lake baikal

ooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh mmmmmeeeeeeeeeeeeee ggggggggggggoooooooooooooooooooooddddddddddddddd hellish i am enjoying myself so much so so much
lake baikal is descibed as "achingly beautiful" and they are not wrong. wow, cant comprehend that it is an island. it is stunning, amazing, perfect etc etc.
vodka is so cheap and now i think am addicted to the stuff, hellish!!!
was so funnt as the first afternoon we went for a walk and these guys pulled up in a lada and they fell out the car with some voddie (vodka) and were like "u drink" they had a kid in the car with a flick knife and also were watching porn. on eof my group, Dallas went for a spin in the car, was blinking hilarious he he
dip your feet-5 years, hands 1 year and whole body 25 years so i went for it, umm nice pics for y'all to see in me swimwear..hellish.....was so god damn cold, about 2 degrees. i was like "25 years for the smoker" he he only myself, heika,brad and steve went in. then we had a banya which is a russian bath thing. oh my god, was sooo hot!! had the BEST day yesterday, was so great!!! we split into 2 groups so there was 7 of us in one house and the food was great. oh my god, drop toilets that are like something out of texas chain saw massacre in the dark.
took some awesome pics, again cant upload. am back in irkutsk for a few hours then overnight train to ulan ude to see giant lenin head.
en route to lake baikal we split into a car and a minibus thing. i was in front seat of this car and shoved on some of the drivers techno, was hilarious, they love techno out here. we stopped for a smoke and the drivers benny benassi was pumping out, was like phase 2 in the middle of the siberian forest he he :)
feel so lucky to have walked up a hill on lake baikal and swam in it. it really is something else.
messages:
GB-ta for text, cant see your comment,dont think you left it.
mandz-you nutter he he get in there though is what i say
mum-sorry couldnt get phone card (bro has been hiding btw-dunno if he called or not but i got a msg on fb)
sj-ta 4 text, glad bday was goood, we can have celebrations when i back and i can bore you with pics
sailor-ansum that canada was good-nice one.
kirsten-YYYYYEEESSSSS I got you back in the south west, i was so chuffed when got your text, ansum.
ma kirtsee-miss ya buddy
tibbz-woof woof
karim-get some mad vegas piccies again, ansum.
vina-thanks for the b raod updates
Cognito peeps-i'll be back demanding the heating on before you know it he he
so....my gosh, still in russia, ahh i love it i bloody love it..feels like have been away such a long time hellish. still got mongolia and china yet, its mad, have done so much.
sorry to say but hardly thinking about home at all....think about my house and stuff but not my life at home.
the trans siberian railway to me is "a life changing experience for those who do it and a dream for those who are left behind"....ahhhhhh
quite profound...umm...been doing a lot of thinking whilst away and some changes are gonna be going on when i return so look out people.
gonna go grab some russian pizza in a bit, had enough of borsch....have lost about half a stone i think, nice one!! yay!!
rightio, bye bye from me, take care y'all and should hopefully be online again tomorrow in ulan ude
xx

from sat til weds

my gosh, so much to type, dont wanna be stuck in internet cafe all day so scuse typos
yes had me choccie pancake and then slept well, up early to go see lenin. my god that was mental seeing him in wax in his tomb, he even has a goatie. couldnt take any pics though and still cant seem to upload any as i go gggrr nay mind, you'll all have to be bored stupid by me when i return he he
so after that (sat morn) got metro etc to trans sib station in moscow. nice compartments, shared with 2 american girls, trish and liz and we had a spare bunk as a table. my god the toilets were hoorendous and i mean horrendous, hellish, absolutelt\y stunk. again got tangled up with some russion soldiers (not like that, just drinks and chat-well pointing etc). mikhel massaged my feet (nothing else and i mean nothing else)!! I want my husn\band remember. got some cool pics of the soldiers he he :)
the train life is good but after 3 dsays i was getting cabin fever, the time passes quite fast really and i wasnt bored, apinted me nails, read me charley book (cheers Lucy)...listened to mp3-ahhh sigur ros when speeding through siberia-it was ace!!
lots of mayhem, been keeping my journal updated. am sick of noodles and dried milk though argh. vodka vodka vodak...not for me thanks been drinking baltika beer.
NOTHING and I mean NOTHING is in english but my russian is coming on, nyet, spasiba, anglee, palzhalsta!! no, thanks,english,sorry! he he erm....back to skool for me then.
the russians love me roll ups and they gave me some giant figs...all i could hear down the corrider was "helen" as they wanted me to go smoke with them but they will just try and give you everything they have. very harsh people at first but once get to know them is ok, they warmer.
argh feel like am still on the train. didnt sleep very well last night. am 8 hours aheda now. i know this blog is all over the place but am trying to get down as much info as possible so that can go exploring in irkutsk. got here 11am today, finally had a shower after 4 days...argh...we are staying in apoartments now for 1 night, dinner at 7 then bus to lake baikal for 2 days then overnight train to ulan ude so can see the giant lenin head.
cant believe have only been away for 1 week today..feels like longer and I have mongolia and china yet still-ansum!!!
did some poi at one of the stations at night and everyone loved it and was having a go, even the locals and the russians from the train.
my money belt is making me look fat :(
so irkutsk..nice little town, only done a little bit of exploring. gonna find the ww2 memorial hopefully and then the decembrist museum, cool-o-rama.
gonna phone mum in a bit....yyyyeeehhhhaarrrrr...mummy!!!!!!!!
all for now, off to lake baikal tomorrow so prob no internet access again for a few days
wanna thank the 2 very very very special people in my life that send me amazing texts, thanks guys, love yous
take care
and bro-get in touch.....................
SB crew-hope the pool is nice
xx

