"Why are you going there?" Every Russian I spoke to had the same reaction to my plan to spend a night in Omsk. They dismissed it as an ugly industrial city that was gray and boring. But boy were they wrong! Okay, maybe they weren't completely wrong. Omsk certainly ...
Trans-Siberian: Visiting Tomsk – a Winter Wonderland
My favorite stop along the Trans-Siberian route isn't actually on the Trans-Siberian train line. We had to switch trains in the middle of the night to go up to Tomsk, something that might have seemed like a hassle had Tomsk not turned out to be my favorite city not only in ...
Confession: I Travel Like A Girl
Some of you guys have shrewdly observed that I’m now traveling with a boy. What?! I know, it’s a change. Now I no longer have to ask strangers to help me lift my bag into absurdly high luggage compartments, I have access to an iPod with good music (his, not mine), and not ...
Trans-Siberian: Failure in Krasnoyarsk
After visiting Lake Baikal, Dan and I caught the overnight train to Krasnoyarsk. This post isn’t really going to be about Krasnoyarsk though, because the only two photos I have of the city are of a snowman and a ferris wheel. We Couchsurfed in Krasnoyarsk with a very ...
Standing on Lake Baikal – the Deepest Lake in the World
Oh Lake Baikal, the deepest lake in the world, how can I begin to describe you? As in any modern love story, I first discovered you on the Internet (Pinterest to be exact), and then when I realized I'd be passing your neighborhood on my way through Siberia I thought I might as ...