Omsk

Omsk, Russia

We're in another crappy internet cafe in Omsk.

This city turned out to be a little more interesting than I expected. The Trans-Siberian travel book advised us that there was nothing of interest to be found in Omsk. While it's true that there isn't much of interest to a tourist (museums, cathedrals, etc), it was still an enlightening view of life in Siberia.

Once we got off of the train, we were fairly eager to get a room, and take a hot shower. So, we got the de-luxe double suite in the Hotel Siberia, hastily dumped our shit on the floor, and made for the bathroom. No. Hot. Water. Mike didn't seem surprised by this discovery, but I was both dismayed and dirty. I managed to take a brisk wash in the freezing siberian tap water, but it was way to cold to soap up or use any shampoo. I probably should have grown a pair and taken a real shower anyway, but I just couldn't manage it. After two days on a train, I wasn't in the mood for more character building. I'll just have to wait for Irkutsk to slake off my travel dirt.

But, the whole no-hot-water thing was pretty much the only bad thing about Omsk. It was a humble little city, with some nice parks, and a very cool view of the sun setting over the fork in the river. We had some nice meals, and we went to a couple of clubs. We also met a guy at Bunker named Roman, who spoke english and spent an inordinate amount of time trying to pimp me out to all available Russian women.