Trundling Round Lake Baikal - well 1/10th of it

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We're back on the Trans-Siberian again but only for a day as we make our way from Ulan Ude to Irkutsk along the shores of Lake Baikal. Its 2 hours before we get our first view of the lake way off in the distance, just a thin, dark blue line beneath the distant mountains. Then, after a few more glimpses from the gaps between the trees, the train emerges from the forested hills and we are right at the lake side. If you really squint you can just about make out the mountains on the other side of the lake 50 miles away.

When the Trans-Siberian first opened the stretch of track round the lake didn't exist. The carriages, passengers and goods were ferried the 50 miles across the lake on two icebreakers, the Baikal and Anagar, built by Armstrong & Co. back in Newcastle. Today there are no passenger ferries across the lake which is a shame – months ago, near the start of our journey, we crossed the Caspian Sea on a ferry carrying train carriages so it would have been neat to do the same near the end of our journey. So for the next 170km we stay on the train and trundle right along the southern shores of the lake waving to the locals who are out in force picnicking and splashing around in dingies. All very scenic and the views on the other side of the train are just as impressive out to the Khamar-Daban Mountains (where President Putin goes skiing).

Our compartment companions are two friendly ladies who keep chattering away to us in Russian and provide a steady supply of sweets, cups of tea and strawberries from the platform vendors. The main platform food is, of course, smoked Omul fish a speciality of Lake Baikal. It only needs one person to buy some and the whole carriage smells of smoked fish, probably why our Provodnitsa has all the corridor windows open.

After 4 hours of travelling along the lake shore we round the western end of the lake and the train starts climbing steeply into the Primorsky mountains – this provides some fantastic views back down over the lake. Then we plunge into the first of many tunnels and re-emerge in dense forests of cedar and pine., these are some of the densest forests we have passed through. With all the tunnels it feels like we are going right through the mountains.

9 hours after we set off from Ulan Ude we roll into Irkutsk another big industrial city with a well busy road system outside the very pretty station. We are just not used to traffic any-more – amazing considering its only 3 weeks since we were riding the bike through Beijing. Luckily there's less traffic down in the centre and there's a nice small town feel to the place, which is helped by the flower filled square outside our hotel. It a pleasant place to wander round with its mix of grand 19th century brick mansions (from the gold rush days) and older wooden houses with either the typical ornate windows and fret work eaves or looking incredibly wonky, like they are defying gravity.
Some of the biggest & smartest wooden houses belonged to the Decembrists, liberal aristocrats who staged an unsuccessful uprising against Tsar Nicolas I and were exiled to Siberia in 1826. Their wives chose to follow them and after serving their sentences most chose to remain in Irkutsk where they introduced many European traditions and education programmes turning Irkutsk into “the Paris of the East”. The literature all relates how hard their lives were in exile – no titles, no fortunes, working for a living - but the houses, fine furniture and belongings all seemed pretty ok to me, they even had central heating.

The two things that stand out when wandering round Irkutsk are the statues and the churches. We haven't seen many churches thus far but here they seem to be everywhere with their golden crosses glittering in the sunlight (unlike Vladivostok, they are having a heat wave here and the locals are struggling to cope with 33C). Some churches are almost derelict, some are newly renovated and some are just a cross marking the spot where there used to be a church. You forget that religion was banned under Communist rule and churches were destroyed but the churches here show how real it was – once the city had 58 churches, only 4 survived the Soviet Era as working churches.

And the statues, until now we've only really seen Lenin but Irkutsk has an interesting collection of controversial statues - the owners would not be pleased to know they are standing within the same square mile. On one corner of Karl-Marx street is Lenin and two blocks down is Tsar Alexander III, the father of the last Tsar of Russia, Nicolas II. A few blocks away, near the spot where he died, is Admiral Kolchak the commander of the White Army who was executed in Irkutsk. His death effectively marked the end of the anti-Bolshevik resistance. Why is Tsar Alexander III here? - it was erected in 1903 to celebrate the completion of the Trans-Siberian Railway. It was Alexander , know as “the Father of the Trans-Siberian”, who signed an order for its constructionist 1891. The statue destroyed by the communists in1920 and replaced in 2003 for the centenary of the Trans-Siberian.

The city definitely has a different feel to it. The mix of traffic, brick buildings and churches make it feel like you are slowly but surely getting closer to Western Europe. Anyway the reason for being here is to get up close to Lake Baikal so we need to go and hitch a lift down to the lake shore 70km away.

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Photos

back on the train trundling along the shores of Lake Baikal
its more like a sea, the water just keeps going, there's no sign of the western shore 50 miles away

Platform Food
smoked Omull fish and orekha (cedar nuts)

an old steam train all done up
they loiter in the corners of several stations - usually just out of "running down the platform" distance

Edwin taking in the lake views
the compartment is a less frilly version of the last one

two hours later
yes we're still going round the lake - you can see where the old tracks ran before the outlet, the Angara River, was dammed and the level of the lake rose by 6m

the view on the other side of the train is pretty good too
the Khamar-Daban Mountains where President Putin goes skiing

after 170km we reach the SW corner of the lake
theres only another 1900km to go to complete a full circumnavigation. But not today, now we are climbing steeply into the Primorsky Mountains

the Primorsky Mountains
cutting through the dense pine and cedar forests. Yes that's another train in the distance

approaching Irkutsk on the far side of the Angara River
it looks very big and industrialised compares to where we have been

Irkutsk Railway Station
very pretty but swamped with traffic

colourful Kirova Saquare and the austere Cental Goverment Building
Stalin pulled down the Kazan Cathedral to build this. The cathedral was apperently one of the best in Russia and grander than the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersberg

get rid of the gnomes
this is what every self-respecting house needs as garden ornaments (unless you have a life sized sparkly white cow!!)

one of the grand 19h century brick mansions
originally the Siberian Geographical Society now the Regional Museum.

fancy wooden lacework
"The Europe House"", originaly built in 1843 but converted to look like this in 1907 by the Shastin family.

Volkonsky House
the home of one of the Decembrist exiles - he was sent to work in the fields with the peasants but ended up teaching them advanced farming methods

Volkonsky House
the house became a major centre for culturall life in Irkutsk - piano rectials, dancing, drama

Volkonsky House
portrait of Maria who followed her husband into exile

Saviour's Church
it may look derelict from the outside but inside its a beautifully restored and well used church. For a long time it was the Museum of Local Studies

the churches come in a wide range of architectural styles
Bogoyavlensky Cathedral (1724) once the Museum of Icons, the inside is totally covered in frescos. Raising of the Cross Church in local red & white style, inside are dainty flower garland frescos

the tomb of Grigory Shelekhov,
the man who claimed Alaska for Russi

The Rivals
Lenin. Tsar Alexander III who comissioned the Trans-Siberian railway and was the father of Nicholas II, the last Tsar. Adriral Kolchak, the commander of the White Army, executed in Irkutsk in 1920.

a neat stained glass window
it was in teh Regional Museum - why such a modern window in such a classic brick building?, no explanation gicen.

Comments

[Lynne C]

wow - great pictures
Isn't it amazing how life goes on all around the world with such beautiful intricacy? Love the photos and enjoyed thinking about your splendid cow again! Lx