Trip to Irkutsk

 On Tuesday, November 7th, we flew to Irkutsk - a two hour flight.  We had our first Audit Training Meeting scheduled for Wed. evening - when the District and Branch leaders could come to the Church building.  I really liked this airport logo - making a snowflake out of airplanes!

 Our good Russian Brother in the mission office who arranges our travel, booked us into this hotel - Sayen - right across the street from the Church Building.  It was way too fancy for us to feel comfortable - heated tile floor in the bathroom, full fridge - we didn't drink any of it!  Breakfast was part of the cost - and you ordered it the night before - then went the next morning and it was all there for you!

Lights in the floor of the hotel - along the whole hallway!

 We had a member drive us to Lake Baikal - also an investigator who works for a Korean company during the summer - she was our tour guide. This is the countryside we drove through - birch groves...and fir trees.  It was nice to see mountains again - Novosibirsk is pretty flat.  Our guide told us:  "the birch tree is a symbol of Russia - - Russia is a strong country, but the birch is a weak tree."

About halfway to Lake Baikal we stopped at this wonderful Taltsy Museum of Wooden Architecture and Ethnographic's.  It was an open air museum, several acres - placed on the shores of the Angara River - which drains out of Lake Baikal.  This map shows the progression of the museum - from the most primitive ancient peoples - Evenk - to the middles ones, the Buryat who built yurts, to the Russian with a fort and school and many houses.