Decided to get an early start ... long drive ahead. Woke up at 6:30, breakfast at 7, ready at 7:30 ... then realize that I had crossed 2 time zones without knowing so it was really 9:30 ... ooops.
The ride was uneventful ... nice asphalt ... few people ... some dirt sections ... few towns ... intermittent rain ... temperature in the 60-70s ... amazing cloud formations ... and a glimpse of the Trans-Siberian railroad every once in a while.
Interesting how many of these towns look like small towns in Latin America ... wooden homes, tin roofs, buses spewing black smoke, dusty, crowded and colorful markets, with vegetables and fruits for sale ... except the people are blond and blue eyed ... with your occasional super-model type selling tomatoes in the market ... weird.
Started to see some Mongolian people at around 100km from Irkutsk ... the Mongolian border is only 250 km from there. Also, noticed that my front tire is almost gone ... one more problem to figure out in the next few days.
Road turned into a nice 4 lane highway before Irkutsk ... incredible city ... on top and around a bunch of rivers ... beautiful boulevards ... nice buildings. I guess this in fact looks like the Paris of The East.
Tomorrow, find a tire, explore the city, and figure out where to spend a night on the shores of Lake Baykal.
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