It took a little while for the dust to settle from our last big adventure to Lake Baikal and Mongolia, but I'm finally getting caught up. I'll do the Russian and Mongolian parts of the trip in two seperate posts to keep it from being too long.
Visiting Lake Baikal has been one of my goals ever since we got to Russia. As the worlds largest and cleanest freshwater lake, it's one of those places that just needs to be seen. While it would have been interesting to take the Trans-Siberian Railroad all the way from Moscow to Irkutsk, we agreed that would probably be unpleasant with a two-and-a-half year-old, so we flew there instead.
Our first surprise was that the flight we thought was operated by Aeroflot (already a source of anxiety for Stephanie), was actually operated by Oren Air, which neither of us had heard of (a greater source of anxiety). Fortunately, the flight was fine, although we must have missed the announcement that the plane was only for people with tiny bladders. I've never seen so many people use the bathroom so many times. It became something of a problem for the drink and food service since the flight attendants couldn't get down the aisle with so many people waiting for the toilet.
For us it didn't matter too much since it was an overnight flight and Aiden slept for a good chunk of it. Having normal-sized bladders, we didn't need to get up very often. When we arrived in Irkutsk, we had to wait for them to unlock the baggage collection room, but our bags came out quickly after that. I had a litle altercation with a lady who decided she was going to cut the line waiting to have our baggage tags verified.
After a long flight with little sleep, I just wasn't having it. So I maneuvered my bags to cut her off and told her that the line starts back there. She was enraged and accosted me for being rude, and that being that she is a woman, I should be polite and let her go first. I found that laughable since I haven't noticed chivalry to be a strong suit here, but all I did was point out that I have a small child waiting for me outside. She huffed and said she didn't see any child... but as I said, he was outside.
Our driver was there waiting for us when we got out and it only took me a few minutes to fix the car seat. At first he insisted that it was already done, but he had only taken the seatbelt and wrapped it around the head rest a few times. Once we got that sorted out, we left Irkutsk for the town of Listvyanka on the shore of Lake Baikal.
The drive through the forest was nice with periodic glimpses of the river that runs through Irkutsk to the lake, and eventually the road turned and passed directly along the lake, which was beautiful. But when we got to Listvyanka, I'll admit we were a little disappointed. It was overcast and our hotel seemed to be a long way from the lake and was in the middle of a fairly rundown section of houses. Between the overnight flight and getting to the hotel, we were all pretty tired and decided to take a nap before exploring.
When we woke up things were looking better, the sun was out and we found that our driver had taken the long way to our hotel and were able to locate a shorter route to the lake on foot. We walked through town, which is mostly spread out along the shore, and made our way up to a bluff with good views over the lake. On the way, we passed people smoking freshly caught fish from the lake and picked one up for a snack.
The views were beautiful. The lake is enormous, but in the clear weather we could see snowcapped mountains on the other side. Aiden enjoyed running around the pine forest while Stephanie an I enjoyed the fish.
On our way back into town, we discovered the fish market, where you can buy fresh fish, salt-cured fish, cold-smoked fish, dried fish, and hot-smoked fish - fish just about anyway you want, all direct from the lake. They also had plenty of local produce on hand - mostly berries and pine nuts, but all very enticing. We already had plans for dinner, but promised ourselves to make it back for a meal before we left.
On the way to dinner, we got to enjoy a beautiful sunset over the lake. Dinner was delicious, and we enjoyed local delicacies like pickled fern, but apparently the summer had been too cold and rainy for mushrooms - who knew that cold and damp was bad for fungus...
The next day started off just as beautifully so we headed up the road toward the local natural history museum. I had read something about a ski slope behind it where you can ride the lift up for great views over the lake. The lady at the desk of the museum said it wasn't far - maybe that was true if we had a car, but for a walk it was quite a slog. Still, the ski lift was where it was supposed to be and when we got to the top, the view was reward enough.
We visited the museum on our way down for a really cool exhibit about the geological history of the lake, the wildlife in the area, and aquariums featuring local fish and even a freshwater seal!
