will notice that every driver entering the place will order one of those things without even looking at any other food. And the list changes from place to place. But as the guy said, if you are driving the same way all the time for 10 years or so you know pretty well who makes the best pancakes and who makes the best soup.

Omsk and the visa headache

In one point Lonely Planet guides are definitely right, visas are the biggest headache when traveling through central Asia. Unfortunately we need them for each and every country on our way. However we were not very worried yet, since visa for Kazakhstan was supposed to be the easiest one to obtain. We have read countless posts about how everyone got it the same day and how it was no problem at all. That was the only reason we decided to stop in Omsk and try to get it now. We were still optimistic when we went to the consulate, as the guy there also told us that in most cases visa is ready in one day. So we filled all the papers, copied everything they wanted, sacrificed 2 pass photos and were told to come back in the afternoon. Punctuality was obviously not highly valued since although the office was supposed to be open at 4 pm no one appeared till 5:15. We recognized a few people who were applying for the visa the same morning and saw them getting all the papers, so we were still in good moods, even though we were told to come back the next day.

Unfortunately Omsk doesn't really have much to offer. Just another big city without much charm or attractions, but with temperatures reaching 35 degrees. They have a river though, so we were sharing our time between beach and sushi bar with Wi-Fi, simply killing the time until the consulate opens again, hoping we will be able to continue our journey as soon as possible, since we still had quite a few kilometers to drive. When we came back again the visas were still not ready. For some reason everybody else seemed to get one, just ours were getting late. So we were told to come in a couple of hours, since there was still a possibility the confirmation will come at the end of a day. We were getting a bit inpatient since it was Friday and we knew we can not wait till Monday to pick up the papers since we won't make it on time to Irkutsk, where we still have to apply for Mongolian visa. And honestly we didn’t really want to spend more time in Omsk. We got used to the city but we were still quite far from liking it.

We have to say the consulate workers were extremely nice and friendly, but they told us there is nothing they can do to speed up the whole process. No express visa or extra fees that could help us win a day or two. They can issue a visa directly when they get a confirmation in a system, but they can't do nothing without it. And they were also surprised it was not there yet. It was actually very funny, cause the visa officer didn't speak much English, so everyday he was picking up a new translator to help us understand the procedure and inform us about the progress or actually the lack of it. We met some really nice people that way, like two American missionaries who were staying in Russia for two years. They were living and working in Novosibirsk, telling us how hard the Russian winters are. We really started appreciating the high temperatures in Omsk. Those guys really helped us a lot, as my Russian is definitely not good enough to discuss visa procedures, but it all didn't change the fact that our visas were not in the system yet. Although the consulate was officially closed on Saturday we were told to come anyway, since the confirmation are also done on weekends. It was late and we didn't feel like driving anywhere so we decided to give it a last try on a next day.

When we entered the consulate on Saturday we could already see from the faces of the workers that our visas are still not there. They told us once again how sorry they were and that they are sure it will all come on Monday, but we simply couldn't spend another 2 days in Omsk. We knew we still had a long way to go and we had to organize visas for Mongolia too, so we decided to drop it and try again when we're in Ulaanbaatar. They also told us they checked and the consulate should be open when we get there, as we already heard enough stories that it was closed for 6 weeks due to vacation break... So everybody please keep your fingers crossed as it has to work next time!

Zyuratkul National Park

We really feel we had enough of huge Russian cities. Don't get me wrong, some of them were really nice, but there are just too many of them. And at the end each of them has a river, a Kremlin and at least 1 million people living in it. That is why we decided to stay out of them for some time. Instead we decided to check out a national park and enjoy a day of swimming and sunbathing. Russian nature is amazing even along the highway so we were really looking forward to see how it looks like when you get out of the paved road. Getting to the park really was some hardcore off-road driving experience. At one point we even lost a part of our luggage which was fixed at the top of the roof, since the car was vibrating too strongly. But we managed to collect it again and got to the lake without further problems.

The lake and the park surrounding it were really wonderful. The water was nice and the weather was perfect. And we really enjoyed the break. No more driving that day, just swimming and picnic on the beach. And the whole area was a camping place so we could spend a nice night in our beloved car. It was simply perfect.

Unfortunately we have discovered that even in the national park some typical Russian problems are still present. Trash. It is really unbelievable! Nearly every public beach we saw so far looked like a gigantic ashtray with beer bottles lying all over the place and we often saw a huge mountains of trash in the middle of the forest. They really shouldn't wonder they have so many problems with fire. I am surprised the woods haven't burn down completely yet! But we hoped it wouldn't be an issue in the middle of the national park. We were obviously wrong. Bottles and plastic bags were all over the camping space. But even that couldn't spoil our moods. We spent a perfect day and gathered enough energy to start exploring Siberia.