moscow part 2

argh..just tried to update here with pics and cant so cant on fb either-gggrrr
not to worry, will try again.
gosh i is cream crackered-hellish.been traisping back into moscow this afternoon, been on the metro with steve,mark,lauren,brad,william, jason and russ. the metros are mad, very very stylish and full on mosaics, wow. very busy though and fast fast!!!
tried to find the old market but to no avail. think we are gonna go and grab some food and a beer in a bit, ansum! time is going bizarrely slowly for all of us.....but in a good way, am fitting so much in.
cant wait to see lenin tomorrow. shame weather been so crap in moscow-st petes was so sunny! :)
lauren has just told me about choc pancakes across the road so am gonna go explore!!
so trans siberian tomorrow. we are all so tired that we are looking forward to the rest. still got days and days left yet, wicked.
rightio, will stop rambling
take care y'all
H xx

moscow

thanks for msg caroline, not had too much vodka so far so may partake on me return. thanks also to mandy for urs your absolute nutter.
got overnight train to moscow and was sat with some russian army guys. they went off so got nice fetching pic of me in his hat he he well funny, need to upload pics!! :)
the train was mad-open carriages and you sleep (???) in ur clothes!!!
didnt sleep on train so knackered now and weather shite. really cold and raining. went to the kremlin earlier-its mad and huge and st basils is just simply amazing, wow. lenin was not taking visitors today (maybe he didnt have his make up on) so gotta get up early tomorrow to go queue then see him, at least its free. also saw the tomb of the unknown soldier.
back in hostel now and we are gonna shoot orf and go to the tourist area to possibly get some cheesy bits n bobs and then some food, ansum!!
train tomorrow at 1.30 for 4 days. wont be online at all and mob recep will come and go apparently jus so that you know. i am so excited!! oh my gosh, feels like have been away forever and its only me 3rd day, ansum. its gonna be mad on the railway and going to mongolia, not a fan of cities.
have a wonderful bank hol one and all, hope the weather is nice-SB crew-geddin that pool for me!!!
take care y'all
H xx

posts

just seen soem comments on my post from yesterday:
theresa-mate, thanks for that, lovely to hear from you-have a great time in canada and enjoy cuddlng those ansum nephews of yours-hope you dont see tezza.
rachel-aww mate, thanks for that, hope ali and tom are updating the group, i'm on fb now so will take a look, really appreciate ur msg, thanks xx

st petersburg-day 2

rar!! greetings from st petersburg. had nice sleep so feeling better today.
didnt realise i was so grumpy last night he he tired and teasy i think!! ;)
cant cope with the roughing it and got days of this. did manage to paint me nails this morn though. changed some $ to RUB and managed to photocopy some more docs-registrations etc. that was a chore and scetch in itself.
so today, have seen the church on the spilled blood-it was amazing. no camera attachments here so cant upload pics. google it mandy! yeah man!
i cried when i saw it. then went to st issacs cathedral-thas mad-very big and attempted to climb the collonade but got vertigo. then i got lost for about 2 hours, argh! weather is sunny but windy, got sandals on and me waterproof (looking good-erm maybe not). he he
when i found my way back to nevsky prospect i went to a cafe said hello to waitress and she replied "no", slammed the menu down and flounced off then then brought out 3 of her colleagues to stare at me. great huh?
coffee was nice though, i needed it after all me trekking.
my moneybelt is making me feel fat :(
so my thoughts on st petes-its a city and i dont like cities but it does have some amazing sights. very busy, cars trying to knock you over all the time etc etc.
offski to moscow later-overnight train, hellish.
ok-heres some messages:
any men-get yourself to russia, the women are gorgeous and slim and wear the most amazing clothes (i feel so drab in comparison in me combats)
niki-maybe we should come out here with our knee high boot and hotpant collection? thanks for ur msg and have a great hols urself xx
bro-get in touch man! shammam
mandy-thanks for msg-geddon google mrs and good luck for sun!
sj, mr p and kirtsee-thanks for messages.
mum-will phone you tomorrow (fri) afternoon/eve or sat morn-geddon trans siberian at 1.30 sat (moscow time) (3 hrs ahead remember)
cognito peeps-hope all is good and ur working hard-get twitch on the tea runs and make sure you wash the bloomin cups.
looking forward to seeing red square,lenins tomb etc tomorrow. after sat wont be online for at least 4 days as be on train, dunno if wil have mob recep either.
am gonna try and get on bbc site now to see the penalties as i hear that that is what happened, hellish.
take care
H xx

st petersburg-day 1

hellish, flight bit bumpy but am here in hostel. been to a veggie restaurant and seen some sights-seen the church on the spilled blood in the distance and others-cant quite remember. flight was late :( got taxi :( almost missed meeting and didnt get to unpack bag or anything so getting some sleep in a bit instead of watching football. i see its 1-1 at the mo hellish.
need sleep-get train to moscow at 10pm tomorrow night (am 3 hrs ahead here) and wont sleep much on there-beds in the corriders-whatever next.....
observations through tired eyes-st petes is flat and busy...bring on mongolia.
update when i can soon.
take care
H xx

Oops...last train will be Trans Mongolian, not Trans Manchurian!