Siberia. The huge blank spot on the map. The land of Genghis Khan and Russian prison camps. Where I've always wanted to go. And it was everything I expected it to be and very few trips I ever go on will top this one.
So we left at around 9 Wednesday night, and we flew on Siberian 7 airlines (never heard of em before, but it was on a Boeing 737 and the flight was excellent). We arrived in Ulan-Ude at 8 am, after flying over Baikal and some beautiful steppe. Upon our embarking, we were greeted by traditional Buryatian singing, a gift of goat's milk, and Diane got a haddok, which is a scarf that is a traditional Buryatian greeting gift, I think she got about 5 of them on this trip and has a total of around 30.
The singer ended up being the lead singer of Uragsha, a group of young Buryatian singers/musicians who perform both traditonal music and modern pop and rock, whom we spent a good amount of time with (read: drinking and clubbing with fantastically hot girls). The organizers of everything were Rada and Erzhena, who are both leaders of Buryatia's intellectual "aristocracy." It seemed as if they knew everyone, and the trip went absolutely perfectly.
So after arriving at the airport (which was very very tiny, but very interesting as well), we went to meet our homestays. Kevin and I stayed with Seger, her husband, and their 2 daughters. One of the daughters is taking English lessons but was very quiet, all she really said to us was "Good Morning." They had a nice apartment with an LCD TV and other amenities. But it was also very Soviet era and had hammer and sickles on the facade. Seger's husband was a police officer. They fed us a LOT.
After resting up a bit, we all gathered together and went to an orphanage. The children were VERY excited to see us and put on a show for us at the beginning. Then we split up into groups. I was with Ben with several children, most of whom were about 2, but some were much older. I was called "Mama" by several kids, and one immediately attached herself to me and wouldn't let go of my hands.
Although it was sad to see the kids so lonely, they were all well taken care of. We also had our first run-in with the Amazons at the orphanage: the Amazons are a women's group of car enthusiasts who also have a thing for environmentalism (?). They were quite interesting, and we ran into them one other time in Ulan-Ude (Erzhena gave our schedules out to very groups hoping to make an impression on us). After the orphanage, we went to meet Uragsha and have a meal and listen to some traditional Buryatian music. We had a delicious meal of meat dumplings (which are very popular in Mongolia) and listened to Uragsha play various traditional pieces, which sounded very similar to bluegrass, actually. The chord structure and instrumentation were all very similar. After dinner we went home and then to bed.
The next morning we got up bright and early and set off for the Ivolkonsky Datsan, the largest datsan in Russia and one of the only ones allowed to operate during the Soviet era (datsans are Buddhist monasteries). On the way, we were stopped by the militia for speeding, which was the first time I've ever been in a vehicle that's been pulled over. So now I can say that the first time I was pulled over, I was in Siberia!
We made a few stops at Shamanist holy places, which had very gorgeous views of the steppe.
Next we went to an Old Believer village, visited a church and a museum, and then went to another village to eat a meal. We ate at a family's house, and they owned a museum in honor of one of the first Old Believer's to bring traditional music to St. Petersburg. First they fed us a huge meal that was very delicious (they even gave us samogon, which is homemade vodka. It was obviously watered down, but interesting nonetheless). After getting a tour of the museum, we packed into the van and headed back to Ulan-Ude. On our way back, the van overheated and we stopped by a river to get water to cool the engine down.
That night we went out on the town with Uragsha. We all went to a park at first, which involved crossing the most rickety bridge I've ever been on, and then we were going to go to a club but the one we went to was packed so I decided that it would be best just to go to bed at that point. Here is an example of how hot the girls were:
The next morning we set off very early to go to Horinsk, where we would have our Buryatian culture day. First, we went to the Horinsk history museum, and then we went to a small Buryatian village. When we arrived we greeted with singing and dancing and Diane got another haddok (another reason for the singing and dancing was the desire for the children finishing high school to have a chance to join Uragsha, as Erzhena is the leader and was with us that day).