We also got to enjoy a simulated submarine ride to the bottom of the lake. The real submarine was outside, but the video experience was really neat. They played videos out of each "porthole" so we could see what the surroundings would be like at different depths. Aiden even cooperated and stayed quiet for most of it. I was really surprised to see such an impressive museum so far off the beaten path.
Lake Baikal really does have something for everyone - Stephanie was really into this semi-precious gem called Charoite. It's an opaque purple stone that is only found in a specific location near Lake Baikal, so a small pendant made the perfect souvenir/birthday gift.
For lunch, we stopped at a restaurant run by the owner of our hotel and had deer and pine nut kebabs - but again, no mushrooms - and on the way back to the hotel for a nap, we stopped at Listvyanka's main church, St. Nicholas, which was founded by a seaman who says he was rescued from a storm on the lake by St. Nicholas. Apparently the storms on the lake can be quite fierce with 10-12 foot swells.
In the evening the weather had clouded over, but this actually made it easier to see the mountains across the lake and gave a very different character to the whole scene.
We returned to the fish market for dinner and had some hot-smoked fish, called Omul, and were delighted to find some Tajik immigrants making fresh plov. Along with a pint of local beer, it made for a wonderfully satisfying meal. Aiden found it hard to stay put while we ate but that didn't seem to bother the locals. The Tajik guys enjoyed chasing him around and the Russian ladies who were selling trinkets gave him a couple of toys to play with and even let him take them home.
The next morning was rainy, which wasn't ideal for our visit to the Taltsy Open Air Museum. Similar to other ethnographic museums we have seen, this is a collection of wooden structures from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, although some new construction going on made us doubt whether these were all authentic. It was a neat place to see, but was not the most impressive outdoor museum we've been to. Also, the atmosphere was marred slightly by the fact that the Russian women wore modern neon-colored coats over their period costumes and completely ignored us while they played on their iPhones.
Aiden didn't seem to mind though, and spent the whole time running away from us to find ever bigger puddles to jump in. In short, he had a great time, but Stephanie and I were ready to continue on our way back to Irkutsk before too long.
Despite the dreary day, our spirits lifted as we passed the Kazan Monastery on our way into Irkutsk...
Our next stop was the Znamesky Cathedral, which houses the remains of Grigory Shelikhov, the founder of the first permanent Russian settlement in Alaska. It was kind of neat to imagine the history of Alaska from the Russian perspective.
After the visit to the church, our driver rather unceremoniously dropped us off at what our travel company described as a city apartment, but was actually a single room in a hostel with a warning in the bathroom that you would be fined $100 if you flushed toilet paper down the toilet. I used a travel agency in this case because the area we traveled in hasn't really developed the extensive online presence that makes it feasible to plan things in advance without some help - especially when you have to ensure the needs of a toddler are considered.
The disappointment with the agency didn't end with the room, when I called to ask what time we would be picked up to go to the train station the next morning, I was told that I didn't ask for one. Silly me for thinking that paying someone to organize a trip would include things like transportation from one place to another. And maybe it was silly of me to think that would happen in Russia (it was not a problem in Mongolia).
Maybe they were just annoyed at me because I bought the train tickets myself instead of paying an extra $160 to have them do it. Either way, they could have made a little extra money by providing the service, but as we've seen before making money strangely does not seem to always be the first concern of businesses here.
Anyway, we put our frustrations behind us and headed out to see the town of Irkutsk. Actually, before I get to that, we were disappointed again to find that the blini restaurant we wanted to go to was out of business. We decided on pizza instead and it turned out that comfort food really hit the spot. After lunch, the clouds were breaking up and we were ready to sightsee.
Many of the churches in Irkutsk date back almost to it's founding. I particularly enjoyed the Cathedral of the Epiphany, which features wall-to-wall frescoes of everything imaginable, including one of the last Romanov family at gunpoint.
We also visited a little district that has been improved for tourists, with all of the architecture based on the traditional wooden buildings of the region. It was kind of what I would expect to see at an Epcot version of Russia, and kind of neat.
