Bad News and Good Publicity

The Wall Street Journal's article which discusses Russian Envrionmentalism and Lake Baikal.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119341597493473033.html?mod=hpp_us_pageone

Green Mountains

View looking south from the mountain north of Bol'shiye Koty.

Getting to Baikal

In my Russian History class, the professor said "Can you even imagine how long it would have taken to get to Irkutsk in this time?" My mental response was, "Actually, I can, because I can tell you with complete certainty that even now it takes forever to get there." To reach Baikal we flew to Yekaterinburg, and then took the Trans-Siberian Railroad across the vast expanse of Russia to Irkutsk. The Trans-Siberian Railroad is relatively famous (perhaps infamous?) and romanticized as the last great railroad in the world. I confirm that the train journey is certainly an experience.


We travelled in "hard class" so we were grouped four in a cabin. Our furnishings were two bunk beds with a small aisle between them. In this aisle was a small table which we used to eat, or more frequently, play Scrabble. The journey from Yekaterinborg to Irkutsk was to take fifty hours, so it provided an excellent opportunity for us to get to know our travel companions very well. In addition to socializing with our travelling companions, we met many other travellers on the train. Some got to know the man in charge of the dining car, and from him procured many a Choco-Pie. We also met a young Australian couple who had recently been living in London, who were moving from London back to Australia, and taking trains as far as possible. Also on our train were a group of young Russian soldiers who were being re-assigned to the Far East. We also spent a great deal of time sleeping on the train, and writing in our omnipresent journals. After fifty hours spent thus, we were glad to arrive in Irkutsk, although our journey was still not over.



We were met in Irkutsk by our Russian companions, and loaded onto a bus to drive to Baikal. The drive took approximately an hour. When we reached the shores of Baikal, amazed by how beautiful it was, but too disoriented to properly process where we were, we had a one hour boat journey to our final destination. When we arrived, we were greeted with breakfast, and were glad to have a place to stay and call our home for the next few weeks.

Photographs:
top: The view out the window from our car.
bottom: At Krasnoyarsk, an historical train commemorating the Great Patriotic War (WWII)

www.trans-siberian.co.uk

Lonely little island.

Buddism? Shamanism?

This statue stands on a very small island in Baikal.

Experience Collection

It is so nice, sometimes, to find something that is really worth of seeing. Take a look at this photo by Oleg O. Moiseyenko. His collection of photos can tell a little bit about culture and society of Irkutsk city, AND (of course) Baikal...

Siberia (Ulan-Ude): Bears, Vodka, Gipsies.

There are a lot of stereotypes about Siberia and Baikal. If you haven't been to Siberia here is a collection of photos that may give you a little impression about Ulan-Ude.

Photos by Tiamat.

Enjoy.

Thats what they say!

"<...>All in all though, we agreed that Lake Baikal lived up to expectations and ticked all the right boxes.<...>"

Visit Leaders of the Free World

:-)

Development in Baikal: An Environmental and Economic Perspective

In an article from BBC news, Baikal, the deepest and most biotically fascinating lake in the world due to its myriad endemic species, has become a magnet for tourism of late. Interestingly enough, Baikal is one of the few natural wonders of Russia that has not yet been subjected to industry or develoment (areas such as the Crimea and the Black Sea were not as fortunate), and many feel that development of the lake would lead to detrimental effects on its flora and fauna and to a variety of other environmental problems. Greenpeace and Baikal Environmental Wave have taken measures to evaluate the environmental impacts of tourism on the region. However, as tourism rises, so does clean-up: According to environmentalist Yana Gerkova, an Irkutsk native, there are plenty of strong federal environmental laws, "The problem is that they are not enforced." For a further description of the environmental threats posed by tourism to Baikal, this article describes ever-present problem of the Baikal'sk paper mill, along with a further description of the rise in tourism. Essentially, the increase in tourism menaces the health and environmental well-being of the lake; in order for it to stay as pristine despite the steady increase in tourism, the federal government will have to create tighter laws, or NGOs will have to take tougher action.

However, it can also be argued that tourism at Baikal is beneficial to the region of Buryatia. Grand Baikal, a tourism company that has a partnership with the state electricity firm Irkutsk Energy, is mapping the creation of three new hotels on the west side of the lake, which will in turn create 570 job. In Buryatia, unemployment is rated the worst in Siberia, according to a United Nations study. Since the beginning of development in Baikal, some people have essential utilities for the first time, such as electricity in their homes. Although Baikal is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, poverty and unemployment are rampant in the region; promoting tourism in Baikal would help to create more jobs.

The question is, can there be a way to create jobs without polluting or threatening life in the lake and, moreover, the lake itself? It is up to the energy companies and tourism agencies to keep this in mind if development in the region continues.

Dead objects