Day 7: Listvianka

Well, it's off season.  So I am the only person here in this hostel.  Sometimes I feel like I'm the only foreigner in all of Syberia.  

After spending the morning wandering around Listvianka, I headed to Taltsy, a traditional wooden village in the forest.  It was snowy, but it looked like that beautiful rainbow-like fake snow that you buy at the Christmas Tree Shop with which you decorate your window sill, or the bottom of your Christmas tree.  I felt like I was walking into the first song in the movie Frozen.  " Born of cold and winter air and mountain rain combining...".  It was completely stereotypical, exactly what you think of when you picture Russia: log cabins, snow, bearded men, pancakes, bears...

Afterwards, I made it to Irkutsk and to my hostel.. again, I was the only person there. The hostel man was ironing when I came in around 5pm.  I got situated, left, got food, came back and he was still ironing.  Around 8, I went out again to get some beer and I drank it in my dank room of solitude until I emerged around 11 to use the bathroom.  He was still ironing.  I burst out laughing.  "All day!!!" I said.  Shaking his head, he grimly responded with a sigh, "all night."

For the life of me I can't imagine what he was ironing.  As I said, I was the only person there.