Feb 8

Feb 8 Baikal - Day 2

Matt Swanson

Travel, Photoraphy

Day 2

First picture

This was my first 8x10 picture from this trip.

Feels very interrogation room like.

Breakfast

Breakfast at the hotel. Buffet style feels really strange given the pandemic. Fried eggs, porridge and bread. Chased with a cappuccino which was really some hot milk with a splash of coffee from an automated machine. Luckily I have an Oreo brownie from the Khabarovsk airport that I didn’t eat last night... #winning

Historic part of town

We made a quick walk through the historic part of town. Near the church of Christ rising. Seems like it would be a nice area to walk around and probably quite enjoyable in the summer. It was here that we saw the Babr. The barb is the mythological symbol / mascot of Irkutsk.

Angara Ice Breaker Museum

We showed up to the Angara Ice Breaker museum expecting to take a look from the outside. It was supposed to be closed but when we were looking at it from outside, someone came out and offered to let us on to come take a look around!

It was interesting to see the insides of the ship. Impressive that this thing was more than 100 years old but still in such great condition. Also, found it incredible that this was an ice breaker.

I can’t imagine working on this ship back when it was operational and having to shovel coal for the engines to generate the power to break up the ice.

They also mentioned that a significant portion of the staff, when it was operational, was women. They were down there shoveling coal. Not a job I would have imagined was a socially accepted job back in those days.

Taltsy Museum

Then we hopped in our ride and went to an open air museum that showcased the village life / structure from the 1600’s.

We had a great lunch there before going on a guided tour. Fascinating to see how they lived back then. The villages typically had a writer who would write letters, read letters, contracts for the villagers. Even the village leader (looks like a mafia boss) wasn’t always able to read and write.

Life was simple for the villagers but as we were told, if you were willing to work hard you could make a good life for yourself and your family.

Education was available but mostly religious focused and families would usually just put up their most promising child (usually a boy) for education. The goal was to be a priest or writer.

This was definitely worth a visit.

Baikal Museum

We took a trip to the Baikal Musuem. It is a small museum but has some interesting examples of local wild life that is endemic to Baikal. Additionally, they have a small aquarium section with living specimens. This was interesting until we saw some seals which were kept in quite small tanks. They said these were rescued seals but it was still sad to watch. They looked relatively content but I still found it hard to see them in such a small enclosure.

To the Lake

We took our first steps on Lake Baikal . It is pretty magical. The ice is so clear and pure. It is like you are stepping out into space!

It is something I will never forget and can’t recommend enough.

Baikal Seasons Hotel

We stayed at the Baikal Seasons Hotel. It is a cozy and nice place. It would be perfect for a group. You can get a house which has a common room with a nice fireplace to gather around at night. The room was a toasty 80degF (26 degC) so you will warm up quite quickly from a day out in the cold.

The restaurant also had nice food and a great atmosphere, even though it was empty except for us. The only thing to note is that if they ask to bring you cappuccino out with your desert or before...always say before...always

Closing Thoughts

All things are pointing to Irkutsk and Baikal as interesting places. Baikal seems like it is magical and the start to this trip has been incredible. I’m excited to see what tomorrow will bring.