To the Dogs or Whoever

DSC00893, originally uploaded by Louise and Luke.

Lake Baikal is not, apparently, the biggest lake in the world but it is certainly the biggest lake I’ve ever seen. This is not surprising as the lake is three times the length of Wales.

Surrounded by forest and snowed toped hills, the whole area is incredibly beautiful and scenic. The lake water is amazingly clear, and unusually clean for Russian water. A sign in the village informed us this is because the Russian government limits how much pollution is allowed to be pumped into the lake. Although, considering the lake water supplies all of the tap water in the area, unfiltered, and holds 20% of the worlds fresh water I would personally have preferred that they just didn’t pollute it at all…

We stayed just up the road from the village of Litvyanka in Krestovka valley, a tiny hamlet made up of traditional Siberian wooden houses, right on the lake. Being afraid of stray dogs, Luke was delighted to discover upon arrival that Krestovka is some kind of dog haven. Being the region’s centre for dog sledding every house seemed to have at least one dog and every road and path had at least one stray dog wandering about. At night all you could hear for miles around was the sound of barking and howling. I was just glad that I would never have to doorknock this area.

Aside from the dogs Lake Baikal was very peaceful. The guide book warned us that there wasn’t much in Litvyanka, and it was true to its word. Besides the port the highlight was a post office which didn’t sell stamps, but did – intriguingly - sell three types of tinned spam. However, far from being disappointing, our Siberian retreat was the perfect place to finish our Russian experience.

And one experience you can’t leave Russia without is a Russian banya. Similar to a Swedish sauna, except that after sitting in the sauna for 10 minutes or so you thrash each other with birch sticks and jump in an ice cold pool. We had a traditional banya in a wooden log cabin, at the lovely Terama just opposite where we were staying. It was here that we also had delicious Omul, the famous Baikal fish, which only exists in Lake Baikal.

Despite the glorious sunny weather it was still around -10C in Listvyanka, so we didn’t swim in the lake, which is supposed to bring you good health. We did however spend many hours enjoying the scenery which was unbelievably stunning. The hour trek up to the viewing point, above the Baikal Hotel and the view was worth every second. Our amateur photography does not do it justice, but feel free to take a look on Flickr anyway. Next stop Irkutsk - again.

Louise and Luke

xx

(Posted by Louise)