Heaven in Siberia

We arrived in Irkutsk at 0616 local time (0116 Moscow time) and had gotten somewhat adjusted to the time difference. It’s about + 3 degrees outside, which is what we’ve decided to call fresh. We had a mini-van picking us up where we had a Russian guide who actually spoke English (that’s a first!). She kept going on and on about Irkutsk and Lake Baikal; information we would get repeated the next day. Needless to say, I was a bit tired, so I plugged in my iPod, closed my eyes and tried to relax. It was pitch black outside as it was still fairly early, but as time passed (it’s roughly a two hour drive to Lake Baikal and Listvyanka) night turned to day. I could see the sky getting lighter, and the early morning sky was playing hide and seek with me amongst the trees in the Siberian forest. My iPod was playing a James Horner tune, “the Rose”, and just as the song reached its climax the trees disappeared and the hillside lay open bathing in the morning sunrise. The silhouette of a few trees could still be spotted, but had a hard time getting attention next to the colorful picture the sky had turned in to. Going from almost white, to light blue, bright yellow towards darker yellow before it turned into peachy orange, then red and finally numerous shades of pink. I’m certain I saw a glimpse of heaven.

Knowing I’m only seven days into my long journey, I’ve come to realize that I’ll probably get quite a few samples of heavenliness along the way.