Day 6: Lake Baikal and Irkutsk

My great plan for the day was to get up before dawn, hike out to a good overlook of the lake, and watch the sun rise over Lake Baikal.  I got up around 0430hrs (sunrise was at roughly 0600) and made it to the trailhead without issue, thanks to my recon from the previous day.  Everything went well except for one thing: the weather was overcast in the morning.

The deserted road leading from the hostel to the lake.  There was a mix between residential houses and resorts or lodging for tourists (including one flying the Chinese and Russian flags).	This was bout the best it got – a pink spot on the horizon.

With a few hours until our pre-determined link-up at the Shaman for breakfast I decided to continue to hike along the lake.  The trails closest to the lake are quite precarious at times, winding up and down the very steep slopes dropping a hundred or two hundred feet down to the rock beach and the lake.  They were a lot closer to goat trails than hiking trails!  The going was slow but the views were great, and on the way back I took a trail further up the hill that avoided the twists, turns, and risk of falling to my death, getting me back to the start in maybe a tenth of the time it took along the coast.

Lake Baikal as seen from the hiking trail.	A tug pulling two barges towards the sunrise.

After that I walked along the beach some (where several people set up camping tents and probably didn’t appreciate me walking on the gravel at 7 in the morning) and then followed the shoreline back through Listvyanka towards the Shaman.  Occasionally the town would be enveloped by a fog bank and the occasional car would zoom past at between two and three times the posted speed limit of 30kph (20mph).

Listvyanka in the fog.	30kph?  Right.

After breakfast we made our way back to the center of town and tried to see if we could catch a boat back to Irkutsk.  They do run between two and three times a day, but when we arrived the man behind the counter said that the next one wouldn’t leave until 3:30 PM.  Furthermore, the boats didn’t go all the way to the main part of the city, but would stop at a dock at the south end of the city requiring a transfer to one of the trams or minibusses to get to the train station to catch our 6PM train.  Finally, traveling with a two-year old teaches you to be prepared for any sort of contingency or delay during situations like this, so we decided to take the minibus back to the city and risk our lives on the road.

Surprisingly, this driver was a much more cautious driver (in particular, he actually obeyed the passing restrictions on the road), maxing out at a mere 110kph (69mph) and simply tailgating anyone who drover slower than him.  The luggage rack on the roof may have added some extra drag as well.

We made it back to Irkutsk, though his end point was at the bus station still necessitating a transfer to a tram or minibus.  I negotiated with the driver to see if he would take us all the way to the train station.  He initially refused, but after everyone else got out (save two Chinese people who didn’t speak or read any Russian in the back) I asked again and he offered to take us for an extra 300 rubles (total).  We accepted and made it to the train station without further incident.

I had to go back into Irkutsk to pick up our Visa registration forms (you have seven working days after arriving in country to register your Visa) so I took the rickety No. 1 tram across the bridge again and went back to the Baikaler to pick up the receipts.  On the way back I stopped by a supermarket to pick up more bottled water (generally, it cost about 50 rubles for 0.5L at kiosks, you could get 1.5L for about 40 rubles at produce stores, and the supermarket sold 2L bottles for about 25 rubles), some snacks for the train ride, and a 150 ruble ($5) DVD set featuring two Soviet war films.  Why not, right?

I decided to walk back instead of taking the tram, seeing a couple different sights and monuments along the way.  There was a statue of Tsar Alexander III to celebrate the completion of the Trans-Siberian Railroad.  It was removed 1920 due to the Communist Revolution but was reinstated in 2003 in honor of the 100th anniversary of the railroad.  There was also a bust of Yuri Gagarin (the first human being to travel to space), a monument to soldiers, and a nice but unremarkable park along the river bank.

Tsar Alexander III statue.	Soldiers’ monument.
Yuri Gagarin in a flower bed.	The park along the riverbank extends bout a hundred feet inland from the river, with a separate walking road and a few playgrounds and statues or sculptures.

After returning to the train station, the Brenders and I went to go check out a Chinese restaurant located near the train station for a belated lunch.  Let me say that this restaurant, the “Höt Express,” was the least authentic Chinese restaurant that I have ever seen.

Inside, the speakers were playing Russian rock and techno music, the TVs were playing footage from Disney animated films (muted), the standard side for meals was bread instead of rice, and they did not have any chopsticks! 

Eating a the “Chinese” restaurant, with forks, bread, and all.	Jasper, while waiting at the train station, takes an interest in my pocket Russian-English dictionary.

