Days 27-28: Listvyanka/Lake Bailkal and Drive to Irkutsk

Wednesday came early for Luke, as he stayed up until 1 a.m. to order four new shocks for the Roadster. After about $200 in international phone calls, the shocks were in a box on their way to Russia, at a shipping cost that well exceeded the cost of the parts, which we hope will arrive in Krasnoyarsk before we get there on Sunday.

 

Listvanka viewed from Lake Baikal

Listvanka viewed from Lake Baikal (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

It rained all Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning, but by the time we hit the lake at 11, the sun was beginning to shine, and we enjoyed the mountain views as our cruise boat left the dock. A steady rolling of swells produced a soothing rocking motion in the boat that helped wash away the bumps and jars from the roads of the past several days.

 

View from our cruise boat

View from our cruise boat (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

The boat headed towards the southwest shore of Lake Baikal, and after about an hour we arrived at a steep forested bluff scarred with long chutes from old landslides. Our goal was an old railway that runs around the southern part of the lake; it’s now used only occasionally for tourist trains.

 

Bluff with the railroad track

Bluff with the railroad track (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

After docking and going down the gangplank,

 

Going down the gangplank

Going down the gangplank (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

we climbed about 30 feet up the sandy and rocky bluff until we reached the railroad track and a tunnel. The 1908 racers would not have used this track or tunnel because they didn’t exist yet, but the railway and the tunnel are similar to those used during the time they drove along the Trans-Siberian Railway.

 

Old tunnel

Old tunnel (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

We walked through the tunnel,

 

Walking through the tunnel

Walking through the tunnel (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

and then took in breathtaking views of Lake Baikal.

 

View from the bluff

View from the bluff (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

After heading back through the tunnel, we walked down the track in the other direction for a few hundred yards, and Luke found some railroad souvenirs in a ditch.

 

Railroad souvenirs

Railroad souvenirs (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

About 1 p.m. we went back to the boat,

 

Our cruise ship

Our cruise ship (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

where Ksenia spread out a traditional Russian fisherman lunch for us, along with Vodka for toasting. We did three toasts, the first to meeting, the second to parents and the third to love.

 

Ksenia teaching us how to toast properly in Russia

Ksenia teaching us how to toast properly in Russia (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

The lunch consisted of fresh vegetables, potatoes, cabbage piroshkies, smoked omul, which is a type of fish found only in Lake Baikal, and apple pastries for dessert. The omul was delicious, but it also comes with a warning. When we checked into our new hotel in Irkutsk this afternoon, there was a sign on my desk that read, “Omul has a specific smell. We would ask you not to keep it in your mini-bar or on  windowsill. Being kept on a windowsill it can be spoiled. In a mini-bar omul can spoil a fridge and food products in it; in this case the price of them will be included into your bill. Reception has a special fridge for keeping fish. Please, follow our recommendations.” We will!

 

Smoked Omul, the local delicacy

Smoked Omul, the local delicacy (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

After lunch we cruised along the shoreline for over an hour before returning to the dock. Along the way, we saw the area where the original racers would have landed after their ferry ride across the lake. The area is shown on the left part of the photo below, at the entrance to the Angara River, the only river that flows out of Lake Baikal. The road the 1908 racers took along the eastern bank of the Angara to Irkutsk no longer exists —  it was flooded over when a dam was built in Irkutsk.

 

The 1908 racers would have disembarked on the landmass shown on the left in this photo

The 1908 racers would have disembarked on the landmass shown on the left in this photo (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

After the cruise and some souvenir shopping, we returned to the hotel for some more brake light troubleshooting.

 

Troubleshooting the brake lights

Troubleshooting the brake lights (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

Luke found that the clutch was catching on the brake light switch wires, and that had chafed away some of the insulation.

 

Chafed insulation

Chafed insulation (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

After wrapping the wiring with electrical tape and securing it with a tie wrap, Luke and John are now confident that the problem has been solved. I sure hope so — we’ve already nearly exhausted the spare fuses John bought in China. The repair also brings us to six tie wraps on the Roadster, for those who are keeping count!

Tie wrap #6

Tie wrap #6 (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

Luke also had to surgically repair the right taillight lens cover, which had broken into four pieces. It looks as good as new!

