One of the reasons I am excited to be in Russia is that I associate it with the danger and excitement of James Bond. I am no James Bond, I am more Dan Cruickshank, though not as loud and hopefully not as annoying. My Lonely Planet Russian Phrasebook is one of the more lighthearted ones I have come across. They have a section of James Bond phrases, including "Your plans for world domination are sadly mistaken", the Russians find these particularly funny. While Russians generally don't speak English you often come across people who do speak English well. These people are also very intelligent. In China and South East Asia intelligent people do not necessarily know a great deal about countries outside of their own. However, the Russians I have come into contact with seem to be very well informed. On the train from Ulan Ude to Irkutsk I was in Kupe with one other Russian guy, Sergei, he did not look the most intelligent guy. We got chatting, he spoke a bit of English and he turned out to be very well informed. We even got into a somewhat confused discussion on literature as I was reading 'The Quiet American'. Sergei, like any Russian worth his salt, shared his lunch with me, kebabs. In Ulan Ude I was in the back of a bus and the guy sitting next to me spoke English. We talked about the weather and he knew about the Gulf Stream, not something you would expect someone to be aware of in the middle of Siberia. 
I hopped on the Trans-Siberian train to Irkutsk and skirted along Lake Baikal. Lake Baikal is the deepest lake in the world, and the largest freshwater lake in the world by volume, holding a fifth of the world's total fresh water. The Lake's water is so pure that you can drink it. The sheer scale of the Lake is apparent as the train trundles by although it would seem more accurate to call it an inland sea rather than a lake. I went to stay on Olkhon Island. The island is large enough to have its own lakes. The main settlement Khuzhir is a very small town of only a few hundred people. It is full of wooden buildings and has a rundown charm. Cows wander the muddy streets eating rubbish while motorbikes with sidecars zoom passed. Hemmo (the dutch guy I met in Irkutsk) caught a minibus to Khuzhir from Irkutsk. It took 7 hours and cost 500 Roubles. We had to wait our turn to get on the ferry to the island. There is a public bus that goes to Khuzhir from Irkutsk which leaves earlier but gets priority to board the ferry. The ferry boarding is every man for himself. The crew get off and stand infront of cars to stop them moving while others force their way on. Once all the cars are off the ferry the captain raises the gang plank and in a very Cold War sounding announcement gives the waiting queue of vehicles instructions. In the midst of Winter when Lake Baikal is frozen over (something I find difficult to believe after seeing it in all it's glory in the Summer) it is quicker to drive to Olkhon Island because you can just drive over the frozen Lake. Khuzhir is renowned for Nikita's Guesthouse. A holiday village of wooden huts and yurts. While I was there it was very busy as it was a Russian holiday. There is a feel of a family holiday camp which some people won't particularly enjoy, but there are lots of backpackers and travellers. The food is excellent and plentiful. There are no showers in Khuzhir so to have a wash you can either go in the Lake which is icy cold otherwise the traditional way to wash is in a Banya, a Russian sauna where you pour buckets of cold water and hot water over yourself while being beaten with birch branches. One of the days we did a trip to the North Cape of Olkhon Island. The island is a lot bigger than you imagine, being bigger than Singapore. One of the great parts of the trip was the vehicle we were in, a very cool looking old Russian jeep. Nikita's Guesthouse charged 750 Roubles for a bed in a twin room including three meals a day. The day trip to the north of the island cost 400 Roubles.
I had heard mixed reports about Irkutsk. A lot of stories involved violence amongst Russian males. I did not see anything to corroborate those stories. Irkutsk does have rundown Soviet buildings and the intimidating housing blocks with alleyways and squares. However, it also has charming wooden buildings and lots of old Grand buildings. In its heyday it was known as the Paris of Siberia. There are trams trundling down the streets and I found the locals to be helpful and friendly. While my grasp of Russian was near to non-existent I did discover I knew more Russian than I realised. I went to Subway and found one of the staff spoke English. I was ordering with another member of staff who didn't speak English and was wondering out loud what mayonnaise was in Russian, the one who spoke English answered mayonnaise. I also discovered in an internet cafe that printer is simply printar in Russian. While I was in Irkutsk I stayed at Admiral Hostel which is a newly opened hostel I found on Hostelworld. It was a nice little place. The only problem is that there are only staff there in the morning so if you turn up without having pre-booked you will have to hope that the staff are there or a guest is in. Admiral Hostel cost 500 Roubles a night, in a 6 bed dorm, with a full kitchen, and the use of the washing machine was 200 Roubles.
I made a bit of a mistake with my onward train booking in Irkusk. I went to the train station and bought a ticket to Yekaterinburg for 8000 Roubles. I didn't have a problem buying the ticket and the price was again slighty more than quoted to me by Svezhy Veter Travel Agency. I was in Kupe. Hemmo bought a ticket to Yekaterinburg leaving twenty minutes after mine and arriving three hours later than mine for only 5000 Roubles. He bought his ticket at Hotel Irkutsk who have an English speaking train ticket ofice. The woman there told him about the cheaper train. I am in train 009 and he is train 069. When I came back from Olkhon Island I went there to book train tickets on from Yekaterinburg. Hotel Irkutsk charge 150 Rouble commission. The 009 train is the Baikal train and is considered the best train on the Trans-Siberian railway. From the outside it stands out with its very bright blue and white paint book. Inside the carriages are very new and very well serviced. The providnistas (Russian train attendants) were excellent in my carriage, friendly and helpful (even though they did not speak English). In my carriage was a plate of biscuits, a bottle of water and some fruit juice.
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