Baikal is the most spectacular lake in the world. The view in the photo above could rival Scotland’s finest lochs. But that isn’t even Baikal. It’s the Angara river, draining Baikal and flowing towards Irkutsk city. We had planned a hike today to celebrate my birthday but the girls decided that it would be too …
Author Archives: Will Holland
On food
Today (29/02/2024) I found this sat post in my drafts. Originally written on the 29th of July 2019. I’m not sure why I didn’t publish it; I quite enjoyed reading it back. I’d love to go back to Irkutsk but feel it might not be possible for a very long time. I’ve added some notes …
Irkutsk! Irkutsk!
Siberia has the virtue of not startling or astonishing you right away but of pulling you in slowly and reluctantly, as it were, with measured carefulness, and then binding you tightly once you are in. And then it’s all over – you are afflicted with Siberia* – Valentin Rasputin The sun rose unbelievably fast and …
From Moscow with love
What to do with just two days in Moscow? “Its not enough time!” complain all muskovites I asked but eventually yielded: Red Square (with The Kremlin and St Basil’s), Metro tour and VDNKh.VDNKh is a park full of monuments to Soviet Russia; including cosmonautics, the republics and the 1937 world fair statue: Worker and Kolkhoz …
Southend-on-Sea to Soviet Canteen
I had booked the cheapest flight to Moscow that left as soon as possible. This meant flying overnight from Southend to Moscow Vnukovo via Chisinau, which I found out is the capital of Moldova and we used to call it Kishinev. Southend Airport turned out to be horrible and Chisinau really nice. I landed in …
Eastward Ho!
This is the introduction to my series From Moscow to Osaka by Land & Sea. Two months ago I quit my job at the bank. Today I finally set off on my month long adventure of trains, boats and hikes that will take me from sleepy Rufford, Lancashire, North-west England to Ho Chi Minh City …
