Impressions of the Pearl of Siberia

Irkutsk, Russia

Thinking back to my stay in Irkutsk I remember my first walk around the east of the city among the old Siberian style buildings and the Chinese market. My first taste of China, I thought excitedly. For the first time in weeks I felt a bit at home among people I could at least remotely understand.
Still, the east side of Irkutsk is only now being developed. There are a lot of construction sites and even more original but neglected buildings. And some high-rises still hailing from socialist days. "This is the most beautiful city of Siberia", I thought, " the Paris of the East? Will the rest of the area even be worth it?" And I started worrying about my planned three days in Ulan Ude.
The good news was/is the city has a lot more to offer - and at far more reasonable prices than Moscow.
The first day after my arrival the weather was brilliant. The guys I had met on the train (the Danes left without a word of goodbye) headed straight to Lake Baikal. But I thought: "fools", I thought, "first get to know the city a bit before you already leave it." Of course, that kind of attitude was punished straight away when the weather turned cloudy and hazy the next day. I couldn't even see the other side of the lake. The clouds only cleared when I was on the bus back to the city. Grr!
In the process of getting around a very familiar fact occured to me: they also use minibuses here. I had first encountered them on my trip to China last year. The popular transport (many used vehicles imported from Japan and hence having the wheel on the right (wrong) side) is used a great deal in Russia. Minibuses go everywhere around the city and its suburbs and small villages. Thus the Avtovogzal (main bus station) is a big mess of people looking for or waiting for their transport. If I hadn't by chance encountered a Russian family also going to Listvyanka I'd probably still be waiting.
In terms of locations the city has a nice waterfront - not the southern one facing the train station, mind you. That one has been screwed up with new high-rise developments behind the train station. I mean the western one near the district administration. It seems well popular for wedding photos. Lots of teens also come here for their ball games and chats and (supposedly) dates.
Interestingly, the city also features a mosque. It features among the sights mentioned in my guide, so I went to have a look. Sadly, it turned out it was damaged by the communists - very reminiscent of China where countless temples were damaged or destroyed. It turned out this mosque had little to do with buildings you might know from Arabic countries. It reminded me more of the train station in Bonn. No minarets, no lofty cloisters. Obviously it was built for the harsh weather during winter here. The main prayer room had scores of radiators along the walls. Here I met a very friendly Russian muslim who spoke quite good English. He explained to me the place and some of its history. The was a plan to reconstruct the minaret but money was a bit of an issue. Russian muslims have their own troubles since Russia has suffered from terrorists since the 90's. Thus, muslims have had it difficult, even without American involvement and Bushisms. Still, everyone was very friendly and appeared happy about my interest in Islam. Maybe, if more people were interested that would avoid many a prejudice.
I think, on the whole, Irkutsk is a place I can feel at home in. It's not such a mega-city as Moscow or St. Petersburg is. It's about as big as Cologne and that's more of a size and scale I can deal with. You can walk places in the centre. It's actually possible to know the city and not just a district. Still, it's international with Chinese and Buryat people and a number of foreign students. There are even cafes with English menus for those that don't speak Russian. You only have to stomach the foreign tourists having their last (or first) taste of Russia, getting drunk on cheap vodka, trying to hit on the local girls.