Slyudyanka

Whenever you ride Trans-Siberian railway and the train moves slightly south to curve the Baikal, it stops and the passengers pitched by the fish-sellers always get out to buy some smoked Omul then you have arrived in Slyudyanka station. When fish is bought and carriage is oozing with the smell, give a look to the station building. White plates are the same as the gravel under the rails. It's marble. The name Slyudyanka stands for another mineral found here - the mica.

By bus

You can take marshrutka #543 from Irkutsk railway station (, 2 hours).

By train

There are elektrichkas (, 3hr 30min) on working days and more on weekends but you should check the timetable on irkutsk.tutu.ru.

• Slyudyanka-1

• Slyudyanka-2

There are local marshrutka minibuses, but since the town is small there is little use for them. The walk from Rudo district in the SW of the town to the centre takes about 20 mins. Anyway you can see the bus stops on map on .

• Museum of minerals

  address: 36, Slyudyanaya st.

• Wooden church

• There is also a small exhibit inside the station building.

Hike: Slyudyanka may serve as a base and starting point for walks into nearby mountains.

A shop in Russian is "магазин", so look for this sign.

• Hostel Slyudyanka

  address: Shcholnaya street 10, Apartment 7
  Breakfast included. Hosts speak fairly good English and are helpful.

• Train stationif you arrive late by night in train you might rest a few hours in the restrom in the train station. You will be waked up in the morning by the nice staff, but you can then visit the sourroundings and hop on the Circumbaikal.

• The Circum-Baikal Railway starts (or ends) in Slyudyanka. Train 6201 Matanya departs Slyudyanka 4 times a week (Mon, Thu, Fri, Sun) at around 13:20, arriving in Port Baikal 5-6 hours later.
• Arshan: There is one marshrutka mini-bus daily going to this foothill spa town, leaving at 09:30; price is around . In high season, try to book early.