Irkutsk

We only got less than two days in Irkutsk. The company representative who took us from the train to the hotel was really helpful. They told us of the few sites in town but when we asked about lake Baikal they gave us all the details we needed to use the public transport in Russia and wrote out the name of the place we needed. First we dropped off stuff at the hotel but it was too early to check in. We walked down to the water front and then took a long walk around the edge of the city. We stopped along the way to avail of some free wifi which was advertised in spray paint on the ground. It was a beautiful day. The literature we got off Sundowers said it would be a max of 15 degrees but it was at least 23 degrees, probably more. We were so warm. Later we checked into the hotel and did some shopping and then looked at some of the old sunken buildings in the city. That night we had a seriously good meal of a sizzling beef, mushroom, chicken and potato dish. It was absolutely amazing. Especially after all the noodles. The restaurant (Brau House) had Russian dishes (which that was suppose to be) but it was an international restaurant that had a place in Dublin which I definitely want to check out. We had a few beers and headed to bed pretty exhausted. Next morning we headed out to Lake Baikal. The buses in Irkutsk to places outside the city just sit around and wait until they are full before leaving. You just go down and there is no timetable. Thanks to the info our guide had written down we were able to find the nearest town on the edge of the lake. There we walked around a market and then walked further along the edge of the lake. The area is absolutely beautiful. I would recommend going to see it. Even the town didn't seem to impact the natural beauty the area had. We wandered some more around the markets and then grabbed a drink and headed back to Irkutsk to catch our train.