After that, we went back to the train station and waited for the train to arrive so we could continue our westward journey on the Trans-Siberian Railroad!

The business end of the Irkutsk train station.

Day 5: Lake Baikal

After dropping our bags at the Eco-Baikaler, we made our way down to the shoreline and followed it to a restaurant called the “Shaman” (Шаман) recommended by our host, Anna.  A good mix of Russian food was offered and the food was decent – and most importantly for us foreigners, menus are offered in Russian, English, and German. 

The Shaman café, which overlooks Lake Baikal.	Jasper learns how to drink Mors with a knife (Mors [Морс] is a berry drink we enjoyed throughout our trip in Russia)
I had the “Meat Troika” (Мясная тройка), which is fried beef, pork, and chicken mixed with cheese.  A significant reason behind getting it was because it had the word “troika “in the dish.	Dad and Lance are amused by Jasper (off camera left) during our relaxing lunch by the lake.

Afterwards, we walked back towards the main part of town along the lake.  There really isn’t much of a beach along the road – it’s more like a sea wall and a couple feet of rocks or gravel.  There were still people sunbathing down there, and we went down and had some fun skipping rocks into the lake (to the amusement of some of the people walking by).  This started an inside joke that if somebody asked us why we were doing it, we would claim to be Canadian.

The Brenders relax on the beach.	Deepest lake in the world?  Check.
Dad practices the traditional “Canadian” pastime of skipping rocks in a lake.	“Sailing… sailing away… “  Man that yacht rock is just so incredibly smooth!

We booked an hour-long boat excursion at one of the information kiosks.  During the wait I did some scouting to find the trailhead for the numerous backpacking trails that go around Lake Baikal while the Brenders and Dad stayed by the marina an shopped at some of the souvenir stands.  At the east end of the town there is an actual dirt beach, and the paved road goes through a residential area to the actual trailhead.

ATV rentals by the half-hour or hour.  Jasper’s affinity for cars and trucks became apparent when we walked by.	His other car is a hovercraft…

The trail rises up into the steep hills surrounding the lake, offering some spectacular views when the weather is good.

We linked back up to go on the boat ride.  The ride went about five kilometers east along the shore before looping back around.  Our “guide” didn’t speak much English and mostly sat around and texted on her phone.  Dad and I went up to the bow, where it was windier but much quieter and offered better views.  They had blankets for the people sitting in the back.

The Brenders… on a boat!	The shoreline.

On the way back we noticed an abandoned series of buildings and an upturned and rusting boat hull by the sandy beach.  Our guide said it was the remnants of a small shipbuilding industry that used to exist… perhaps the overturned boat was their first (and last) vessel.

The remnants of Listvyanka’s shipbuilding industry.

Following the boat ride, I ended up getting a stuffed animal (a seal) for Jasper.  As it turns out, the seal is the iconic animal of Lake Baikal (though we didn’t see any live ones on the lake) and the seal became a constant companion for him for the rest of the trip.  We had some shishkabobs at a fish market and enjoyed seeing the sun setting over the beach before heading back to the hostel for a good night’s sleep.

Jasper’s seal in a car.	Dinner at the market.

Day 5: Irkutsk to Listvyanka

Irkutsk is the closest city to Lake Baikal, and is where the Trans-Siberian Railroad passes through.  However, to actually see Lake Baikal you have to travel by road or boat about 70km – in our case, to the town of Listvyanka (which is the popular tourist town to see Lake Baikal).

We tried taking the tram to the bus station but had difficulty finding the tram stop (we were aiming for the #4 tram which would take us directly there, as we were carrying luggage) – we found the sign saying “Троллейбус” (“Trollybus” phonetically) with the No. 4 tram and others listed, but the No. 4 tram went by several times and did not stop.  We started asking people how to get to the bus station and one businessman was kind enough to tell us to take one of the minibusses and showed us the stop.

The minibus is equivalent to a VW van in terms of size and can carries about 14 people (using fold-down seats – the van is considerably smaller than the 15-passenger vans I’ve used in the States).  When it arrived, the minibus was mostly full and Lance thought we couldn’t fit.  However, with a bit of creative positioning and unflagging spirit, we made it work.  Despite the cramped conditions (particularly given the Brenders’ large suitcase which we came to call “The Beast”) we made it to the bus station while only mildly annoying the other passengers inside. 

Lance guarding our luggage at the foot of Lenin’s statue.	Lance and “The Beast” crammed into the minibus.

