We were up early to pack as we were off to Irkutsk. It was a good day to leave as it was raining. Our first stop was the hotel to get some money as I had miscalculated on the number of beers last night and was 3 roubles (75p) short on the fare. At the hotel, panic set in - the ATM machine not working. The contingency was another machine we had been told about in the village 2km away. After a 45 min walk, I found out I had been miss-informed - it was a telephone top up machine. Finally the tourist information lady took pity on us and let me have the bus fare for 3 roubles less. The bus dropped us in the centre of Irkutsk. We grabbed a taxi to get us to an ATM and then to a hotel. The hotel was Soviet era and the room we had was awful - it seemed like the place had not been touched since the 70s. We then had a pleasant afternoon walking round - ending up at the market to buy provisions for the train. The food market was fascinating - Fran could have spent all day in there.