our trip to baikal was much shorter then expected..  but we still got to see and feel this lake that is more like a sea.

shamanka and autumn

we cross the bridge to the other side

where autumn lives.

it felt like magic. 

all of this was in shamanka, a siberian village we were so lucky to visit. we met it's people during  celebration of the village's 90 years of existence. their smile was warm, welcoming and curious.

we enjoyed a banya (russian sauna) that we prepared: water from the river and burning wood from the forest. we stayed in a wooden cabin straight out of a movie.. and in the last day we hiked to the hill above the village.. autumn was everywhere and the views were just jaw dropping..

shamanka, i will not forget you!

from europe to asia

we have started our adventure!!

after some days in moscow we embarked on a 3,5 day journey into asia. the trans-siberian. our first stop: irkutsk, 5234 km away from the russian capital.

i must say

that mostly we saw trees

and more trees.














there were little colourful houses with cute vegetable gardens

and to my ignorant surprise there were huge cities with big buildings.

but mostly there were small little houses and trees... lots of trees!

meanwhile inside the train people slept

and ate instant potato puree.

outside, trees continued filling up the horizon...

we also stopped sometimes, babushkas sold dried fish, woollen goods and pastries (yummy!).

we saw the season change.. and autumn signs everywhere.

grass turned yellow and red and the sky turned blue.

and so was our journey from europe to asia on this big train.

much is left to tell. from our gourmet dinners cooked only with hot water, to the conversations with drunken russians (that had to happen, right?), to the warm generosity of strangers.

and just the passing of time looking outside, advancing on our route further into the unknown.