Advertisement
The final part of our Russian adventure took us from Tomsk to Krasnoyarsk and then to Irkutsk - where we were able to pop down to the shores of Lake Baikal.
During our day in Tomsk we took the opportunity to just relax and get a bit of rest (and take a much needed shower) after two days on the train. In the evening we met up again with Stephanie and Greg for a drink and a bite to eat and agreed to meet up once more when we both get to Ulaanbaatar. Rich managed to drink an entire daily budget's worth of beer, which probably explains why he slept so well that night...
It was also the first day that we encountered Henry, who has now joined our party. He's quite the little poser, so look out for him in photographs from now on...
Amusingly, since we arrived in Tomsk we have followed, or have been followed, by the same trio of German men. On the train from Nizhny they were in the next compartment, we ended up in adjoining rooms in the hostel in Tomsk, bumped into them in the coffee shop and then again in the supermarket. Finding out that they were also leaving on the same train as us, we made sure to get to the station first. It's funny how these things happen...
Our next train was train number 647 (another night train, this time to Krasnoyarsk). Remembering that the quality of train decreases as the number increases, this was the highest number train that we would be taking at any point during our journey. That said, aside from the kinky looking leather straps holding the top bunk to the ceiling, the train was fine and ideal for an overnight journey.
Finally, arriving in Krasnoyarsk we attempted to get the bus to our hotel (upgrade) for the night, the Siberian Safari Club - described by the Lonely Planet as occupying
"a pleasant quiet spot on the riverbank". No mention of the housing estate, construction site and container depot on the other sides of the plot that it occupied.
Getting there in itself was a bit if an ordeal. Having successfully found bus number 36 and paying the right fare the challenge was only to find the right stop to get off at. Feeling confident of the rough area to get off the bus, some friendly (said with no hint of sarcasm) locals decided to pitch in and muddy the waters by saying we should get off on the north side of the river and rather adamantly stating that we should get off the bus right then. Akin to asking somebody for directions, quickly realising then don't know but still blindly following them until they are out of sight, we got off the bus despite knowing very well that we needed to be on the south side if the river. The river, including the island in the middle, had two miles of bridges over it with another three miles to walk once on the other side. It was a nice day and, given that we have grown quite keen of walking and are feeling the benefits of all the exercise that we are getting, we set off to walk to the hotel. That is not to say that we didn't curse every number 36 bus that passed us all the way there...
Krasnoyarsk is described in the Lonely Planet as
"vibrant, youthful and backed by attractive spikes of jagged forested foothills". This time the description is was accurate and helps explain why we were so happy to do so much walking. So much so that we considered walking back after dinner (at a tasty Thai restaurant called Bangkok) from the town centre next to where we got off the bus the first time. I say considered, by the time we had crossed the bridges it was already midnight so we cheated and hopped on the bus.
The next morning brought the lowlight of the stay in Krasnoyarsk, the free breakfast that came with the room. So far in Russia breakfast has been fruit and yoghurt that we bought from supermarkets. But this day we were treated to curd fritters with sour cream and curd filled pancakes. We both tried a bit if each of these, but could not see off two platefuls of these Russian style breakfasts.
Having opted for a lie in and a late check out we spent the rest of the day wandering around the city, walking down Lenin Street (of which there is one in every Russian city), looking at the statue of Lenin (ditto) and strolling around a local theme park. After that we caught our night train to Irkutsk, and opted to have dinner shortly after boarding.
The train to Irkutsk (number 10) is the only time that we have opted for a third class ticket on an overnight train. In the third class compartments the layout is broadly the same as the second class kupe except that the beds are a touch shorter and that two additional bunks have been fitted parallel to the length of the carriage where the corridor normally is. Again, this was ideal for an overnight hop and in hindsight we probably would have been happy taking this option more often as we slept as well as on any other night with only a snoring dog and the need to fetch an extra blanket (as we continue to notice the night time temperature dropping as we head deeper into Siberia) disturbing the night's sleep.
Disembarking at Irkutsk, we quickly found our hostel and headed out to explore the city. Here we looked at the outside of a couple of churches; had lunch; randomly bumped into the Spanish pair we shared the Nizhny to Tomsk train with; and then meandered around a central market which was selling all sorts of local produce. The smell of dill was prevalent, and we have noticed that it is served sprinkled on almost every dish in Russia. Inspired by this, and in want of a bit of time in the kitchen, Rich picked up some ingredients for a dill infused pasta dish and we headed back to the hostel to take advantage of a well equipped kitchen.
Irkutsk is the most popular stop on the Trans-Siberian. The reason for this, and also the reason that we got off here, is that it is the closest city to the shores of Lake Baikal. Which is where we headed to the next day when we caught a minibus to Listvyanka, the closest lakeside village to Irkutsk. However, this was not before Rich amusingly slipped on a particularly unslippery looking bit of pavement, ending up in the gutter on his back!
A few facts and figures about Lake Baikal lifted from the Lonely Planet:
"it is the 'Pearl of Siberia' and is a crystal-clear body of water. It's drinkably pure, surrounded by rocky, tree-covered cliffs and so vast that you can sail for hours without the mountain backdrops becoming appreciably closer.
Shaped like a banana, Lake Baikal - 636km side from north to south, but only 60km wide - was formed by rifting tectonic plates. Though 8km of the rift is filled with sediment, it is gradually getting deeper as the plates separate. It will eventually become the earth's fifth ocean, splitting the Asian continent. In the meantime it's the world's deepest lake: 1637m near the western shore. As such, it contains nearly one-fifth of the world's fresh, unfrozen water - more than North America's five Great Lakes combined.
Swimmers brave enough to face Baikal's icy waters (never warmer than about 15C) risk vertigo, as it is possible to see down as far as 40m".
Dropped off at the harbour, the scenery was absolutely stunning. Exactly as described, the blue water; snow capped mountain backdrop; and pine covered slopes made for eye-pleasing views compared to monotony of what we had seen from the train windows (trees).
During our day there we walked around the local market; filled with stalls selling smoked omul (a local Baikal fish); ate some tasty pork freshly barbecued over hot coals; and strolled to an observatory a couple of hundred metres up a hill to enjoy a spectacular panoramic view.
These factors, when coupled with the nicest hostel we have stayed in whilst in Russia and a delicious dinner of steak and pork ribs, made Baikal one of the highlights of the entire Russia trip.
After a lovely breakfast of fried egg and pancakes in the hostel, there was only one thing left to do before leaving - dip the toes in the lake. Rich was the fool to try this one and waded into 10" of water before screaming like a girl and hightailing it out of there. Fortunately, all of this was captured on camera for prosperity! Checking with the hostel owners, given that the one metre thick ice sheet that covers the lake had only finshed melting a couple of weeks earlier the temperature was only around the 5C mark.
After that it was back in the minibus to Irkutsk and aboard our train to Ulaanbaatar, with our Russia at an end...
Advertisement
Tot: 0.146s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 10; qc: 47; dbt: 0.0474s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Duncan
non-member comment
Have you missed your calling?
Excellent blog, Claire & Rich, though I'm not sure whose literary talent is on display here - or is it a joint effort? :) By the way, it is preserved for posterity, as opposed to prosperity ;) Can't tell you how jealous I am - but enjoy yourselves and soak it all up. Best wishes also from Jen & Alisha. BTW, Emma Mac is 12 weeks pregnant - had her scan last week, and all is fine. So looks like I might be a grandpa soon, not too sure about that concept...