The trip on the Trans-Siberian railway

Russia: Lake Baikal (Jul 27 – Aug 04)

This section covers the time we spent close to Lake Baikal, first camping at the lake and then in the nearby town of Irkutsk.

Jul 27

At the border, different kinds of policemen and -women kept going back and forth, knocking at walls and looking under beds, probably trying to find any extra people. Altogether we spent roughly seven hours at the border, and the lavatories stayed locked for the whole time. After three a.m., after getting the passports back, one finally dared to start sleeping.

The sceneries and people we could see from the window of the train changed rapidly: the nature from very poorly forested to taiga (i.e. lots of pines and birches), and people from Asian to more European-like. In the afternoon we started to see Baikal, which really was as vast as it was supposed to be. We also got company for the rest of the trip: an Englishman called Peter, whose compartment was full of traders and their stuff, wanted to move to ours. He said that he actually lived in Mongolia teaching English, but was now going to Moscow for his brother's birthday party.

When we got to Irkutsk, we immediately started looking for Sergei. So who is Sergei? Sergei is the brother of Juha's colleague Edward, who is also from Irkutsk but nowadays works in Finland. When Edward heard of our plans regarding the Trans-Siberian, he suggested that his brother (i.e. Sergei) and parents could arrange us something in Irkutsk. We did not actually have any idea on what to expect, although Edward had mentioned camping with Sergei and staying with his parents.

Sergei was easy to find, but a Lithuanian guy we had met in the train tried to make it a hassle by asking Sergei for some information about Irkutsk and Baikal. When we had gotten rid of him, we left the railway station with Sergei's car. At this time we did not at all realize that Sergei was actually able to speak and understand some Finnish.

Sergei's and Edward's parents, Anatoli and Tatjana, proved to be very kind and nice people, and also capable of speaking Finnish — if not completely fluently, at least very well compared to our Russian. We got some food, and Edward called there as well, so we were almost feeling like we had been at home. Then we left with Sergei and his 11-years old son Kostja to drive to a camping area something like 300 kilometers (?) from Irkutsk. The intention was to stay one night on the way in the town of Baikalsk, but the hotel there was supposedly full so we ended up erecting the tent on the shore (of Baikal), which was not a bad choice at all.

Jul 28

We went on right after waking up, and after some driving got there; Sergei's style of driving was also quite brisk. The destination looked like some kind of a village where people come to spend their holidays. In addition to the beach facilities, there were small houses that one could probably rent, and a couple of places where to eat. However, the intention was to continue onto a narrow bank, which was not too populated. Unfortunately we could not get a boat there, so Sergei was suggesting that we wade through the water which would probably have been deep enough to make everything wet. Luckily we did not have to do that, since a drunken group of boys let us use their rowing boat for money.

After getting over the water onto the bank, we carried on by walking without Sergei, who came later with his windsurfing gear. At this point Kostja proved to be a brisk young man by carrying his share of the stuff we had for a couple of days. When we got to the planned location for the tent, we started to throw some frisbee while waiting for Sergei. We also went swimming, which was supposed to give us 25 years more lifetime (just putting your hand in Lake Baikal gives one year and standing there was five years while swimming yielded 25 years, if we recall it correctly). The water was warm and as we had had no shower since we left Mongolia, it was quite a nice experience. After that Sergei came by surfing the wind, and then we played some more frisbee, set up a fire and ate.

Jul 29

In the night we were woken up by a thunderstorm, which was quite close: less than 1 second between the lightning and the noise. The morning was still rainy, but after midday the sun was already shining and it was pretty hot. After some frisbee we got out of the bank with a rubber boat Sergei somehow managed to organize there. We had dinner at a cafe and then left for Irkutsk. On the way Sergei saw that the wind was good and so we stopped for one or two hours of surfing. It was already almost midnight when we got to Tatjana's and Anatoli's home. We were not supposed to get back until the next day, but our early appearance did not look like a major surprise: Tatjana showed us a bed downstairs and made some pelmenis to eat.

