Lake Baikal

We arrived in Irkutsk at 5am to be greeted by local Russian lads keen to ply us with vodka and practice their English in the local cafe. They’d been up all night drinking but we’d just woken up and all we wanted was a shower after 4 nights on the train. We managed to persuade them that 1 shot each was enough and headed off to find a bus to Olkhon Island.
Olkhon Island is the biggest island on Lake Baikal, the world’s deepest fresh-water lake. It’s an exciting six hour minibus ride away from Irkutsk. The tarmac stops half way making for a bumpy ride and the bus slowly filled up with drunken villagers who managed to smell worse than us. Lake Baikal was well worth the trip though, the scenery is outstanding and it is so hard to believe that it is a lake and not the sea.
We spent four days here walking around, appreciating the views over the lake to the mountainous mainland and visiting the important spiritual sights, which seem to include every rock on the island.



From: Mr & Mrs Gilfeather

Sightseeing on Lake Baikal

Although Russia ranks as one of the planet’s most-visited countries, it may not jump to the forefront of the mind when thinking about some of the planet’s most natural scenic locations. Take for example major cities such as St. Petersburg. This famous city is packed with incredible sightseeing opportunities such as the Bolshoi and Red Theatres, the Tretkayov Gallery and its staggeringly beautiful churches, but all of which are manmade. Of course, Russia is a country of staggering landmass and one part of the country that undeniably belies the facts above is the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Lake Baikal.

A popular stop for the Trans-Siberian Railway, the Lake is located near the Buryat Republic and the Irkutsk Oblast in Siberia. Those that have been fortunate enough to have visited can vouch for the incredible natural beauty the world’s oldest lake possesses. The lake boasts innumerable natural wonders in the form of virginal forests, spectacular mountain ranges and the bluest waters you are ever likely to encounter. In fact, 20% of the Earth’s fresh water can be found here amongst the 336 rivers and streams which serve the lake.

As well as its evident natural beauty, there is also much to see and do for visitors at Lake Baikal. The southern part of the Baikal region has the most developed tourist industry and structure than any part and is in possession of many hostels and camps and also has good motorways for those who are using car hire to take in the sights independently.

Many begin in Irkutisk and work their way to the island of Olkhon. There are many interesting sacred spots en-route and places to eat before you board a ferry to the island. The unblemished wilderness here will amaze in the form of pretty creeks and tiny villages as well as the picturesque bays and inlets dotted around.

After a night’s rest, consider a tour of the Burkhan Cape. This ranks as one of the most sacred parts of Asia where you will find ‘Youth Bay’, where locals believe the waters offer rejuvenation to the body, mind and soul. Also go and see the Shaman-cliff, where shamans once used to perform their rites in the cliff’s cave.

Litsvykana is also a popular sightseeing spot. Known as the ‘Baikal Gate’ on the Angara River, go to visit the Baikal Environment Museum which gives visitors a better understanding of this unique part of the world and the various rare species which can be found in its waters as well as its fauna and flora.

One of people’s favourite parts of a visit to Lake Baikal is by taking the ferry across the Angara to the Circum Baikal railway station in Baikal harbour for a unique sightseeing journey. A similarly wonderful sightseeing tour can be had by boarding another boat up the Sliudyanka River, which sits majestically below towering mountain scenery.

This will prepare you for the sensory overload offered by Tunkinsky National Park. The dominant peaks of the Tunkinksy and Khamar Daban Ranges flank the simply majestic valley of the Irkut River. Be certain to stop at the numerous sacred Buddhist and shaman places of worship along the way before making a stop at the pretty village of Arshan that sits on the banks of the ferocious force of the mountain river. Here you will find some beautiful waterfalls and walking trails, however if you’re feeling tired after so much travelling, Arshan boasts a number of beautiful spa resorts to rest those aching limbs at the end of this wondrous outdoor adventure.

"UFO on Olkhon Island" (music video)

Give the cat some fish

Even though we had crossed onto Olkhon Island, we still had a long and bumpy hour or two until we got to Khuzhir. When we had finally reached the main village/town we needed the toilet quite urgently but had to follow the direction that the driver pointed us in until we could use one. It was a fairly peculiar sight, seeing Nikita's in the distance; a maroon coloured tower peering out over the huts and sheds of it's surroundings.

