Lake Baikal
Trip Start
Jul 07, 2008
1
4
29
Trip End
Oct 01, 2008
Lake Baikal,
Russian Federation
Sunday, July 20, 2008
We stayed in a homestay here with a guide, Natasha, who was full of interesting facts about the oldest, deepest and biggest freshwater lake in the world. Approximately 20% of the worlds freshwater resides here.
We went for a bike ride along one of the rivers that flows into the lake and also for a long walk along the shore and through the forest near the lake. There is nothing else to do in the village, it is really quiet and relaxing here. The scenery is beautiful. The lake is only 14 degrees at this time of the year (when it's warming up!) so a dip is quite "invigorating".
The village is very small and quite traditional (for the time being) with wooden houses in the Buryat style. The house where we stayed had no running water and a "traditional" toilet too. One benefit of the lack of plumbing was however the Banya. Instead of a usual shower the way to have a shower is in the sauna room with buckets of hot and cold water that you mix to your temperature and throw all over yourself. It's a fun novelty but probably not ideal for everyday use. (no photos of this either!!).
