We pulled into Irkusk about 10 o’clock in the evening and again we were immediately met by the tour guide holding a placard with both my name and my traveling companion’s name, so that was very easy. Transport was immediately available and we were taken to our small hotel in the center of town. At last a shower. What a wonderful feeling. We went out for a meal and found the portions were about half the size of a North American equivalent. However they were not too expensive. A sleep in a normal bed was restorative and the next morning I realized I would have to get some moon boots to avoid getting my trainers soaking again in the foot deep snow. At that stage I ventured out in the temperature of -17C. At least the locals had the decency to look cold despite wearing several layers and furred hats or hoodies. My search was in vain but when the tour guide arrived she took me to a shoe store where I bought fur-lined boots which turned out ideal. To combat the cold I wore a fur-lined jacket and over-the-top a well padded anorak. A toque (Canadian woolly hat) kept my head warm but the leather gloves I thought would be adequate were pitifully not. I should have taken ski gloves. Our first stop on the tour was to visit a memorial to the 20 million Russians who died in the second world war. It was quite moving. Then we crossed a small bridge to come across the Angara River where it was confluent with the Irkut River and walked along beside the river. We came across a statue commemorating the struggle of women.
Irkusk is the capital of Siberia with a population of almost 600,000. It’s main industry is aircraft manufacture. It has a renowned medical school and a university and religious establishments which during the communist era were desecrated and used for other needs. These have now been reestablished. One of the heroes of the white Russians in the 1917 revolution was Alexander Kolchak. He is an interesting character in that he led against the red Russians. He also fell in love with his best friend’s wife who joined him and lived together until he was executed after the revolution. In the past most of the houses were wooden and as such were susceptible to fire. The belfry tolled out the message of danger to allow the inhabitants to escape. The belfry still stands. We then went on to see another statute which was Alexander III who was the founder of the trans-Siberian Railway. He was also the father of the last Czar Nicolas the second who was shot along with his family after the 1917 revolution. On the statue at his feet is a two headed eagle representing head of the state and head of the church. We also visited several churches of Russian Orthodox and Greek Orthodox religions which were architecturally exquisite and inside gold laden. The next day we left to go to Lake Baikal which is the oldest deepest and largest freshwater lake in the world. My friends from Thunder Bay in Ontario claim Lake Superior is the largest but only in surface area. Lake Baikal is 1637 meters deep. On the way we stopped at the village of Talsty. This museum is a recreation of how ancient man lived during the summers in tepee like Birch bark clad dwellings with larders elevated to avoid bears and other animals raiding the food. We also saw how they sliced logs lengthwise dug them out like a canoe and placed corpses inside and covered them up with the rest of the log and placed them on elevated platforms to avoid animals disturbing them. We also saw how more recently they had a milling system for grain. Irkusk was founded in 1661 and in this village a fort was built in 1667. They also had a small school importing teachers from larger centers with a very handsome salary to work and live in Siberia. We also saw a yurt. We were told these houses are semipermanent made of wood for seminomadic Russians as opposed to the Mongolian totally nomadic houses called gers. We then visited a fascinating museum about Lake Baikal. The visit included a simulated dive to the bottom of the lake and a full explanation of the formation and geology as well as the flora and fauna of the area. It would appear the surroundings have an average of two earthquakes per day albeit minor and small volcanoes and oil leaks deep in the water which are mopped by microorganisms and crustaceans. The most commercial fish is called omul and a personal taste confirmed its delicacy. The lake is drained by the Angara River which means open mouth. We then bought some food for the next journey to Mongolia.