Baikal Business Centre Irkutsk

... and then rents out rooms on a B&B basis.




We stay with Elena in Irkutsk. Adopting Western names seems to be favoured as she calls herself “Helen’s Homestay”.
A young professional, single Mum renting out a room in her Soviet era appartment to visitors. There are clear benefits for both parties aside from the monetary.
Both girls get the chance to practice ...

... and he beat me twice in chess (although he was damping my senses by giving me some beer). Nevertheless we were still good friends. We went to the very North tip of the island, Khoboi Cape, together. It which was stunningly beautiful even though there were a few clouds which occasionally decided to spit at us. We stopped off in many places on the way including a beach where we saw some locals get naked and jump into the lake together. I also had much fun ...

... the next couple days. I have to thank Nick again for setting up my stay with his relatives, because the hospitality they showed me was outstanding. After a quick tour of their modest home I was ushered to the dinner table for a hearty meal, and several shots of vodka. (yes, the rumours are true, Russians love their vodka)
Later that afternoon Sasha took me for a ride around the town on what was certainly an antique of a motorcycle (and sidecar). The ...

... standing dropped got thrown out of the station by the police after they dropped their booze and spilt beer and broken glass everywhere.

We got on the train, it was way nicer than expected. The Russian Travel Agent who'd booked my ticket really made me think it was going to be a total 3rd class mess but it was almost better than the Baikaler from Moscow.

The train trip was along the lines of:
Departed Irkutsk 9 ...

... into cattle trucks. So I was having it very easy!


The scenery varied little for the first couple of days: grey and misty; long sections of dark forest where the dense trees on either side obstruct the view; mile upon mile of 'taiga' , the swampy forest common over much of Siberia, with open pools of murky green water visible from my berth. (More than 30% of the world's trees grow on this plain.) On day three, though ...

... Now, being able to relieve ones bladder most would think is a basic human right, obviously not the Russians, who had locked all toilets and refused to open them to pleading man, woman or child. By this point both of us were in actual pain through holding on so long, at which point we were told to fill in a Mongolian customs form..which was written entirely in Mongolian - I'm surprised there wasn't a full blown riot. There was some definite crying and tantrum throwing though ...

... green spaces, some wooden houses and the river, and got dropped off at the bus station 10 minutes later. It wasn't much of a bus station, a little cafe and a cigarette hut were the main attractions, and the roads were in disrepair, and dusty. Pollution was high, cars buzzed by to exchale poisonous fumes – probably due to the cheap petrol which has been banned in the UK since the 70's. We found the minibus going to Olkhon immediately, loaded our bags in, and waited for two hours ...

... we made in a few kilometers up the road and found a beach to go hang out by for a bit as well as some cliffs for pictures and such. As we wander around, then it slowly started raining harder and harder. We were going to keep heading up despite the rain, but decided that with roads getting wet (being sand) it'd be a bit too slow going and mucky. So we headed back with the intent to go pedal in the forest behind the town instead. Well, by the time we ...

... the hostel and 5 more, plus a kid picked up elsewhere in Irkutsk. We all got crammed into this minibus that was very cozy for 11 people (let alone 12). And that’s how we were for 6 hours, with a couple pit stops. Not only that, but the driver is a bit crazy and is going as fast as possible, both on paved road which was about half of the trip and dirt the rest. The bus is shaking to the point where ya really can’t even read. Yehaw! We get to the ...

... got on. They were plain clothed but it wouldnt have phased me either way if they werent. Anyway so they proceeded to take over the cabin like it was theres. They finally passed out and I managed to get a half decent sleep until I was woken by the soldiers talking ...