Irkutsk

After a wonderful stay in Akademgorodok, we departed from the Novosibirsk train station and headed for Irkutsk. Our train from Novosibirsk was two hours late, but at 2:00 a.m. we were off. Following that night, the next day, and the next night, we arrived in Irkutsk (Saturday, June 28). We were met by Tatiana Pribulova and a bus and were taken to our dormitory on the left bank of the Angara River. The photos and narrative below are an account of our stay in Irkutsk - the easternmost city on our Siberian Seminar Tour.

When we woke up the morning after departing Novosibirsk, we began to look at a gradually changing landscape. We began to pass through a more hilly terrain as we moved eastward.
At one point on our trek, we crossed the Yenasei River - one of Russia's great rivers.
We enjoyed a 30-minute stop where we could get out and walk and buy some water and ice-cream. You can see Sasha and Lena to the left center standing in front of our car.
Todd and Phyllis look out the window of one of our compartments.
A very common site as we traveled across Russia was the contrast between old Russia (wooden, single family houses) and Soviet Russia (multistory concrete apartment complexes). Here is a good illustration of that contrast.
Another significant contrast was that between old Russian, wooden single family dwellings, and the homes of the so-called "new" Russians. "New" Russians homes were very large and constructed out of brick. Here you see "new" Russian homes as we pass by them in the train.
Russia has several very large cities, and adjacent to everyone of them are hundreds of dachas - weekend and summer cottages. Many dachas are now constructed out of brick and many have the telltale gambrel roof.
Almost all Russian, whether they live in cities or villages, have large vegetable gardens. We say them everywhere as we passed villages and cities on the train.
Russians live in many large cities, but they also live in thousands of small villages. Here is on of the villages. Many had no paved roads, no stores, and probably no domestic water. We were told that produce and other good were brought to the villages by trucks once per week and that each house had a well.
A village along the way.
Eastern Siberia - a place of rolling hills, open grassland, and dense forests. A very beautiful place.
Traveling from Moscow to the Far East, these two children were on the train six days.
The Angara River flows out of Lake Baikal and through the city of Irkutsk. Irkutsk has about 600,000 residents and is the regional capital of this part of Russia. Our dormitory can be seen on the other side of the river - it has the silver pyramid top.
This is the Angara River as it flow generally northward through Irkutsk. The center of the city is to the right.
This is the Angara about half way between Irkutsk and Lake Baikal.
This is the Angara as it flows out of Lake Baikal.
The city of Irkutsk had many cultural attractions, one of which was the city art museum shown here.
One of the older Russian Orthodox cathedrals in Irkutsk.
Many Russian cities are turning some streets into pedestrian malls. The most famous is Moscow's Arbat Street. This street in central Irkutsk is its pedestrian mall with shops, restaurants, and cafes.
This is the other end of the pedestrian mall. At this end there was a huge shopping complex and outdoor market areas.
Our host institution in Irkutsk was Irkutsk State University. This is one of its buildings.
This is the sign that marks Karl Marx street. It and Lenin Street formed the major shopping area of the center of Irkutsk.
In the center of Irkutsk is the ubiquitous statue of Lenin.
Our eating arrangements in Irkutsk were interesting. Breakfast was brought to us at our dorm by a catering agency. Lunch and dinner were eaten in restaurants. Here we are the second day with Todd and two Russian students helping us order food.
One of the academic experiences in Irkutsk was a tour of the Regional Studies Museum.
One of the highlights of our stay in Irkutsk was a private dinner with entertainment by a Siberian Folk Music group. They were organized to retain Siberian folk music and dance.
Here the group is dancing. There were four women and one man.
In this photo you can see the dinner tables - loaded with wonderful food - and the group in the background.
Cody and the group.
Gail and the group.
Mike and the group.
Paula and the group.
Karen and the group.
Kathleen and Brooks and the group.
Mary and the group.
Sasha and Lena and the group.
Todd and the group.
Our guide on two of our tours was this young lady - Katya. She had lived in American Fork, Utah during her senior year in high school and had excellent English. On another very special day, out tour to Lake Baikal, we stopped at an outdoor museum that presented various types of wooden, Siberian structures. Here katya is telling us about this display.
Tatiana, at left, traveled with us through the museum and to Lake Baikal. She is walking passed a log grave for a horse.
Kathleen as asking, "What is this thing?" She learned that it was a small, above ground grave.
Many of the early settlers in Siberia were Cossaks - roughneck, frontiersmen. One of the first structures they build was a wooden stockade as this photo represents.
The Cossaks were Christian so churches were also built at a very early date.
Because of the vast forests of Siberia, the early inhabitants were experts in creating household items from trees and their bark. Her a man demonstrates how to make a basket from birch bark.
Homes of early Russian contained a "red" corner. It contained religious icons, candles, and other sacred items. Originally, Russian word "krasnaya" meant "beautiful," but over the centuries, it has come to mean "red."
One of the log buildings brought to the outdoor museum site.
An early Siberian inhabitant's grave.
Some of the early settlers in this region built structures like this to hold hay and other types of feed for their livestock.
A portion of the museum that demonstrated an encampment of the early residents.

The eastern most point in our Siberian Short-term Seminar was Lake Baikal. We had the opportunity to spend half a day at Lake Baikal. Here are some of the pictures of that experience.

The natural divide between Lake Baikal and the Angara River, which empties from Lake Baikal, is this rock.
This was the tour company bus that took us to Lake Baikal.
This is Lake Baikal on the left and the Angara River on the right.
Along the shore of the Angara and Baikal. We found people selling Russian souvenirs and smoking Omul, a fish only found in Baikal.
Here is Paul and the fellow from whom he purchased a smoked Omul.
We are now on Lake Baikal. Lake Baikal is the second largest lake by volume and size in the world and it contains 20 percent of the world's fresh water. Our cruse on the lake took about an hour. We took food and cameras and had a wonderful time.
The water of Lake Baikal is so cold that it frequently creates fog. As our tour progressed, the fog intensified.
As we left the shore, we could look back and see the smoke that was coming from smoked omul.
A view of the terrain on the west shore of Lake Baikal.
Looking across Lake Baikal to the east.
The fog was beginning to set in.
Even the near shore became somewhat obscured by the fog.
The Trans-Siberian Railroad line originally ran along the shore of Lake Baikal. The current line now runs from the south shore on a more direct route to Irkutsk. The poles on the shore carry the electric line that provide power to the train.
Another view of the old Trans-Siberian Railroad line - right on the shore.
Some of the group putting their hands in Lake Baikal. The water is very cold.
Here is the proof of my tour to Lake Baikal. My hand is in the water. Cody and I had worn our bathing suits just in case we had a chance to take a dip, but realistically, the water was really too cold for even a short dip.
Near the lake is a small village. On our way back to Irkutsk, we stopped to explore this small church.
The children were standing by the gate that led to the church. Can you imaging growing up on the shore of Lake Baikal. Our trip eastward ended on Lake Baikal. From here it was a five hour flight back to Moscow and a four hour bus ride to Ryazan'

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