27.07.13 Seals and a soaking!

We started our day with a bus journey to pick up the girls from the stops outside their Homestay houses, then drove to an Open Air Museum near to the Baikal Lake. The Museum has been made up of original Irkutsk region building - made completely out of wood. Many of the buildings were taken down carefully from where they were built up to 100 years ago and transferred to the Museum to be rebuilt. We all had great fun running in and out of the houses and also tried our hand at some Russia games including stilt walking and Tug-of-War (just for the record, in UK vs Russia the UK came out on top!) We ate our lunch next to a very picturesque scene on the River that flows out of Lake Baikal - we even dipped out feet in, just! After the Museum we moved towards the lake and went to the Lake Baikal Centre which was incredibly interesting - did you know that the main resident species of Fish inthe Lake are made up of 40% fat to enable them to withstand the cold and high pressures of the depths of the Lake? However the highlight of the centre has to be the 2 very chubby Baikal seals who live at the centre!has The final part of our day was spent at the markets on the edge of the Lake, some selling souvenirs, lots selling pistachios and pulses and also the food market. Having been challenged by the Russians we went to a fish stall and bought 3 smoked fish, caught fresh from the Lake. Much ti the Russians disappointment, everyone in the group very much enjoyed the fish and some of us went one step further and tried the raw version that was produced by Maxim (from Homestay )! Unfortunately during our fish eating session, we were rudely interrupted by a huge wave from the lake, caused by the wake of a speed boat which resulted in some very soggy shoes! After a long day with a lot of walking we settled back on the bus and drove home, pretty tired and looking forward to another good nights sleep!