We ate a delicious meal of goat, homemade cheese, blood sausage (exactly what it sounds like), and various other interesting dishes. We also witnessed a tradition of presenting guests with the goat's head, so Diane got to have fun with that one. After that we went to the Aninsky Datsan, which was originally one of the largest complexes in Russia but was destroyed by the Soviets (with cannons). Now all that remains is a crumbling brick skeleton and a small temple that was recently built there.
They begin reconstruction next month, however, so we were some of the last people to see it in the state that the Soviets left it in. On the way home, one of our tires blew, so we got to go climbing around the step. That night we went straight home and to bed.
The next day we stayed in Ulan-Ude, and went to the historical museum, and then the ethnographic museum. After that we went to a theater and met with its director, who is also an environmentalist who runs an organization that cleans up trash on the shore of Baikal. He was very animated and eccentric, and in general a very interesting character. That night we went to a restaurant with Uragsha, ate a meal, and then they performed 2 concerts for us, a rock concert and a pop concert. After that, we went to the train station and got on a train from Ulan-Ude to Irkutsk.
We arrived in Irkutsk at around 7, and went immediately to meet with a representative from the Baikal Wave, one of the major environmental groups involved with Baikal. She gave us a lot of information regarding the current situation with Baikal (we read a book earlier that informed us of the situation in 2004). After that we went to our hotel, which was on possibly the worst street I've ever seen, and then went to Baikal. First we went to the Baikal Museum, which had an aquarium and models of the lake. Then we went to the MChS base, which is Russia's version of FIMA. They showed us all of their equipment and boats, and even gave us a first aid lesson! We ate a very good meal there, and then went to the ethnographic museum, at which I made a clay ocarina. Then we went back to Irkutsk and to our hotel.
We got up very early the next morning to drive out to Olkhon. The drive to the ferry took us about 5 hours, and then we took about another half hour to get to Huzhir, the village that our "base" was in. We were in very primitive, but also comfortable, lodgings. We we kept warm by a traditional Russian stove (and we needed it, we had snow twice). There was no running water, but my room had a tiny, suitcase-like porta-potty. That evening, after dinner, we went to the beach and jumped in the lake. We were in for about 5 seconds. It was around 4 degrees celcius. But the water was unbelievably clear and clean.
The next day we had a day long excursion to the cape at the north end of Olkhon. We made several stops along the way, mostly at old villages, shamanist holy spots, and an old GULAG (really), and then we had a traditional lunch over a fire. We ate fish soup, which was potatoes and a whole fish (gutted) boiled together. It was delicious. The most common edible fish in Baikal is called omul, which does not live anywhere else, and it is a delicious fish. I will certainly miss it, even though I had omul at every meal for 4 straight days. After lunch we went to the cape, made a few stops on the way back, and finally arrived back at the base.
The next day we went to the other side of the island width-wise, which was interesting because there were several lakes we drove by. I went to the banya that night, which is the Russian bath house. It's very strange, but amazing. They spent several hours heating up stones in a hut with 3 rooms: an entry room to leave clothes, a room with a bucket of freezing cold water, and the heating room. You strip, douse yourself with cold water, and then go and lay in the heating room for about 15 minutes, pouring water on the stones to release heat and humidity (we poured beer on the stones too, which made the room smell like freshly baked bread). After 15 minutes, you leave and douse yourself with cold water again, and then wait a couple minutes before going back in. The next time you go in, you start hitting each other on the back with branches with leaves on them. Go out, rinse in cold water, and repeat for about an hour. Then you dry off, and that's it. It's very relaxing, I had an excellent night's sleep that night.
We also met with a shaman on Olkhon, but he spoke Russian very poorly and mixed Russian and Buryatian up a lot.
After Olkhon, we returned to Irkutsk, went to a Decemberists museum, spent a night there, and then flew back to Moscow.
So I'm done with classes and finals now, and I'm all packed and I leave my home stay in about an hour. My train leaves for Solovki tonight around one in the morning. I'm totally psyched and am very glad that I chose to continue traveling around Russia instead of going home. I should have internet again in about a week, so I'll send something out to confirm that I survived my trip to Solovki, and then I head off to travel 'round the Golden Ring!
Thanks
