Although Bering, Kostrennenikov, Khabarov and chums were charting the Russian Far East in the C17th, these remained effectively outposts – and Irkutsk assumed the position of the last “civilised” place before the Eastern wilderness began.

The city’s wealth grew on the fur trade, and its merchants grew so prosperous on business with Asia that the town was known as “the Paris of Siberia” by the mid-C19th. It was also a place of exile – for liberals banned from return to St Petersburg, of all shades of opinion from the patriot “Loyal Order of Decembrists” through later to shadier revolutionary characters hiding under pseudonyms like “Mr Steel” (which, in Russian, is “Stalin”).

Yet the main attraction is an hour’s drive along the banks of the Angara, to its mouth into Lake Baikal – the world’s largest, deepest lake, stretching as far as from London to Edinburgh in length. Village stays give an insight into life in rural Siberia, which is cheerfully communal, in houses built around a central hearth (there are no internal doors, just curtains, to allow the warmth to circulate) and in which a whole extended family might live. Irkutsk is a classic rail stop on the Trans-Siberian trip, but can also be visited by air from Moscow.

Listvyanka is the most convenient Baikal-side village, with a growing range of handy cafes and even a bar or two these days. It’s perfect as a base for walking trips into the forests or around the shoreline, and offers some modern comforts after your walk. If you are looking for deserted villages, East Baikal is what you need.