Irkutsk

Irkutsk is a major tourist hub because of nearby Lake Baikal. Baikal is the largest freshwater lake in the world--an ecosystem unto itself--with more water in it than every lake in the US combined, including the Great Lakes. The city itself is kind of grungy though. We could only spend 36 hours in Irkutsk because of the airline timetable. We had decided a while back to skip the Irkutsk-Vladivostok leg of the Trans-Siberian railway because it was several days long and my father had enough of long train rides.

The Irkutsk airport was hilariously tiny. We then had a bone-jarring late-night ride to our homestay from the tourism agent.

We stayed at a private apartment which was close to downtown. Including the tourism agency's commission, it cost as much as a hotel room. The picture above is from the apartment window; I didn't take pictures inside to preserve our hostess's privacy. She was clearly an English teacher, and she had some nice furniture and decorations. I think they are pre-1991, and my father thinks they were bought to appeal to tourists staying there. The building had a meandering, unequal stairwell to the second floor which continued to a small 2.5nd-floor landing. The downstairs neighbours had a bright yellow motorcycle sidecar, a chained dog, and a pile of cordwood in their ad hoc front yard.

We wasted half our time trying to find a telephone centre or Internet café to book a hotel or homestay in Vladivostok. We eventually found both and were advised to book a certain hotel once we got to Vladivostok.

The main art gallery (художественный музей) had a good collection of Russian and Buryat-Mongolian art. We didn't realize the second section was so extensive, so we didn't have time to see it all before the gallery closed. Irkutsk has traditionally been the heart of democratic Russia, and the art reflected much more democratic sensibilities than the aristocratic portraits we saw in European Russia. Most were landscapes or cityscapes, but my two favorites were portraits: "Madman" (Безумный) was a wild-eyed man in a park wearing a trenchcoat stuffed with dolls, while two policemen confer nearby; and "Abandoned female" (Покинутая) was a mother in rags consoling her baby in the shadow of a glittering citadel.

Lake Baikal was an hour away by hydrofoil. If we had had more time, we could have seen some of the smaller cities or islands up and down the coast. We tried to find the hydrofoil station for several sweltering hours by following our guidebook, then gave up in disgust. The second major art gallery was closed for repairs, so we spent the day visiting the central market and walking around. We had a good Georgian meal at 9pm then headed out to the airport for our 2am flight (!).