Irkutsk is the largest city in Siberia, and is decent sized town with a few things to see. For most tourists, though, it is primarily a gateway to lake Baikal. Most choose to head down either to Listvyanka, a town closeby that is by baikal’s shores, or to Olkhun island, further away, in the middle on lake Baikal.
Informative graffiti in Irkutsk
One of the first things we did after getting off the trans-siberian in Irkustsk was to get a family sized Papa john’s pizza. Thank you globalisation! We only spent a day in Irkutstk, so we walked around and explored. After Moscow, Irkutsk felt really tiny, and a lot less “European” than Moscow. We found a few nice places to eat, and after breakfast the next day in Double Coffee, we were off to Listvyanka.
Pizza, duuude!! (channeling Michelangelo from TMNT)
Most Russian town centres usually have a big statue of Lenin
Lenin probably doesn’t approve of the commercialisation, and the $3 coffees…
After weeks of airbnbs and cheaper accommodation, we got a nicer place at Listvyanka with a great view of the lake. The first thing you notice is that Baikal is huge. It really is just like staring out into the ocean. Also, the area around Baikal had been experiencing a number of forest fires, so the air was quite hazy. The haze gave the lake a certain surreal-ness, you couldn’t be sure where the water ended and the sky began. The next two days we just stayed put for a while. The initial plan was for me to squeeze a dive or two in, but I was still recovering from the fever and a cold, and decided to be boring, safe, and keep my eardrums dry. I joke about most things, but a reverse squeeze (when expanding air is trapped in your sinuses and can’t escape), is not funny. We did, however, check out the dive shops and recommend dive-baikal.ru.
The diving that never happened
So the next two days was walks along the Baikal coast, decent food, and comfortable lodging. Lake Baikal is famous for “Omul” a fish that is sort of like indigenous salmon. I tried a frozen omul dish, and it was quite alright.
Mmm…appetizing omul…not!
Sunsets over Baikal
The town of Listvyanka is sandwiched between Baikal and the hills. It’s essentially a bunch of buildings that sprung up on both sides of a narrow road.
Baikal in the evening, from our balcony
Pebbly “beach,” Baikal in the day
A very apologetic Obama waving a Russian flag
The flame for Sochi was carried to Baikal, and also lit underwater I think
Markets selling shiny stones
We made our way back to Irkutsk to spend another night there as our train left from Irkutsk at c. 8am. In Irkutsk, we spent some time at local mall, where we went to grab dinner. The mall actually had a bubble tea stall (wow!) so we had to get one. This was one of my more memorable encounters (and one of the few in English):
V: Zdrahstvooytee (Hello)
Girl 1: Zdrahstvooytee!
V: English?
Girl 2: (takes over) Yes! A bit.
V: <Points at items on menu, whips out phone for translations. Just wants a hazelnut milk tea>
Girl 2: You mean chocolate?
V: <shakes head> No, hazelnut
Girl 2: Dah, dah. (Yes, yes) <points at some nut-like thing on menu>
(Drink making in progress)
Girl 2: Why are you here?
V: <slightly thrown by the question> Um…what do you mean?
Girl 2: In Irkutsk, why you visit?
V: Trans-sib?
Girl 2: Ohhhhh, trans Siberian! <everything clicks into place, the enigma of the non-Russian speaking stranger solved>
(Drink is ready)
Girl 2: There is a special trick to the straw, let me do it for you. <Very, very slowly inserts straw into drink>
V: Spahseebah (thanks)! <walks away>
(Tries drink)
V: Maaaan, chocolate.
The infamous chocolate bubble tea; also, the bubbles weren’t the usual chewy kind, they were balls that burst when you bit them and shot out some flavour juice.
Vodka, vodka everywhere…
…and not a drop to spare
Irkutsk in general doesn’t see that many tourists from outside Russia. It’s a pretty homogenous society (apart from a small minority of what I would imagine were people with Mongolian heritage), and it was evident that many people had never seen people like us. From kids stopping on the street, and bubble tea girls trying to practice English, to catching locals staring full on. Just one thing to do – Smile and wave!
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Travel facts
Cumulative cost of travel so far
GBP: 1,214 plus EUR: 1,308 plus RUB: 40,765
Accommodation
Two night apartment stay in Irkutsk 4300 RUB
Two nights hotel in Listvyanka 101 GBP
One night in hotel in Irkutsk 2875 RUB
Travel
Cabs from Train to hotel, hotel to train, hotel to city – RUB 1100
Cab from Irkutsk to Listvyanka – RUB 2000 (Booked online on Baikal explorer, link here)
Bus from Listvyanka to Irkutsk – RUB 440 (buses leave every 15 mins or so from the tourist information office)
Spending
RUB 11250
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If you’ve read this far, and STILL want more information on Baikal, we leave you with this documentary on Lake Baikal. Enjoy!
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