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Listvyanka village
This picturesque Siberian village is to be our home for a few days. You can just make out Lake Baikal next to the treetop on the right of the picture.The train journey from Exaterinburg to Irkutsk takes a full two days and by the end Nicola, Matt and I are bordering on cabin fever! However, Nicola and I are fortunate to have two more nice Russians in our cabin to accompany us. One is Anna, who is a middle-aged lady with a lovely smile, no English but excellent sign language. The other is Olga. She has limited spoken English but sits close to Nic on the bottom bunk and they seem perfectly able to swap basic wedding details and she explains that she is 24 and recently married to an army offcier. She borrows our guidebooks which intrigue her. We also meet Eva, an Italian communications student, and she joins Nic, Matt and I in the restaurant car as we pass the time reading and playing cards. Matt is befriended by an eccentric Russian guy who insists on buying him cognac and drinking toasts. They have a discussion about ski-ing through mime and international sign language.
There are two Russian policemen in the cabin next to us. Contrary to what the guidebooks would have you believe, they do not ask for our passports once or try to get any
The Lake
This picture is taken at the mouth of the river flowing into the Lake. It shows the point at which the surface has begun to freeze. money out of us. In fact, at each station they religiously change into their uniforms and wait on the platform with the provenista until the train is about to depart, at which point they reboard and change back into their standard issue tracksuits. We note with interest that they always carry their sidearms, though this is most likely a safety measure in case someone breaks into their cabin.
Eventually the train arrives in Irkutsk and we are met by Tatianna our local guide. Matt is dropped at his homestay in the city and we continue to ours in the village of Listvyanka. This is right on the shores of Lake Baikal. If you check your atlas, the lake is right above Mongolia. It is huge, nearly two kilometres deep and holding twenty percent of the world's fresh water. It is also frozen, which is a quite incredible sight. I hope the camcorder footage does it justice. The ice on top is about two feet thick. At first we are a bit concerned about walking on it (naturally), but the site of a 4x4 driving over it lets us relax. Tatianna explains that it is usual for people to drive
Listvyanka homestay
This is a typical Siberian house owned by Olga and Victor where we will be staying. across the lake to the other side when it is frozen and that an annoucement on the radio will let people know when the ice has thawed to the point where it is no longer safe to do this.
We arrive at the house in the village where we are staying and met Olga (a different one, not the one on the train) who is the housewife and our host. Her husband Victor is a local driver and her son is a mechanic. She welcomes us with a delicious lunch and numerous cups of tea. We have the lounge to ourselves, where two beds have been set up.
After lunch, Tatianna walks us to the local museum. This is dedicated to the lake and it's wildlife. I won't go into all of this now as there is loads of info, but suffice to say that the lake is an incredible place and home to some unique species. The museum also has a small aqaurium, the highlight of which is two of the local seals who were rescued after being stranded. They are very fat, but have a playful manner. The mother seal seemed to be trying to sleep
Olga
Olga, who was a wonderful host and a fine cook. She loved the fact that Brendan cleared his plate every time and would grin widely saying "Good boy" in a strong accent. as the daughter swam around energetically, gliding from one tank to the next on her front and back alternately.
We walk back to the homestay and after a late lunch are given a real treat - a banya. This is basically a sort of Siberian sauna, expect you wash yourself at the same time. There is a constant supply of hot water from the stove, which you cool down by mixing with cold water. It's a basic but very satisfying experience that leaves you refreshed and relaxed. After dinner we find a local bar where we meet some local hotel owners who are playing Russian pool (American size pool balls with snooker size pockets e.g. difficult). We talk and share a toast (vodka of course).
