Day 10 : Exploring Listvyanka and the ghost town of Port Baikal

And now for a lazy day… (as if!).

We set out late morning (we needed a good night’s sleep after 3 nights in a bumpy train compartment) to walk from one end of Listvyanka village to the other. 

The initial stretch from our hotel takes us into a quieter part of town with a few shops, dodgy exhibitions (Soviet era knick knacks, Baikal Mystic Ethnography museum), a handful of tourist restaurants and local ‘oligarch’ castle-like mansions.

Scenes from Listvyanka






Baikal Mystic Ethnography - Magical Traditions Museum!


Memorial to the Listvyanka Fallen in the 2nd World War


The town centre is extremely busy. Even though it’s a grey day, Russian tourists have flocked to Litstvyanka in droves. We walk along the pier, past noisy bars, stands selling ‘shawarma’ (kebabs) and ice cream and juice bars (with no juice as we soon discover;-). 
The local fish market is very lively. Most stalls sell smoked omul, greyling, and other very fatty fishes endemic of the lake. It is at this point that I notice that the market is full of… Chinese tourists! From this moment on I realise that this little town is aswarm with Chinese. I would have never imagined finding myself jostling for space with Chinese tourists at a market in Siberia. Well, I was wrong…
Beach Party


Fish Market




Baikal Smiles



Change of scenery…
We leave the hustle and bustle of Listvyanka for the ‘ghost town’ of Port Baikal, reaching it by ferry from the other end of town.

Port Baikal was the port of call for the Trans-Siberian railway, the transfer point for trains and passengers to be loaded onto the Angara and Baikal vessels.

The little port fell into disuse with the extension of the railway to the south of the lake. 
Walking through Port Baikal is an eerie and fascinating experience at the same time. We start at the old (now refurbished) station, hosting a small museum, and meander our way along the railway tracks,  alleys and roads lined with abandoned or half-derelict timber houses dating back to Port Baikal’s past glory days. Enough time to walk to the next village along the lake before we have to jump onto the ferry back, inspecting the ship carcasses in the small ‘has seen better days’ port.

Port Baikal in the distance


Ferry to Port Baikal


The 'ghost town' of Port Baikal








Port Baikal 'Onesie'




Once Upon A Grocery Store



Good Old Lada











On the ferry I notice a group of (what I think are) mountain bikers. One of them, a cute (unfortunately too young) Russian hipster type with a long beard, explains they’re riding ‘fan’ mountain bikes (with tyres that look like ‘thinner’ car wheels), having spent 3 days riding and camping along a 90km stretch of Lake Baikal from Kultuk on the South shore to Port Baikal. I’m glad they’re the ones now cycling the 70km back to Irkutsk and not me!

Mountain Bikers from Irkutsk

Listvyanka at Dusk




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