Jul 30

In the morning Tatjana and Anatoli wanted to help us with registering our visas, which is an annoyance you have to face when travelling in Russia. After a futile visit to the OViR office, we went to what we believe was the company that had sent us the support letter for our visas. They agreed to do the registration, and we had to leave our passports there until the evening. It was really good to have Tatjana with us (Anatoli was waiting in the car), since with our Russian the hassle could have been going on for much further. She also took us to a bank for exchanging some money, for which we had had no chance in Russia yet since it had been Saturday when we had come and we had immediately left for Lake Baikal. After that, they left us in the centrum of the town so that we could have a look at it. We almost got Anatoli's sister to be our guide, but luckily we were able to decline, since for one thing it was nice to be on our own for a while and besides it could have been a little bit awkward a situation.

First we wanted to buy a map of the town, and we started at the lobby of a hotel named Angara (which is also the name of the river flowing through the town of Irkutsk). It was surprising that they did not speak any English even at the reception of such a big hotel, but we were still able to ask where to buy one, and then do that in the small post office we were pointed at.

Our mobile phones had not been working in Russia at all, although we thought they would. Therefore we also figured that our mothers might already be worried, since they supposed that having left Mongolia, we could read our messages and reply. Hence, we started looking for a place where to call to Finland and tell them that we were still alive. We found a building named the Central Telegraph, and after deciphering the instructions for a while we were able to call: there were many kinds of telephones, but probably it was not possible to call abroad with the majority of them.

After calling we had some ice-cream, which is very popular in Russia. Having walked around for some time we went to the place where we were supposed to meet our hosts again, and then we went with them to get our passports back from the office. After that Anatoli drove us back to their home, and we started to figure out that they probably supposed to have us as guests for the whole time we were to stay in Irkutsk, although we had only discussed about one night with Edward. Päivi tried to make it clear that we could also go to a hostel, but they of course allowed us to stay there, and we did not try too hard to make them change their minds. For the next day, we planned a trip to the town of Listvyanka which is located next to Lake Baikal, something like 60 kilometers south of Irkutsk.

Jul 31

In the morning Anatoli took us to the bus station, and also helped in buying the tickets to Listvyanka. While waiting for the bus, we also met two other backpackers we had already met during our first day in Irkutsk. They were also going to Listvyanka, but to look for cheaper accommodation. However, it was quite nice to have company while waiting for the bus since it finally got at the platform roughly one hour late.

We left the bus on a stop that was located maybe one kilometer before the actual village. We went to an ecological museum there, which boasted several species that only exist in Lake Baikal. Then we climbed on the top of a hill, where the views were quite great. After climbing down we bought some ice-cream which was not too good, and then started to walk to the village of Listvyanka.

On the way we ate some omul, which is a fish that only lives in Baikal. Listvyanka itself was a small and generally nice village, but its port was surprisingly touristy, and there was not too much there to see or to do.

We tried to buy our return tickets for the 16:45 bus in an avtokassa, but heard that there was no such bus at all to which to sell any tickets. Hence, we had to buy tickets for the next bus which was to leave at 18:00. This however resulted in a hassle, since Anatoli had promised to pick us up at the bus station in Irkutsk at 19:00, and at least the bus in the other direction had taken more than one hour. So we had to try to find a telephone with which to call Anatoli and suggest a change to the plans. The lady at the avtokassa told us that we could find a telephone in the post office, to which we then walked. However the phone did not work there, or at least you could not call to Irkutsk with it. We waited until they closed the office, but the phone still did not work. Then we went back to the port where the bus was supposed to leave. Juha had a caviar sandwich and Päivi a bar of chocolate, and we were worried about being late for the appointment and having no way to tell that to Tatjana and Anatoli, who would then be wondering where we are.

