So instead we had a lazy morning of coffee and bacon and eggs, we boarded our train - 4 days to Irkutusk, where we will then taken road transport to lake Baikal.
On the train, Vika gave us a Russian language lesson as we watched the very English looking countryside roll on by (the only difference being the wood huts and industrial towns).
Every few hours, the train had a long stop where we could get off and barter with the Babooshkas. We did have to "mind the gap", or more of a chasm when stepping off the train. Sometimes the gap to the platform was around two feet, and sometimes, the platform was at ground level.