Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal is also called the Pearl of Siberia, but it is not just special to Siberia, it’s unique features make it a global treasure.

It is the largest fresh water reservoir in the world, holding an astonishing 20% of the worlds fresh water. It is also the deepest lake in the world by a long shot, with its deepest point a staggering 1642 meters. It is 636 km long and between 27 and 80 km wide.

These abnormal proportions are all a result of two tectonic plates meeting. Lake Baikal has formed on a fault line, it is literally a crack in the earth, with hundreds of rivers draining into it.

Our trip on the lake spanned three locations; Irkutsk, where our train arrived and eventually left, Listvyanka, a small town by the lake and Olkohn island, an island on the lake itself.

We arrived in Irkutsk on 5th September after our 3 day trip on the train from Kazan, on the same day we travelled to Listvyanka by bus.

Listvyanka

Listvyanka is only one hour from Irkutsk, which makes it a popular place for people to visit Lake Baikal. The town consists mostly of guest houses and small hotels that straddle a road that stretches alongside the lake. We had booked a cheap room in a guest house that was about 10 mins walk from where we got off the bus.

One private room with a double bed cost us about 40 CHF for three nights. There was a common kitchen, a shower and WiFi, which is all we need really.

There was a french family also staying in the same guest house, and, as it turned out, they were travelling a very similar route to us. Although, they wold go through Mongolia and spend 10 months in total, arriving in Australia much later than us.

After a good nights sleep we decided to go for a hike the next day. Mirjam was still a little sick so we thought it best to keep it short. A short walk from the town was a small hill with a cable car to the top. From here we had a great view of the lake.

On our second day in Listvyanka Mirjam was still sick so we decided to drop our plan to do a long hike to Bolshie Koty. Instead we walked through the town and had a look at the market. The main street in the town is quite touristic, with music blaring from people trying to sell thrill boat rides on the lake. The markets themselves are filled with stacks upon stacks of local smoked fish, as well as the usual market wares.

That evening we relaxed at the guest house and I happily watched the rugby. Thankfully Ireland beat Wales to reach world number one just in time for the Rugby World Cup.

The following day we got the bus back to Irkutsk where we got another bus to Olkohn Island. This was a fasinating six our trip that took us about 350 km further north. We could see the vegetation and trees reduce due to the harsher winter conditions.

Olkohn Island

We arrived on Olkohn island by ferry. From there our driver took us directly to the campsite where we were staying. He even called the administrator of the site to ensure we were at the right place. Our administrator “Andy” came and greeted us with a big smile. He didnt have any english, but he did have an unusual ability to use google translate. He first informed us that we would not be able to stay in a tent, because it was too cold. He gave us a room inside a wooden cabin for the same price and gave us extra blankets.

The place itself is very minimal but very cosy. There were also two very freindly dogs to keep us company.

The following morning we took Andy’s advice and went for a hike to a nearby spring. The hike took us through the light forests of Olkohn island and along the dusty roads and trails.

After our hike we headed back to the west side of the island past the main town to go for a quick swim and check out the views from Mys Burkhan, a little peninsula, perfectly situated to view the sunset.

It was suggested to us by a German couple who were staying in the same camp site to go on one of the bus tours. For 1500 RUB per person you could be taken around the island in a UAZ van. We took their advice and went on this trip on our last day on the island.

This was a full day trip that took as along the west coast of the Island, stopping at panoramas on the way, to the northern tip. There we stopped for Lunch and were given the opportunity to hike right up the very tip of the island.

Irkutsk

After Olkohn Island we returned to Irkutsk where we would spend one day before hopping back on the trans siberian rail to Chita.

We decided that we would go out for a few drinks while in Irkutsk to let off some steam. We found an area called the trendy quarter and booked a taxi. We found a craft beer bar called Edison that was playing some music. After that we went to a very big and very crowded bar for “one more”. While there we ended up talking to some locals who were celebrating a birthday.

The following day we had a look at some of the sites in Irkutsk, luckily they have a green line that you can follow that brings you to all the main attractions.

On our last day it was raining so we decided to go to the cinema. Unfortunately there were no movies in english so we ended up going to a Russian movie called Odessa. Also to our misfortune, the movie was heavily reliant on dialogue, but it was intersting all the same.

After that it was time to go back to the train station and get on the train to Chita.