Irkutsk

Arriving in Irkutsk at 4am Moscow time, 9am local (it really does take a bit of getting used to seeing clocks throughout the station showing a time 5 timezones away) we made our way out into a grand, bustling station.

We had ambitious plans to get straight off the train and race to the bus station to catch a bus up to Olkhon island on Lake Baikal for Marcus's birthday the next day. Our late arrival and the infuriating town planning of the bus and train station miles away at opposite sides of the town soon dashed this plan forcing us to hang around Irkutsk until the next day.

Irkutsk city currently resembles a hard hat construction zone. It seems like absolutely every path and building is in the process of "improvement" forcing pedestrians out onto the busy dusty roads. The drivers are crazy, the newly painted white pedestrian crossing lines on the streets seem like a waste of paint, nobody pays them much heed. We heard a rumour that a one Mr. V. Putin is due to visit shortly and the last time he came through he thought the place was a bit of a kip so apparently there is an 11th hour effort to polish it up a little. One thing you immediately notice about this Russian city is how Asian looking most of the inhabitants are, a true indication of how East we have travelled in the last few days. The city bustles with big Chinese markets selling lots of smuggled goods. When you walk around the markets you get the feeling things are not quite above board. The ever present Russian police presence is not as tourist targeted so you don't feel like you are looking over your shoulder all the time. In one of the markets we witnessed a teenager sprinting away from a policeman. The policeman was carrying a big bag of fruit but it didn't seem to hamper his speed as he pursued the young man dragging him back .. fruit still safely in hand.



Irkutsk's character and charm can be found in its old wooden houses with fantastic windows. Serious subsidence has caused alot of these to lean dangerously to one side or have bottom floor window sills at street level.

Lake Baikal lies 70km east of Irkutsk, in wintertime this massive body of fresh water freezes allowing people to drive across the ice. At one stage train tracks were even built across the ice. We spent most of Marcus's birthday crammed into a little van travelling/bumping 6 hours north to Olkhon island. An ex-Russian tabletennis champ and local entrepreneur Nikita has cultivated a tourist industry in the small town of Khuzhir. Nikitas is an eco friendly complex of little cozy wooden cabins serviced by a big restaurant and long drop toilets. It was like paradise full board accommodation for us! We caught up on lots of sleep and ate lots of great food. The restaurant served up three mammoth meals a day. Breakfast was two runny fried eggs, porridge and a pancake. A few hours later everyone sat down to a big plate of omul, the local fish. There was lots and lots of fish! (Lunch and dinner everyday...served in different guises). It was great not to have to worry about what you were going to eat .. you just had to turn up hungry. There were a couple of times we were stuffed from the previous meal but turned up for the next feed just because we were curious as to what it would be.

Nikitas it located in Khuzir, the biggest village on the island. It is a real wild west town. There used to be a fish processing factory here but that has been closed for some years. Mainline electricity only came to the village towards the end of last year and there is no obvious industry...apart from tourism which is a pretty small endevour at the moment, very hard to see what supports the people here. Shops look more like peoples front rooms, cows wander the dusty streets and tumbleweeds roll on through.




To burn off the calories we set out each day on some long walks down the beach and surrounding areas coming back each evening to see the spectacular sunsets at the Shaman Rocks close to Nikitas. Our most challenging and memorable day on Olkhon island was indisputably the day we set off to cycle across the island on a 50km round trip. The eastern part of Olkhon island is barren and dusty however once you climb a few (very steep) hills the landscape completely changes and drops off into wooded valleys with lush long grass. The scenery was made all the more special by all the vibrant autumnal colours. We reached the other side of the island and the big expanse of Lake Baikal by lunch time. It's been a few years since I've been on a bike so a little bit of saddle soreness had set in by lunchtime, we'd both suffer for severals days afterwards!

The ride home was tough going at one point, exhausted after a climb, we contemplated waiting for the rescue vehicle. Digging deep we made it back to the sight of home just as Marcus's pedal fell off.










:: Needless to say our tongues were hanging out by the end of the day ::






As there is no running water in Nikitas the whole world of the Russian banya was revealed to us. The banya is a small wooden house containing a big trough of hot water heated by a fire. In essence it acts as a bathing area cum sauna cum steam room. You mix up some hot water with cold and throw it over yourself. It works out to be a highly efficient shower. The banya soon became the highlight of the day - we are easily pleased these days!








Russia has been a fantastic experience for us both. From the imposing cities of St.Petersburg and Moscow, to the long train journey across Siberia to our week at Lake Baikal, we've enjoyed so many different aspects of the country. One thing we'd both like to do is come back and see the landscape in the depths of winter ... I guess that's another trip with a warmer wardrobe. We've got used to being given the run-around at train stations and not seeing too many smiles. However, after borrowing a lonely planet Mongolia we were excited about a change of country and culture and it was back to Irkutsk to catch the train to Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia.