Russia - Irkutsk

---

Day 153

Today we were woken early as we had arrived at Subaatar the Mongolian border crossing. The train sat stationary at the platform for approximately 2 hours before the officials came on-board to collect our passports and departure cards. The toilets would remain locked the whole time while the train was parked, it was going to be a long wait. After searching the cabins, our passports were returned and about an hour later we were allowed to get off the train.

The whole process of leaving Mongolia took about 4 hours and then we had it all to do again for Russia. After travelling through what seemed like no man's land we passed a barbed wire fence and the train arrived at Naushki, the Russian border town at approximately 11am. The Russian officials checked the carriages and took our passports. Customs officers also checked the declaration forms we had to fill out. After 30 minutes our passports were returned with no problems.

We had to put our clocks forward upon entering Russia, we are now 8 hours ahead of the UK. The train was now to wait for a further 3 hours, leaving at 4.30pm. The platform looked like a ghost town, not like the other stations we have stopped at where food and drink stalls cover the platforms. We had a quick walk around the local market next to the station but there was nothing worth buying.

Eventually we found a shop where we could buy food and drinks, we then sat in the sunshine on the platform for the rest of the time until we were schedule to leave. It was interesting talking to a couple of lads from the south of France as they have done a very similar trip to us, 6 months and the same route with only a couple of different countries. We have no idea why the train waited here for so long although when we came to leave the train was a lot longer than when we arrived.

We were on the train the rest of the day and spent time chatting to our fellow passengers and resting in our cabin. The scenery was very green and we passed Goose Lake and many small towns along the way. At dusk the train arrived at Ulan Ude where Patrik and Marius left the train to make their own way to Lake Baikal. We got off the train to stretch our legs on the very busy platform for about half an hour. We are now travelling on the Trans-Siberian line.

We enjoyed (not) a chicken pot noodle for dinner, we can't wait to get home for fish and chips, we don't like these noodles!

30/6
Day 154 Irkutsk

We were woken early as the train was due to arrive into Irkutsk at 7.30am. We quickly had some bread and chocolate spread with a banana for breakfast before getting off the train. We walked from the station over the river towards the city centre and arrived at Hotel Angara after about an hour.

The large soviet style hotel over looks the main square of the city and offers many different types of room. We decided that we could manage 1 night in the older style room as it was expensive at £50 a night, and nearly double for anything better. The room was very old fashioned and in desperate need of renovation. For some reason there was a step up to the bathroom which meant the ceiling was very low, it was unsafe to have the exposed fan on while having a shower.

After a refreshing shower we found the Trans-Siberian Travel Agency in the hotel to enquire about tickets for a train to Moscow that leaves tomorrow. Unfortunately the helpful lady at the agency could not book the Mongolian Train No 5 that we wanted as tickets are not available until the train crosses the border. However she could offer us the Russian Train No 9 instead. We had hoped to travel the 4 day journey in a 1st class cabin but there were none available so we booked 2nd class.

Most of the day was spent organising our train, getting cash etc, although we did see some of the city in the process. For fellow travellers it may be useful to know that we have had trouble withdrawing our money using a visa card while in Asia. We had expected that as long as the ATM machine showed the visa sign our card should work! We always end up trying about 4 ATM's that all give us a balance but no cash before we are successful.

The city of Irkutsk has a population of 600,000 and was once known as the “Paris of Siberia”. Irkutsk is the main stop for people travelling on the Trans-Siberian trains, the main reason is probably for a shower, but some also like to see the city and the nearby Lake Baikal.

We walked passed the local theatre that was advertising bear dancing shows and the occasional shops. We were surprised how little cafes, restaurants and shops there are in this city.

For lunch we ate at the restaurant in the hotel which is called The London Pub. The menu explained that it was named this as all the traditional pictures and memorabilia were from Bradford! We ordered the good value business lunch which included borscht soup (beetroot soup with potatoes, cabbage and onion), chicken and potatoes and ice cream for desert. We will quickly have to get used to blowing our food budget now we are in Russia and heading home, lunch was £12.

In the afternoon we tried to catch a local bus to Lake Baikal but could not find the correct one so decided to try again tomorrow. We walked through the square towards the river where we were unimpressed with the surroundings. There were some churches and an eternal flame next to the World War 2 memorial down by the banks of the River Angara.

Afterwards we had a rest in the hotel before going on the internet to try to book a hotel for our stay in Moscow. Luckily this is the last hotel we need to book for our trip. It has been relatively easy booking hostels as the websites are really good to use. Hotels on the other hand are a nightmare, especially trying to find the best one in a city for the right price.

