Nigel: After taking the long train journey, the next planned stop off was a place called Irkutsk, which is in East Siberia. The city is known as the Paris of Siberia due to the similarities of the buildings architecture. The main purpose for stopping here was to head down to a town called Listvyanka which is approximately 1 hr south, but whilst we were in Irkutsk, we decided to spend a couple of days to view the city. Unfortunately the weather wasn't great for the 2 days we were there and it gave a glimpse of how harsh and depressing the place would be during the freezing winter months. Another thing we noticed when we arrived, was the slight change in culture from Russian to Asian. For the time we were there, we walked around the city and down by the river. Although it was fairly pleasant place, it was also a non de-script place. The only highlight was the locating of a Liverpool FC themed bar and even that was disappointing as it was both closed and it was Liverpool FC.

Our next destination was a place called Listvyanka which sits on the western shores of Lake Baikal. The lake is famous for several things. These include it being the largest lake in the World in terms of its capacity (length and depth), it contains 25% of the World's fresh water, and it has a fish called Omul which can only be found here. Omul is a local delicacy and can be found being sold on every street corner (usually being smoked). We planned to spend 3 days there and 2 of these days coincided with the weekend. As this place is very popular with all tourists (national and international), over the weekend period it was very busy throughout. The place, in terms of size, is similar to a small village with one main road going through.

Alison: The journey to Listvyanka was a white knuckle ride. We were in a minivan which had a curtain so you couldn't see much of the road ahead and we were bombing it along a very bumpy road. In Russia, you drive on the right side of the road but we were overtaking so much that it felt like it should have been the left. Not being able to see the road ahead properly was a bit unnerving but on reflection it was probably for the best as at least we didn't get to see the whites of the drivers eyes who our driver was playing chicken with!

We used our time in Listvyanka to relax and enjoy the fresh air. Although the place was quite touristy (mostly with large numbers of bikini clad, vodka drinking, Russian tourists), if you looked beyond this and out onto the lake, the views were really beautiful. It gave me that 'it's good to be alive' feeling!

Despite it being uncomfortably hot whilst we were there, the lake was extremely cold and when you approached it you could feel the cold tingling on your skin. It was very refreshing to stand next to but even after a full days sunshine, I still got brain freeze just putting my feet in! There were actually Russians swimming in it. The temperature was probably warm compared to what they are used to!

Apart from general walking around and enjoying the views, the two main touristy things that we did were walking on the Great Baikal Trail and visiting the museum which is 1 of only 3 museums dedicated to a lake in the world. The museum was a bit disappointing because there wasn't much English so most of the informative part of the museum we couldn't understand but we still got to enjoy the fish and seals in the mini aquarium. The Great Baikal Trail is a famous walk in the area and the part we walked on was around 25km long. Since you need a permit to walk on it and we didn't have one, we decided to do a sneaky and just walk up to the viewpoint where there is less chance of being asked for your permit. We walked around 6km which doesn't sound far but the first section is the hardest part of the trail as it is all uphill and it was exhausting. Around 3/4 of the way up there was an empty vodka bottle hanging from a tree which we think was left behind by the last people who attempted the climb! Unfortunately, the view at the top wasn't that impressive as the trees had grown and were in the way. We thought maybe they should cut the trees down so that people can see and also maybe build a McDonalds up there ;)