伊尔库茨克与贝加尔湖／Irkutsk and Lake Baikal

在西伯利亚的第二站是伊尔库茨克，其实严格来说应该是贝加尔湖，到伊尔库茨克去纯粹因为它是距离贝加尔湖最靠近的城市。贝加尔湖是是世界最深的湖泊，也是世界第七大湖泊，长636公里，宽24.8公里，因深度深，其体积达23,600立方公里，占全球河、湖总水量(包括淡水和咸水)的20％。贝加尔湖也是世界最古老的湖泊，据研究，它已经在地球上存在超过2,500万年了！而湖中有22个岛，其中最大的奥尔洪岛长达72公里。
My second stop on the Trans-Siberia railways route was Irkutsk. Actually, to be more accurate, it was Lake Baikal. Irkutsk was just the gateway to Lake Baikal. Lake Baikal is the deepest and seventh largest lake, measuring 1637km in depth, 636km in length and 24.8km in width. Because of its great depth, Lake Baikal holds a great amount of water, making up 20% of the world’s water. Lake Baikal is also the oldest lake in the world. According to research, it has been in existence for more than 25 million years! There are 22 islands on the lake, with Olkhon Island, with a length of 72km being the biggest island.

虽然从乌兰乌德搭乘火车到伊尔库茨克需要八个小时，乘坐夜班火车是再适合不过，但我却选择在白天搭火车，因为火车是沿着贝加尔湖而行的，在白天才能看到漂亮的景色。因为买不到二等车箱的火车票，只好乘坐三等车箱。原本以为三等车箱会很混乱，很肮脏，很不舒服，但其实它与二等车箱几乎差不多，干净又舒服，只是不像二等车箱那么有私人空间罢了。后来才知道三等车箱虽然与二等一样舒服，但车票价钱却相差将近一半。可惜天不作美，我搭火车的那天是阴天，时不时下雨，从窗外望出去，看到的是黯淡的贝加尔湖。
It takes eight hours to get to Irkutsk from Ulan Ude by train. Although taking a night train will mean money saved on accommodation, I opted to take the train in the daytime as this means I will be able to take in the beauty of Lake Baikal. Tickets for the second class cabins (kupe) were sold out, so I ended up in a third class carriage (platskart). At first I thought that the third class carriages will be dirty, crowded and uncomfortable. But it turned out to be equally clean and comfortable as that of the second class carriage, albeit, with less privacy. I later learnt that although the third class carriage were no less comfortable than the second class, the difference in prices can be as great as double. Unluckily, it was a cloudy day on the day I chose to go to Irkutsk, which meant that all I saw was a dull and grey Lake Baikal. 抵达伊尔库茨克的青年旅舍时已经是晚上11时了，在旅舍值晚班的小姐对于游贝加尔湖十问九不知，只好等到第二天早上才去安排我的贝加尔湖之行。第二天一早起来，就碰到熟悉的脸孔；是之前在乌兰巴托时碰到的德国人Michael和他的法国朋友Baptiste。询问之下，发现还来得及在当天乘车到奥尔洪岛，于是就与两位男生结伴到那里去。虽然伊尔库茨克与贝加尔湖最近的距离只有70公里，但要到奥尔洪岛去，必须到贝加尔湖较北的地方乘坐轮船，结果待我们抵达奥尔洪岛时已经是傍晚了。
It was already 11pm by the time I found my way to the hostel. I wanted to book my tour to Lake Baikal immediately, but the girl at the hostel reception was clueless about tours to Lake Baikal, thus I could only wait till the next day. The second morning, I saw a familiar face in the hostel. It was Michael, from Germany and his friend from France, Baptiste, whom I had met and chatted with earlier in Ulaanbaatar. After checking things out with the hostel staff, I found that I could actually make it to Olkhon Island on the same day. Thus with Michael and Baptiste as company, we set off for the island. Although Irkutsk is only 70km from Lake Baikal, but to get to Olkhon Island, we had to drive further north to get to the jetty for the ferry to Olkhon Island. As such, it was nearly evening by the time we arrived at the largest village on Olkhon Island.
原本我们已经入住一家民宿，不过我们在吃完晚餐后到处游走时觉得，到这么漂亮的地方来，不住在户外有点可惜。再加上，民宿价钱一点也不便宜，我们三人在商量之后决定，向民宿要求退房，改而向他们租帐篷。结果我们在那里待两晚原本一个人得付1500俄罗斯卢布（约84新元），在改租帐篷后，三个人只需要付1400卢布（约79新元），实在是很省钱。
We had actually checked into a guesthouse and had even had dinner provided by the guesthouse, when we decided that we should sleep in a tent instead of the guesthouse as it will be way cheaper and more fun. We requested for a refund of money for the room in the guesthouse, and rented a tent instead. It was definitely a much wiser choice, as we had to pay 1500 roubles (about 84 SGD) per pax for the bed in the guesthouse for two nights, whereas it cost only 1400 roubles (about 79 SGD) for three people for two nights for the tents.

虽然当时已经是晚上八点多了，但俄罗斯夏天时白天较长，因此我们搭起帐篷后，仍然还来得及坐下欣赏美丽的日落。最不可思议的是，在我们前方太阳还没有下山，月亮已经在我们正后方升起。当太阳完全下山时，星星就慢慢地出来。虽然没有蒙古看到的那么多，也没有那么多的流星，但贝加尔湖的夜晚依旧迷人。
Although it was almost 9pm by the time we finished pitching the tents, the long summer days in Russia meant that we were in time to watch the beautiful sunset. It was a truly amazing experience as while we watched the sun setting in front of us, we could see the moon rising right behind us. When the sun finally set, out came the stars. It was really a beautiful sight even though there weren’t as many stars nor as many shooting stars as compared to the Mongolian skies. 隔天起床后，先到附近走走，才了解这个湖到底有多大。放眼望去，根本看不到湖的尽头，这哪儿叫湖啊？根本就是海嘛！后来到一家咖啡厅去吃午餐，很幸运地碰到了一位会说一点点英文的俄罗斯女子，向我们介绍了贝加尔湖的招牌菜，即碳烤鱼。这鱼味道甜美，真是好吃！
The next day, we went for a walk right after breakfast and discovered how big the lake is. The waters just stretched into the yonder, making us wonder, “Is this really a lake? It seems more like the sea!” We ended up in a small cafe for lunch and were really lucky to meet a Russian lady who was able to speak simple English. Not on did she went through the menu one by one with us, she even recommended us having the signature dish of Lake Baikal, i.e. the smoked omul, a type of fish found in abundance in Lake Baikal. The fish was fresh and really tasted good. 之后再租脚踏车到处闲逛，欣赏周边美丽的风景。
After that, we rented bicycles and went exploring the surrounding region. It was indeed a beautiful place. 回到伊尔库茨克之后，与Michael和Baptiste分道扬镳，自己再到伊尔库茨克中心四处逛逛。这里其实有相当多保留完美的建筑，现在这些旧建筑大部分都成了商店或博物馆。另外，还有不少的旧式木制房子。　　～伟
Back in Irkutsk, I bid farewell to the boys and then went on to explore Irkutsk. This is one place where you can find many fine examples of the old wooden Russian houses. There are also a lot of well preserved old buildings which now served as shops and museums etc. 　　～wei