As we entered there was a hive of activity for a bunch of tourists had arrived just before us. The receptionist then looked at us strangely as we had planned on staying for such a long time, far longer than any other sane traveller would do. We were shown our room and our precious toilet and shower pump, it would only take an hour and a half to heat up he said, which meant at least 5 hours in reality. But how does one use the shower? You just stand on one pump with one foot and alternate with the other pump and the other foot - although this does get slightly hard when you are washing your hair with your eyes closed and you keep losing your balance.

Peter was most excited by the logs in our room, he would get to be a man and make a fire to keep us warm at night, every man's dream.

But even better, almost immediately we had made good friends. We had overheard Iain and Sarah speaking English on the ferry and they had heard us as well, so considering that we had spent 3 and a half days on the train without anyone else to speak too, we were pretty excited. They live in Brighton and they've taken 6 months off to go on a honeymoon. They were very hardcore and had come straight to Nikita's all the way from Moscow so we let them use our shower (they were the ones who let us know that one and a half hours is not enough).

During Iain and Sarah's stay Iain beat Peter 7-3 at table tennis and he beat me twice in chess (although he was damping my senses by giving me some beer). Nevertheless we were still good friends. We went to the very North tip of the island, Khoboi Cape, together. It which was stunningly beautiful even though there were a few clouds which occasionally decided to spit at us. We stopped off in many places on the way including a beach where we saw some locals get naked and jump into the lake together. I also had much fun freaking Peter out by walking right up to the cliff edges. Iain gave him some advice as Sarah would always do the same; just don't look. We thought it might be a man's lack of oestrogen. The driver prepared for us a lovely picnic in the forest with some warm fish soup he had heated on a fire for us, some cheese sandwiches, salad, and then biscuits and tea. The pictures will hopefully explain themselves for how amazing the scenery was.

Randomly, everyone was invited to a concert in the village one day. There was quite a group of us: Norwegians, Finnish, Belgian, English, Scottish, Mongolian... I think there were more of us than the locals. Well, it was a very interesting concert; there was poetry and singing, accordion playing and lots of speaking in Russian inbetween. I'd say it was kind of like a school play but with adults instead of children. As an added extra, there were gifts occasionally given out to the locals in the audience; a certificate and what looked to be a duvet. A nice idea for the oncoming Siberian Winter.

That evening everyone gathered and celebrated the Finnish guys birthday with beer, champagne and vodka. It was a great party and everyone got to know everyone and it was just so merry. We spent a lot of time talking with Dmitri who has become a great friend over the past few days. He currently works here, and he speaks fantastic English, and wears the coolest glasses. And he lets us use his internet for only 50 rubles! He grew up in the North of Russia somewhere but has also spent some time studying in Texas. Soon he plans to visit Mongolia so hopefully we will meet him there.

But the next day, most of the people from the night before had moved on, so things were much quieter. Everyone who was left joined together to play table tennis and I successfully lost every game, and on the other hand Peter beat nearly everyone! We then tried out the banya i.e. Russian sauna, but we didn't really get it. The room wasn't that hot and then when we thought we had found the cold water to throw at each other it turned out to be really hot. This nearly gave Peter a heart attack.

One day we woke up and all we could see was clear blue sky. It had been decided. We would go into the lake that day. We waited until around three o' clock, set up the camera and made a run for it. It was freezing! All the air escapes from your lungs and you feel like you're suffocating, we had to quickly dash back out again. But it was definitely worth it; some say it's 10 years of extra life and others say 25, who knows...

Basically all of the days have merged into a blur of walks to the beach and around the village; playing table tennis; watching people come and go; and eating fish (always omul which is only found in the lake) twice a day without fail. The food is really delicious, we both feel so healthy living on fish and rice and potatoes and soup and salad and cabbage and sometimes chicken or beef... For breakfast we have pancakes and homemade jam and fried eggs and a really interesting porridge. We could live here forever and ever and ever.

