Big named industrial city, Centre of Russian Buddhism, former dormant trading post, Ulan-Ude is a bit of everything.

Arrival at dawn suggests a typical array of steppes, rivers and the beginning of a chain of mountains. The tiny airport (International) is bordered by an airstrip populated by old biplanes (apparently belonging to firefighters), very Soviet cliche.

The afternoon, We find ourselves before the head of Lenin (the largest of the world) one of my acquaintances, native of the city, to visit the ethnographic open air museum, which presents Siberian wooden houses, a church of old believers, yurts and settlements of local tribes. The evening, We visit downtown, who is in two parts : the upper town, around from the Soviets and the head of Lenin square, is the Soviet part. The Lenin Street, some of which are pedestrian (nicknamed Arbat street in reference to the Moscow Street !) down to the historic centre and its wooden houses.

The next day, the brother and mother of our friend lay us the Ivolga Datsan, the most imporant place of Buddhism in Russia. On the way, his mother launches a few pieces near a marked Hill of an incantation, to pay tribute to the spirit which “live” This place. In Siberia, shamanism has survived the Communist era.

We are spending our last day at Ulan-Ude to visit some museums. A guardian of the art museum believes that my girlfriend is Buryat and just tell him (in Russian) that the Museum has just opened a hall dedicated to Buddhist art : Indeed, a large part of the population has the Asian traits !