The day of the Baniya

Bangkok airport 

Today I am at the end of my journey and as I wait at Bangkok airport my flight is at 0500 hours so check in will be at 0200 hours, and I am in Transit, I await and reminicanse the trip that was, I am fondly remember The Banin Experience, It was June  1^st

I am  at the town of Irkutsk,  we shall experience “ The Bania” Russian bathing tradition where the steam room is heated up to 75 degrees Centigrate, and one sits there for as long as one can,  then comes out & has a bath in water that’s at normal atmosphere temperature in this day it will be 9 degrees cold water, & one can repeat the process a few times, in between the rounds of hot and cold, one could also beat up ones own back, or if you have a friend along, can beat up the back of the each other with a bush, which is dipped in cold water, all this process to get the pores open in the cold Siberian winter.

I arrive at the house of  Gulnara, a lovely lady from village of Mamony, 

she and her husband were kind enough to have me over and let me experience Bania

There house completely made of wood, and is handmade, work in progress for  eight years and a few rooms is still to be put togather, kitchen and living space on ground floor and bedrooms on top floor,  How amazing is it to make ones house, Evgeny's( husband of Gulnara)  talent just amazing  to craft it by oneself,, How I would love to be skilled enough to do such a project someday.    Anyway I digress, The Bania is a separate chamber a room rather Two rooms that’s  a separate structure, wonderfully made the logs are sealed with Jute( yes the same just that I grow one crop of back in India ) with a steam room , and a cold room, and a room to prepare oneself before the bania. 

In the ante room, getting ready me and Evgeny

So here I am outside the cold-room, and ready to step in and have a cold shower, n then head inside the camber 75 Degrees, and boy was it hot, after a few minutes, maybe 3 – 4, we made a exit and had a cold shower, I had my back beaten by the birch bush

 and it felt good, I was ready for round two, 

 Ready for Bania

once inside on round two, I could be there only a minute and a half, before it got too hot for me, and I made a exit, it was amazing and post the cold shower, I was in a

Warm state, Loved it, the skin texture felt very different for sure, and was a warm feeling, not having experienced one before, the skin sure felt more rough and maybe more porous.

 #siberiaindia #Siberia #irkutsk #travelindia #rajatghosh #travelwithrajat #adventuretravel #exoticvacation #lovetravel  #amazingindia #amazingsiberia #huwaip20, #Amazingdina #phonephotography #samsungA50 #dinatravelguide #djiOsmoPocket #dobroeutra

#riverangara #angara #riverangaraSiberia #transsiberianRailways #thebanya #russianbathbanya

The River Irkut

 

River Irkut

Day 3^rd in Siberia, 31st May 2019

Its 0330 hours and I am awake, and get ready for the trip to River Irkut, when I do finally meet D, I am surprised to find D already had prepared breakfast and was ready to get going, call time was 0400 hours we wanted to be out of the door, today we were going to visit River Irkut, 50 km from the Irkutsk town, when travelling with a knowledgeable guide what differentiates the great ones from good one is to more about where to Photograph from, the locations that will help create great images that’s so important to help one be  able to create memorable images and that’s Dina’s specialty. A lady who handles her life multitasking is indeed commendable.

D hands me a ton of stuff to carry, and I am too sleepy to question, so I quietly grab all that’s given to me, and head down, today was supposed to be a very hot day, 25 degrees, approx. So I am wearing 2 layers of clothes less then what I normally would, well in the car and off to Village of Moti, we reach and we exit from the car, I am freezing, its 7 degrees outside, feels a lot cooler, maybe it’s the river that’s encouraging the wind to make me a icicle, what was I thinking, D grabbed a sleeping bag and wrapped it around me to try and keep warm, anyway, I only had myself to blame, and soon was caught up in the moment making images to bother about the cold, was happy if I could keep from shaking my camera and was in the moment, creating some amazing Images D’s sharpness in spotting points where we should be making images from is marvelous,  and  I was mesmerized with the images that we managed to create,   

Minimilism

we spend a good 75 minutes or so , photographing the sunrise, the trees, the river, splashes in the lake, and all that I could think of , and then off to another village, the roads reminded me of Darjeeling in India, and the pine trees and twisty roads brought be back home as we drove to a hanging bridge, very similar to he one we had photographed  while I was in Lamahata in August of 2019, Link

Some of the bags I had helped carry down, now were open and I realized it contained food, Bless D she had realized we wont have time to find a café, so she had prepared breakfast, now that’s real thoughtful of her,

Yummy YUmmy 

We had breakfast, comprising of Bread, Sausage, Quail eggs, Greens, herbal tea, and cheese (yes I skipped cheese) we were warm soon, and off across the bridge to my first Village life experience in Siberia, what an amazing place, so lovely set in nature it was like visiting a Indian village but with wooden houses instead of Mud houses, we came across friendly horses

The most friendly filly

 that wanted to play with us, cats that wanted to walk with us, and such lovely moments as we walked and took some images and like yesterday ‘s sighting we had seen motorbikes in Museum, 

Bike with Side car, Vintage Russia

well today we were seeing those bikes in nature, and people actually using them, was lovely sight, we managed to get some more interesting village life shots and then we relaxed on a bench on the village of “samanka” 

Bridge to Samanka the village 

with grass and yellow flowers all around, it was 1100 hours before we started back, and the walk and car ride back, we were back in Irkutsk city by 1430 hours to find No water in the house, darn, I was actually looking forward to a warm bath, anyway we did what we Indians do when we are upset,  we went out to a nearby Indian restraint “hotel Ganga”  where the logo was Ganesh Ji, and yes it serves liquor and is vegetarian, but also the entire menu and staff is Russian, so If you are a Indians you are again stuck to looking at pictures ant trying to make out what the food is, The taste is catered to the people of the NON spicy nature, the foods are all bland and tasteless, but palatable, the masala chai was not too bad though, we had Palak and Nan, we were hungry and hogged like wolves,  2 nan each and we actually managed to polish off the food, Mahesh is the name of the guy who runs the Hotel, 

Tram for hire

Once again we start back,  finally we are back home at 1600 hours, I could so do with a good sleep for a few hours what with having slept only 4 hours last night.

 #siberiaindia #Siberia #irkutsk #travelindia #travelSiberia #rajatghosh #travelwithrajat #adventuretravel #exoticvacation #lovetravel  #amazingindia #amazingsiberia #huwaip20, #Amazingdina #phonephotography #samsungA50 #dinatravelguide #djiOsmoPocket #dobroeutra

#riverangara #angara #riverangaraSiberia #transsiberianRailways

 #motiSIberia