Since the day before we learnt timetable of buses to Listvyanka, we left comfortably an hour earlier to get to the bus station. That morning however the tram rolled even slower than the day before, so at 9 we only could see
the bus station in the distance. Luckily there are minibuses, so we boarded one
of those. At THAT speed on THAT road it was one hell of a roller coaster,
actually one of passengers did not make it well in the end.
We arrived just to greet hover plane to Olchon island. The only
attraction near the bus station and the pier is the nerpinarium. There is no map of
the area outside, but it can be found in information/tourist agent at the bus
stop.
The nerpinarium is devoted to the Baikal seal (Nerpa), although rather
than a display of preservation, this actually is a circus-type show of tricks (ticket price: 200RUB). It is very entertaining
and shows capabilities if these unique (droplet shaped body and alien look thanks to completely dark eyes) creatures and skills of the trainers.
We then walked along the bank of the lake towards the Baikal museum. The walk
was pleasant, with view of Port Baikal in front and endless water next to.
Evaporation causes strong haze and one cannot see clearly the other side of the
lake. We did not manage to find St. Nikolay Church. Even though it is a resort, there are
not many attractions along, and no decent beach on the lake itself.
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| New 'attraction' of Listvyanka: olympic flame (Sochi 2014) display stand |
The museum was busy with tourists and although the displays and
exhibitions look interesting, all the descriptions are in Russian only. If you
decide to visit it, unless you really want to have (nice, but tiring) walk, take a bus/marshrutka to 'Baikalskoj Muzei' instead.
Close to the museum there is a pier for ferries to Port Baikal,
round the bend of the road to Irkutsk there are stalls with dried Amul fish (unique to Baikal, delicate white meat) as well as barbecue with shashliks and
rice with vegetables.
Unfortunately we felt too tired to visit the museum of wooden
architecture in Taltsy.
When back in Irkutsk the temperature - at least its perception - was
good 10 degrees higher than on the lake, so keep in mind influence of the local climat (especially wind!) when planning for the day out.
Useful hints:
How to get to Listvyanka by bus? From the bus station (avtovokzal) take service 524 leaving daily at 7, 9, 11, 13, 16 and 17 with 1h 40min travel time, ticket price 97RUB (as of 07/2014). Alternatively catch a bus (marshrutka) waiting at the opposite corner of the crossroads, leaving when full, cost 120RUB, travel time - much shorter :)
Listvyanka can also be accessed by water - for details see recenty updated WikitravelMap of Listvyanka:
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