Tchaikovsky in Irkutsk

Friday 4 August

Another early start – up before its even light. But this morning at breakfast we witnessed a brilliant sunrise, promising another warm day.

Irkutsk is a major city in Eastern Siberia, situated on the River Angara. Today’s city tour started with a visit to Gagarin Square – a tribute to Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space – although the statue was of Alexander III, father of Nicholas II, who was instrumental in bringing the Trans Siberian Railway to Irkutsk. We then went to visit the World War II memorial with an eternal flame – a lot of Siberians lost their lives fighting the Japanese as their borders are close – and then to the River Angara – third longest river in Asia and the only one to flow out of Lake Baikal – there are about 300+ flowing in!

This was followed by obligatory visits to two churches, where interestingly, morning services were being carried out. Churches here are mostly Russian Orthodox and services are held every morning and evening. The priest swings a lot of incense whilst semi-chanting the service on one note and a couple of women sing the responses. The congregations at both Churches were small – and mainly women, as it is a working day for men. They seem to be constantly bowing and making the sign of the cross – to an outsider it almost seemed as if they were trying to see how many times they could do this before the priest drew breath. Religion here is gaining in popularity again, after being completely banned by the Stalin regime until the early 1960’s. Most of those attending services are of the older generation, but our guide told us that many youngsters are becoming interested in the Church nowadays. The women seemed extremely devout and many went to other parts of the Church, whilst the service was going on, not only to light candles, but also to kiss an icon that is relevant to them – the saint commemorating their birth or other family anniversary.

At the second church there were also numerous gravestones of those who were exiled to Siberia for taking part in the December Rebellion in St Petersburg in 1825 and the wives who followed them to live in the prison with their husbands here in Irkutsk. After taking part in the Napoleonic Wars about 2000 officers and gentry marched to the main square in St Petersburg to plead with the Tsar to make improvements to their society. They had seen the lifestyle in Paris! But the Tsar was enraged by any suggestions that life could be improved and ordered their execution. Some of the officers from important and influential families were reprieved following pleas from their families and they were sent to Irkutsk, exiled for life. They were granted permission to return to western Russia in 1856, but unfortunately many of them had already died due to the harsh conditions they encountered, and several of those who were left had made new lives for themselves in and around Irkutsk.

Shopping was next – either at an open air market selling lots of tut, or the fur hat shop. Our Lord purchased a large round mink Russian-style fur hat, where the ear flaps are tied on top, for about US$190. The rest of us did not have that sort of cash with us, and they don’t take credit cards in Siberia yet, so we came away empty handed. But it was fun trying on the hats. They had some beautiful coats – but I am sure you would be shunned in England nowadays walking around in real fur – and anyway we do not have any space in our cases.

After lunch we visited a “wooden buildings” museum, showing how families lived in the late 19th and early 20th century. Most were frugal, with two or three rooms at most, where three or four generations of a family lived together. Moss was used as insulation between the logs to keep in the warmth. Smaller farm animals were brought inside in winter too – it must have been quite a squash and very smelly. Of course there was no plumbing or running water – in fact these houses looked very similar to those we have passed along the way, and probably in better condition.

We were then taken to see an old icebreaker ship – the last of its kind in the world – built at Newcastle and then transported here by train and assembled on the Lake. It is being renovated at present, so we didn’t see inside. But apparently another three boats were made at the same time, but as car and train ferries – one went to Lake Malawi in Africa, and two to Lake Titicaca in Peru, where they are still supposed to be working – so we may get to see them yet (and even use them as we are being ferried across the lake there). The river here has a huge dam that produces extremely large amounts of hydro-electric power.

Then came the highlight of the day. We visited a large house which had been owned by Prince Volonsky (his nephew was Trotsky – who modeled his hero in War and Peace on this uncle - Count Bolonsky) who was one of the December rebels exiled here. In 1837 he was allowed to move out of the prison (but could not return to the west) and we visited his house – a large establishment near the centre of the city. They used to have concerts and invite many friends to hear the latest music and to sing and dance (money and goods were provided by rich relatives and friends). After a tour of the house we were entertained to a concert of the music from the great classical composers of their time – such as Glinka, Listz, Tchaichovsky and Shubert. The director of the museum, a lady and two other men played the piano and sung to us for about an hour, before finishing with champagne for all. It was a beautiful setting and the performances were spectacular – everyone felt it had been one of the highlights of the tour so far.

As you can tell, we have had a hectic day of sight seeing. But Irkutsk is a town of no pretensions – not trying to rival any other town, just going about its daily course in a friendly, welcoming, slightly laid-back style. It is hard to believe that from November through to the end of April/beginning of May it is under 4ft of snow and temperatures plummet to -40 degrees C. But they just accept these conditions and go about their business as normal – cars don’t start too well over -40!!, In fact, today was almost unseasonably warm for August here – with temperatures well into the upper 20’s if not 30 degrees C. At lunch time many people were lying along the banks of the river sunbathing, or even swimming and wind surfing at the Lake

We always think of Siberia as covered in snow, with people queuing at shops for a loaf of bread. But it is not like that all. All the young people are wearing the latest fashions, most families have two cars and shops are just as full as in the west. The new culture has been welcomed here and further changes are anticipated in the next decade to bring areas such as education into line with Europe and America.