We swear that there's a great heroic Russian ex-table tennis champion living here who plays with Nikita faster than lightning and teaches the kids to move. He invited me to play with him once, when I was waiting on Peter, and I shyly accepted. He made me hold the bat completely differently and showed me how to swing the bat, so that now I am improving dramatically and I don't feel so hopeless. Then when we were having lunch he presented us with some cake and said "birthday!" We were so appreciative of being given some of his birthday cake!

People have never ceased to come and go, but one guy, Gael from France came and fell in love with the place and begged to stay and volunteer for a couple of weeks. He has been great fun, almost like a jester and one day I look forward to going to France to see him so that he can feed me the chocolat chaud that I crave! He took us on a bike ride the other day (which was quite a feat considering that everyone here tries to hire bikes and fails miserably) using bikes borrowed from people here and giving chocolate in return. Peter managed to fall off in less than two minutes as his back brakes was disconnected so the front brake sent him tumbling. The dogs that live here that bark throughout the night and tend to follow us into the village for walks, also joined us on our bike ride. As Gael is much fitter than us he soon sped off ahead of us and we got separated. The path got so sandy so we couldn't cycle any longer, we walked until we found another paths we could ride on. On the way back I managed to fall off my bike as well, falling into a ditch in the road and breaking in fear. I came out of it with only grazes on my palms and bruises on my knees.

Yesterday we put up our tent to spray it with some anti-mosquito stuff so that I would no longer have to carry it around with me. As the tent was up we decided we would try and camp for the night. We had to cuddle up very close but we managed! The tent was covered in frost when we woke up and then the dog tried to get in... it was a long night and we look forward to sleeping back in our cosy room tonight.

And tomorrow morning we leave this wonderful fairy tale and make our way to Mongolia!

P.S. If anyone would like to send us a free text message would would love to hear from you! You can do this by going to http://www.gosim.com/index.php?page=send_sms&ref=320 and our number is (372) 59991656.

Source: travel pod. Peter and Hannah.

Tim, Anika and Children

These two professional videos are in German and Russian and with Russian subtitles. Tim speaks about his experience on Olkhon Island in German. Also videos don't have many speaking, but nice views and music.


Part 1





Part 2

Olkhon Cats

16_09_09

Live at Nikita's pt.1

Nikolay V. featuring Arina in Happy Omul cafe, at Nikita's homestead, on Olkhon Island, Lake Baikal.

Swimming in Lake Baikal in September

Watch this video of guy swimming in the lake. Its is possible, and yes, its cold.

VOLUNTEER SUMMER SCHOOL IN BURYATIA 2009

One girl from Moscow who is from Buryatiya is organizing summer school for everybody in a tiny village near lake Baikal. Great nature, local food and good days guaranteed.

Find out more about VOLUNTEER SUMMER SCHOOL IN BURYATIA 2009.

This is great that we have projects like this in Russia. I'm happy to see people, like Ayuna, who organize serious things like that.

You can join Summer School and be either volunteer and student at the same time. Also you can travel to a very unique place.

James Morgan Photography

James Morgan, photographer, visited lake Baikal and Siberia recently. Good pictures and cultural experience. Visit his website to see some of his work.

Irkutsk and Baikal (Listvyanka) in February

Web Album: Baikal February 2009

New 2009 (its gonna live!)

What can we say about our lake? There is so much have been said, and there is also many things that left to be untold. Lake Baikal is a very mysterious place, there are may legends and myths about its nature, people and spirits. If we will dig deeper into the history we will see that there are so many stories, languages and ways of life that are so closely related to the nature, and they will probably remain there.

Many people visit Baikal from all over the world. Some of them can see what is there and many people see just what they want to see. Year after year travelers have been changing, and today we can see that some of them get involved in cultural, business and social life.

Also there are international organizations that seek partnership with local government and business. They manage ecological and social projects which help people who is in need and try to solve problems in which the rest of the world is concerned.

One can say that local people don't really care about the lake and they go there just for fun. But it is not true. Of course there is a problem in lack of learning and academic skills to understand the whole meaning of living near the lake. Most of the population is just very into solving everyday problems and they don't really have time to join the nature.

Human resource located near lake Baikal is very scarce. Art, sports, music and things of sort lack attention and unpopular among population. Still there are diamonds in this ore. This year baikalclub is going to make an attempt to tell more about interesting people who live near lake Baikal.