Irkutsk, the Decembrists and Olkhon Island on Lake Baikal

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Irkutsk! I've heard of that place somewhere before. But its not a country is it? Oh! Risk! Playing the board game Risk, way back when. It was a country or region or whatever - in Risk! Well, now I'm on a train. And going there!

The open steppes of Mongolia have been morphing into gently rolling hills with more and more trees - the taiga ecosystem of Siberia is starting to pass by out the train windows. And not much else. Very few villages, very few houses, very few humans. And perhaps that is why the city of Irkutsk is such a surprise. Over half a million people in a bustling city that has beautiful old Russian Orthodox Churches and incredible rambling wooden homes - mansion like. This city, founded in 1651 as a Cossack garrison, quickly grew in the 1700's in it's role as the jumping off point for expeditions sent out to explore and map the far north and east of Russia. Including 'Irkutsk's American District' - Alaska.

In addition, this city is indebted in its growth, particularly as a cultural center, to the Decembrist Movement.

The date was December 26, 1825, when a group of liberal army officers occupied St. Petersburg's Senate Square in a rather poorly organized coup attempt against Tsar Nicolas I. After the Tsar responded with several well aimed canister shots that killed about 60 of the would be revolutionaries, the coup crumbled. Several leaders were executed. But more important for this story, 121 of the organizers were sentenced to hard labor, prison and exile in Siberia. And as those organizers served their terms, their wives followed. Living in nearby towns like Irkutsk, these women set up small social circles that encouraged 'Western civilization'. They opened schools and hospitals, formed scientific societies and edited newspapers. They even built theaters for live performances. In 1855, upon the death of Tsar Nicolas I, the Decembrist plotters were granted amnesty and most returned to St. Petersburg. But their legacy lived on in bustling Siberian cities like Irkutsk!

Only 70 kilometers from Irkutsk, lies the 'Pearl of Siberia', Lake Baikal. It is 636 kilometers long but only 60 kilometers wide and sits upon two rifting tectonic plates. This is the world's deepest lake, 1637 meters. It holds one fifth of the world's fresh water. And hidden deep beneath its crystal clear waters is the rift, the point where two tectonic plates are slowly separating, tearing Asia in half.

We head out toward Lake Baikal, to Olkhon Island. It is so peaceful. Unhurried and in tune with nature. Surrounded by the shimmering waters, framed by towering snow covered mountain peaks and covered by wide open tundra beside towering evergreens. It's feeling, its sense of earthy power, is unmistakable. And I'm not surprised at all to learn that has long been considered a center of shamanic energy. And a hub of shamanic activity. We spend three days there. I bicycle around, in addition to the four wheel drive tours we take. I discover the old cemetery with it's lake of Orthodox crosses and less overtly religious symbols of the Soviet era. I wander the dirt tracks of the village of Khuzhir, finding the 'internet cafe' and a beautiful new Russian Orthodox Church. It sits high on a hill with a commanding view. And it is quite clearly a new construction, post Soviet era!

And we take a frigid sunset boat tour. The grizzled old captain of the little boat energetically tells his stories, gesticulating with power and raising his bushy eyebrows with innuendo. His listeners are totally enraptured with his stories, laughing heartily or gasping in awe. It's wonderful.

Too bad we didn't understand a word he said! All of it was in Russian.

But I bet I could tell some of the same stories. I mean his gestures 'told' the story - no words necessary. Although, my stories my not be based as much on the actual truth as his weavings were!

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