I arrived in Irkutsk on the evening of March 8th. The temperature was a balmy minus 18 degrees centigrade, but the wind chill that hit me while crossing the bridge from the station to the town, made it feel much more severe. As I tried to use my scarf to shield my face from the icey wind, it reminded me of the scene in the Empire Strikes Back when Luke Skywalker first escapes from the ice monster- I know, I'm a nerd!
Anyway Irkutsk is rough and ready, there's a dangerousness to this place that feels like it could be in the 'Wild West', or should I say 'Wild East'. Anyway the real highlight here is taking a short 'marshutka' (Russian mini-cab) ride out to the small port town of Lisvyanka to see the mighty Lake Baikal. An amazing place to see in both summer and winter. As you can see I was there in the winter while the whole thing was still frozen over to the point where cars and trucks use it as an alternative highway route.
A simply stunning place, nuff said.
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