I woke sometime around 11 am the next morning and my head was pounding. I got up and looked out of the window to find a complete white-out. It was the 10th of May and there was a full-on blizzard happening outside. It was so beautiful and peaceful that all I wanted to do was go back to sleep. Check-out was supposed to be 10 am but I didn’t think anyone was checking in to my room after I left… I walked down to the manger’s room and knocked on her door. A minute or two later, she stumbled to the door and looked worse off than me after her 2-day bender. I asked her if I could stay and sleep in for a few hours which she graciously affirmed would be fine. I trudged back up the stairs to my room, took one more look out of the window at the picturesque scene around me, before snuggling up in my bed and falling back asleep.

I woke up again not much better off than before but decided I was overstaying my welcome and that I had a long journey back into Irkutsk. I once again packed my backpack to the brim and of course, accidentally left behind some things. It seemed to happen every time but was a blessing because months later I realized I didn’t need as much as I thought, to get by. I could do with a lot less and so could everyone else for that matter. I slung my pack over my shoulder and sauntered down the stairs, head aching. I was greeted by the manager who called me a taxi to bring me down to the lakeside road to catch my people-mover back into town. We gave our awkward hungover goodbyes and I was off down the bumpy dirt road. A few minutes later I was at an out of order ATM wondering how I was going to pay the taxi driver. I walked back and explained the situation and she gave me a ‘no problem!’ which really goes a long way when you are strapped for cash travelling solo in a foreign land. I waited until my people-mover arrived seemingly out of nowhere and I packed in once again for my 1.5-hour journey back to Irkutsk.

I returned back to the market where I originally departed and did a quick sweep to see if there were any hidden gems. I am a bit of ‘trash is treasure’ type of person and saw a lot of gems that I decided wouldn’t be smart to collect carry on with me. Luckily, the hostel I was to stay in that night was only a 20-minute walk from the market. It was a perfect amount of time to browse Tinder which was a normal time-killer to me on this trip. I matched with a few girls by the time I made it to my hostel. I walked up a flight of stairs and was greeted by a warm common room with some soft jazz playing in the background and was soon led to my shared room. I introduced myself to the two Australian girls staying in the bunk opposite mine and made my bed for the night. I learned that the two girls were doing a similar trip to mine, just in the opposite direction. They had already been travelling for a few months and had some great stories to tell and advice to give me for my journey ahead. We decided we would have a few drinks later in the common room to swap info. I laid back in bed and continued my tinder journey.

A short text conversation later Nadya agreed to meet for a drink and some food and I asked her to recommend a place. Funny enough she recommended a ‘traditional’ Irish pub called Harat’s not too far away from the hostel. It was just like that song by the High Kings, “…’Cause wherever you go around the world you’ll find an Irish pub.” In fact, when Googling back on Harat’s I found out there were around 10 within a few miles of each other in Irkutsk… And it was true that almost every city I went to in the world I found some version of an Irish pub. But, I digress. I took a much-needed shower and did myself up as best I could. I was just hoping for a bit of company as it could get lonely on my own. I walked over to the pub and decided to try the Guinness before Nadya arrived. It was shocking, but still better than no Guinness at all.

Nadya arrived and we had a great time discussing both our backgrounds and how crazy it was that our paths had crossed. The advent of the internet had done crazy things for global social interaction. She told me about life in Irkutsk and that she hadn’t done any travel outside of Russia so was very keen on hearing my take on other parts of the world. It was very informal, which was a nice change from other dates I had been on. We ate our mediocre meals and decided on a few more pints, half pints for her, as the conversation started flowing. Before long she let me know that she had to leave soon because there was a party she had to attend. I probed a little further hoping to get an invite into a traditional Siberian home for the festivities. Well, it turned out the party was a birthday for her 5-year-old son. This came as a surprise to me because there was no mention of a child in her life but it didn’t make any difference because I learned a lot from her and enjoyed the company while I had it. We went our separate ways, never to speak again, but happy to have connected in the first place.

As it started to get dark I took a leisurely stroll to the supermarket where I grabbed a few bags of chips and a few beers before heading back to my hostel. When I returned, the two Australian girls and the hostel manager were enjoying a bottle of wine and some good conversation which I was invited into. I remember the conversation taking a turn at one point and the focus became America and its ideals. I felt that was a constant topic throughout my travels and it was so interesting to see how people from other parts of the world thought about the place where I grew up. Sometimes it was good but most often people disagreed with certain American values. But, what I thought most important and reassuring was when people understood you as an individual not solely connected to the person running your country or to how the media portrays life where you come from. It’s encouraging when they have an interest in learning who you are and what good can get done from having a conversation. As you can guess, the conversation got pretty deep and it was a good ending to my short time in Irkutsk. I called it a night and was already packed and ready to leave early the next morning.

I tiptoed out early as to not disturb anyone’s sound sleep. I found it very annoying when people would leave early without having packed the night before causing a huge commotion to those sleeping around them. The hostel manager pointed me to my bus stop and before I knew it I was back at the dingy train station reading the old flip schedule for my platform. I grabbed another 3-in-1 instant coffee from the small shop and headed to platform 3. 30 minutes later a new Chinese train line arrived. I would be riding in “1st Class” for the next three days through the remainder of Siberia, through Mongolia, to my final destination in Beijing, China and another 4 months of travel.