After the hours internet usage in the hotel lobby ran out we went back to the London Pub and enjoyed home made lasagne for dinner. Eventually we had enough patience and managed to book a hotel, so at least we have somewhere to head for when we get to Moscow.

It ended up being later than we wanted by the time we went to bed and as soon as we were nearly asleep we received a phone call. “Would you like a beautiful Russian girl” a lady asked, Oliver as polite as ever answered “No thank you” and put the phone down!!!! We were really shocked by this phone call, but we later read in our guide book that this often happens in hotels in Russia!

1/7
Day 155 Lake Baikal

We got up reasonably early to pack and have a buffet breakfast, it was nice to just have cereal and toast for a change. We can tell we are getting closer to home, even though we still have to travel across the largest country in the word by train (the UK could fit into Russia 69 times)!

We checked out of the hotel and put bags into storage. Outside we found a taxi to take us to the Raketa Terminal where we hoped to catch a hydrofoil boat up the river to Lake Baikal. The weather was grey this morning and we hoped it would clear up before we got to the lake. We were disappointed to have to travel on a fast catamaran even though we had bought a ticket for the hydrofoil.

The journey took 90 minutes to Listvyanka a small village on the south west of the lake. Lake Baikal is the worlds oldest and deepest lake, located 40 miles from Irkutsk. The train we were on yesterday went round the bottom of the lake but as it was night time we missed it.

The lake is 1637 metres deep and estimated to contain 20,000 cubic kilometres of water, which is roughly 20% of the worlds freshwater supplies. In fact they reckon that this lake could supply the world with water for 40 years! Apparently the lake was formed here over 50 million years ago and is among the largest of the planets lakes (it is 400 miles long). It is home to some hundreds of species that are not found anywhere else in the world.

As we approached the lake there was low fog on the water, although the weather did improve as we got off the boat. We arrived at Listvyanka at 10.40am and made sure that the first thing we did was go down to touch the water. There is a superstition that if you dip your hand into the freezing cold water it will add a year to your life, a foot will add 5 years and if you swim (and don't die of the cold) it will add 25 years to your life. Today it was freezing so we had to put up with only putting our hands in.

There was not much by the shores of the lake and we did not have much time to spend there, so found out how to get back to Irkutsk as soon as we arrived. At 11am we got a local minibus that is like a taxi back to Irkutsk. There was only 3 of us to start with but it soon filled up with people flagging the driver to stop along the way. The journey on the long straight roads through mainly forest took just over an hour.

As we approached the city the weather got brighter, and the sun was out by the time we got off the minibus. We had no idea where the minibus had dropped us off so had to get a taxi to take us to the hotel. As the sun was out we had a walk around the block and sat for a while in the square. It is really interesting to watch the people in this city, their outfits are very different to what we see at home. The women seem to like wearing bright colours, either very short skirts or very tight trousers and heels with everything.

For lunch we had rassolnik (vegetable) soup, meatballs and cabbage and ice cream at the London Pub, as we couldn't find anywhere else to eat. We used the supermarket next to the hotel to stock up on supplies for our next train journey, only for 4 days!

A taxi took us to the railway station where we waited until 3.30pm to board the train. The Russian train “Baikal” number 9 left Irkutsk at 4.20pm (11.20am Moscow time) with its last stop being Moscow in 4 days (86 hours) time.

We were pleasantly surprised to see that it was a new train and the carriages looked very clean and comfortable. Our carriage was number 11, our cabin 7, berths 26 and 28. When we found our cabin we realised that our berths were the top bunks. This is great for a less disturbed nights sleep but not great for sitting on during the day. There were clean toilets located at the end of the carriages and the conductor kept it all very clean and tidy.

We were sharing our cabin with an old Russian gentleman to start with, he seemed very friendly except with the language barrier it was going to be an unsociable journey. At the next stop a young Russian girl joined us in our cabin, she was also friendly but knew no English either. In fact the whole carriage unsurprisingly filled with Russians and the only Westerners were an Intrepid tour group in another carriage we had shared our train from Beijing to Ulan Bator.

All the Trans-Siberian trains run on Moscow time which was 5 hours behind the time in Irkutsk. As we were going to be departing the train at Moscow it made sense to change our watches to now be on Moscow time, it was going to be a long night!

We all got settled into our cabin, the Russians were very friendly and offered us to share their snacks. We only really had vodka to offer them which they both declined. By 8pm Moscow time (1am Irkutsk time) we were all fast asleep.

---