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Beginning of the trip through Russia.
Second stop in the Trans-Siberian and now in Siberia.
Irkutsk is a city on the Angara River, which rivals Ulan-Ude as a starting point for the great local attraction that is Lake Baikal, which is the deepest lake in the world.
Irkustk has a lot of Russian history, monuments, churches, etc.
After a few days I went to see the lake and moved to a village called Khuzhir.
It is a village in the middle of the island Olkhon, which is the largest island in the lake.
You could feel a little bit of Siberia, a blue sky that was much colder and it looks like it’s still summer.
After returning from Lake Baikal, it is time to travel to Novosirbisk, considered the capital of Siberia.
St. Petersburg, was called Petrograd (1914–24) and Leningrad (1924–91), was capital of the Russian empire for 2 centuries.
It was the scene of one of the longest and most destructive battles of the second world war.
I was very grateful, because the city is very beautiful with an architectural exuberance like no other.
There is a more beautiful building on each side than the other.
The city is known as the “Venice of the North” because of an interesting feature.
It is located on the banks of the River Neva, which flows into the Gulf of Finland – and comprises 42 islands. To join them, 450 bridges were built that cross 63 rivers and canals.
Several metro stations are very deep with Admiralteyskaya being the deepest, exactly 89 meters deep.
Now the Asia phase ends here. Now it’s time to head towards Europe, Helsinki’s first stop.