Cabbage for dinner at lake Baikal

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After a long border crossing, we made it into Russia. We sat for several hours while they changed the wheels(?) on the train as the train tracks in Russia are different to those in Mongolia. Most people got off the train but we stayed on to watch. They had to lift up the carriage while we were on it - was quite cool.

It took us 2 nights on the train from Ulanbaatar to reach Irkutsk. From there we drove a couple of hours to little village on the edge of lake Baikal, call Bolshoe. The village was tiny, with a population of just 600 people.

They have no running water in the village. To wash, you basically have a sauna and then pour buckets of water over yourself.

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We were staying in the home of a local lady, she seemed very friendly but spoke no English so, what with our lack of Russian, we struggled to communicate with her. All the houses in the village are wooden and most are colorful and have decorative wooden shutters. The house we stayed in had no doors, just curtains separating the rooms which we thought was quite strange but apparently it is quite common here.

That afternoon we went for a look around the village, visiting the church (which was only built a few years ago) and climbing the hill for a view over the lake. Luckily the rain stayed away but it was pretty grey all the same. The lake is massive. It holds more fresh water than any other lake on Earth. You wouldn't actually know it was a lake from just looking at it as you cannot see the other side.

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Back at the house we were shown how to use the bano, the Russian equivalent of a bath. They have no running water in the village. To wash, you basically have a sauna and then pour buckets of water over yourself. It was actually quite nice as it was so cold outside. The bano and the toilet are both situated at the end of the garden. Needless to say I was the only one who had to brave the cold and the dark to go for a pee in the middle of the night!

After dinner at the house which, quite amusing, consisted of a plate of cabbage, we had a couple of beers and then hit the sack.

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Next day we caught a boat to the fisherman's retreat, where we had lunch in a little cabin the woods. Was lovely. We walked back along the edge of the lake. A beautiful walk but unfortunately the weather was anything but beautiful - it teemed it down the whole way! we warmed up in the bano when we got back though!

Luckily the sun cam out for our last morning by the lake so we were able to see how stunning it is. It is so unbelievably blue!

Back in Irkutsk, we stayed for a night with another Russian lady called Sasha. We stayed in her flat which was about a 15 minute walk from the centre. Irkutsk was quite a strange city really. There were lots of business men and beautiful ladies walking around which we didn't expect to see given the oldy woldy style of most of the buildings and streets.

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We spent our time wandering around looking at the wooden houses, magnificent churches and strolling along the river. We popped into a few bars too - they are really into the expensive Belgian beerhouses here.

There was a fantastic market near the train station where we were able to stock up on fruit, bread and other goodies (including the obligatory bottle of vodka) to keep us going on the long train journey ahead.