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Lake Baikal - The Tahoe of Siberia July, 2008 |
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Worse yet, we wasted 5 hours at the Mongolian border waiting for customs and an engine car, sweltering in a stuffy carriage car as the immigration folks took their sweet time. For a while we were all allowed off the train to wander around and stretch our legs, but once customs collect your passports for processing, you can’t leave the train. And while the train is stopped at a station all bathrooms are locked. Our roommate Roy was busted for whizzing off the back of the train while we were stopped and locked out of the bathrooms – they hauled him off the train and fleeced him out of $50 – a fine they said. Even worse was the Russian
border, where another 5 hours were spent with unfriendly Russian police
and other officials (including a German If Russia truly wants to encourage tourism, they need to send these people to charm school – first off, stop ordering people around in Russian, we’re a Westerner only car, so send someone on board that speaks English and can tell us what’s going on – secondly, your teeth won’t fall out if you crack a smile, try it sometime – thirdly, we’re not trying to sneak contraband into your country, so ease up on the searches and the sniffing dogs – fourthly, lose the paranoia about us spying on you, you have nothing we want to steal - lastly, the Cold War is over folks, so let’s simplify the complicated visa requirements and just grant 30 day visas like all the other countries in the world. You do want to encourage tourism to your country don’t you – well, friends tell other friends about their experiences, so let’s try and make it a little more pleasant next time.
Fortunately, the other guests
at the home stay were fun to be around, as we caught up with Karen and
her
Going back and spending one
night in Irkutsk was far more interesting, as this small town is about
an hour from the lake and has many old From here we get on train #9, 5000 miles non-stop to Moscow - three nights and four days - although we’ve upgraded to 1st class so won’t have to share it with anyone. Sometimes you have good roommates, sometimes you don’t, and we didn’t want to chance it for that long of a time, although so far we’ve been very lucky. Russia is a strange country as its people seem not yet accustomed to dealing with tourists – we hear the word for No – nyet – quite a bit, and many shrug rather than try and help you out. Hopefully, the next generation of young folks will move this country forward since they seem friendlier and more open to the outside world, as well as being interested in where you’re from and what you do. Somewhere in this vast countryside there lurks an alleged superpower…
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We’ve
been on quite a few trains the last 10 months, but train #263 from
Mongolia to Lake Baikal is easily the worst one. Stuck in a miniature
cabin with two other roommates, we traveled for two nights and three
days in a hot car without benefit of air conditioning, everyone pretty
miserable and worn out over the poor conditions. Not to mention the
train stopped at every little village along the way, with the train
getting up to maximum acceleration only to start slowing for the next
stop. 
Shepard
dog) swarming through the train, inspecting baggage, double checking
your documentation, and generally being about as unwelcoming to tourists
as they could. We all sat there with a pretend smile, knowing full well
that at any time, someone official could find fault with your papers and
kick you off the train, doomed to figure out on your own how to
continue, or worse, forfeit your trip and all your money. Again, while
the train is stopped at the station, the bathrooms are locked, and
you’re not allowed off the train, so you needed to plan ahead to not be
caught in this bathroom predicament. Prior to arriving here, the
Mongolian cabin attendants had passed out plastic bags containing
sleeping attire – slippers and pajamas – which the friendly Russians all
confiscated when they boarded the train – thanks guys, I’m sure they’ll
make nice Christmas presents to the relatives. 
After
two nights and three days on this train from hell, we all gratefully
arrived at Irkutsk, the gateway to Lake Baikal, where we were met and
taken to a home stay on the shores of the lake in the little village of
Bolshoe Goloustnoe. The lake itself is immense, and it’s really hard to
get a sense of scale standing on the shore – there’s enough water in
this lake to supply the world’s population in drinking water for 40
years – yes, 40 years – it’s big and it’s deep. Ringed by mountain
ranges and isolated except for settlements along the southern shoreline,
its waters are constantly replenished by melting snow and frequent
storms – in fact for the two days we were there, it pretty much drizzled
and rained the entire time. They say you can drink directly from the
lake, although with a lot of litter and many piles of cow dung along the
shore, I wouldn’t. 
three daughters, who are moving back to the UK from Hong Kong, and James
and Becky, teachers living in Shanghai. Both nights we sat around and
drank many rounds of cheap beer, after individual hour long sessions in
the sauna out back. The food at the home stay was ok, although somewhat
meager, and the only bathroom was an outhouse out back – yes, the old
fashioned wooden house with the stinky smell to it. This is a very small
and very local village with not much to do, so two nights here was
plenty (the liquor store next door is open until 3:00 AM). The local
people did not impress us with their friendliness, while everyone seemed
to be drinking at all hours of the days. Especially disturbing were all
the discarded liquor bottles along the streets and along the shores, and
we thought, if they can’t keep this beautiful area clean, what hope is
there? 
One
of the days, we went on a rather wet 5 hour hike up along the shoreline
to have lunch at a fisherman’s hut, and we sat around and sampled local
Siberian fish stew and pan fried pike (that’s what it looked like to
me). Honestly, if you’ve seen the Great Lakes, you’ve seen Lake Baikal
(and Lake Tahoe is certainly more dramatic). And I can’t imagine what
winters are like in this remote forsaken part of the world. Just
trekking to the outhouse out back could kill you with extreme
temperatures well below zero. It’s interesting for its wooden houses and
a quick walkabout and a chance to experience life in Siberia, but unless
you can spend a lot of time here and get to the farthest reaches of the
lake, it’s kind of over rated. That plus you have to take the crappy
train and spend up to 10-11 hours going through customs, and I just
don’t think it’s worthwhile. Mongolian, for us, was a better
experience. 
buildings,
restaurants and shopping. From here you can hop on a boat that will take
you to the lake where you cruise around for the day – something to
consider if you do decide to visit. My imitation Nike shoes that I
purchased in China – I really should have known better – came apart at
the seams after one week, so, fortunately, there was a real Reebok store
in town where I was able to get a legitimate pair of shoes that should
last the rest of the trip. 
