This Italian man and his friend were driving from Italy to Mongolia on their motorcycles. We saw them at various restaurants and hotels for 3-4 days.

The unofficially named Trans-Siberian highway runs parallel to the Trans-Siberian railway, but in many places it was in terrible condition. This section was unpaved with random giant piles of dirt here and there.

We made it to Irkutsk! We liked the juxtaposition of the statue of communist icon Lenin next to the modern and trendy shopping mall.

From Irkutsk we headed towards the south shore of Lake Baikal, which is the world's oldest and deepest lake. It contains roughly 20% of the world's unfrozen surface freshwater.

In a small town next to the lake there was supposed to be a geological museum which contained every type of mineral in the world. For such an expansive claim, this museum was not easy to find.

It turned out to be in one of the nondescript houses that we had passed, with only this tiny white sign to alert visitors of its whereabouts.

Ed has a degree in Geology and was quite excited to see their collection. They did indeed appear to have every type of mineral in the world. I traded the lady a piece of Lapis Lazuli from Afghanistan for a piece of Lapis Lazuli from Russia.

One of the regional specialties is smoked Baikal Omul. Ed and I had some for lunch from a roadside stand. It was delicious, tasted similar to smoked salmon.

For a side dish, we had some roasted pine nuts.