Having researched the trip it became apparent that being on the Trans Siberian Train for 6 nights maybe slightly 'Groundhog' type day. After 3 nights we were ready for a rest. You have to book any stops prior to getting on the train. We would stay in Irkutsk for 4 nights.
We stayed at the Victory hotel in the centre of town. Something we did on the trip was to have pickups and delivery at every stop. Whilst more expensive than getting a cab it was reassuring to know you wouldn’t be ripped off. Having said that the station appeared well policed and all the locals were nice people. We did take a couple of taxis whilst in town and ensured the metre was turned on at the start, this saves any awkward moments at the end. Irkutsk Taxi Cabs are cheap, we never paid more than 200 rubles for anything up to a 15 minute journey. This is long enough to get you into town.
Hotel Victory, is a friendly hotel, with the staff keen to resolve any difficulties, we changed rooms as the first room was just a bit too cosy. Breakfast was nice. Where they did let themselves down was where we wanted to arrange a tour to Lake Baikal, and also small bits of information needed. They tried to help but just didn’t seem to have the local knowledge required. They did print off a few pages of computer text for free, and make phones calls as required to find a restaurant for us. So they are helpful, just not too knowledgeable.
First evening we went to a traditional Russian restaurant, just around the corner from the hotel, in Karla Marksa street, next to the café bakery union shop. The restaurant is part of about 3 functions and is totally unpronounceable, but is in the same complex as ‘Jumanji.’ To find the restaurant, leave the hotel, turn right and left into Karla Marksa street. It is about 4 blocks down on the left. Dinner with drinks was about 2,000 Rubles for 2 of us.
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| Irkutsk Beer glass. |
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| Sausage, potato, and Egg, proper Russian food. |
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| Restaurant near Jumanji, Irkutsk |
Irkutsk is not much of a sightseeing town, more a stop over.
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| Irkutsk architecture |
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| Irkutsk architecture |
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| Museum of Tea, Irkutsk. |
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| A scary lion, Irkutsk |
However the one attraction that you should see, especially in winter, is Lake Baikal, which is about a 60Kms or 1 hour drive from town. Initially we thought about getting a guided tour there but this proved problematical as all the tourist offices were closed, even the main council run office, at weekends. One company offered to take us for 11,000 Rubles, with no lunch. That seemed a bit expensive. A hostel we popped into advised us to take the bus from the main bus station. We did, and it was the best bit of advice that day. The round trip on a normal bus was about 250 rubles each.
Not being any form of ‘culture buffs’ we didn’t know what we wanted to see. There are at least 2 museums there, hotels and restaurants in the nearby town of Listvyanka.
As you enter the town of Listvyanka, you go past the frozen lake. Apparently the biggest fresh water in the world and has a depth of 7Kms in places. There was a clear area marking of frozen to Non frozen Water. The minibus stops close to restaurants and a very bright coloured hotel.
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| Irkutsk bus station |
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| Irkutsk bus |
You can access the lake easily from here and have a stroll on the ice. As we got onto the lake we were approached by a man and his ‘hover craft.’ For 500 Rubles each he took us on a 30 minute hover around the lake and we were able to walk on the lake, 100s of metres from the land, and slip and slide to our heart’s content. After a few photos and mild frostbite we got back in the hovercraft, were given tea and snacks and returned to the ‘quayside.’ Fantastic.
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| Frozen lake of Lake Baikal, with hovercraft |
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| Hovercraft Lake Baikal |
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| Hotel in Lake Baikal |
There seems to be a minibus constantly waiting for passengers, but they stop coming back around 6pm so be warned. The minibus we had appeared to have a bullet hole in the front windscreen, but I suspect it was only big stone.
Being British we wanted a traditional English meal, so looked up the local Tandoori or Indian restaurant. First mistake was to go to the Tandoori bar, in Karla Marksa street. This was about as traditional Tandoori as my French poodle. The beer was rubbish and the staff and feel of the building had the personality of a gnat. However it was about 5pm so maybe a bit early. We then found a placed called Ganga Irkutsk Indian Restaurant. You have to get a cab from the centre of town. The cab fare was about 150 Rubles.
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| Ganga Indian Tandoori restaurant, Irkutsk |
Be aware that there are a couple of addresses shown. You need the Kommunisticheskaya 65A, Irkutsk address. There seems to be a few addresses listed in Trip Advisor, etc, so I got the hotel reception to call them first to make sure we had the correct address and that they were open. Be advised that this restaurant is slightly off the main road, but at where 65 should be, and it is opposite the main entrance of a white building which looks like a hospital. Fantastic food, albeit not as spicy as in the UK. The staff speak English. Lovely place. We left there around 9pm, and went to the bar about 30 metres up the road called ‘Good Beer’ Irkutsk club and restaurant. From the outside I thought it was a brothel, but inside it has a vast array of beers, cocktails, DJ, friendly staff, and quite cheap. We ordered a cab from the staff, and we ended up with ‘Uncle Vladimir’ in his beat up old saloon car (with cracked windscreen as they all seem to have) to give us a lift home. This was arranged by the bar staff. As it is not a proper taxi we agreed the price beforehand, 200 rubles, and off we went on yet another wacky races adventure to our hotel. It was fun, he was a very nice man, with no English.
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| Good beer bar, Irkutsk |
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| Which one is the toilet? Good beer bar, Irkutsk |
If abroad, and you want to watch Formula 1, or Chelsea play football, then head for an Irish Bar. We did, and found a Irish Bar chain called Harat's bar Irkutsk. Not sure what was Irish about it but they do good food, cheap beer, and speak limited English. Lots of sports screens, excellent! There are 3 bars in town, I shall leave you to find them.
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| Harats Bar, Irkutsk |
Just opposite the ‘Jumanji’ bar we spoke about above, is an alleyway, with a sports, music diner called Rocks American Diner. Great beer, entertainment at the weekend, lovely food. More expensive than the other bars I have spoken about, but good nevertheless. Again served good wholesome meat and potato dishes, washed down by several pints of beer.
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| Rocks American Grill, Irkutsk |
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| Russian food, Rocks American Diner, Irkutsk |
Just down the road from the hotel, again just off Karla Markas street, is the Belgium basement bar, ‘Kwak Inn.’ There is a vast assortment of beer there, normal Belgium stuff that is either fruity, very strong, or both. I had the dark Leffe and a headache afterwards.
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| Kwak Inn. Irkutsk |
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| Kwak Inn, Irkutsk |
Irkutsk is a nice place but only as a 2 or 3 day stop over. It is a bit like going to Croydon or Wigan in the UK!
ccca
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