by ronmitchelladventure | Jul 1, 2013 | Asia, Russia
All aboard the Hydrofoil for an eight-hour ride from Severobaikalsk, down to the middle of Lake Baikal’s Olkhon Island. Snow-capped peaks resemble a ride on the Alaska Marine Highway through the Inside Passage…so does the rain. We glide along the island, watching for...
by ronmitchelladventure | Jun 29, 2013 | Asia, Russia
Mare and I seek some shade on the porch of a small store, in the remote fishing village of Baikalskoe, Siberia. We are thirsty and exhausted from an exhilarating hike along the mountainous shore of magnificent Lake Baikal – the oldest (25 million years) and deepest...
by ronmitchelladventure | Jun 20, 2013 | Asia, Russia
I crawl into lower bunk #13, and Mare climbs into #14 above, for a 48-hour train ride to Novosibirsk, the capital city of Siberia. Being “train savvy,” we change into a pair of shorts, before somebody inhabits the bunks across from us. The scent of stale cigarettes...
by ronmitchelladventure | Jun 17, 2013 | Asia, Russia
I lay on an 18-inch wide lower bunk, in the four-person train cabin. The bottom of Mare’s bunk lies within arm’s reach above me. A young Russian man climbs up and into the top bunk about 18-inches across our aisle. He does not say a word. A business man hangs...
by ronmitchelladventure | Jun 12, 2013 | Asia, Russia
That song from the Rolling Stones plays in our heads. A stranger on the streets of St. Petersburg helps us locate the MIR Hostel. (We know 5 words in Russian) Our first order of business will be the ominous task of copping train tickets from the notoriously impatient,...
