The journey from Novosibirsk is a lengthy 30 hours or so, departing lunchtime on Sunday, arriving late Monday. Traveller's hint - don't be charmed into buying drinks for the restaurant staff, regardless of their excellent service and friendliness. It gets expensive! At Irkutsk we suffer from the not uncommon problem of travelling by taxi to the hotel in the hands of a driver who hasn't the faintest idea of where to go. After a tour of the city centre and negotiating the fare down by two thirds, we are checked in to the comfortable hotel, and enjoying a late snack and beer in the pleasant bar.
Tuesday morning and it's a tram to the bus station for a day trip to Listvyanka on Lake Baikal. The bus takes just over an hour, and deposits us at a small resort which is geared up for summer visitors, with lakeside beach huts and outdoor cafés. Today, however, the temperature is somewhere south of -10°c, so outdoor tourism has to be undertaken in small doses. The lake itself is spectacular, totally frozen to the extent that the only river traffic consists of four wheel drive road vehicles and a small hovercraft. A barbecue lunch gives a chance to regain body heat before a lakeside stroll, including an investigation of the abandoned ships which are embedded into the ice.
Back in Irkutsk, we enjoy Mongolian cuisine in the evening, by far the best meal of the trip so far. As for Irkutsk itself, it has an appealing city centre, tempered by more of a wild west feel as one goes out of town.
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