The nearest outpost of Baikal is Listvyanka village located 70 km away from Irkutsk near the source of Angara river. It is a lovely little village which has managed to retain its unique Siberian exterior style, slow-pace rural life and water supplies direct from the lake. Add to this the astonishingly boundless sky and ocean-like view from any spot. All that is easily reached by 50 min car drive along perfectly smooth Baikal highway. In summer the trip is a sheer pleasure if you go there by hydrofoil up the Angara river. One - day trip to Listvyanka gives you plenty of emotions: pleasant physical exhaustion after few hours walk along the Lake shore and sharpened senses of yours after magnificent views and delicious food are guaranteed. Bushels of the freshest air will make you sleep like a log that night!. :)
Struggling the recent threat of modern sky-scrapers construction Listvyanka still bears the unique sweet touch of an authentic Russian settlement lost in the middle of Siberian taiga. Colours of Listvyanka and naive style in houses decoration can not leave one's eye indifferent. Nothing sophisticated or meant to impress, yet touching...
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Vivid colours of the village
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"Lego bricks" of Listvyanka houses
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Krestovka valley asleep
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Krestovka valley in July
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Fancy animals also to be found here! (Auto-Retro Museum)
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No London fog...Hot-smoking of fish is ID card of the village!
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Orange sky and blue ice for those prone to romance...
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The Hollanders prefer free solarium on Baikal ice :)
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Time-table for buses Irkutsk- Listvyanka-Irkutsk:
Departure from Irkutsk bus station: 9:00, 14:30, 16:30, 19:00 (also private minivans run at odd hours, usually between the public buses)
Departure from Listvyanka: 7:00, 11:00, 16:45, 18:00, (also private mini-vans run Mon-Fri at 8:00, Sat-Sun at 9:00, daily at 13:00, 15:45)
Cost: 1 ticket=70Rub, luggage=18 Rub.
Note: plannning to leave Listvyanka on a certain day at a certain time (as per above) , please make sure you have purchased a ticket in advance at Information Center (near the pier, opposite orange 7-storied Mayak Hotel). During summer they start selling tickets 30 min before bus's departure. For private mini-vans be prepared to use your elbows - no organized queues for those.
How to make the most of your visit to Listvyanka:
On the 47th km of Baikalsky highway there is an Open Air Museum of Wooden architecture. Samples of authentic buildings from Siberian villages (churches, schools, houses, watch towers) were collected there on the display area arranged right on the bank of Angara river. Some buildings were constructed without a single nail - but they look simply terrific with no signs of decay. The place is popular for celebrating Russian holidays like Pancake Week (end of winter) or Trinity (end of May) with traditional games and singing.
At the very beginning of the village there is Lymnology museum devoted to Baikal and the area. The exhibition provides stunning facts about the sea features of the biggest fresh water Lake on the earth, displays endemic species living in the Lake and on its shores and has an aquarium with samples of local fishes. Newly constructed is nerpa seal aquarium. The museum's Russian-speaking guide is so charismatic that her inspired speech about the Sacred Sea makes you stand rooted to the spot with a dropped jaw. I wish you could understand Russian. :)
If you believe in stuff like "aura", "spirit", vibe" you are at the right spot to get the most of it. Just walking in Krestovka valley towards the small old church will give you enough food for thought. You will see the recent posh hotels scornfully looking down on tumbledown Russian log cabins where babushkas and dedushkas live their modest lives. Watching this silent struggle will probably make you regret the disappearing authenticity of my country. The households with typically rural lifestyle are becoming extinct. If you find one offering B&B go for it - plain siberian food and the loo outside will be well outbalanced by warm hospitality. :) The church at the end of the street will be a reward - still surviving piece of real Russia with its sweet charm , soft candle light and old icons... Services are at 8am and 5pm daily. In Krestovka there is also a family providing sledding dogs in winter , a company offering horse-riding any season and a diving center (those are very expensive though). There is a unique private open-air exhibition of out-dated Russian cars and fantasy statues made of metal waste called Auto-Retro. Entrance -15 Rub. The owner is a funny Russian guy converting the Ugly into the Beauty.
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For the locals living in Irkutsk city going to Listvyanka means a ritual of buying hot-smoked omul fish (the endemic of the lake) and eating it right on the shore in warm seasons or in a little café on the pier in cold weather. Watching the Sacred Sea (ask me of the legends about why it is sacred ). In any season the scenery is equally fabulous, grand, breath-taking. And the taste of freshly cooked omul fish is always worth the trip. A feast for a gourmet.
Baikal lake's ice is unique. No advertising, simply come around and stand on frozen water 1m thick. Clear and absolutely transparant so that one can see what's on the bottom. Piles of window-like ice panes can be seen at the end of winter here and there. Lovely. Nature is the greatest architect showing us the trickiest tricks! Driving a car on ice, taking a ride to port Baikal on a motor air-pillow vehicle, skating and walking on that huge natural rink gives you the utmost pleasure of touching upon the nature's best creations.
Art Gallery is placed up the hill on Chapaeva street (a walk may take up to 25 min). A private collection of paintings and drawings of the local gifted artists, arranged and run by a Siberian artist and poet Vladimir Plamenevsky. Free. Homely atmosphere. True art.
