Imma's Exiting Travels

One contact we made on one of our trips was Imma, a native of Spain. We first met her at Godzillas Hostel in Moscow and have since stayed in touch. One of my goals is to visit her in her home country one day and do some traveling around Southern Europe. I hope she makes good coffee! Unlike me, Imma is excellent with a camera, or at least she has a sidekick who is. Here are some of her photos from her Trans-Siberian railway journey. It's the longest train journey in the world, covering 7 1/2 days on board and stretching from Moscow to Vladivostok, Russia. If you are a savvy traveler and have even the slightest interest in Russian history, then the trip would be incomplete without stopping at numerous Siberian cities and towns along the way. It's the surest way to meet the locals and a chance to see some stunning scenery: mountains ranges and pristine lakes. Yes, you could see the landscape from the window of the train, but of course it's not quite the same. Imma and her cohorts camped along rivers, took digital images of domed churches, spotted Lenin statues and viewed the world's largest lake, Baikal. Here are some of Imma's photos. For the rest, click here for her Picasa Web Albums.

There's Imma!

Camping in the Russian Outback: Siberia!

See Imma's albums to actually see how the fish was cooked!

I read a book once about the Russian move across Siberia, setting up of towns, buildings railways, trading and colonizing the indigenous people.  It reminded me of our own stories of the Wild Wild West.  Their Lewis and Clark would be members of the wealthy Stroganoff family (yes, the name of the dish we have heard about).  This family was sent out on expeditions by the czar to map out lands.  Here's an example of one of the earliest Siberian settlements.