Useful
Useful and practical information
. Today Irkutsk is a large industrial and cultural center of Eastern Siberia with rich history which totals more than 300 years.
Early in the development of Irkutsk was burg. It was established by
cossacks with leadership Yakob Pokhabov in 1661. In 1686 Irkutsk has
taken out a status of the city. It was possible because of the Irkutsk
locality is opportune for commercial and industrial relations.
You can reach to Irkutsk by air or rail transportations. We kindly
recommend to take an advantage of following Russian airlines: "Aeroflot", "S7 Airlines", "TransAero", "KrasAir", "Vladivostok Air", "Pulkovo", "Ural Airlines". On the page of the Irkutsk airport
you will find more detailed information on served flights. The station
"Irkutsk-Passenger" of the East-Siberian railway accepts trains from
following basic directions: from the West Moscow - numbers of
trains 2, 4, 6, 10, 20, 44, 340, 350, Chelyabinsk - 12, Volgograd - 46,
Novosibirsk - 8, 78, Minsk - 64, Kharkov - 54, 134, from the East
Vladivostok - 1, 7, 53, 133, Ulan-Bator - 5, Chita - 11, 339, Beijing - 19, Khabarovsk - 43, Ulan-Ude - 45, 125, Nerungri - 77, Zabaykalsk - 321, Blagoveshensk - 349, Naushki - 363.
Irkutsk has the developed system of a routing municipal transportation
(the bus, a trolley bus, a tram) and a taxi. From the airport of city
you can always reach the center by trolley bus N4, bus N20, fixed-route
taxis N45,61. The route of bus N20 connects the airport and railway
station, to city centre from which can reach on routes of tram N1,2,
buses N16,20. At any time it is possible to take advantage of a taxi
service.
The Baikal Summer School is held at pictorial
small village Bol'shie Koty on the Baikal lakeside in an open valley of
the river Bol'shie Koty (other name r.Kotinka). In summer time the
village has regularly water communication with Irkutsk. A travel on a
route Irkutsk-B.Koty-Irkutsk is made organized for all participants of
the School. You can find the additional information about the water
communication on Baikal under this reference (unfortunately just in russian).
The place of the village belongs to the national russian park. There is
a Museum of Baikal and an aquarium of the Biology Institute in the
village. The Museum was established by professor Michael M.Kozhov. In
the Museum it is presented more than 400 various exhibits, a rich
collection of insects: bugs, butterflies, dragonflies. Also there is a
constantly operating scientific station on the basis of which Irkutsk
students pass a years practice there.
Walking along coast of Baikal will open for you a fine view of the
lake. You will get on a top of mountain called Scriper located in
several kilometers from B.Koty. Before Scriper, near to coast in Senna
fall it is possible to see the given up gold-bearing mines of Irkutsk
merchant Patushinsky. Vertical mines with side drifts were kept. It is
possible to go down into them. There are plenty of rock dumps in the
valley of the river. Along the river-bed you can meet wooden gutters of
gold miners. Gold was found not only in sand and pebbles of the river,
but also in the lake. Pebbles was gotten from a bottom of the lake,
using rafts in summertime, by ice-holes in the Winter.
