Just Like Casey Jones . . . at Lake Baikal

Saturday 5 August

Another treat in store today.

Up for breakfast at 07.00 as lunch would be early at 12.00 p.m. We saw another radiant sunrise, this time over Lake Baikal. We were traveling along 80 kms of single track railway line following the edge of the lake on one side, and steeply rising mountains on the other.

The original railway line went from Irkutsk to Baikal to connect the train with the ferry, but soon the ferries were found to be insufficient to cope with the increasing volume of traffic as Irkutsk grew in size, so the track was extended around the edge of the lake. This was extremely hazardous as mountains were very steep sided and right down to the shore of the lake and many tunnels had to be blasted. About 1200 men lost their lives in the construction of this line. Later the line between Irkutsk and Baikal flooded so another line had to be built to away from the lake to connect with the old line and enable the train to continue through to Vladivostok. This was about the time of World War II when it was necessary to transport soliders and Japanese prisoners of war along this route.

The part of the track we are traveling on today and the second line to be built and now is only used by special trains for tourists and one or two trains a week in summer for the locals - there are one or two isolated settlements of a few houses, and we have seen several brave people camping by the edge of the lake. It is single track except for a couple of passing places.

Today it is beautiful, at times the sun is shining off the water, at others a thick mist is shrouding all visibility. Alongside the track is a carpet of wild flowers, all shades of mauve, yellow, red and white, many of which we see in the countryside at home – but not growing so densely together. There have also been many varieties of butterflies and dragonflies – large and small – again lots of different colours. It is altogether very peaceful and serene – the train is only traveling at about 10 mph.

We were able to travel outside on the side gangway of the American style engine for half an hour this morning. This was really exciting and gave excellent photo opportunities. The weather was really sunny and warm whilst we were out there and it was an exhilarating experience. The grandsons would have loved it.

On arriving at the ferry we were taken across the lake on a ferry similar to that we used in Mombassa, Kenya – old and rusty and probably seen better days, but it worked. The lake itself is the largest freshwater lake in the world, supplying 20% of the world’s fresh water. It is also the deepest – about 1637 metres and the longest at over 600 kms long. It is quite narrow – only about 40 kms at its widest. It has many species of fish and at the deepest part, there are some seals. As I said yesterday, the River Angara is the only river to flow out of the Lake due to the drop in gradient at its source. Consequently this is the widest river in the world at its source – about two miles wide. It doesn’t freeze because it takes water from the base of the lake which is permanently warm.

We had a tour of the Baikal Museum – showing the natural history of the area, and (of course) visited the local church, where a bride and groom and wedding party arrived for the blessing of their marriage.

We then visited the house of Ludmilla – a seventy year old widow, who cannily lets her house out for visitors to see. It is a two storey wooden house. only built five years ago by her and husband (who has since died!) and has quite a lot of mod cons – washing machine, fridge, sink and indoor bathroom with running water and a television and DFS style sofa in the lounge. She has an inside toilet, but she only uses that during the winter when it is ‘extremely cold’, otherwise she uses the one in the outhouse. She has a large garden and greenhouse and grows some flowers and an abundant variety of fruit and vegetables - carrots, beetroot, tomatoes, onions, radishes, as well as strawberries, raspberries and blackcurrants – and of course potatoes – every household in the village (and I think most villages) has to grow potatoes. The house was immaculately clean and the garden pristine – no weeds or sickly plants here.

We caught the ferry back to the train and then started our journey meandering slowly along the lakeside to a spot for a barbeque. The weather was still sunny and very warm as we left Baikal, but, after a short distance heavy black clouds appeared on the horizon, the thunder boomed, the lightning lit the sky and the heavens opened (in fact typical English weather for a barby). The storm lasted less than half an hour and by the time we reached our picnic spot the weather had cleared and the evening was once more bright and sunny. Huge barbeques were unloaded and lit (the flames were about two feet high and I imagined some burnt offerings arriving at the table). But no – there was pork, chicken and fish kebabs and whole fish, similar to trout, with loads of salads and pickled vegetables (they do like picked vegetables in Russia – I suppose it’s down to the climate). All very delicious. We spent a very pleasant evening trackside, before the midges arrived around 22.30 and telling us it was time for bed.

We have been away now for two weeks - difficult to believe - and the days are passing quickly, but looking back on all the places we have visited and what we’ve seen, it has been amazing so far.

We have been on this train for a week now and feel really settled in to our little “home” at the back of the train – we are in the last compartment in the last passenger carriage – there is just a staff car after us. I am really pleased we are in Gold Class – we have spent a lot of time late at night trying to connect to the internet in our “home”, but in Heritage Class we would have been sitting on the floor at the end of the corridor. The bathroom is small, but it’s ours, and the shower is an innovation – you push a button and hot water gushes out for ten seconds, then stops, so you have to keep pushing the button – it took some time to get used to, but we now have mastered it – I send Colin in first to get the hot water through. It will be strange when we get to Vladivostok to be sleeping on ‘terra firma’ without the constant rocking and clattering of the train – like finding our land-legs again. But that’s another week away yet.