Nerpa Seal. It can be surprising for you to know that seals can live in a lake not in the sea. One of Baikal’s mysteries still unveiled - how did sea creatures happen to appear in the inland lake, which according to the scientists was never connected to the North Ocean other than by rivers? Being a split in the earth’s crust isolated from any of the seas and having features of a standard fresh-water lake , Baikal somehow became a home habitat for the seals identical to the ones living in the oceans. Watch those sweet creatures in either of Nerpa seal Aquariums (in Irkutsk or Listvyanka) if you are tough enough for the shows of the encaged living beings. For watching the unique animals of the great Lake in wildlife go to Ushkany Islands on the eastern shore of Baikal. I’ll make you a company if you go. :)
For a nice cup of hot chocolate or an exquisite dessert visit cafe&restaurant Proshly Vek (Past Century) with a view over the lake. My favourate.Interior, service and cuisine are flawless.
Excursion by Circumbaikal railrod. One-day trip giving you a chance to see Baikal beauty and the lovely old railroad with numerous tunnels.
The cost of the trip is 700 Rub (2nd class), 840Rub (1 class). You may order lunch for 250/300/560/840Rub or buy home-made food from babushkas at any of 4 stops during the trip.
Two options are offered by the company:
- Wednesday, Saturday - depature 8 am from railway station Irkutsk, getting by railroad to Port Baikal, then by ferry to Listvyanka and then by bus back to Irkutsk (arrival 9pm)
- Thursday, Sunday - departure 9:30am from center of town by bus (usually from Drama Theater) , getting by bus to Listvyanka, then by ferry to Port Baikal and then from Port Baikal by railroad to Irkutsk railway station (arrival 9:30pm).
Also one can get on the Circumbaikal train in Slyudyanka (if you are heading to Baikal area from Ulan-Bator or Ulan-Ude) but only on Wednesday or Saturday and one should be there not later than 10:30 am. The trip will take the entire day and you will be in Irkutsk at 9:30pm, making it through port Baikal and Listvyanka village.
I can book a ticket for you at any moment for which I will only need your full name. But a ticket must be bought 10 days before the trip, otherwise the reservation is cancelled.I will hand in your ticket to you when you arrived. For Slyudyanka option it is just enough for you to know the ticket details: your carriage number and seats, which I can send you by e-mail or by phone. That is what you need to tell the train conductor in Slyudyanka and no ticket is demanded on the spot as train staff member is usually informed by their central office about all the passengers who are to get on the train in Slyudyanka.
Please let me know if my help is required at some point. Read more on Circumbaikal trip here (in Russian only ): http://www.krugobaikalka.ru/weekend/express.php
Russian sauna ("banya" in Russian – funny enough in Turkish it is "banyo" ...do we have common roots?) is an extreme experience for those who love "balancing on the edge". In winter go for hot +100 degrees steaming sauna . It is a separate building in the yard of a Russian household. Slash your partner with a bunch of birch/oak branches as Russians do to let all the evil out of your buddy! Then dive into the snow for a tingling effect on your skin and back to the sauna. Enjoy the contrast of the hot and cold – learn more about unbeatable Russian spirit. :) Finish it all with tea-drinking without haste – you must be in heaven by now. Just relish the sensations. Followed by a proper Siberian dinner and an overnight sleep by a Russian stove (used both for cooking and heating) it will make your visit complete. Described banya session is found usually at most touristic bases located in the recreational areas on the shores of the Lake (Olkhon Island, Maloye Sea , eastern side of Baikal). In Listvyanka only few banyas meet the criteria of safe hygiene, good steam and traditional clever premises arrangements. For info on banya in Listvyanka at reasonable price click HERE . Don't lose your chance to have a truely Russian experience ! Sadly there are not so many Russian things left in modern Russia...
Where to stay in Listvyanka
A clean and tidy Dauria Family Hotel located in a picturesque Krestovka valley, just 150 m from the shore-line. The household comprises three wooden houses, it is safely fenced and secured. One may cook on a stove or barbeque and have meals outside on a roofed terrace. The place is well looked after by the ever-smiling and helpful Galina the hostess, her son Andrey speaks English. There is a shop adjacent to the household run by the family with a clever selection of essentials from pijamas to Cadbury chocs! J
Please choose between the three options Dauria has to offer:
- HOSTEL:
Typical Siberian house with 3 simpler but quite nice clean rooms (three beds in each room). Kitchen for self-catering, sunny and spacious dining-room. Clean modern toilet and a sink inside the house. Shower outside in a specially built wooden cabin (summer option). Ideal for budget–minded travelers.
Price: 500 Rub/person/night.
- APARTMENTS:
Another two-storied house (where the family lives) has 2 rooms on the top floor with a separate entrance. Both rooms have double beds, one room overlooking the Lake. Nice wooden interior, comfy beds, modern toilet and shower cabin on the floor, a cozy living-room/kitchen with cooking facilities (common for the two rooms).
Price: 1500Rub/room/night
- IMPROVED APARTMENTS:
Comfortable newly built double rooms on a first floor - all rooms overlooking the Lake. Shower cabin (really hot water!) and toilet in each room. Kettle, fridge, heater, TV, carpeted floor, comfy beds. Interior is well-thought out and pleasant.
Price: 2000Rub/room/night
BOOK NOW: helen_pot@mail.ru |
