Irkutsk and Lake Baikal
We had no internet connection during our journey by train from Moscow to Beijing. Also, we could not post to this blog while in China since the Chinese government blocked access to our blog site. What follows are entries to complete our blog but posted at a much later date. These are edited versions of postings made by Dwayne's brother, Brian, to his website dedicated to this trip. Brian's site is at the following URL. https://roundtheworld2018.wordpress.com/2018/01/page/2/
Irkutsk is a major rail center for eastern Russia known as “The
Paris of Siberia”. We traveled slowly through kilometers of cars and shops that
keep Russian Rail going. Arriving at the station about 0615 local time, the thermometer
read -20C, or -5F. We suspect these are seasonable temperatures. People bundled
up and went on with life.
An hour out of Irkutsk you climb into the Primorsky Mountains –
not exactly the Rockies, but the views are scenic. Then you get a glimpse of
Lake Baikal, the largest fresh water lake by volume on earth. We had a
wonderful day to visit, with clear blue skies and bright sun reflecting off the
ice and snow that covered the lake.
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| Lake Baikal |
This Trans-Siberia/Mongolia trip has one major flaw: You cannot
stray far from the train. Even when there are 45 minute layovers, the car
attendants call when you go too far. So there is little chance to get to the
station store to buy vittles, and there are none on the train except the
overpriced restaurant car. If we were to make the trip again, we would buy
tickets by segment to stop and see selected places. If going through, we’d
consider taking the Russian train that leaves Saturdays.
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| Primorsky Mountains and Lake Baikal |
The Chinese train has its problems, beginning with toilet and
washing facilities. The rolling stock is just plain obsolete, likely
pre-Amtrak. We’ve nicknamed the toilet “Old Sparky” in honor of the gangster
movie electric chair. It is made of stainless steel, and topped with a home-made
plywood seat coated in peeling flat gray paint. The floor is usually very wet
from either condensation or a leak somewhere. After dark the only lighting is a
very dim 10 watt bulb. The wash basin offers only ice cold water to wash hands.
The so-called wash room, where one would ordinarily wash your face and brush
your teeth, is used for equipment storage and attendant food prep. The water is
turned off. I’ve read in various places the Russian train is not as good…I
don’t believe it. They certainly look more modern than the Chinese train.
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| Toilet "Sparky", Wash Basin and Hallway |
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