 

Gluing the taillight lens back together

Gluing the taillight back together (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

The surgically repaired taillight lens

The surgically repaired taillight lens (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

As good as new!

As good as new! (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

Today we visited the Taltsy Museum of Wooden Architecture during our drive to Irkutsk, where we saw dozens of examples of ancient and modern construction techniques for buildings, homes, churches, and fortresses. Luke was in construction heaven. The museum is located on the Angara River, so we had a chance for some nice river views as well.

 

Inside one of the many houses at the Taltsy Museum of Wooden Architecture

Inside one of the many houses at the Taltsy Museum of Wooden Architecture (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

 

The Angara River, the only river that flows out of Lake Baikal

The Angara River, the only river that flows out of Lake Baikal (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

When we arrived in Irkutsk, we took a wrong turn and got to drive across the Angara Dam, and then we visited the Angara Icebreaker, which is now a museum. The Angara and its sister ship, the Baikal, were the two ferries that operated across Lake Baikal at the time of the race. The Baikal sank during the Russian Civil War. We haven’t found any specific evidence that says the Angara actually carried one or more of the race cars, but there is a good chance that it did.

 

The Angara Icebreaker possibly used to ferry one or more of the 1908 race cars

The Angara Icebreaker possibly used to ferry one or more of the 1908 race cars (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

We arrived at our hotel and took a short walking tour of Irkutsk, which included the spectacular Bogoyavlensky Cathedral, the Irkutsk World War II memorial, and a wedding party.

 

Russian wedding party

Russian wedding party (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

Tomorrow we head to Tulun, a town 464 km from here.

 

Day 26: Ulan Ude to Listvyanka

We left Ulan Ude about 8 a.m., right in the middle of rush hour traffic. Today’s trip was mostly through forested areas as we followed the Selenga River (which appropriately translates to Beautiful River) and wound our way through mountainous terrain.

Typical scenery during the drive to Listvyanka

Typical scenery during the drive to Listvyanka (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

At 10:20 some snow-capped peaks came into view and about five minutes later, we caught our first glimpse of Lake Baikal. The photo shown below is taken from the southern tip of the lake, where we arrived at around 3 p.m. Even with a bit of haze in the air, the beauty of the area stands out.

View of Lake Baikal from the southern tip

View of Lake Baikal from the southern tip (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

We arrived at our hotel in Listvyanka at 6:45, after another long day of driving over bumpy roads and through construction sites; however, the roads continue to improve as we travel west!

The 1908 racers didn’t drive around Lake Baikal because they couldn’t — the terrain was too treacherous at the time — so they instead took a ferry across the lake, which ceased operations many years ago, necessitating our drive around the southern tip of the lake.

However, the original racers didn’t just drive up to the ferry and motor across the lake. According to Julie Fenster’s book, Race of the Century, when the Protos arrived in the town of Missawoia on the eastern lake shore to take the ferry to the town of Baikal on the western lake shore, Hans Koeppen and the Protos team discovered that in 1903 ferry had moved 20 miles south of Missawoia to the town of Tanchoi.

The German Protos team attempted to drive to Tanchoi, but crossing the numerous rivers flowing into Lake Baikal proved too much of a challenge, and they were soon stuck in the town of Michiha, where they tried to load the Protos onto a train for the rest of the trip to Tanchoi. But the 1908 racers ran into the same kind of problem we did trying to cross the border into China — they couldn’t find a way at the Michiha train facility to load the Protos onto the train! So they wound up driving back to Missawoia, which had the ability to put the Protos on the train for the trip to Tanchoi.

As a result of the delays to the Protos from running around the shores of Lake Baikal, the Thomas Flyer and the U.S. managed to briefly catch the German team in the railroad yard in Missawoia. However, the Protos arrived in Irkutsk on June 20 ahead of the Thomas Flyer. For more information on this part of the race, click here for the original New York Times article.

Today, the Roadster still had problems with the brake lights and the struts. The man in the photo below helping to pump up the struts is a Russian truck driver who was on his way to Moscow when he spotted us during a stop for lunch. Luke is planning to stay up late tonight to order some parts for shipment from California to Russia that we hope will fix the problems that continue to plague the Roadster!

Help from a Russian truck driver

Help from a Russian truck driver (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

Tomorrow we have a relaxing day for a boat ride on Lake Baikal and the day after a short 75 km drive on a good road to Irkutsk.