Day 7 –  Saturday 15^th October 2005 - Colin's Account

We have arrived in Irkutsk, half an hour beforehand, the Provonitsa returned our tickets, so me learning the words for thief (vor) and police (militsia), were thankfully not needed.
We headed towards the bus station on the tram (5 roubles) which, typically, was situated on the other side of town. The bus service that goes 4 times a day to Lake Baikal was not due to make its next trip until 2.30 and unfortunately it was only 10.15. A taxi driver with minibus approached us and quoted 900 roubles for the journey. Expensive, but a couple we met on the train(Josie & Martin) were with us so we split the cost, which made it less painful. Our new friends had pre-booked the hotel Baikal, Sam and I had booked nothing!
On arrival at their hotel an hour later, which is by far the grandest, biggest building in the village (although the term village is an overstatement), it was snowing and a gale was blowing. We decided to abandon our idea of the tiny guesthouse we had planned on using and booked in the Baikal ourselves. The cost at 1700 roubles was half what Josie and Martin had paid by booking in advance using a travel agent, but then they are only away for 6 months and so are leaving less to chance than us.

The views across the lake are superb, with the hills in the distance The four of us decided to stroll in to the village proper, which took about 40 minutes including the time saved via a steep, mud path that Martin and I found behind the hotel.
There were quite a few people outside, bundled up against the bracing wind and all standing by their wooden boxes full of lake Baikal fish, which were being smoked as we watched. After a quick tour round the stalls, I braved the billowing clouds of smoke coming escaping through gaps in the boxes and bought one for 50 roubles. I ate it on the spot and it was wonderful.

We then adjourned to the nearest cafe, where we spent the rest of the day and evening. I sampled my 1st vodka in Russia so far and tried a few local beers. As the lights faded the cafe turned into a disco and we danced. Later I bought some Shish kebabs from a stall and chatted to a few men from Uzbekistan, like Matlab in Moscow, they had left their wives at home to come to Russia to earn some money.

Day 7 –  Saturday 15^th October 2005 - Sam's Account

Awoke with the provodnitsa rapping her keys on our cabin door at 7am. Having been shown five fingers following my question “How long before we arrive at the station?” we hurriedly packed our rucksacks, brushed our teeth, washed our faces and dressed.
As the train pulled into the station we could see the pandemonium outside the station gates. Russians shouting “taxi!” at you every 5 seconds and buses, trams and cars (mostly Lada’s of course!) all lined the street, beeping and swerving and skidding around the place.Once the place calmed down we eventually worked out, with the help of Jozie & Martin (the young married couple we’d met on the train), which tram we needed to take to get to the bus station in town. The trip was of course cramped and uncomfortable and we had to get off and walk the rest of the way. The weather was miserable, cloudy and the streets were just constant deep puddles and mud. The snow had evidently recently melted here.
At the bus station we were all disappointed to find that the next bus to Lake Bailkal wasn’t until 2.30pm and that would mean a 4 hour wait. A Russian taxi man noticed our predicament and offered to take us all there for 900 roubles (£18) straight away. It is over an hours drive and so the price once divided by the four of us seemed reasonable. We should have negotiated with retrospect but we were all anxious to get out of the miserable weather and get on our way. So we said “OK” and gave him the thumbs up.
We knew we’d paid too much instantly as he bought us a bottle of water when we pulled into the petrol station to fill up his tank before the off!The trip was fairly hairy and they definately do not have speed limits here in Russia. We Arrived safe and sound and booked into Hotel Bailkal with the others; they had booked in advance and paid £60 / night and we arrived on the spot and managed to get a price for £30 including breakfast. Not bad; that made up for the taxi!This was evidently low season – too miserable and cold to swim in the lake and not yet snowy enough to ski. The place was fairly deserted but none of us let this dampen our sprits and having dumped our bags in our rooms we headed for the bar where we preceded to indulge ourselves in lots of travel talk. As the beers went down the topics got more serious and the jokes got more funny! We then decided to walk into the town, all feeling rather tipsy by now we thought it would be far easier to walk down the hill through the undergrowth instead of taking the road route. Of course it wasn’t but we all managed it unscathed in the end. The lake is beautiful, the atmosphere is peaceful and the locals very welcoming (for Russian standards). Down at the main port at least 20 bar-b-q’s were alight as they cooked and smoked their fresh fish, no doubt caught that day. Lake Bailkal not only is the largest lake in the world it also boasts it’s own eco system and 80% of the fish in the lake are only found there. And then there’s the local bar, which once the sun has gone down, with the flick of two switches turns into the local disco! Amazingly after the boys had drank a vodka to warm up (it was totally freezing outside) we thought it may be a good idea to stay on for a while. We had the most fantastically frank discussion about politics, all of us share the same opinions thank god (!) and then boogied on down with the locals – Saturday night in Lake Baikal disco, how cool is that?! The walk home was hard work but very funny. A good time was had by all.

