Along the Shores of Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal is called the Pearl of Siberia. For good reason. On good days, you see crystal clear, brilliantly blue waters, surrounded by rocky cliffs and evergreen forests. We had waited a long time to see this, the world’s deepest lake, a body of water that contains one-fifth of the world’s fresh water and is bigger than all five of America’s Great Lakes put together! In the old days, steamships used to ferry Trans-Siberian Railway cars across the lake to pick up the tracks and journey on the other side; I’m happy that wasn’t the case today!
This wasn’t a “good” day. The skies were grey and overcast, and we drove through moments of brief sunshine and short-lived patches of snow falling onto the two-lane empty asphalt highway on the hour-long ride to the lake.
When we arrived at Listvyanka village, it was just as I had expected. We found a tiny village of simple wooden shacks and houses with tin roofs, barking guard dogs behind fences, tiny cabbage patches in each yard, rusting tractors, snow covered spruce and fir trees, muddy paths. The rutted road winding up the mountainside led us to our brand new cedar log lodge. It was newly constructed of hand-hewn logs, shiny with recent varnish, with a glorious view of the lake from our bedroom window.
The others in the group walked through a birch forest that day, but I was content to crawl under my warm down comforter and sleep through the afternoon in order to recover for the next day’s boat ride on the lake. It was worth it. We awoke to freezing temperatures but brilliant sunshine, and we truly enjoyed a wonderful day of fresh air, sunshine and glorious views of Lake Baikal as we sat on the top deck of our comfortable chartered boat.
My only regret about Lake Baikal is that I had promised, no, boasted, that I fully intended to swim in Lake Baikal and had hauled my swim suit all over Siberia in anticipation. (The old adage is that if you swim in the lake, you will add thirty years to your life. Who wouldn’t want to take advantage of that?)
But even I wasn’t crazy enough to swim in that bitterly cold water! However, dressed in three-layers of tee shirts, long johns and my all-purpose REI jacket, I managed to stoop down on the shore and dip my hands in the cold water (and have my photo taken) as proof that I tried.
The next morning we arose to freezing weather and headed off for the airport back in Irkutsk.
We were anticipating the next leg of our adventure. It would be via the dreaded MIA—Mongolian International Airlines. A small prop plane that held about 50 people awaited our arrival.
When we were finally aboard and our luggage stuck under our feet and in the space at the rear of the plane, I looked out the window and closed my eyes, hopping we would take off successfully!!! We taxied down what turned into a dirt runway, somewhat bumpy and rocky, and I noticed that on the plane in several places three people sat in spaces for two! Soon after the take-off, one of the passengers, an elderly Mongolian, hauled out a big bottle of bourbon and paper cups and walked up and down the aisle offering drinks to all. Many people accepted, and enjoyed the ride! But never mind, we were in this for the experience, and this was truly an experience!
We were headed for Mongolia, for Ulaan Bataar, and several unusual and unexpected experiences lie ahead.
A stay in a ger…
A walk through the valley of the vultures…
Standing on the site of the original dinosaur egg find…
Riding on a camel…
And who knew what else?
I certainly didn’t!
[Go to Mongolia Part Six]
