Hey, still alive and doing great! We left Mongolia behind already 3 days ago, but the train took 2 nights and one day, so been to Irkutsk now for 1,5 days. First night we spent in 3 star hotel by the lake Baikal, and the sceneries were really nice, but othervise not too much to do there. Now we are in Irkutsk Downtown Hostel, which seems to be a nice place, though the prices are getting to European level, for dorm bed we pay 500r (around 15e).

We also managed to book train tickets to Moscow, but the price for cupe (4 person cabin) had mysteriosly doubled (they would have charged 8400r) so we decided to save the money and do it the hard way, again... Ticket in platzkart (open sleeping car) for "fast" train (train no.9) was 2800r. If it is anyhow similar to Mongolian ones, it might be the longest 3,5 days in my life to come... But the estimated schedule is holding quite nicely, though it might be that we cannot afford to stay in Moscow for more than one night, which would mean crossing the border to Finland on 4th of June. But still don't call up the search party before 6. since our visas run out on 5. =)

One thing I have to say, travelling so far has been far easier than I thought. The only minor problems so far were when trying to buy the tickets to Moscow, and it wasn't even tricky. From Irkutsk to Lake Baikal we managed to find the minibus very easy as well as the way back. In Mongolia no problems at all. I don't know whether something has changed in me or in the world, but it seems that where ever you go, the world is smiling at you.