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Published: August 22nd 2011
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Part 1:
Things began a little rough, as we began the trip in Mongolia. The first time Kailie arrived in Mongolia, Mongolian International Air Transport (MIAT), the famed Mongolian carrier food poisoned her. This time around, she skipped the meal but they lost her luggage. This created a bad situation because she arrived just before midnight on the 8th and we had tickets to leave at 9:10pm on the 9th. We called the following morning to find out the luggage that was promised to arrive at 10am, hadn’t arrived. I could say that this came as a surprise but nothing could be further from the truth.
The three of us, being Cassandra, Kailie and I decided it was best for Cassandra and I to head out and Kailie could catch the train the next day to meet us in Irkutsk, that way we wouldn’t have to all pay a penalty for changing our tickets.
Cass and I headed out as planned at 9:10pm bound for Irkutsk. We shared a coupe, or 4 bed room with a Buryat women. Buryat people are of Mongolian decent and were nomadic herders who spent a large amount of their time on the southern shore of
Lake Baikal. When the Russians came and colonized the area around Lake Baikal, people began intermarrying thus forming a new group of people. They are a perfect fusion on Mongolian and Russian and their appearance, foods and language reflect this. So, when we first began speaking to this Buryat woman in our coupe, I thought I knew quite a bit of Russian which gave me a false sense of comfort which was quickly rectified. Also, to explain where Buryat people came from, as mentioned earlier they do look Asian, she would say, “I am Russian,” then horizontally pull back the corners of her eyes, to give her alread Asian eyes a further Asian appearance and say, “Buryat!” It was quite the spectacle.
We woke in the morning on the Mongolian side of the border for a customs check, it took 4 hours. Then the train pulled across to the Russian border where we stopped again, for another 4 hours. I was standing in the hallway looking out the window when a young Russian customs official walked in wearing an oversized green hat and slammed the window shut in front of my face. Naturally, I was pissed but held my cool,
as I’ve watched all the bond movies and know that people in large green hats command respect. When he walked to the next cart, I opened the window and walked back to my coupe…I win.
In total, the train ride was 34 hours and we arrived at our destination of Irkutsk at 8:30am. We found a trolley for 12 rubles or 30 cents and took it into town. The first guesthouse we went to was full but they recommended another and booked it for us. We walked over there and found that it was less of a guesthouse and more of an old cat ladies house, but rolled with it. We found ourselves in a room with children’s books, stuffed animals and pencil markings to gauge the child’s semi-annual growth spurts.
There was a considerable sized breakfast strewn out across the table in the kitchen but we were quickly made to know that it was not for us. Shortly after, from what I can surmise, the entire extended family came over for breakfast and that they were enjoying each other’s company very much. We decided to head out and see what was going on around town. To save the boredom,
nothing was going on in town, there is nothing to do in Irkutsk. We headed to a tour place and booked tickets to Olkhon Island on Lake Baikal for the next morning, assuming that Kailie was on the train coming in.
That afternoon we were told that we were not allowed to use the kitchen, about 20 minutes after we bought some vegetables. So, we thought a secret mission to the kitchen was in order and as I mentioned earlier, I’ve seen all the 007 films so it was no trouble to sneak in, grab a pan, boil water and get out undetected. I think it’s the first time I boiled vegetables for the stir-fry we were attempting to make but it was good nonetheless.
The next morning Kailie arrived on time, thankfully, as we had no means to communicate and we caught our bus to Olkhon Island. Upon arrival, we checked in at a guesthouse called Nakita’s where we paid 1150 rubles ($38) each, for a 3 bed room, which is absurd. We began talking to others who paid 850 rubles each then found a sign that said we could rent a tent for 450/night and it didn’t matter
how many people. So, we traded in our room for a tent and camped for 2 nights for cheaper than 1 night would’ve cost each one of us and we were on the lake.
Some facts about Lake Baikal:
- It holds more water than all 5 Great Lakes combined.
- It has fresh water seals.
- It is the oldest lake in the world.
- It is safe to drink the water.
- It is 5,371 feet deep.
- It contains 20% of the planets fresh water.
- Lastly, if the rest of the world’s drinking water supplies ran out tomorrow, Lake Baikal could sustain the planets population for the next 40 years.
We laid low the first day, set up our tent and walked around a bit. That night we bought a beer each from a small store where the Babushka had a well-manicured goatee, which freaked me out….we didn’t go back.
The following day we rented bikes from the world’s worst negotiator. She wanted 1,000 rubles for the day for 3 bikes. Around 1pm, we told her we only needed them until 4pm, she said, “Okay, 800 rubles for the whole day but no lower”. I said,
how about 600 for 3 bikes until 4, she said, “Okay and you can keep them all day”. We rode to the beach where we hung out for a few hours, I jumped in the lake….twice. Once because I felt I had to jump in one of the coldest lakes in the world and once again because it wasn’t documented on the camera the first time.
That night we caught the tail end of a free accordion/Russian singing concert, had a few drinks and crashed. We caught a bus back to Irkutsk, overpaid for a train out and now we’re on our way to Novosibirsk…more to come.
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Mom
non-member comment
Yay!!
Hi Bud, I am so happy that you are blogging again! I love all the detailed information that we don't usually cover while on Skype. The photos are great, the first Lake Baikal picture with the tree in it is magical...it would be a great postcard, or a good submission to National Geographic. Can't wait for the next entry, stay safe & have fun! I love you, xoxoxo