We boarded the train to Ulan-Ude from Irkutsk with new tickets…the booking agent as means to compensate us had secured a 4-beth second class cabin for just the two of us, but as it would turn out we were actually further inconvenienced 
But it was only a 10 hour train journey, so we just got on with it! Once onboard and we had managed to convince the chancers from 3rd class that they couldn’t have our spare beds, we asked for the door to be locked (not confident it wouldn’t be unlocked the minute our back was turned) and headed to find the other people we had met. We played cards as a drinking game with wine (not the best choice) but knowing we were getting off at 06:15 and the rest were on-board for c. 2 days we made an early escape.
Once in Ulan-Ude we still couldn’t understand why we had chosen to stop here. But once we read the trusty book and check the excursions we had planned we kept an open mind. Yet again we, sorry Dan, had opted for the home stay so we stopped outside a large heavy duty metal door to the stair well. Once inside these apartments are OK, it’s just the communal areas. Being so early we had a nap before we were collected at 10.30. The first day’s excursion was first to a Buddhist Temple complex which is the centre of the Buryat people. After here we visited a museum and chapel for the non-believers – a group of Russians who still live by the old way – not that interesting to be honest!
We had our evening meal with our host who we hadn’t told Karen doesn’t like fish, so Karen wasn’t best pleased to smell fish – sure enough, a catch from Lake Baikal – but to Karen’s credit she ate half of it – well done Kaz!
Day two’s excursion was to another Buddhist temple and then the a traditional Buryat home were we had lunch. Details of the food can be found in the special food post (which I promise to be more frequent!). We shared the excursion with a couple of yank girls who had just finished a year teaching English in Japan – they were about 2.5 foot tall and don’t think they were terribly impressed when Karen asked if they were still at college! Doh! After lunch we dressed in traditional Buryat clothes and had a archery session followed by some game reminiscent of subotio but with bones from sheep – strange!
