Arriving at Irkutsk in the morning, it was the end of the longest leg of our Trans Siberian journey. We were greeted by our local guide in Irkutsk who gave us a city tour.
Upon exiting the Irkutsk station, all I wanted to do was peel off my skin and burn it with the clothes I had been wearing for 4 days without showering. Burn it, burn it with fire. 🔥🔥🔥
The first stop is the Spasskaya Church, it is the oldest stone building in East Siberia.
It was built in the 19th century to replace the wooden church that stood here before.
Opposite that is the Bogoyavlenskiy (Epiphany) Cathedral, which was also built in the 18th century.
The founder of Irkutsk.
The Angara River, which is the only river to flow out of Lake Baikal.
The biggest love lock I have ever seen. 😑
War memorial.
The Irkutsk eternal flame.
Polish Roman Catholic Church. Irkutsk was a city of great cultural diversity and one of the biggest minorities were the Polish, thus they built this church.
The Irkutsk Regional Museum of Local Lore, which seems to be the only place around here with English signage. 😂
One of the things Irkutsk is well known for are its Siberian wooden houses.
Doesn’t this retro car match well with the wooden house behind it? 😂
Siberian wooden houses are adorned with these ornate hand-crafted wooden laces on their windows and exterior walls.
Supposedly evil spirits enter houses through windows and doors so the wooden laces are adorned to ward off evil.
Blue symbolizes hope, white symbolizes purity.
Wooden houses were actually banned from the city center because there were so many big fires throughout history, so you need to venture a bit away from the centet to find these wooden houses.
Because of the cost of repairing, many of the wooden houses have fallen into disrepair as residents are waiting for companies to buy their houses since the law dictates that they must be reimbursed with an apartment in the city center. Nowadays, the only woodem houses who are getting maintenance are those owned by companies.
This building is actually a Jewish synagogue, see? Multicultural Irkutsk. ☺
With that, it was time to leave Irkutsk and head to Listvyanka where we’ll be staying tonight, it was a pleasant 1hr drive from Irkutsk to Listvyanka.
The Kazansky Church, this was actually the church I really wanted to see in Irkutsk, unfortunately we could only drive past it and Maria helped me take these pictures from the car.
It’s so beautiful! 😥
Arrived at our homestay in Listvyanka, every time I look out the window there’s a kid riding his bike in the backyard. 😂
First meal at the homestay, breakfast! In Russia they put sour cream on everything.
Listvyanka is a small village that is located on the edge of Lake Baikal.
Lake is the largest freshwater lake in the world by volume and contains 20% of the world’s unfrozen freshwater.
It is also considered on of the clearest lakes in the world. ✨
I wonder how long he’s been sitting here for? 😂
Lakefront real estate, it’s literally a f*cking castle. I am so jelly right now.
Cute little Siberian wooden house. :3
When in Russia… I don’t even… 😕
Paddling on crystal clear water. 🙂
Lake Baikal is also the deepest and oldest freshwater lake in the world.
Because Lake Baikai and its surrounding has such a unique ecosystem, there are research facilities located in Listvyanka dedicated to this environment specifically. In the village, there is also a Baikal Limnological Museum with exhibits on Lake Baikal.
There is a mini aquarium in the museum displaying Lake Baikal aquatic life.
One of the fish species that live only in Lake Baikal is the omul. Actually I’m not sure if the fish in the picture are omuls. 😂
Yes, in Lake Baikal there are freshwater seals!!! No one knows how they got there but you can see them poking their heads out in the lake occasionally!
It’s like a fat torpedo! 😍😍😍
The submarine they went underneath Lake Baikal with.
Nothing better than walking along the lakeside. 🙂
Fishermen tie ribbons to trees like this for luck.
A visit to the local Orthodox church.
Here, you must cover your heads and legs before you go in (they have scarves inside for you to use). In the big Orthodox churches in Moscow and St. Petersburg they don’t really care but I guess it’s more strict in these small churches.
Siberian laced windows.
Cute little flower circle.
Homemade swimming pool??? Why don’t they just swim in the lake? Actually the lake is too cold, it’s under 10 degrees Celsius even in July.
Homestay at a quaint little house. 🙂
Our bedroom.
Siberian fried rice! Actually I think Siberian dishes are quite similar to Chinese dishes, they use rice cooker to cook rice unlike in Europe!
Around ½ of The World in 80 Days 