Irkutsk – Russia – August 2008
Nothing to write about so I’ll just continue to add my backlog of photos. Nothing terribly special in this batch.
However, Irkutsk was the best city I visited in Russia, probably because I had the lucky opportunity to have a set of local guides. The vodka is incredible and Irkutsk oddly enough, has amazingly good night clubs.
The city itself is in fairly poor shape but includes an interesting mix of concrete Soviet and older wooden structures. Irkutsk has more SUV’s than Vancouver with the difference being that the Russians probably actually use them to their full potential.
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01 Mar 2009 01:34 pm Bryan 8 comments
Russia! It just sounds so exotic. :-)
Somewhat I suppose – it is quite different, but outside of other western nations, I find Russia is probably the most similar country to Canada that I’ve visited.
Similar because of the physical features? ……..or for other reasons?
getting more and more comments recently~
been a while, how r u?
my laptop is beyond repairable, don’t have access to msn now.
I spent a few days on Olkhon Island on Lake Baikal, it is a fairly well-known outdoor activity area. I was staying in a cabin with several Russian families who had drove from Central Russia (probably the equivilant of driving across the Praires) to camp and bomb around the island in their SUV’s. We had a huge fire roaring the back – complete with Russian campfire songs (with guitars), vodka bottles/beer and smoked fish from Baikal.
I could have been camping anywhere in Canada.
They love their SUV’s, they love their environment. They are also a Christian nation, although Orthodox. While I am hardly a bastion of religiousity, I do appreciate and respect the heavy influence the dominant religion has on a nations culture, values and way of thinking. Canada, despite where we may be heading, remains a country founded upon Anglo-Saxon traditions of which Christianity played a major part. Obviously I didn’t have a relgion heavy upbringing, but it is impossible to deny the influence of it.
As such, there is somewhat of an overlap, that isn’t present, in say, China or Japan.
….I don’t stand out as much in Russia either :-p
Mind you, these are just travel opinions. One really needs to live there to fully appreciate similarities and differences. I probable sound like a moron to someone who has spent a lot of time in Russia.
Angela,
I guess it is because I’m becoming more and more popular ;-p
Still making the move to Hong Kong?
But when you open your mouth, they’ll found out you’re not Russian. Unless, you’ve mastered their tongue?
heh heh heh – I’ve dabbled enough in one language that uses a completely different script to realize I’m not cut out for languages.