"Steam and rain"

We arrived into Irkutsk after a mammoth 30 hour journey from Mongolia. It wasn't so much the journey as the wait with us arriving at the border between Mongolia and Russia at 3am only to sit until 9am for the Mongolian border guards to start work. By the time we had gone through immigration\ in Russia it was 1pm some 10 hours later (but only 30km's further).

Our guide was called Costas, short for Constantine, and in what has turned out to be typical Russian style he had a fantastic 80's mullet. Anyway after getting some money he whisked us off to Lake Baikal for a couple of days relaxing in the scenic surroundings. Now we have been somewhat blessed by the sun gods on our travels so far but this time our luck ran out and we were treated to Siberian showers for most of our 2 day stay, it was still 25 degrees though!.

"He then beat us with the hot birch leaves...calling us real Russians"

The 1st day we braved the rain and went up to a view point to look at.........some clouds. After that we sampled the local hot chocolate (very nice) and headed back for a Bania (Russian Sauna). This was great fun as we sauna'd the chilled with tea repeatedly. The process is repeated until the body is ready for the next phase.....whipping with birch twigs!!!!!

Costas ushered us in 1 by 1 and we lay in the heat of the sauna. He then beat us with the hot birch 1st on the back and then after he prompted us to 'cover our bits'- footballer in a wall style, on our fronts. All good fun and you really feel great afterwards.

We spent the evening munching and playing cards as Costas and Nat (one of our group) serenaded the group with a guitar and some Russian blues.

Next day slightly better weather meant that another walk and a boat trip led to much better views and photos. After the walk it was time to try out the Baikal legend of dipping in the Lake. This says that if you dip your toe then this will give you an extra years life, your leg 10 years and full emersion leads to a whopping 20 years. Not one to pass up such an opportunity I (Nick) went for the third and infinitely most challenging/cold option. N.B. Lake Baikal never gets above 8 degrees even in summer. I can report that I feel much better for it now and shame on Marissa for not joining in!

It was soon time to say a sad farewell to Costas who had made at least the blokes in the group 'feel like real Russian men' and head back to Irkutsk train station. Next up the epic 88 hour train journey covering the 5000km's to Moscow.