The next day is the highlight of the trip so far. The morning is taken up with two hours of snow-mobiling and the afternoon is a 10km husky sled ride! Both have been arranged through the big hotel in the village, so after breakfast we walk up to meet our instructor. The briefing is very short as he points out the controls on the snowmobile. "This go. This stop. You keep behind 5
Victor
Victor, Olga's husband, chopping wood in the back yard. This was a daily task and the wood was then freely burnt in the Siberian stove which heats the whole house. to 7 meters." The trip is out over the lake but this is preceded by a dash through the village, which is great fun, although Nic doesn't think so as she tries to hang on behind me! We reach the lake and proceed at speed, stopping after a while to change seats so Nic can drive. After about 45 minutes we stop and the instructor explains that we should get off and walk behind him. He leads us to a railway tunnel, which seems to have been constructed in 1907. He says "You go through tunnel, I go back to snowmobile". We merrily walk into the tunnel. I find it gets incredibly dark, although this is not helped by the fact that I still have my sunglasses on. Removing them doesn't improve things too much. We remark that if anything happens to us we would feel a bit daft explaining that we had walked into a train tunnel because some guy told us to!
We reach the other side and set off back to the snowmobiles. After a short while of our return journey the instructor points back to the tunnel. We turn to see a train thundering into
Siberian sauna...
...otherwise known as a banya. it and realise that we have just walked through a live tunnel, not a disused one as we had assumed! We arrive back at the hotel after Nic makes light work of the return journey through the village which is much harder uphill. I note that the instructor only praises our driving ability after we tip him!
After lunch we head back to the lake to meet the husky team. As we arrive we see the dogs being strapped to the reins and it is clear that they are desperate to get going. They bark constantly as loud as they can and strain at the reins as the instructors ready the sleds. There are six huskies to a sled and it is explained to us that we are in charge of the braking while the instructor will steer the dogs. Nic takes the first sled, which is dragged away at speed as soon as the brake is released. I board the second sled and desperately hang on as my dogs tear away after Nic's team. The enjoyment the dogs get from running is clear to see and the relentless barking of a few seconds before is replaced by the
Fart foot
Brendan farts so hard that he collapses the snow and ice on which he was standing - creating a big hole! rythmic scrape of paws on ice. The instructor shouts to the lead dog which directs the others. Their pace eventually settles after their arendaline fueled start, as does my balance, as up until this point I have only stayed on the back of the sled through sheer determination. After a while both sleds stop to let the dogs rest. It is only a couple of minutes before their panting is replaced by loud barking as they are keen to get going again. At this point we are allowed to meet the dogs. I befriend the lead dog on my sled, who remains calm until I walk away, at which point he starts straining at the leash again, keen for the run after the brief interlude of a strange scent. We reboard our sleds and finish the journey, exhilirated by the experience and watch as the dogs are loaded into their transportation cages, their work done for another day. They are now silent, having had their appetite for exercise temporarily satisfied. Nic and I walk back to our homestay and are happy to take up the offer of another banya. This is most welcome after the action-packed day we've just had!
Ice wave
All around the edge of the lake are frozen broken waves like this one. The ice in the middle is still blue. What a perfect end to a perfect day!
The next day we are driven back to Irkutsk where we rejoin Matt and spend time shopping in the city. Nic buys a warm hat and is not at all bothered by the fact it makes her look like Biggles as it does it's job well. We see the local churches before boarding our overnight train for Ulan Ude. Lake Baikal has been the best point of the trip up until this point and seems a million miles away from the rich political history and architecture of St Petersburg and Moscow. It has also been a pleasure to stay with a real Russian family, who were kind and very hospitable. We look forward to the rest of the Trans-Siberian and press on to the Buryat region, our last stop before Mongolia.
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Alec
non-member comment
Cool or what?
I've resumed my re-reading of the blog, and again I'm astonished: I just don't remember horror stuff like the walk through the live train tunnel! The info (2km deep, 20% of world's fresh water!) and pictures of the frozen lake are fascinating: you'll love comparing notes with Zoe, given her Finland experiences. I was thinking 2 ft thick ice doesn't sound enough to support 4x4's and all the other activities, but breaking the ice on the bird-bowls in our garden defeats me so .....(Silly question: how does a wave freeze?) The snow-mobile and husky sled rides sound exhilarating - must have been especially good after being couped up in the train for two days. A