M&M’s hiking & camping in Gorkhi-Terelj NP

Ulaan Baatar: Our Ugly Duckling

Being a white European in Mongolia, our first encounter with local people in the streets of Ulaan Baatar was a loud snort and spit followed by ‘Welcome to Mongolia’, heard from a complete stranger who was passing us by. Another stranger approached us out of nowhere, shook our hands saying ‘hi’ and walked away hurriedly,

Russian Journey Through Polish Taste Buds

It’s time to summarise our personal Russian experience as we left Russia on 12 August heading for Ulaan Baatar in Mongolia. A few comments about Russian cuisine might give some food for thought to genuine foodies. For starters, Russian cuisine is quite similar to Polish food as it is abundant with steamed meat dumplings called

Shamanic Olkhon Island at Lake Baika(l)

Marshrutka (minibus): Irkutsk – Olkhon, 6 hrs of twists and bends on a bumpy road which at one point vanishes and turns into an even bumpier dirt road. Olkhon Island is THE place to go on Lake Baikal both for Russian and foreign tourists and local people, very often of Mongolian origins called Buryats, who

Exploring Russian Land-Brainscape

As one of my friends commented on our photos that every second picture shows us drinking beer, we decided to do something physically challenging for a change. The challenge involved hiking with our backpacks from Listvyanka to Bolshie Koty village along Lake Baikal shore. It is a 25-kilometre trek which we hoped to do in