Listvyanka

After our boat ride we were dropped off at the lakeside resort of Listvyanka. This was "kiss me quick" style tacky, in a very Russian kind of way. There were outrageous mansions and palaces owned by what we in the west call "oligarchs", though perhaps the Russians use an entirely different word. There were hotels and a few shops and markets selling various kinds of tat, and there were beach vendors selling barbequed food. From one of these we negotiated some tasty mutton pillau, and also ordered some chicken legs. He urged us to sit down at the tables. We did so. Immediately an unsmiling foreigner appeared and indicated that we had to pay for the privilege of sitting at the beach tables. Ah. That's how it works...

The chicken legs arrived. Not one, not two, but three chicken legs. Each. We could not eat it all. Washed down with Coca-cola this meal cost R 880 - about £17. 

In the hot afternoon we looked at the market stalls, making a few souvenir purchases. Then we had beer at a beach-side cafe. This nearly ended in disaster when I burped loudly and openly - as you might after beer or Coca-cola - and there were some dirty looks from the nearby table of heavily armed Russian gangsters. Actually I made that bit up about them being heavily armed gangsters. But not the dirty looks. 

Later we took minibus back to Irkutsk. You just wander up to a minibus in the main square, and climb in. When it is full, the driver sets off for the city. Our minibus was lined with brown velour. The fare was about £2 for a ride of about an hour.