Irkutsk/Listvyanka
Trip Start
Oct 07, 2007
1
4
42
Trip End
??? ??, 2008
Irkutsk,
Russia
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
We got the public bus out to the village in which we were staying (Listvyanka). As soon as we passed the suburbs of Irkutsk the sun broke through the clouds and we enjoyed a leisurely drive as the bus struggled up even the smallest hills. As times I feared that Jonathan and I, with our conspicously large rucksacks would be asked to disembark. Even the cows along the side of the road seemed to make more progress.
We arrived at our hotel just as the sun was setting
Hike to Bolsie Koty
. After our train journey we allowed ourselves a little bit of luxury - a lakeside hotel with the king of all showers and a 4 course breakfast! Of course as with all such things there was a downside and the 0.7km walk to the village turned out to be 3km!Next to our hotel there was a ski resort (tiny by European standards with just one ski-lift) which made for some nice easy hiking trails. This was where we spent our first day - strolling and trying to get photos of the local wildlife. In the evening we tried the area's speciality dish - smoked omul. The omul, is a fish which is, according to the menu, endemic to Lake Baikal. I'm not quite sure what that means but it was certainly tasty!
For our second day at the Lake we had planned an epic hike (well epic by our standards anyway!) to the next village - Bolshie Koty. Unfortunately, we didn't quite make it that far, having underestimated not the distance but the difficulty of the hike. Most of the hike was along a ting path just hugging the cliffs by the sea. Of course this lead to glorious views but it was at times pretty scary as the path disappeared almost entirely and we had to work our way accross the rock face. Still the views and the thrill of surviving were worth it!
Hike to Bolsie Koty - 2
We were sorry to have to head away from the lake so soon but at this stage we're racing against the weather so there was little choice. We could have happily spent days and even weeks longer int he area.
Siberian Hotel speak:
"If this is your first time at our hotel, please try to remember the disposition of exits & stairs"
"If you are not succeed in liquidating the fire by yourself you whould leave the room & close the door"
PS: We've some nice photos from here but Mongolian internet is soooooo slow I'm afraid they'll have to wait to Beijing!