Unfortunately, at the bus station they weren’t selling tickets to Baikal (they only pointed us outside where a minibus was waiting for its scheduled departure).  As it turned out, the bus wasn’t selling tickets either and wouldn’t let us on without one.  As the “official” busses only departed every two hours we were at a loss for what to do next.

Someone pointed us across the street where we found other minibusses from a separate private company providing trips to Listvyanka.  The rates were the same as the “official” busses (100 rubles per person, or about $3.25) and they had about a half dozen vehicles stacked up waiting for people to go.  Once the van filled up with passengers, we took off for Listvyanka.

Now last year on my trip to Russia I observed that Russian drivers were generally speaking insane, even outclassing Korean drivers in that regard (in Korea, you get the whole range of drivers from the crazy ones to the timid ones so you never know what to expect.  In Russia, they all seem to be universally very aggressive drivers).  The same was true for our ride to Listvyanka. 

In the hour-long trip, we topped out at about 125kph (77mph) on a highway with speed limits of, supposedly, around 80-100kph.  On numerous occasions we passing while going uphill with blind curves, we roared by a guy doing roadwork without slowing down, and several times he was talking on his cell phone (held in his right hand) while simultaneously shifting the manual transmission van with the same hand while negotiating city traffic.  The Brenders were sitting in the backwards-facing row, so remained blissfully ignorant of the danger throughout most of the trip.  One interesting and unexpected sight on the drive was the presence of about five cows waiting at a bus stop on the side of the road – it was so unexpected I didn’t even have time to get a photo.  Despite a couple close calls we made it to Listvyanka without crashing (in part due to the reluctance of oncoming traffic to hit us).

A typical minibus that takes the Irkutsk-Listvyanka trip.	Lance in the “oblivious row” unaware of how many times we came close to crashing.

After arriving in Listvyana, we made our way to the hostel (the Eco-Baikaler, run by the same people who founded the Baikaler in Irkutsk.  See www.baikaler.com for information).  The upside: it is brand new and reminiscent of a log cabin house in the woods.  It’s also cheap (similar rates to the Baikaler, about $25/person/night) and clean.  It was originally the owner’s house which was upgraded to a hostel about two years ago.  It was definitely a refreshing 180-degree change from Irkutsk and the city!

The Eco-Baikaler hostel.

There are two downsides to the hostel.  First, it’s about a 15 minute walk from the lake itself (and the location where we were dropped off from the minibus), so considering our luggage and Jasper we ended up taking a taxi instead of walking.  The second is that it does not have Internet access.  Still, once we got our luggage dropped off we didn’t mind the walk and we had a great time during our stay.

The room where Dad and I spent the night.	After getting unpacked, Dad and I plan out our adventures for the day.

In the next update I’ll describe what we saw and did at Lake Baikal. 

Day 4: The Streets of Irkutsk

Now that we checked in to the hostel and dropped our luggage, we set off in search of food (and to see what we could of Irkutsk).

Taking a rather circuitous route, we first went to see Kirov Square before looping back around.  Kirov Square is where the city government headquarters is located and it contains a nice park with various displays describing the history of the region and city.  Kirov Square is named after Sergey Kirov, one of the Bolshevik leaders in the Communist Revolution, who was assassinated in 1934.  This sparked the beginning of a series of purges under Stalin which culminated with the Great Officer Purge of the Red Army setting the stage for the abysmal performance of the Red Army at the start of World War II (during the Winter War against Finland in 1939-40, and against the Germans in 1941-42).  The Soviets also named a nuclear-powered battlecruiser class after him.

Kirov Square, looking towards the government building.	Looking back towards the fountain, with historic displays and flowers.

Of course, there’s nothing like a carefully maintained bed of flowers to attract a two-year old kid…

A thunderstorm was brewing and there were several lightning strikes in the area, though we didn’t get any of the rain.  We tried to get some photos of lightning strikes with the buildings in the background, but had no luck.  In the process, we observed two people riding Segways.  Apparently, they aren’t quite as useful if the city doesn’t have handicapped accessible sidewalks.

Kirov Square.	Segway defeated by curb.

We eventually made our way to the restaurant recommended by Nadia, our hostel manager, but found it closed.  So, we walked back down Karl Marx street (or, if you read the English translation on the street sign, “Karl Marks St.”) and found a nice Italian restaurant that was open.  Apparently, a lot of restaurants in Irkutsk close down by 8PM on a Sunday night.

