Irkutsk, Russia

After 87 hours, 5 time zones, and half of Russia, we finally arrived in Irkutsk. Our English speaking comrades were immediately picked up by their tour group and whisked away, we, on the other hand, were on our own. We took our time walking across the city, admiring the change of culture since we had crossed into the Asian side of Russia. We eventually found ourselves at the tourist information center which, to our dismay, was closed down for the winter. Instead, we found map and located the bus station we needed to get there. Before heading that direction, we borrowed some wifi from a cafe to let the folks know we were safely off the train. From there we made our way to the bus station, which was in the midst of a bustling market, selling anything you could possibly need, including a stand selling puppies by the boxful. We eventually found our bus after deciphering the crylic sign in the window. When I say bus I am not referring to the city busses you see in downtown Denver, for example. No, these busses are essentially minivans that have a bunch of extra seating packed in. Traveling like the locals is always more fun, so we were excited for the prospect of this bus. We were not disappointed, as the driver weaved in and out of traffic getting us to the lake much faster than it should have taken.
We stepped off the bus and were greeted with our first view of lake Baikal. It was a truly stunning, gigantic lake. For reference, it holds more water than all five of the Great Lakes, combined. It also was remarkably clear, and so clean you can drink right out of the lake. We also were lucky to arrive on a sunny day, so the mountains were visible across the lake.



Since or hostel was a mile inland up one of the valleys, we decided to hoof it up there to check in and drop off our bags. We definitely picked the right place, two log cabins set back in the woods, and on top of that, it was extremely environmentally friendly.


After relaxing for a little while, we made our way back into town, first walking up the shoreline to the point, which granted up more stunning views. Eventually we decided it was time for dinner, so we picked up some groceries, then headed back to the hostel for a big meal, where we met a nice Irish couple who would become invaluable for planning our stay at the lake, as they had done most of what we were thinking of doing. Eventually decided to call it a night, grateful to sleep in a real bed.
- living the dream!