The final stop of our northern Asia tour was Irkutsk and Lake Baikal in Russia. Irkutsk is the biggest city near Baikal, the deepest freshwater lake in the world. It holds something like 15 percent of the world’s fresh water. 
Even though Irkutsk is just north of Mongolia, the east-west change was stark. It was really like we were in a European country. There were lots of white people and the food cost western prices. Things were pretty rundown, but for the most part Russia was nice.
We took a plane from Ulaanbaatar to Irkutsk and it was empty. The Mongolian Airlines 737-800 was way too big for the number of passengers on board. There were only about 30 people riding on the plane so that meant Wendel and I got about 6 rows to ourselves.
It took forever to get though customs in the Irkutsk airport. The place is more like a train station that just happens to have a runway behind it instead of train tracks. By the time we started looking for a taxi on the street it was 2:30am. I had the address to our hostel but the driver couldn’t find it. We looked around some stretchy streets for awhile. It didn’t help that our Lonely Planet guide said the area isn’t so good at night. After looking around for awhile we finally found the place.
The next day we walked across town to the bus station to catch a ride to Lake Baikal. It was fun walking through the city. The infrastructure is really hurting. There is a tram but the tracks looks like ones you’d see in a deserted train yard.
We didn’t know where we were going to stay so we just started walking around the town of Listvyanka on the banks of Lake Baikal after the bus dropped us off. We were loitering around a hostel when some random guy starts talking to us. We had no idea what he was saying but then we found he was offering us a place to sleep for the night. We follow him into a little apartment building, up a small staircase and into a little unit on the top floor. He showed us a room with a pull-out couch and we negotiated a price. Seven hundred Rubles each.
After wandering around for a while and eating some awesome fresh seafood we found a spot on the beach to watch the sun set and drink some real Russian vodka. We made sure we bought the type made with Lake Baikal water.
The next day we caught a ride back to Irkutsk. We checked out a club because our plane didn’t leave until 4am. We showed up at 11:30 to find the place dead. We couldn’t stay for long but I think it’s safe to assume the real party didn’t start until much later.
We flew Kras Air back to Beijing on a funky old Tupolev-154. The seats in front of you fold down when pushed. We got some good food, though. Boarding the plane was nuts. First, we had to take a bus across the tarmac. It would have been about a 25 meter walk but, no, we had to take the bus – and it even drove around in circles before dropping us 15 meters from the plane. Then when it was time to walk up the stairs thing, everyone started freaking out and clambering to get on. Some airport worker yelled in Russian and it got even worse. Wendel and I just hung around the back of the crowd until it calmed down. We got on the plane with plenty of time.
We got back to Beijing at the crack of dawn, went back to my apartment and passed out. (All Photos)
