Cat & Dave on the Trans-Siberian Railway

We spent the day in central Irkutsk, where we were pleasantly surprised by a seeming non-russian quasi-european city (obligatory Lenin Statues aside).  Unlike the previous city we visited (Vladivostok), Irkutsk was, aesthetically, a much more enjoyable city; sidewalks actually existed, roads weren’t in shambles, and the air was more breathable.  The busses were, however, still borderline impossible to use (Tangent: Busses in Russia [or Siberia, we haven’t experiences Moscow/St. Petersburg yet] are really confusing.  Getting on is generally fine, but finding your stop is difficult.  Stops aren’t labeled [or they might be, we just can’t find them], so we are constantly looking out the windows trying to find familiar landmarks.  The complexities of bus navigation are further compounded by the drivers spending roughly 5 seconds at each stop.  They are also turbulent, and too short for me to stand up in.)