Walked around Irkutsk this morning ... the two main avenues are Karla Marxa and Lenin ... go figure ... nice old buildings ... parks ... stores ... good people watching. Also, I ran into the Australian guys from Kyrgystan on the street, they were on their way to Mongolia's border.
After talking to people at the hotel, heard that a must see place was Olkhon Island on Lake Baykal ... because my visa for this entry into Russia is about to expire, I decided to go today ... Mongolia can wait a day or two.
Allegedly, Olkhon Island is 5 hours away ... the plan is to camp or find a yurt to stay in ... there is a village in the middle of the island, so we will see.
My GPS is on its last legs ... bad timing ... it is very hard to navigate blind in Russia ... they don't like signs around here.
Figured out how to get out of Irkutsk and rode a nice paved road almost all the way ... then, right before the port where the ferry departs from, fog ... then thick fog ... then 2 kph fog ... then a bit of rain ... then dirt ... then mud ... bike is sliding around ... why do I get myself in these situations??
The good thing is that there are plenty of cars, minivans, buses on the road ... all going to the island ... must be worth it so I keep pushing ahead.
Fog clears ... see the ferry ... and the lake ... Wow! Lake Baykal has been a childhood dream of mine ... ever since a National Geographic article about it. The ferry crossing takes 20 minutes ... beautiful scenery ... and it is free.
Once on the island, still need to ride 35 km or so to the village ... on dirt ... then mud ... then impassable mud ... I am down to walking the motorcycle. Then, in the distance I see a car riding off-road on the open steppes ... so I give it a try ... ditched the road, and rode on the open grass ... much better.
Finally, reached the village ... Nikita's place is apparently the place to stay right on the lake ... mud everywhere ... apparently they had the hardest rain they have had in months yesterday.
Nikita's place is interesting ... a cluster of lots of little wooden houses to share with lots of people ... maybe 50 or so from all over the world ... Germany, Belgium, Spain, Kazakhstan, Russia, Korea, Hong Kong. Met a lot of people ... had dinner and went to bed. Definitely worth the trouble ... absolutely nature at its best.
Tomorrow, a walk around the island and figure out how am going to get out of here?
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