Trans-Siberian Railway – Part 2, Tomsk to Irkutsk

Wednesday (16 August) evening I started the second leg of my Trans-Siberian journey. This was a 35-hour, 2-night hop from Tomsk, Russia to Irkutsk, Russia. I said goodbye to Rita and her family (and got to meet her daughter, Liza, just before I left) and headed for the train station. I was anxious to see who my cabin mates would be this time. Rita was convinced I would have better luck than my prior train ride and she was right. I got to my cabin to find a family already there. A grandmother (though not your typical Babuska), her two daughters, and one of the daughter’s 2 sons (11 and 12 years old). Two of the family members were staying in the next cabin but came to our cabin for meals, etc. I was relieved and the family was super nice to me. The grandmother always made sure I had food in my hands when they were eating, and sometimes made sure I had food in both hands. The two sons made me play cards for a while. I later found out that they were Johova’s Witnesses going to some type of conference. Really nice people. Unfortunately they only were only in my cabin for first night and left at noon on Thursday (17 August). But fortunately another family took their place at the same stop the first family got off. I also met a couple of backpackers, Jill and Niall, and we spent some time in the restaurant car playing cards.

So I arrived in Irkutsk on Friday (18 August) morning feeling pleased about a more ‘successful’ train ride. Once in Irkutsk, I immediately made my way to the tourist office to catch a minibus to Olkhon Island on Lake Baikal. I made it just in time to catch the minibus and 7 hours later I was on Olkhon Island.