OCT 30, 18 .. IRKUTSK (ИРΚУТϹΚ) RUSSIAN SIBERIA .. WOW .. PINCH ME, I MUST BE DREAMING (Part 2 of 3)

In Part I of this series of Posts ..

https://babakaps.net/?p=31673

I concluded Part I with me being at the check in counter at the Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, airport for my flight to Irkutsk, Russia.

I was first in line. I paid 75,000 Mongolian Tug ($29.33) for overweight luggage (they even weighed my carry-on bags and my computer bag was heavy).

When I left Seoul, South Korea, I was charged 90,000 Korean Won ($78.84) for (I was only allowed one free suitcase) my second suitcase. Paying that fee turned out to be a bit of an adventure in the Seoul airport. We had to go to another part of the terminal to pay our bill.

Then, of all things, when we were checking in for the Korean Airlines flight from Seoul to Ulaanbaatar, it was actually on a Mongolian Airlines (MIAT) aircraft with MIAT check in and flight crew. I rather casually mentioned to the Mongolian Airlines staff that I was a MIAT frequent flier.

Read on below. Little did I realize what that rather casual comment was going to lead to. After I said that I was a MIAT frequent flier, the check in staff took an extra minute or two to finish checking us in.

The MIAT check in staff then upgraded the three of us into Business Class at no extra charge. So in Seoul, I paid for excess baggage and then we were gifted with a free upgrade into Business Class. This nice little ‘perk’ got us off the plane up front on arrival and smartly through the Mongolian immigration process.

Being charged for over weight baggage is getting to be old-hat to me. In all of my travels, these are the absolute first times I have ever been charged for excess baggage and / or excess weight.

Back to leaving Ulaanbaatar for Irkutsk.

My wheel chair and assistant arrived at the check in counter and we two  passed through security and immigration with no undue drama.

All I have to do now is just relax and wait for boarding.

I am now aboard AERO MONGOLIA Airlines Flight Number MO-101 heading to Irkutsk.

Our airliner was very small as compared with those on my long haul flights.

Notice the differences in the cabins between my flight on AERO MONGOLIA to Irkutsk above and on MONGOLIAN AIRLINES from Seoul, South Korea to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia below.

Approaching Irkutsk, Russia.

I am so happy that I know a little of the Russian / Mongolian cyrillic alphabets.

The first cyrillic letter И above is sounded as our letter I. The second cyrillic letter P sounds as our letter R. The cyrillic letters K and T are identical to our letters K and T. The cyrillic letter У has an oo sound that rhymes with our word you. The cyrillic letter C sounds as our letter S.

ИРΚУТСΚ

EAR Koout SK

I was met at the airport by two very important friends.

Sergey..

My Number One Man in Irkusk..

Mike my first translator who put-together and orchestrated our two-full-month trip through Russian Siberia.

Lord God in Heaven Above .. I just love being over here in ИРΚУTCK  !

The first two photos below were snapped at the ИРΚУTCK railway station.

The city of ИРΚУTCK here in Russian Siberia is older than our nation. Back when Russia owned / occupied the region that we call the State of Alaska, the governing body within Russia was located here in ИРΚУTCK

I arrived into the Irkutsk airport on time at 7:30am (0730 hours).

I was the absolute last person to pass through Russian Immigration. At about 8:15am (0815 hours) I entered the Irkutsk passenger arrival hall and up to me raced Sergey (Sair Gay), the gentleman who invited me to come here way back in the autumn of 2015. We two had an emotional embrace and lots of laughter and giggling, and off we went with two others, Mike and Constantine. Mike is my translator and Constantine owned and drove the car we rode in.

This will complete Part II of my series of Posts showing my trip North from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, up to Irkutsk in Russian Siberia.

I will write Part III tomorrow.

Smiles .. Cap

• ← OCT 29, 18 .. IRKUTSK (ИРΚУТϹΚ) RUSSIAN SIBERIA .. WOW .. PINCH ME, I MUST BE DREAMING (Part 1 of 3)
• OCT 31, 18 .. IRKUTSK (ИРΚУТϹΚ) RUSSIAN SIBERIA .. WOW .. PINCH ME, I MUST BE DREAMING (Part 3 of 3) →