August 23 Irkutsk to Ulan Ude

Penny and Bruce meet the Buryat grandmothers society of Ulan Ude.

Ulan Ude (originally Verkhneudinsk) is almost as close to the eastern

shore of Lake Baikal as Irkutsk is to the western one. So it was a slow, tenhour

trip to arrive at Ulan Ude at 0615. This is not a fancy train like the 10

“Baikal” or the 16 “Ural.” It was very noisy, and neither Penny nor I slept

well. Tomorrow morning, we get back on this same train (by number) to

continue to the border and on to Ulan Bataar. This is the end of our Trans-

Siberian journey, since to go south from Ulan Ude counts as the Trans-

Mongolian. We were met at the Ulan Ude station by Ella, our local guide.

She teaches English at the local university and identifies herself as being of

Buryat nationality with Russian citizenship. Ella stated that the two groups

are distinct with not much mixing between the two.

We went to the Hotel Geser and checked in. Breakfast was available

at 0700. Penny and I took advantage of it. We bought a bottle of water from

a nearby convenience store, and then started our city tour at 1000. Our first

stop was the Ivolginsk Datsan, about thirty kilometers outside of town. This

monastery is the center of Siberian Buddhism, which as a variant on Tibetan

Lamaist Buddhism. They revere the Dalai Lama, and there is a local head

lama in Ulan Ude. Siberian lamas are allowed to marry. It was interesting,

but all in all, a small scale operation that also looked a bit garishly painted in

some places.

Ivolginsk Datsan is the center of Siberian Buddhism.

Another building in Ivolginsk Datsan.

Our next stop was the open air museum which contains a wide range

of structures, including local aboriginal styles and Buryat styles. The Old

Believer established by Avvakum himself still has its descendants here, and

the open air museum has some of their village structures, as well as an

ornately carved, large wooden gate first produced about one hundred years

ago.

Saturday seems to be another big day for Russian weddings. There

were quite a few couples dressed out for photo shoots. A number of

grandmother-aged women had created a sort of cheering section for

local brides and grooms. The grandmas were clothed in Buryat national

dress. One of them turned out to be a former colleague of Ella’s, and so we

became celebrities as they had us join in several traditional dances. We also

tasted their fermented mare’s milk drink, the one called airag by

Mongolians. Different! But it was great fun!

Our final stop was the excellent ethnographic museum, which

contained numerous Buryat and Old Believer artifacts that explained the

history of the region. Our group went its own way for dinner after a

supermarket stop to prepare for tomorrow’s border crossing delays. Penny

and I could not find the Asian restaurant that was recommended and so we

went to a fast food cafeteria. We went back to the Geser, and then repacked

our suitcases. So draws to a close our Russian journey.

Scenes from Ulan Ude.  It was a trading route city (Siberian furs for Chinese tea).