Day 9 : The Baikal Riviera - Arrival at Listvyanka
9am… We are now in Irkutsk, the capital of the Oblast (Province) of Irkutsk, and jump into a Jeep that will take us to Listvyanka and Lake Baikal, 70km from Irkutsk.
For the rest of the afternoon we leisurely stroll along the lake and walk down a side valley or two, stopping to visit the local 19th century church, St. Nicholas. The latter was relocated from the lake shore at the time of the construction of the Angara hydroelectric dam in Irkutsk in the 50s, which caused the lake waters to rise by 1 ½ meters, submerging many of the pebbled beaches, part of the original railway track between Irkutsk and Port Baikal and some towns and dwellings along the Angara river and the lake.
We will be staying at the hotel U Ozero for the next 3 days… A welcome break! The hotel is a simple timber structure on 2 levels at the bottom of a hillside and about 10m away from the lake shore.
Hotel U Ozero
Lake Baikal Divers and Swimmers
Our guide Lena will be spending the afternoon with us, showing us the ropes of life in this small, tranquil town, also known as the Baikal Riviera.
The village of Listvyanka starts at the source of the Angara river and ends 5km further down the shore. About 300 rivers end in Lake Baikal. The fast-flowing Angara river is the only one that actually starts in the Lake.
Our first stop is at the Baikal museum, wholly dedicated to the Lake, its formation (2 rifting tectonic plates, whose distance from each other grows by 2 cm every year), its physical characteristics, its flora and fauna.
The Lake is shaped like a banana, it is over 600km long and 45km wide and constitutes 20% of the global supply of fresh water. At its deepest it measures 1600m!
There is no single road that travels the length of the lake. On its Western side one often has to drive back inland to Irkutsk 70 km away to be able to reach other towns along the lake shore. Average summer water temperatures are 12 degrees. In winter the lake freezes over, with ice 2-3 metres thick, safe for skating, driving on and even for diving in. Not for me!
When it came to the Trans-Siberian railway and Lake Baikal the initial solution came in the form of 2 vessels called Baikal and Angara, built at the end of the 19thcentury in Newcastle. The Trans-Siberian trains would arrive at Port Baikal, close to where the Angara river starts, and the carriages were then loaded onto the Baikal and the passengers transferred to the Angara. Due to violent storms in summer and thick ice in winter often impeding movement, the transfer of the train and passengers from Port Baikal to Mysovaya/Babushkin on the eastern side of the lake, was often subject to significant delay and disruption.
In 1904 the Russians lost a battle against the Japanese in a short conflict on the shores of the Pacific, as the Russians couldn’t get reinforcements over Lake Baikal quickly enough to defend Port Arthur (modern day Dalian), at the time leased from the Chinese, and the Russian navy vessels stationed there.
In 1901 the decision was taken to extend the railway tracks beyond Port Baikal and to have them run along the Southern and South East sections of the lake through Sludyanka and beyond Mysovaya, where the Trans-Siberian train then leaves the lake, and veers to the East towards Ulan Ude, along the Sengara river. The Sengara river flows into Lake Baikal, creating a large multi-fingered delta of swampland, unfortunately also pouring industrial pollution collected as it flows through Mongolia into the lake.
Back to the present and Listvyanka…
At the museum we also take a peek at the aquarium, with tank after tank of fish species unique to Lake Baikal, including the famous Omul (now no longer available on local menus as stock have dropped dramatically due to overfishing) and the ‘very fat’ Nepa seals, that need the extra pounds of flesh to keep warm in the rigid winter.
Lake Baikal Museum
For the rest of the afternoon we leisurely stroll along the lake and walk down a side valley or two, stopping to visit the local 19th century church, St. Nicholas. The latter was relocated from the lake shore at the time of the construction of the Angara hydroelectric dam in Irkutsk in the 50s, which caused the lake waters to rise by 1 ½ meters, submerging many of the pebbled beaches, part of the original railway track between Irkutsk and Port Baikal and some towns and dwellings along the Angara river and the lake.
Views and People of Lake Baikal 1
St. Nicholas Church
Vintage Car Museum
Views and People of Lake Baikal 2
Together with our travel ‘mates’ from Leicester we decide to finish the day with an hour in the ‘banya’, the local sauna, for a little R&R before dinner.
Comments
Post a Comment