Baikal
Well I'm away from the cities from once and by the largest body of freshwater in the world Lake Baikal. Typically when I arrived it was raining so the view was next to nothing and the lake did have its chance to show itself at its best. The weather's been improving throughout the day though and a little while ago the sun was beginning to break through the murk.
The hotel, which is a typical Intourist hotel, the longstanding official hotel of the area for tourists and foreign tourists in particular, is very much a 1970s work of concrete as are all of its kin but it's in a fab location overlooking the lake, and my room which isn't exactly dead modern (and the bathroom certainly in) nevertheless offers a balcony with a lake view, so certainly no complaints there!
I arrived here early. The train got into Irkutsk, which is the nearest city, at about 7am, and I was at the hotel by 8am. The travel agency had even arranged for an English speaker to meet me on my carriage as it arrived into Irkutsk and showed my to the taxi. He was then dropped on and the taxi made its way to Listvyanka, the village where I'm staying by the Lake. It was a bit pointless, I mean arranging taxi-driver with a sign would have sufficed, but it was a nice touch! Also in a change from the dodgy Ladas I've been ferried to and from the hotels in (many of them being 'unofficial' taxis - normal people wanting to earn a few extra roubles) this time I was taken to the hotel in a much more plush 'Volga'. These seem to be the generally more plush range of Russian made cars, although nowadays Lada do make more modern models and of course Western cars (with a number showing Japanese characters on the windows indicating imports I reckon) are all over the place.
I wandered into Listvyanka, which from here is a bit of a route march, but it's ok. Whereas the hotel is something of a bastion of Western-ness; there was masses of aging Germans in the lobby when I arrived; on leaving the hotel I suddenly realise "crap, I'm still in Russia". Although in Listvyanka they've made a slight effort, in the 'information office' there's a table with a person sat behind it and an enlarged version of the map I bought at the hotel, otherwise it's completely barren and bare of any other information and it's about as welcoming as a gulag. I popped in, but feeling unhelped by the surrounds I quickly left, as did some other foreign tourists who followed me. Listvyanka isn't much to look at. It's clearly being built up to cater for a growing number of tourists but the town centre is still very much a Russian preserve featuring cafes that feature a staggering lack of selection (I ended up having an instant coffee for 20p and a Twix as I was unable to fathom what other foods they had, if anything, aside from some unappetising salads). There was also a market selling tacky souvenirs and fish being smoked right in front of you, meaning there was smoke everywhere and you emerged from it coughing, spluttering and smelling like a smoke house! I reckon I got some decent photos from it though, although given that the hotel only has a dial-up internet connection costing 6 roubles (over 10p) a minute, I'm not about to be uploading any photos for the present!
I think for the rest of my time here (I'm here all of tomorrow and Tuesday morning) I'll do little than wander by the waterfront (there's a path of sorts and a proper pavement in places) and otherwise laze about in the hotel making frequent visits to the blini cafe and restaurant. Yes relaxation is on the cards while I can get it, as I've a long train journey and a couple more cities to see in Russian before the ferry to Japan, and then I reckon it'll be the sprawling Japanese metropolises for a while I reckon.
The hotel, which is a typical Intourist hotel, the longstanding official hotel of the area for tourists and foreign tourists in particular, is very much a 1970s work of concrete as are all of its kin but it's in a fab location overlooking the lake, and my room which isn't exactly dead modern (and the bathroom certainly in) nevertheless offers a balcony with a lake view, so certainly no complaints there!
I arrived here early. The train got into Irkutsk, which is the nearest city, at about 7am, and I was at the hotel by 8am. The travel agency had even arranged for an English speaker to meet me on my carriage as it arrived into Irkutsk and showed my to the taxi. He was then dropped on and the taxi made its way to Listvyanka, the village where I'm staying by the Lake. It was a bit pointless, I mean arranging taxi-driver with a sign would have sufficed, but it was a nice touch! Also in a change from the dodgy Ladas I've been ferried to and from the hotels in (many of them being 'unofficial' taxis - normal people wanting to earn a few extra roubles) this time I was taken to the hotel in a much more plush 'Volga'. These seem to be the generally more plush range of Russian made cars, although nowadays Lada do make more modern models and of course Western cars (with a number showing Japanese characters on the windows indicating imports I reckon) are all over the place.
I wandered into Listvyanka, which from here is a bit of a route march, but it's ok. Whereas the hotel is something of a bastion of Western-ness; there was masses of aging Germans in the lobby when I arrived; on leaving the hotel I suddenly realise "crap, I'm still in Russia". Although in Listvyanka they've made a slight effort, in the 'information office' there's a table with a person sat behind it and an enlarged version of the map I bought at the hotel, otherwise it's completely barren and bare of any other information and it's about as welcoming as a gulag. I popped in, but feeling unhelped by the surrounds I quickly left, as did some other foreign tourists who followed me. Listvyanka isn't much to look at. It's clearly being built up to cater for a growing number of tourists but the town centre is still very much a Russian preserve featuring cafes that feature a staggering lack of selection (I ended up having an instant coffee for 20p and a Twix as I was unable to fathom what other foods they had, if anything, aside from some unappetising salads). There was also a market selling tacky souvenirs and fish being smoked right in front of you, meaning there was smoke everywhere and you emerged from it coughing, spluttering and smelling like a smoke house! I reckon I got some decent photos from it though, although given that the hotel only has a dial-up internet connection costing 6 roubles (over 10p) a minute, I'm not about to be uploading any photos for the present!
I think for the rest of my time here (I'm here all of tomorrow and Tuesday morning) I'll do little than wander by the waterfront (there's a path of sorts and a proper pavement in places) and otherwise laze about in the hotel making frequent visits to the blini cafe and restaurant. Yes relaxation is on the cards while I can get it, as I've a long train journey and a couple more cities to see in Russian before the ferry to Japan, and then I reckon it'll be the sprawling Japanese metropolises for a while I reckon.
posted by Daniel at 9:17 am
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