We arrived early in the morning to meet with our new honcho Anya, she took us to breakfast for some much needed pancakes and then on a city tour. Irkutsk is not a huge city but really has that Russian feel that you all in vision when you think of this country, there are Lenin statues all over the city and old wooden traditional houses with intricate designs around the window arches. I really wonder how these houses have survived in -40 degree winters!! It was 5 degrees when we arrived and we were all shivering cold....even Anya was urging us into the tiny bits of sun that existed on the pavement to warm up even the tiniest bit.
Finally the sun had decided to warm up the city and we had a coffee and doughnut break while we waited for our driver...and so the silent disco began, once in the back seat in went the headphones and up went the music...dancing to whatever was in our ears in complete silence with the driver wondering what the hell we were doing in the back, constantly checking his rear view mirror to check our level of sanity.
As we rounded a bend there it was....the deepest freshwater lake in the world stretching for 600kms, this body of water sparkling bright blue that completely freezes over in winter....incredible. We reached our gorgeous chalet just a little way off the shore line and Bec beelined for the front room with the most amazing view of Lake Baikal between the mountains. We all had an easy day and relaxed and caught up on some sleep and had an amazing meal cooked by our host.....home cooked goodness.
As we rounded a bend there it was....the deepest freshwater lake in the world stretching for 600kms, this body of water sparkling bright blue that completely freezes over in winter....incredible. We reached our gorgeous chalet just a little way off the shore line and Bec beelined for the front room with the most amazing view of Lake Baikal between the mountains. We all had an easy day and relaxed and caught up on some sleep and had an amazing meal cooked by our host.....home cooked goodness.
Tonight we Banya'd, we stepped into the furnace and tried to continue breathing.....what's that we need more steam? Cheers Bec, we all nearly passed out. Anya in true stereotypical Russian form, beat us with branches which was quite refreshing if not a little strange....we were in hysterics as she would join in with, "you will enjoy it..." with her deepest accent. All de-toxified we got out into the crisp air and quickly dashed to shower....we had a pretty chilled night in and got to know a Dutch boy who was with an older tour staying with us, Bart.
Vodka, Vodka, Vodka.......giggles, bed!!!!
Irkutsk
Lake Baikal
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