Day 8 – Sunday 16th October 2005 - Colin's Account

Woke up feeling a little delicate and after checking that the next bus was not until 11am, we headed for breakfast. In true Rusian fashion it was a little unusual, though copious. There was a very thick glass of mango juice, that you could have stood a straw upright in. This was then followed by pink blamanche, cheese and slices of roast pork and then 2 fried eggs with a heavy brown bread.
Refreshed we packed up and before leaving asked the receptionist to book us a hotel in Irkutsk. Not wanting to brave the mud slope with our rucksacks we followed the road, but were not exqctly sure to go. A Russian family out for a morning walk kindly went 5 minutes out of their way to show us the quickest (safe) route to the bus stop.
One the bus we had to sit with our feet dangling in the well where the central doors open, which fortunately they didn't. The bus driver had evidently missed his calling, I have never seen a bus go so fast. Normally it's the cars that overtake the buses, but not on our bus it wasn't. We roared down the road overtaking everything in site and arrived in Irkutsk in short order.

Irkutsk is a strange town, it can be incredibly busy and then you turn a corner and it's dead. Posh parts rub shoulders with poor parts and sinking wooden houses (see photo gallery). The central market is huge and very overheated, but with an amazing range of produce including a woollen hat that Sam bought. We had some pizza for luch and there was a kids party going on in the corner (nothing different there then!).
Unfortunately I can't find a WI-FI connection so no update here. After a long stroll around town, we stopped at a nice cafe which was all wood and brick. I got chatting to some young Russians who had been to Turkey, but nowhere else. They would love to visit England and thought that their town was a dump, politeness keeps me from agreeing. Sam went back to the hotel and I walked towards the station as a trial run for very early tomorrow morning, when we will be off to Mongolia on the Trans-Siberian. When I got back Sam was fast asleep, it was 8.50.pm! The breakfast roast pork came in handy, by the way, I ate it for my dinner and watched Red Dwarf on the Laptop computer, with the headphones, of course, as tomorrow will be a long day.

Day 8 – Sunday 16th October 2005 - Sam's Account (1 week into our adventure !)

Woke up with a stinking hangover and hurried to catch the 11am bus back to Irkutsk. The bus was totally packed to the gunnels so Colin and I ended up having to sit on the floor and I had to keep my rucksack on for most of the 1 and a half hour journey. Thank god we were getting off at the last stop as there was no way we could have got out without everyone else standing in the aisles. And boy what a trip! The bus driver should have been a formula 1 racing driver, the bus journey reminded me of the bus in Harry Potter. It was amazingly funny and scary at the same time! (Price 70 roubles / £1.40 for us both).Once we arrived at the bus depot in Irkutsk we found our bearings and walked for a good hour with all our luggage trying to find our hotel. IT WAS FREEZING ! The skies were clear blue, the sun was out but the temperature had dropped considerably and it must have been at least – 3°C.

Once we eventually found our hotel, which was not wonderful (1500 roubles / £30 comme même) but a place to rest our weary selves, we went off out for some lunch and to stroll around the town. Lunch was Lasagne for me & pizza for Colin, 2 bottles of flat mineral water and a beer for 199 roubles / £4. Not bad at all. Searched the whole town for a wi-fi connection to update the web site – no luck. Roamed around town looking at the shops, the market place etc… It was a nice day out in the open, breathing cold Russian air with the sun on our backs. A hot cappuccino for me and a cold pint of Russian beer for Colin were hugely welcome by the time we actually found a coffee shop. It was toasty and warm and we dug out our guide to read up on Mongolia and the adventures in store for us there. Both of us are very tired physically after today and still somewhat hung over. An early night tonight I think as we have to leave the hotel at 5am tomorrow morning to walk to the train station to hop back on a train – destination Ulaan Baatar, Capital of Mongolia. Exciting!