A certain 19th-century luxury is still visible in the attractive commercial buildings on and around ul Lenina. Viewed from the 2006 replica of a 1891 triumphal arch honoring the imperial inheritor, Nicholas II, or from the adjacent 1930s Opera house (undergoing a thorough makeover at the time of research), this street is given a photogenic focus by the gold-tipped spires of the 1785 Odigitria cathedral (ul Lenina 2), which was rescued from near collapse in the late 1990’s.

It commands an appealing area of the old town, with carved wooden cottages extending as far as ul Kirova. At the other end of ul Lenina the main square, pl Sovetov, is dominated by the world’s largest Lenin head, which some people say looks comically cross-eyed. The 7.7m-high bronze was installed in 1970 to celebrate Lenin’s 100th birthday.

Strangely, Ulan Ude’s birds never seem to streak Lenin’s bald head with their offerings-out of respect for the great man’s achievements, claim die-hard communists. Located beside a recently rebuilt 1830 chapel (ul Lenina), the renovated 1838 trading arcades are now filled with modern shops. Ul Lenina’s pedestrianised section, extending to blocks north, is a popular early evening hang-out.

Backed by a park with Ferris wheel and Gaudi-esque fountain, the active Trinity Church (ul Dimitrova 5a) sprouts a series of green bulb-domes. The Historical Museum charges per single-room floor. The best is Buddiyskoe Iskustvo (3rd floor), displaying thangka, Buddhas and icons salvaged from Buryatiya’s monasteries before their Soviet destruction.

Note-sheets in English fail to explain the fascinating, gaudy papier-mâché models of deities and bodhisattvas rescued from Buryatiya’s many prewar datsany. Note the home shrine table (every Buryat house once had one) and the sometimes gory Tibetan medical charts (practiced in the region until the 1940’s). The less interesting 2nd floor traces Buryat history in maps, documents and artefacts. Spy it for free from the balcony above.

In an attractive 1847 wooden house, the Buryatiya Literary Museum has old photos and manuscripts. A rare 108-volume Atsagat Ganzhur Buddhist chant book has multicolored Tibetan script on special black lacquer made from blood, sugar and pounded sheep’s vertebrae.

The Nature Museum (Muzey Prirody Buryati; tel: 214 149; ul Lenina 46; opening hours 10:00 am-6:00 pm Wed-Sun) has big stuffed animals and a scale model of Lake Baikal showing just how deep it is. The Geological Museum (Geologchesky muzey; ul Lenina 59; opening hours 11:00 am – 5:00 pm Monday-Friday) is modest but well presented, while the Fine Arts Museum (khudozhestvenny muzey; tel: 212 909; ul Kuybysheva 29; admission per exhibition R100; hours 10am-6pm Tue-Sun) has small, regularly changing exhibitions.