Port Baikal

We are currently in the town of Irkutsk, our end point. En route, three days ago, we passed the sleepy town of Port Baikal, which is located at the junction between the Angara River and Lake Baikal. At the turn of the century this town was bustling with activity; here the Trans Siberian Railway crossed the lake by boarding two ice breaker steam ships: a bigger ship called the Baikal for the train trolleys, and the Angara for passengers. The boats carrying the train and passengers crossed the lake to the town of Babushkin, were it continued its route on land.

Finally in 1904 the last leg of the track around Southern tip of Lake Baikal was completed, including a section through the mountainous area on Baikal's western shore. This section took so many stone tunnels and arched bridges that it became known as the "Tsar's Jeweled Buckle".

However in 1956, the Angara Dam in Irkukts was completed which raised the water level of Baikal by 1.4 meters. The result; it submerged a large section of rail from the city of Irkutsk to Port Baikal. A new short cut rail road track was constructed from Irkutsk to the Southern tip of Baikal, effectively leaving Port Baikal on a dead end route.

As we paddled by, large rusting boats littered the docks of the port, a stark comparison to the town across the mouth of the Angara, bustling with tourist activity. We pointed down the Angara River, a current-less narrow extension of Baikal, and said goodbye to the lake as the city of Irkutsk grew closer on the horizon.

Eric McNair-Landry