Lake Baikal, is situated a few kilometres from Irkutst the capital of Siberia.
Lake Baikal is also known as the Pearl of Siberia, or the Blue Eye of Siberia.
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Lake Baikal is a crystal clear body of the bluest water. It is surrounded by all sides with rocks and trees. It also has a few settlements of wooden cottages. The lake itself is a living museum of flora and fauna, 80% of it is found nowhere else on the planet. Shape like a Banana, Lake Baikal is 636km from North to South and 60Km wide. It is the world deepest lake with the deepest point at 1637m on the western shore. It contains nearly a fifth of the world fresh water, more than the North Americain Great Lakes combined.
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The Museum Of Wooden Architecture is on the road from Irkutst. It is a reconstitution of an old Siberian village of the 18th century. Complete with farmstead, a school and two chapels. It was even more magic, as the village was covered in snow, it looked more ....Siberian! The village of Listvyanka is verry pretty with its wooden houses, it was very pleasant to walk around. The village has a charming atmosphere and brillant views over the lake.
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Lake Baikal might not have a monster in its water (unless you have drunk 3 bottles of Vodka), but the legend says that if you swim in the lake you will live 25 years longer, I did not do that as it was -10c outside but I dipped my feet, so according to the legend I should live an extra 10 years!
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You can visit the Baikal Ecological Museum which shows intruments of fishing. The star attractions are the unique Fresh Water Seals. There is also a video to look at in ...Russian, but it is still interesting to watch pictures of the lake at different times of the year. It also displays stuffed animals which include rare and extinct species of the fauna of the lake.
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I stayed in a local chalet. My host was Tatiana is a superb cook and you will not go hungry! The rooms were very nice and clean.
Home stays can be arranged in the Tourist Office at Irkust.
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A club? Where? Apart from the bar, there is nothing.
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View of Tankhoy on Lake Baikal
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Well, there is not much to do, but you can find a nice little bar on the lakeshore.
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Hotel Baikal, on the lakeshore offers superb fish dishes, extra fresh. It was lovely.
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Published on Wednesday January 4th, 2006
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Wed, Jul 16 2008 - 11:54 AM
 by metin
| Величествены Байкал,прекрасная природа...! |
Sun, Mar 05 2006 - 08:21 AM
 by shsmrsb
Great report, brought back lots of memories of Lake Baikal from 1987! I guess it has changed a bit in that time. Hope you are still able to try the wonderful fish that is only found in the lake there and that it is not now endangered.
We loved the little church at Lubianka (I think that is the right name for the village at the edge of the lake nearest the road to Irkusk). |
Thu, Jan 05 2006 - 07:23 AM
 by gloriajames
hiya
nice report, but more photos and details would be great. btw ... i like the legend bit!
gloria |
Thu, Jan 05 2006 - 12:09 AM
by eirekay
| Isabelle, Sounds like a great remote location - peaceful and serene. Great report! Are there any activities, such as cross country skiing? |
Wed, Jan 04 2006 - 02:27 PM
by davidx
| Interesting report on a fine sounding place. If you have more photos, you can add some. |
Wed, Jan 04 2006 - 12:43 PM
by rangutan
| A very interesting place to read about. Some spelling mistakes could easily be fixed by MS-Word or other translation/grammar programmes. Nevertherless a usefull and good report with some nice pictures. |
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