On the walk back through the downtown area, we got to enjoy a lot of different architecture and surprisingly bright colors. It's very different from what we have seen in either Moscow or St. Petersburg.
I was particularly taken with the old wooden buildings, some of which reportedly date back to the 18th century. Many are falling into disrepair, but the detail and craftsmanship are still evident.
That evening I went out in search of dinner and food to take on the train the next day. I found a neat indoor market with all kinds of different food. I also encountered, again, the resistance to making money if it wasn't seen as worth the effort. At a cheese stall, I found a cheese with hops in it with a really unique flavor, but the woman wouldn't sell me any unless I bought at least half a pound, which would have been way too much for us. Luckily, I found another woman two stalls over who was happy to sell me a quarter pound of the same cheese. It really doesn't cease to amaze me.
Aiden was getting a little cranky so we had dinner in our one room hovel before going to bed - or trying to. It was probably the worst night of our entire trip. The walls could have been made of toilet paper for all the noise they kept out and the other inhabitants of our decidedly budget accommodations didn't seem to make any effort at being quiet. Then, at around 10pm, the outdoor spotlight came on and shone directly through our translucent curtains. It was bright enough to read.
I went to the front desk to ask if they could turn on the light, and the girl was nice enough, but said she couldn't before midnight. At least she was prompt about it when the time came and Stephanie and I got a few hours of sleep before it was time to go to the train station.
The cab I ordered came on time and I felt at least a little good about paying the driver instead of the tour company. The weather had turned dreary again, so it was nice to get on board the warm train. And since the day was so gray, I didn't mind too much that the windows were too dirty to take good pictures. Still, most of the trip was along the lake and it was neat to see it under stormy conditions.
The train from Irkutsk to Ulan-Ude lasted almost 8 hours, but since we had a compartment to ourselves, there was room for Aiden to play. We also enjoyed the smoked fish I brought from Listvyanka and some of the treats that I got at the market - including these delicious cherry tomatoes with little tails.
When we got to Ulan-Ude, we were besieged with cab drivers promising us the best price. We were going to a homestay in town and I had spoken with our host on the train. She said not to pay more than 200 rubles, which was good to know since most of the cabbies wanted 3-400. This one guy was particularly persistent and insisted that the easiest way was to go down a long flight of stairs. My gut told me to continue straight ahead, and that was my plan until he accepted the price I demanded. I figured once he had our business that his statement about the stairs must be legit, but it turned out only to be the easiest way to get to his cab. I was more than a little annoyed after carrying the two suitcases all the way down to discover we had to drive back up to the main road. Needless to say he didn't get a tip.
After dropping us off at the wrong apartment (only a couple doors down), we found our way by having our host shout at us from her window and we were finally there. We discovered we were staying with a retired lady named Olga, and her sister. Olga took to Aiden immediately and wanted to do nothing else but kiss him all over. He was wary at first, but warmed up and eventually let her hold him before we left.
We decided to get out and stretch our legs a bit, but there really isn't much to see in Ulan-Ude. They do boast the largest Lenin head in the world, and there are some ornate wooden houses that used to belong to the merchant class near the river, but other than that, it's fairly run down.
We didn't have any luck finding the restaurant that Olga mentioned, but eventually found an affordable cafe with surprisingly good food. By then we were all pretty beat, but sleep was a long time coming again as the pull-out bed I shared with Aiden creaked so loudly that I woke up every time one of us moved. Aiden slept through pretty well, but neither Stephanie or I did.
The weather had cleared the next day and our tour guide picked us up after a nice breakfast of delicious mini-pancakes. Again, I had to futz with the safety seat for awhile to undo and redo the installation, but we got on our way and drove out past the sprawling suburb of dacha's to the Datsan Monastery - the headquarters for Buddhism in Russia.
One of the neatest things for me was seeing the dichotomy of the very Asian-styled temples and the very Russian-styled housing side by side. It was something unique compared to anything else we've seen here.
