September 19, 2019 This morning we drive to Taltsy Village to visit an open air museum featuring the buildings which were rescued from the rising waters of the Angara River after the Irkutsk Dam was built. Many date back to the 17th Century. Here is a generous sampling of our visit.
Panorama of the view from my hotel room at 8am today. The day starts out cloudy, but ends with beautiful clear skies.Fortress tower and walls in the Taltsy open air museum.Interior of a typical Siberian home in the past.An early ice box / refrigerator. As soon as the first freeze would happen, ice would be laid in a depression in the floor of this small building and it would not melt all winter, keeping the food stored inside cold.Evgeni, Rich and Ross at the museum of wooden architecture.Tiny wooden chapel.Dramatic entrance to the fortress.Russian double eagle on the top of the fortress entrance.The houses have beautiful woodwork around the window shutters.Window with flowers inside.The governor of the province at work. Image of Peter the Great on the wall.Example of an old prison room.Oksana demonstrates how prisoners would be shackled outside tied to blocks of wood too heavy to allow them to escape quickly.Examples of old sleds / carriages.Inside the fortress we are serenaded by this trio singing religious and old cossack songs.Example of an old classroom.Outside the classroom was a gallery of images showing life at the time. A boy does his schoolwork.Children at school.Children visiting a sick father.Am I late for class?A religious service.You won’t find this image in any museum!Horse drawn carriage available for rides around the museum property.The interior of a large house.A fur coat worthy of John Snow from Game of Thrones.Ancient accordionClothing from this era.View of the Angara River from the museum property.
After our museum visit we return to our hotel for lunch, and then set out on a three-hour cruise on Lake Baikal. Of course we sang the theme from Gilligan’s Island as we set out.
Setting out on Lake Baikal cruise.Oksana tells us the story of the building of the trans continental railroad, and how it used to hug the shore on this part of the lake. These are the original tracks from the old line.After cruising for an hour, we set out on a hike along the tracks to a tunnel. No – we didn’t miss the train, and we aren’t walking to Vladivostok! Toto’s long march!Entrance to the train tunnel.Doug, Bill and Dan on the shores of Lake Baikal.Back at our hotel, there is an old paddle-wheeled submarine displayed in front. Should be painted yellow?
After a couple of hours for resting or shopping in the village, we enjoy dinner at the hotel. The food has been excellent! Tomorrow we’re off for one more day and night in this region – in beautiful Irkutsk!
