Irkutsk

We've been in Irkutsk for the last three days or so and we're ready to move on. The reason for stopping here was to see Lake Baikal, the worlds oldest and deepest lake. Yesterday we took a day trip to the lakeside town of Listvyanka, 60km south east of Irkutsk. There wasn't an awful lot to do in the town which apparently had only one toilet (a hole in the ground) and two cafe's serving marginally edible food - millions of stalls selling smelly fish though. The lake is the attraction - it's absolutely beautiful, crystal clear water, surrounded by mountains and lined with little settlements of wooden villages. We ended up walking for a few hours out to the mouth of the Angara river and up to the Hotel Baikal perched on the mountain overlooking the lake. The Angara is the only river flowing out of Baikal but it's heavily outnumbered by the 336 rivers that flow into the lake.

Lake Biakal

Cars aren't the only things on the road to Listvyanka

After being unceremoniously kicked out of our hotel at 8am this morning by the babushka on duty we ventured to the railway station to leave our bags in the left luggage section so that we could spend the day back in the city. Actually the main reason is so that we can go back to a Sports Bar that we found yesterday to watch some of the world cup football. We're both looking forward to getting on the road again and quietly anticipating what Mongolia has to offer.

 The city of Irkutsk

 

One of the many Lenin statues