Tim and Gem's Honeymoon Adventure: October 2013

Wednesday 30 October 2013

The little town we knew nothing about, Tomsk, Russia
October 17 – 21

We had met a few people on our travels who recommended that we visit Tomsk (a city we had never heard of). So with no other place to go, we decided to make this our next stop.

After a 36 hour train from Irkutsk we arrived early in the morning, and greeted by freezing temperatures and a blanket of snow. Hostels in Russia are notoriously hard to find with little or no signage. Thankfully with the help of google maps and a quick call to the hostel, it wasn’t long until we were in the warmth and comfort of our hostel.

Later that day we met with our roommates in the hostel, Mike and Georgia, two Australians who had been living in London for the past few years. They were the second Australians we had met so far on the trip, and were doing the Trans Siberian too, but in the opposite direction to us (like most of people we had met).

After lurking around in the warmth of the hostel for a good couple of hours, we decided to brave the cold and see what this charming little city had to offer. The weather on this particular day was by far the coldest we had experienced to date! We were wrapped up with several layers, thermals and all and the ice-cold wind cut to the bone! Although it was cold and our toes were quickly frozen, it was hard to ignore the pretty wooden architecture (which it is well known for).

Majority of our days, which thankfully got a lot warmer during our stay, we spent exploring, streets lined with old wooden houses with window frames and detailing that resembled that of ginger bread houses. The many monuments and statues in Tomsk, most of which were odd and made no sense, and hanging out with Mike and Georgia.

English was a lot more common in Tomsk which made ordering food and going out a lot easier. We went to a bar and grill with Georgia and Mike and were served a pretty mean feed and some tasty beers and Russian champagne. Afterwards we all went to a little jazz bar nearby where we sipped on some more champagne and vodka, and shared a watermelon shisha.

Our Finish friends from Olkhon Island gave us a local Russian contact in Tomsk – Ilya. He was an absolute legend, and he was more then happy to take the four of us along to one of the Saturday tea parties.

None of us were sure what to expect from this Russian tea party. All we were told was that this guy was a huge tea enthusiast, and has people over every Saturday to enjoy a few glasses with him. We walked down Tomsk’s oldest street and Ilya opened the door to one of the old wooden houses. We hung up our coats and were welcomed in to a room toward the front of the house. Inside there was a group of people, around the same age as us, sitting around the tea master who was arranging the bowls and making his master brew.

At first, it was admittedly a little odd and the four of us weren’t sure what to make of it. We didn’t dare make eye contact with one another and risk breaking the silence with laughter. After a few glasses of some very unusual (but tasty) tea, the mood in the room lightened and it turned out that a few of the locals spoke very good English and we were able to have a really nice conversation. All in all it turned out to be a really fun morning!

Ilya was an absolute champ and took us out to a very Russian restaurant where there was no English translation. We were surrounded by locals and would have had no hope if we tried to go here by ourselves.

Ilya kindly obliged and walked us through the menu and placed our order for us. We were served up bowls of soup, plates of delicious food and some tasty traditional fruit drink. And for the five of us, a bill that came to less then $40 – it pays to know a local.

The following day Ilya was helping his friends out at a market that he described as a sweets market, and he invited us to come down and check it out. As soon as we walked through the door we were greeted with the aroma of cinnamon and baked treats. The room was brightly lit, there were colourful decorations and action going on everywhere. We were given some tokens with our tickets of entry that Ilya explained we could use in the market. There were activity stalls in the upstairs arena that everyone could participate in. We made some chocolate covered treats, and got to try the little samples at some of the stalls. We ended up getting ourselves some cupcakes, coffee, macaroons and countless other treats.

After eating our weight in sweets (and some left over for desert) we walked back to our hostel. Once again the wind was ice-cold and Gemma resembled a mummy, wrapped up so only her eyes we showing! We headed home and packed our bags ready for the journey to following day to Suzdal.

