Lake Baikal and Olkhon Island

Our trusty wagon

This part of the trip was something we had been looking forward to for some time.  I had never heard of Lake Baikal a year ago but now knew it was the largest freshwater lake in the world by volume, mainly because of its depth.  It is enormous and breathtakingly beautiful.  The photographs just do not do it justice.  But it is not only the beauty of the place, it is the fact that it is so unspoilt and despite all this, relatively unscathed by tourism.

We had elected to add a 3 day 4WD excursion to Olkhon Island as part of the whole organised Trans Siberian trip which was a bit pricey but it was a bit of a treat.  We both wanted to spend some time there because it looked a bit special, and it seemed like the best way to do it.  We are now glad we didn’t choose a hiking trip!  There was a lot of ground to cover and we have spent hours traipsing round cities.  It was nice to sit back in relative comfort and rest our legs a bit.

Hot and Sunny in Siberia - Irkutsk

The geezer who founded
Irkutsk 350 years ago

Once again, we had an interesting journey from Ekateringburg to Irkutsk, our longest trip so far of over 48 hours.  Once again, this journey warrants an entry of its own and I think is best written, with the benefit of a little perspective.

The first thing that struck us when we arrived in Irkutsk was that the weather was amazing.  It was hot and sunny and we were in the middle of Siberia! 

When you’re on the train you’re in a bit of a sealed bubble – on the newer trains the temperature is displayed in each carriage showing at 20-21⁰.  No more, no less – the provodnista (the carriage attendant - usually female, always formidable- in charge of bedding, keeper of the samovar, and your mum for the duration of your journey, whatever your age) would not allow any variance from this.