Progress Comes in a Thousand Tiny Steps - Port Baikal

As part of my placement, other volunteers and I have various 'training' obligations. Led by Natasha, Svetlana, Dmitry, Sara, Olga and myself headed to Port Baikal, at the mouth of the Angara river, the only outlet from lake Baikal.

A minibus ride from Irkutsk to Listvyanka allowed a short stop in the Tal'tsii Museum, with examples of Evenk (indigenous people) tents, food preparation and burial places, with more recent Russian forts and wooden houses, including a bizarre 'iron-mongers-house', complete with iron fish. Odd.

From the museum we headed onto Listvyanka, a busy tourist spot on the Northern side of the mouth of the Angara, with modern hotels, lots of people and the omni-present loudspeakers pumping pop music out onto the street.

From there a short trip on a ferry brought us to Port Baikal on the opposite side of the river mouth. With no major transport links, apart from a recently opened circa-Baikal railway line, the town has not had the influx of cash that has led to Listvyanka's development. Rusting ships lie on the shore, or are moored with seemingly no where to go.

Bashed up cars and motorcycles spewing out white smoke rattled past, picking up some passengers, the rest making their way on foot from the ferry to the town. Staying in a lovely but empty B&B, the owner assured us that in the summer business was booming. Workmen and the stacks of wood in the yard pointed to further development ready to go ahead.

Following the training, we went on a short walk up the train line along the edge of the lake. The calm beauty of the lake, with the mountains on the far side and a squall making its way over the water further south was in contrast to the litter and decaying infrastructure left on the shoreline. Years of uninvestment followed by a mini tourism boom means plastic bags and crisp packets wash up alongside the rotting gangways and rusting sheds.

The following day brought grey skies, rain and wind. Heading back, various items were used as improvised headgear against the rain and the wind. (From left - Sveta, Natasha, Dmitry, Olga)

In addition to the decaying infrastructure, what made the greatest impression was the kids. By day playing in a small playground, when we returned from our walk at night kids looking about 10 years old were hanging around smoking. People loitering and drinking were ever-present, the rain and wind on Sunday being no deterrent. 'What is there to do except drink?' is a frequent refrain. How to improve the situation? These are complex, difficult areas, requiring changes in Russian society and state that could take generations.

There is a lot of work to do here, but how to change it? The GBT run educational groups, trying to raise health and ecological awareness. On our walk a little girl ran up to one of our group, reminiscing about the workshop she had attended. A small success, but vital.