Wooden windows

Tomsk skyline

Burnt out house and a weird thing on the side of a building

This house is sinking

Gingerbread like wood detailing and Chekhov statue

Yes the green house is sinking, rather common in Tomsk

Tomsk's first street

Love locks

Streets of Tomsk

The streets of Tomsk

Cheap tasty Tomsk beers

They have some odd moments/statues in Tomsk, including a baby in a cabbage

Wooden guesthouse

Tea party

The tea master and some seaweed tea

Tea party

Walking down Tomsk's first street

Cars

Tasty lunch

Sunset in Tomsk

Playing in the frozen puddles

Amazing wooden houses

Hammering away

These are soap, not edible cakes

Sweets market

Making treats

Sweets market

The hooker like cow and tree lined path

Streets of Tomsk

I do love Tomsk

She was pretty cold

Wooden house

Sunday 27 October 2013

A quick stop in Irkutsk before our train to Tomsk
October 14-16

After nearly a week in Olkhon Island we were bound for Irkutsk, with another bumpy, 5 hour mini bus ride to get us there. This time we knew what we were in for and it felt a little shorter coming back (as return trips generally do). The scenery was stunning with rolling hills, bright yellow pine trees and a scattering of snow covered fields.

We arrived to Irkutsk and found our hostel with out any problems. As soon as we walked in the door, the hostel owner Marina, told us we were in for a surprise - which in Russia, could mean anything!

The surprise being… that something was wrong with our room, and we couldn’t stay there.

But, the owner was quick to reiterate that we would in fact be staying in her apartment, and that she would drive us there! We weren’t sure if this meant she had a 2 bedroom place, or if we’d be staying on the outskirts of town. But grateful of an alternative, and slightly embarrassed that we were imposing.. we jumped in her car and were on our way to her place.

This petite, quietly spoken Russian dancer looked minuscule behind the wheel her oversized 4WD. But looks are deceiving, and it turns out she drove like Schumaker wearing 4inch heels, belting along the roads with no regard for speed limits!, It took us no time at all and we were at her apartment. She led us in to the building and opened her front door (which has a lock system similar to that of a fort knox) and the apartment was beautiful. A French inspired flat, complete with gramophone and chic French couches. She showed us everything, gave us the keys, and told us that we could use anything we wanted, and that she would be back the following evening to take us to the train station.. we were overwhelmed with her hospitality.

The apartment was too nice not to make the most of it, so we decided to get some supplies and make a home-cooked meal! After a wander around the shops we came back and filled the deep sunken bath and enjoyed a soak with a glass of red wine then made some home cooked pasta and watched a movie. Feeling very indulged, we climbed in to our king sized (and extremely comfortable) bed and caught up on some TV series we had missed. Followed by a deep and amazing sleep!

We slept in, and then decided we should go take a wander around the town. Irkutsk has a lot to offer the traveller with a fair few sights to see and things to do, we would’ve liked another day here to really appreciate and explore the city. We got in a minivan taxi/bus and for12rubles (about 35cents) we were at Central Market in 15 minutes.

Central Market is not very big, but it’s interesting and is a wonderland for fresh food. Majority of the stalls are people selling fresh vegetables and fruits and looked to be pretty cheap. There were also stalls selling warm wooly socks and gloves. Along one of the walls were all the cute old babushkas selling jars of home made jams, spreads and other pickled goodness.

We walked around aimlessly just enjoying watching the people at the market and on the streets for a couple of hours. Then eventually we deciding to head home and fix up our bags before Marina came and picked us up for the train station.

Marina came, we loaded up her car and we were headed for the station. Some fast, heart-stopping driving took place on the way to the station, and a double break down on one of Irkutsk’s three bridges meant a huge traffic jam disrupted our journey and we were close to missing our train. We made it to the station with not much time to spare, so Marina led the sprint (in her massive heels of course) to the ticketing area where the automated machine decided it didn’t want to give us the ticket we had brought online. So we lined up for the counter, watching the clock tick closer and closer to our trains departure time. I’m not sure what was said, but I am pretty sure Marina worked some magic as the lady behind the window didn’t look like she was going to give us tickets for some reason, but with some what seemed heated words from Marina, we were given our tickets! After a quick dash back to the car to collect our bags we only had a matter of minutes until our trains departure.

Down some stairs, up some stairs, with our clunking 20kg luggage, and we somehow made it to the platform as the steps of the train were being pulled up ready for departure. Luckily, the train guard saw us and pulled us up on to the train! We weren’t at the right carriage, but it didn’t matter we were on the train. Then another lady kindly led us all the way, through about 6 carriages to our carriage and our coupe, sweating, panting and ready to pass out. We made it, thankfully!