Today began late, as breakfast in the guesthouse doesn’t start until 9am. Breakfast consisted in whole of; bread, pancakes, porridge, sausage, cheese and egg and also yoghurt. Our guide turned up and handed over our train tickets for the rest of the trip to Berlin, but of course they are all grouped together and I got volunteered to look after them all.
This morning we drove down to the Listyanka ferry to go over the Angara River, which happens to be the only exit for Lake Baikal. Lake Baikal is over 1.6km deep, and has enough fresh water in it that if all of the other drinkable water in the world ran out, Baikal could supply enough to last the entire world for 20 years. It is not the world’s largest lake by surface area, but it certainly is by volume. There are also over 500 tributaries leading into Baikal, but as mentioned, only one exit. The locals have a legend that Baikal is as a father figure, and the Angara River is like his daughter, always trying to run away and so to stop her, he threw a boulder in her path, and that is why in the mouth of the Angara there lies a solitary rock; Shaman Rock. Over 2000 cubic metres of water flow into the Angara River every second, and the River is only a maximum of 3m deep at the exit.
We arrived in Port Baikal and started to look through the museum, which is located in the restored Port Baikal railway station. It was restored after it was burned down during the civil war. The museum had dioramas Of The Port as it existed when it was still being used, and how the Russians had built the stretch of track along the shore to this location. Unfortunately, as mentioned previously, Irkutsk has a hydro electric power station in the city and this is fed by the Angara and this caused the river to rise by up to 10m in some areas. As such, the track for the Trans Siberian had to be moved and this has meant that Port Baikal is now becoming a ghost town. It does still have a population of 500 and some of the land is now being used as “dachas” by the locals from Irkutsk. These weekend houses are there primarily for the rich and arty. We walked past several of these and up a slope to get to an almost completed Russian Orthodox Church, where we had our lunch. The guide had picked up some pies from a local bakery that he knew containing either cabbage or fish. We also had sausage and cheese sandwiches, fruit, biscuits, Russian chocolate and coffee. Well, instant. The view was spectacular and we sat for about an hour simply admiring the surrounds.
After lunch we went for a walk along the train line for a while to a local spring, where we could refill our water bottles. It was also at this point that I asked if a swim was possible. We walked down to the edge of the lake and I put on my board shorts and braved the water. I might point out that there was snow on the ground in places. I might also point out that there are times that I am prone to do things that some people out there in the general populace would seem somewhat stupid. I will finally point out that I did dive in, and then last less than 3 minutes in the water! Our guide was impressed. Ben just thought I was insane.
We walked slowly back to the ferry with the sun on our backs, a warm September day in the middle of October. We boarded the ferry, myself in a t-shirt with my still damp boardshorts hanging from my bag and started talking. In English. A group of Russian girls also got on the ferry and of course spotted the only ones not completely dressed for the cold; Ben and myself. When we started talking the looks and giggles started and we remained the focus of their attention for the remainder of the trip.
Dinner was at the chalet and the owner cooked us chicken and mashed potato. I feel that we would have been better going into town for a meal and a beer and so Ben, John and myself headed off afterwards for some beer and hot chocolate. For a town of 2000, this place is extremely quiet, or else goes to bed with the sun!