However, we then noticed that in the bar where were having our sandwiches and chocolate bars, there was a telephone which people would use. And it would have been much closer than the post office! They probably thought that we wanted to call abroad... Anyway, we just had the time to call from this telephone, and so we could snore the whole bus trip back to Irkutsk without having to worry.

In the evening we heard that Tatjana's grandfather was Edward Gylling, a pretty famous Finnish/Karelian scientist and politician. We also saw several books written about this man and what he did.

Aug 01

In the morning Anatoli once again took us to the town centre with his car, and then went on to take Tatjana to work. It was raining and we headed for the market. Before reaching it, we found an Internet cafe whose services we then used for a while. The market itself had lots of food and other things for sale, and for rather reasonable prices. From the market we went on to the shopping street that was supposed to be one of the best in Irkutsk, namely Ulitsa Karla Marksa. First of all, we were looking for sponges so that it would be easier to live without a shower in the train to Moscow. However, we did not find one before we reached the monument for the Trans-Siberian railway which was located at the end of the street next to the river Angara.

Then we started to walk around the nearby stadium, when it started pouring again. We went to eat to a place with no English menu, but we were quite successful in understanding the Russian one and also placing the order in Russian. As a result we got chicken and sig, which is a local fish. For anyone knowing us, it should not be too difficult to guess which one was for Päivi.

After eating we went on again, and so did the rain. We waited for a while in a kind of a shelter which contained a second-hand store (which had great ties) and some kind of a shop. However, then we got bored for waiting and for the first time after the Great Wall, found our rain cloaks useful. So we went to the department store which was located right next to the market, but could not get in there. The reason for that still remains a mystery: obviously the locals also thought it would be open, and some were quite disappointed when it was not.

Anyway we could find a sponge at the market, and also some roses and a cake to take to our hosts. We also bought for the train trip lots of biscuits and the like.

In the evening, in addition to basic chatting, we went out for a walk. Once again did we get a good chance to come up with a problem, since after some walking we noticed that one of our hosts' two dogs had decided to follow us. The problem was that we had no idea if the dogs were allowed to walk around freely.

Later in the evening, Anatoli suggested a game of chess to Juha. Juha was able to win the first game, although he did one obviously stupid move in the beginning of the game which Anatoli wanted him to cancel. However, in the second and the third game Anatoli proved himself to be superior to Juha by winning them pretty easily. During the game Tatjana served something which we thought to be blinis, but which according to her were not.

Aug 02

In the evening we had also agreed on the schedule for today in great detail, using a mixture of several languages, of which the most successful was perhaps drawing. However, we got distracted from our accurate plans from the very beginning, when Anatoli did not get back home after having taken Tatjana to work. Instead, they both came back later and we then got a chance to go to the supermarket named Bagira to buy more food — bread, cucumber, cheese and sausage — for the train. Tatjana chose the sausage with the clerk, taking into account the requirements set by the train trip so that the sausage would keep without cold for a couple of days.

We got a lift to the station, and got seen off at the carriage: they probably wanted to be sure that we actually do get out of Irkutsk! In the carriage we got surprised, since the compartment which had earlier been for four people, was now for two only. While it was too bad not to have any company, there were obviously some advantages as well.

Aug 03

One of the provodnitsas was a little bit impolite, but the other was nice, trying to chat in Russian for several times. She did have a strong odor, though.

The food we had bought were accompanied by delicious raspberries we bought at some station. The mobile phones started to work every now and then.

Aug 04

Today, Juha finished the book Sotaromaani, the uncensored version of The Unknown Soldier by Väinö Linna, which tells the story of a Finnish machine gun platoon in the Continuation War against Russia at the time of the Second World War. Päivi on the other hand finished the Finnish version of The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera which she had been carrying with her. Having still some trip left, we then swapped the books, although we had not planned that in advance.

At one platform we bought a bag of peaches and at another one some yoghurt. We started to realise that we have too much sausage.