September 18 – 2011 CircumBaikal Railway with Omul and Vodka

Took the train to Sludyanka which in on Lake Baikal – OMG – we arrived at 5 am and slept at the train station for a couple of hours. Five minute walk brought us to the lake – it was absolutely stunning and a gorgeous, sunny, fall day. We walked part of the shoreline and slept on some rocky piers while waiting for the CircumBaikal train. This train travels at a snail’s pace along the edge of the lake and ends in Port Baikal about 5 hours later. Cost of the train – $1.50 Cdn each.
This was the BEST ride. The water was crystal clear blue and the track wound along the lake with beautiful mountains in the background and many tunnels. It is the deepest lake in the world and has more fresh water than all of the Great Lakes combined. Baikal also has the only freshwater seals called Nerpas.
We met 2 Russians onboard and they introduced us to BEK XXI Vodka and smoked Omul (fish from Baikal) Probably the smoothest vodka I have ever tasted and the Omul was smokin’ delicious.
Arrived in Port Baikal at 6:30pm, full of vodka and omul…there were no boats to Listvianka so we ended up at some house with beds in a huge room for $10 bucks each. It worked after playing on and off the locomotive…