A day of rest and relaxation, supposedly.

Every eight or nine days we book a down day in our schedule to do laundry and just re-group. Today was the day! When we asked the hotel staff where a laundromat was located, their response was "we can do the laundry for you".  After reviewing their price sheet, $3 for a pair of underwear and we have 18 pair as an example, we knew we better find something in the city.  This was a challenge and the staff were of no help.   Andrea got on-line and researched laundromats in the area and a Facebook page popped up under a travel group called Happy Frog Travels and they talked about getting their laundry done in Irkutsk. After a series of messages with Happy Frog, we were able to determine where the laundromat was located. We loaded up our small wheeled rolling suitcase and a rather large Wal-Mart bag (you know, the big 'ole tacky blue ones) and headed down the street to the Central Market. Our rolling duffle coverts into a backpack so Andrea carried that on her back and Bill carried the Wal-Mart bag. We say "down the street" loosely because it was probably 1 1/4 miles away, in the rain and mud. Now there is public transportation but we had no clue which trolley line or bus line to get on and didn't want to end back up in Siberia.  So, with the help of our friends at Happy Frog showing us a picture of the building, we finally found it and trudged up to the second floor and unloaded all of our laundry.  

The laundromat attendant pointed to the prices for wash and dry, she determined we would need three washers and dryers, plus the various detergents and softeners, and the total amount due was 770 rubles, which is about $13.  Now, being two accountants, we were ecstatic since the calculated total for the hotel to do our laundry was $191!!!!  We did a spreadsheet to marvel in our savings....

	Ruble
Item	Price Per	Qty	Total
pants	250	7	1750
underwear	150	19	2850
shirts	250	16	4000
sweaters	300	2	600
socks	100	15	1500
			10700	Total
			$191	Coverted to US dollars

Since we now had two hours to waste we toured the Central Market. You can find anything here!   Some of the market is indoors and other areas are down dark alleyways. It reminded us of the Grand Bazaar in Turkey.  They were selling flowers, cakes, veggies and fruits, breads,

And meat, raw meat, just sitting out in the open, unpackaged. We saw a man cutting up a pig head that still had the hair on his ears, the pig that is. 

We headed outside and went into an area selling clothing, shoes, electronics. It was a very dark and narrow series of alleys and this is where we became slightly nervous. It was like we were wearing signs that said "we're American and we want to spend money "!! Everyone was running up to us trying to speak english and sell us whatever they were hawking.  We quickly got back into the main area and Andrea negotiated with a man selling hats for a warm stocking cap.

The city is a combination of old and modern architecture. 

We watched a car being towed in a very unique way for parking in the handicap spot. It almost made it into the tow truck when the owner came up raising hell and demanding the tow truck driver set it back down.  This is when the police showed up to sort it all out....and we left!!!  Click here for a link to the video:

Towed!  

 We eventually made our way back to the laundromat but not before enjoying a small lunch of the local fare.

Our laundry was nicely done, we had to fold and pack it ourselves, and we headed back to the hotel to do what this day was intended for: REST!  We are staying in the Hotel Europa and it is very comfortable. Our room: 

This was the best shower we've had in three days! 

The hotel restaurant:

Setting our sites and where to eat dinner and get a good nights rest before boarding the train tomorrow afternoon!