Karl Marx St.	The Prego.  It’s located a bit away from the main street but was worth the detour.

The restaurant featured a guitarist playing music, interspersed with Russian techno when he wasn’t there, and gave Jasper a balloon to play with.  They also took our picture – perhaps in response to a search for a similar looking two-year old playing in the Kirov flower beds?  Anyways, they didn’t try to sell us the picture, nor did they give us the picture.  We’ll probably appear on some propaganda post a couple years from now.

After dinner, we walked back to the hostel for a good night’s rest.  It was a bit warm in the room (no air conditioning) but it was nice to get a “real” shower as compared to the past few days on the railroad.  Tomorrow: Listvyanka, the resort town on Lake Baikal.

Walking back to the hostel on Lenin St.

Day 4: Irkutsk – First Impressions

Distance traveled: 1317km
Total distance by rail: 4072km
Distance from Moscow: 5185km
Average speed Vladivostok-Irkutsk: 58km/hr

This evening we arrived at Irkutsk, which is located about an hour northwest of Lake Baikal, and our destination for this part of the trip.  Irkutsk, once known as the “Paris of Siberia” has a population of 600,000 and is one of the first “real” cities we’ve seen since Vladivostok (Ulan Ude, which we saw earlier in the day, comes close).

A few hours out of Irkutsk, we got our first glimpse of Lake Baikal.  The railroad follows along the southern shore of the lake for a good distance before climbing into the hills and arriving in Irkutsk.  The weather was perfect and even from the railroad, the lake was beautiful.

Lake Baikal out our window.	The train passing along the south shore of Lake Baikal.

But enough about Lake Baikal – more on that tomorrow when we go down to Listvyanka, a town actually on the lake.  Irkutsk… what to say?  The city struck me in many ways as stereotypically Soviet.  Let me explain:

First, the streets still have names like “Lenin St” or “Karl Marx St.” – there are still statues of Lenin and a bust of Stalin up, and there was even a fresh wreath and flower placed at the foot of Lenin’s statue.  The Russian Bank (Банк России) still has on the side of its building “Гос. Банк СССР” (State Bank of the USSR).  They have even resorted to reverse-engineering Western trends like Starbucks (a lookalike called “Lenin St. Coffee”) or a place called “Домино пицца” (Domino Pizza) which clearly was not Dominoes!

Russian Bank in Irkusk (note “State Bank of the USSR” on the side)	We swear – those capitalist pigs at Starbucks stole our idea of a proletarian coffee shop!
Gazing into the future with a furrowed brow and a hard stare.	That pigeon was sentenced to twenty years of hard labor in the gulag.

Not only that, but the city had the Soviet-era architecture throughout its buildings, the trolleys looked very industrial and ancient (old-style wood seats, you can see the bicycle chain that opens the doors, etc.), old Soviet-era cars and trucks spewed billows of black smoke into the air, and there were even anti-vehicle obstacles on some of the streets!

A street trolley from the 60s rumbles at an agonizingly slow pace across the V.I. Lenin Memorial Bridge.	I suppose you never know when you might need vehicular obstacles like these.

Perhaps I’m being too harsh on Irkutsk – but again, my impression is that the city seems to still be in the Soviet-era.

Anyways, we arrived at the train station at 1812hrs local time (a fitting arrival time for a city in Russia) and caught the tram across the bridge into the city.  The upside is that it only cost us 12 rubles for the ride (about $0.30).  The downside is that the ride was slow and noisy… but it definitely had character!  As the old, beat-up and worn trolly rumbled across the bridge at its top speed of 22kph (14mph) we got a great view of the river which flows out from Lake Baikal, and the city itself.

The view from the trolly crossing the Lenin Memorial Bridge, looking north.

We got out on Lenin Street and made our way to the Baikaler Hostel, our home for the night.  Like many inner-city hostels, the outside is nothing to look at.  Once you get through the outer door, inner metal security door and climb up four flights of stairs, the inside of the Baikaler is well maintained and has good facilities (and you can’t beat the price – 700 rubles per person per night, roughly $22).  The only downside is that there wasn’t any air conditioning.

Front door to the stairway that leads to the Baikaler Hostel.	Hostel entryway.
Sleeping arrangements in the Baikaler.

After checking in and dropping our luggage, we asked the hostel manager Nadia for her recommendations on places to eat, got a map of the city, and set out in search of dinner.  More on that in the next update.