After the monastery, we headed out toward the Old Believer's village, stopping on the way at an overlook with beautiful views of the river valley. The river flows from Mongolia all the way to Lake Baikal. The rocky outcrop we visited is a holy sight for Buddhists and Shamanists alike.
The Old Believers are a sect of the Russian Orthodox Church who rejected the reforms taken in the 1600's to bring the Russian Church more in line with the Greek Orthodox Church. They were persecuted for centuries and under the reign of Catherine the Great, they were forced to resettle in Siberia to solve both the problems of religious conflict and the under-population in Russia's far east.
The Old Believer's still live much the way they did 300 years ago and are largely self-sufficient. Our guide told us that if we keep going past the village, the road would end and we would find ourselves in the Taiga - basically, the wilderness. The villagers still go out to forage for mushrooms, berries and other wild foods, but have to be on the lookout for wolves, which sometimes venture in to steel livestock. When we got to the house we were visiting, we got a whole introduction to their way of life.
In the back of the house is a large vegetable garden and greenhouse. They grow cabbage, potatoes, beets, carrots, onions, peppers, tomatoes, and cucumbers. Our host told us that they had an early frost (in the middle of September), that killed off the cold sensitive crops, which will cause a serious reduction in their stores for the winter. Most Old Believer groups are very secretive, so I guess the money they get from tourism is one of the reasons this particular group is more open.
Despite the frost, something must be working because the cabbages are the most enormous I have ever seen...
The waste from the farming goes to feed the livestock, which includes poultry, pigs, and sheep. The waste from the animals is turned into fertilizer to grow the crops. All of these things which are seen as fashionable now in the west are just good common sense for people who still work for their own sustenance.
Inside the house was cozy and warm. We learned that many of their most prized possessions where carried by their ancestors when they were forced out of their homes.
That includes gargantuan strings of amber, which historically were also used for trade...
And family religious icons, some of which are more than 300 years old. Old Believers to not believe that it is necessary to go to church in order to keep religion, so they all have icons in the home.
For lunch, we had a meal of foods from the homestead - everything, we were told, is grown there, except for salt and sugar, and that included the alcohol. It was neat to see the working oven, which is so similar to the ones we have only seen in historical tourist villages so far.
After lunch, we were treated to a concert by our hostess and her grandsons, singing traditional songs. They were incredible and I'm still kicking myself for not getting a video. But frankly, the concert was very personal and at the time I just didn't feel it was appropriate to ask.
After that, they dressed Stephanie up in wedding-day apparel and explained the significance of the various decorations. I think it was at least partly an excuse to have another shot of liquor, but we were both surprised when she was allowed to wear the family amber.
After another relatively sleepless night on the creaky bed, it was time to get on our great train ride to Mongolia. The first thing we noticed was that the attendants on the train were Mongolian and didn't speak any Russian or English - there went my advantage.
We also found out that the train was coal powered and heated, which was kind of a neat throwback. Although when we got to our compartment we learned that coal heat meant it was stiflingly hot.
It was so hot, we were really starting to worry about whether we would make it through the night without burning to a crisp. Then we noticed in the corridor that someone opened a window and were able to figure out how to do the same in our compartment (it wasn't obvious). After that, we were much more comfortable and enjoyed beautiful views out the window as we traveled along the river toward the Mongolian border.
We reached the last station in Russia, Naushki, around 5pm and stopped there to process our exit from Russia. We tried to spend some time on the platform, but the mosquitoes were horrific (this coming from an Eastern Shore native), and Aidne kept wanting to walk along the edge of the track, so we went back inside.
The border processing took about 4 hours. The border guards came on, took our passports, then left for a couple hours. Then they brought them back, inspected our compartments and left us to sit for another couple hours. By then it was dark, and about 9 pm and we still had to cross the Mongolian border. We made it to the Mongolian border about 30 minutes later and spent another hour and a half there. They were particularly confused by the fact that we were travelling on diplomatic passports from Russia, but entering on tourist passports in Mongolia. We're used to this and got it sorted out. We had finally entered Mongolia and had a few hours to sleep on the way to Ulaanbaatar.
Many more pictures can be found here:
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