A Fish Called Omul

The day after we returned from Olkhon Island, we boarded a bus bound for the small village of Listvyanka on the western shore of Lake Baikal. This time it was only an hour ride. We got off right where the harbor is, but since it's low season all of the boats were docked.

Because we had our heavy bags with us, we decided to find the home stay first. It was supposed to be near a fairly well-known cafe, or so we thought. We asked one man where the street was, and he sent us in the wrong direction. Then we asked someone else and they didn't know the name of the street or the cafe near the home stay. Then we asked a lady in a market and she said it was far far away (ugh). Then we asked a girl working at a cafe, and she pointed at herself and said, “Irkutsk.” Which meant that she had no idea where anything in town was. Then we asked at the main hotel in the town and she said it was just down the street (no it wasn't). She also had no idea where the cafe was. Finally, we found someone who knew exactly where the cafe near the hostel was, but didn't know exactly where the street was, and she said keep walking for 15 minutes. So after about an hour of wandering the one main street that lines the shore, we found Olga's Baikal Guesthouse (see review).

We were treated to a nice hot cup of tea, relaxed for a little, and headed out to actually explore. Listvyanka is mainly one long main road that goes along the lake, with smaller roads that head up into the mountains. All the houses are traditional wood buildings with beautiful carvings along the window sills and door frames. The weather was windy and cold, so it was a little dreary. The lake comes right up to the town, so the view is incredible. It seems like a tourist town during the summer, but in October most stalls and information centers are closed.

The dark one is actually Russian vodka. It tastes like whisky. The clear one tastes like what Americans think of as vodka. Not nearly as good.

First, we did what anyone visiting Russia should do; we ate some caviar and drank some vodka! It was fantastic. Then we walked along the road some more and discovered Omul, the traditional smoked fish that Baikal is known for. We bought a small fish, went to a cafe, bought a beer and some fried rice, and chowed down. The lady who we bought the fish from at first showed us a very large, arm-length fish. We said, no no small fish, and pointed to one in her smoker. She looked at us and said, “Ok 2!” “No, just one.” “One? Two people!” “Yes, just one.” “...ok.” We discovered later that we should have taken two, because the fish was delicious.

That is the little smoked fish that left us wanting more.

We shopped around the souvenir stalls, bought some nice things. Richard even found a wedding ring for himself. Then we headed to a cafe for dinner. After some good old meat dumplings, we went back to the guesthouse for the night.

Lake Baikal jade.

The next morning, we were treated to a fantastic breakfast and got on a bus back to Irkutsk.