After our adventure in die Siberian wilderness along the Baikal Lake we had a couple of relaxing days in Listvyanka, a small and – at least at this time of the year –  bit sleepy village on the shore of the lake. Great for fresh fish and strolling along the shore. It’s nice, but one day is absolutely enough to explore it.

A few pics:

So we decided to go back to Irkutsk the next day.

When we arrived in Irkutsk the first time, right before we had our Baikal tour, it was quite cold and raining. Now it was warm and sunny, nearly 15 degrees. We stumbled across a green line on the asphalt and found out the tourist management apparently had the same idea like their colleagues in Yekaterinburg: create a walk that’s easy to follow for visitors to connect all major sights. So we had a really enjoyable walk around the historic city centre, which is really picturesque with all the crooked and colourful but washed-out timber houses between a lot of impressive 19th century buildings. It’s easily the prettiest stop-over on our transit-tour, a real gem.

Of course we took the opportunity to take a last selfie with Lenin, since tomorrow we’re on our way to Mongolia. До свидания Россия!

The pics: