Lake Baikal and the circum Baikal railway

Arrived late at Irtkutsk and was met by our guide Lena for the 1hr transfer to the lake side town of Listvyanka. Guy was with us on the transfer but he was staying in a hotel at the end of the village. We were introduced to our hosts Rita and Sasha at our home stay. We then ate lunch with our guide and driver which was a home made traditional soup for a starter and Omul (which is a fish that is indidenous to the lake! Yes we did eat it!). For dessert we had pancakes with jam or sour cream which the Russians love to eat with anything. Feeling very full we set off on a walk to the museum at the end of the village picking up Guy on the way. Lena gave us a tour of the museum where there was an aquarimum with 2 baikal seals and fish from the lake.

The lake is the biggest fresh water lake in the world at around 700km long and 75km wide. It holds 20% of all fresh water on the planet! It is also the deepest lake and is where the Russians have set the deepest dive records looking for life on the bottom of the lake. There is also a myth that the more of your body you submerage in the lake the longer you will live, in the winter they cut holes in the ice so you can still bathe!

After the museum we had a tour of the village with the highlight being another church! It was a very nice chucrh that had been moved do to the rising of the lake due to the dam. We then returned to the homestay where we washed in a traditional banya(it is like a sauna). At tea we met two other people traveling with monkey business called Matt and Jen who where traveling in the same direction as us. After dinner we walked to the local bar to meet Jen, Matt and Guy for a few drinks. There we made it feel very british by meeting another british couple on the hunnymoon and a british lady who were all doing the trans-sib. After watching the locals play russain pool which consists of 15 white balls and one red! we walked back to the homestay in the dark having to follow the white lines of the road.

The next day was a free day around the lake so we decided to go for a walk. After breakfast of omlette, ham, cheese and cake, we packed our lunch and set off to the top end of the village along the edge of the lake. At this end there is a market selling smoked fish and souvenirs. There was lots of little houses with people smoking fresh fish around the corner from the markets.

Around lunch time we decided it would be nice to walk up the mountain at the other end of the village where there is a ski resort in the winter. There is a chair lift to take you up to the view point but we decided that it was too expensive so we started to walk. After 2 hours of steep up hill walking we reached the top! The views where amazing and we could see the steam train of the circum baikal at the staion on the other side of the river mouth. After a rest we decided to get the chair lift back down but there was no ticket office at the top. Ski lift guy said we could pay at the bottom but when we got off no one asked us to pay so we walked back to the road and home!

We had decided to swim in the lake to add 25 years to our lives but the weather had got a lot cooler. We still went in though and ducked our heads under the water, it was cold!! After extreme coldness we went straight to the extreme hotness of the Banya, it was lovely. After the Banya we had dinner, soup followed by pasta and sausage in dumplings.

Irkutsk Express - circum Baikal

After an early start to pack the bags we set off walking to meet our guide Lena at the ferry stop at the end of the village. We boarded the ferry which runs from listvyanka to port baikal. There is just the train staion and a water bottling plant now at the port which was the original port for the 2 ice breakers that carried the train and passengers to the other side of the lake beofre the circum baikal extention was built. We boarded the train to Irkutsk at 11:30am. The train now runs down the side of the lake on the old line which is considered one of the most expensive train lines ever built. Alexander III spared no expense with the cost bringing in the finest Italian masons to construct elaborate gallerys, tunnels and bridges. In 1950 the Angara river the runs out of the lake past Irkutsk was dammed for hydro electricity which rasied the level of the lake by 6m flooding the original line from the city to port baikal. Only special tourist trains run along the singal track line stopping off at various places and small villages that have no connection to anywhere apart from the train and ice roads once the lake freezes.

At half way there was a 1:45hr stop to sit on the beach and have another paddle in the lake. We were well fed on the train starting with pancakes for breakfast and chicken, fruit and cheese melt that did not go together for lunch. Jen stuffed herself with the bread and butter thoughout the day. The locomotive that pulled the train left at the staion of Slyudgankia which is made from the local white marble. We arrived in Irkutsk at around 10:30pm and went straight to the hotel Angara to do some manual washing before bed!