Last night was the first night that I didn't sleep very well, maybe I had had too much coffee and there were some more uneven parts of the track, so when the alarm went off at 6.30 it was not welcome! We finished packing, quite tricky for two of us in the restricted space, had a quick cuppa, stripped the bunks, wiped the table as instructed....oops!.....requested, by the steward and we were ready to disembark.
In general we were very impressed with this train, but we should be , it was the Rossiya, one of a very few firmeny trains. Our female senior steward was extremely obliging from the first day, after I introduced ourselves to her in Russian. Since then we have had a few pidgin conversations with some laughs! She was very pleased when I went to their cabin and gave them a Lancashire red rose pin and a Clitheroe fridge magnet and postcard. In return she gave me her Rossiya jacket pin.
Our taxi driver was waiting for us on the platform, a very nice young man called Ivan, he spoke excellent English land was a mine of information on the 60km drive to Lystvyanka. We are staying at the Baikalskaia terema hotel, a wood chalet style building set slightly up a valley from the lake. The room has a partial lake view and is quite basic, especially compared with the spacious comfort we had in Moscow for a very similar price. By the time we got here I was decidedly weary, but an excellent breakfast soon sorted that out, and after a shower and some clothes washing we set off to explore the village......iPad in bag!
It is hard to believe that we are actually here...walking along the shores of the worlds largest and deepest freshwater lake. The village has the feel of a rustic seaside place, yet it also feels like an alpine village too! The pine clad hills descend steeply to the lake. The village is linear and has an amazing mix of properties, pretty traditional wooden Siberian cottages, many with fretwork shutters and gables, some painted, some in very good condition and some very dilapidated. Alongside them are the most amazingly ugly structures!......I will post another photo on the blog later! The building standards would horrify our surveyor & architect friends ;). As we explored up one of the side streets we came across a well which appears to be in daily use!
We found the village's largest hotel with it's free wi-fi, ordered two coffees and I sat down to check emails, send the blog etc. Amanda popped up on Skype having seen that I was online so we had a lovely chat with her and heard about Orlo's experiences at his introduction to Kindergarten this week.
Later we wandered amongst the souvenir stalls, there is a large amount of jewellery for sale all made from local stones, wooden items, Russian dolls, hats, etc etc. In the market we came across stalls selling various types of smoked fish which is the local speciality. There are lots of cafes too mostly selling kebabs, we decided to take the safe option and went back to the large hotel for lunch. They have a grill bar on the 7th floor with great views over the lake and up and down the village street. Michael had the local fish...omul.....and I a Caesar salad. Both were good and beautifully presented.
After walking the full length of the village, looking for the museum up a side street we retreated back to our hotel. The weather has been great today, blue sky, it with a cool breeze coming off the lake, it was very warm out of the wind, but a fleece was required when we encountered the full blast!
Tomorrow we hope to take the hydrofoil up the lake to a small village called Bolshie Koty and walk back, about 20km we are told....
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