http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Lake-Baikal/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , Russia , Siberia , Lake Baikal en-us Tue, 21 May 2013 11:17:44 +0000 Tue, 21 May 2013 11:17:44 +0000 Joining the train mid afternoon gave us the novelty of being able to see the world going by outside the carriage. We were sharing our cabin on this leg with a pair of Russian lads around our age that took regular trips to the gap between carriages for a smoke or off to the restaurant car for snacks and beers. We attempted the offering of the small chocolate mountains to no avail. We couldnt hel http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Lake-Baikal/blog-771039.html I39m sorry your tour guide got drunk last night so your tour has been cancelled. Natalie looks at me defeated by the situation.She is exhausted.Exhausted with having to work seven days a week deal with tourists all day long and local tour guides getting drunk and not showing up for their shifts.That39s Ok I reply.How about a horse riding tour around the island I ask.Horse riding tou http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Lake-Baikal/blog-755138.html It39s our last full day on this amazing island and I39ve really enjoyed it. On the final day me and Ange decide to hire some bikes and ride to the other side of the island. The aim is to ride to KhardyAman bay but somehow we only end up via Shar a Nur lake again. We meet some random dogs followed by some random drunk dudes who tell us where going the wrong way. Why ride bikes He asks le http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Lake-Baikal/blog-750585.html The guides aren39t drunk the sun is out there39s hardly a breeze in the air and were all sitting in a Russian minivan.We39re traveling to the north part of the island having managed to successfully secure some sober tour guides.The cape itself is ominous and surrounded by white cliffs.It is due to these cliffs that the cape received its ominous name as Khoboy means white fang in Buryat http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Lake-Baikal/blog-750339.html Its a perfect day for it Ange has never done it and mum wants to be towed around for an hour.We bite the bullet and decide to hire some paddle boats around Cape Burkhan.The weather is grand and sunny and we get pretty much no where with our paddle boats. But it39s still fun.Following the paddling we head to the banya by lake Baikal. Donald and Luda meet us at the Banya were we take turns whipp http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Lake-Baikal/blog-750337.html Do you believe in God He asks me as we sit on the boat and the wind whips at our hair. It39s early August the peak of summer but we39ve done the right thing by bringing our warm coats for this boat ride. The wind out on Baikal Lake is fierce and were traveling over 2 hours to get to the other coast. He is in his 5039s or 6039s and he is wearing a cowboy hat with Russian writing th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Lake-Baikal/blog-750333.html Okay the area is starting to grow on me but only if I ignore the main street and only think about the unpaved roads and the strange wooden houses.We started the day with a hike in the Siberian forest that surrounds the lake it was pretty hot day so we ended up sweating bucket loads. Our guide was not very talkative and mostly marched ahead of us. The hike went round the mountain and down to a se http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Lake-Baikal/blog-731758.html Our train arrived on time and we seem to be coping well with the time chages we work up about 6am local time which isn39t terrible. Fortunately the agency had booked travel between Irkutsk and the small lake side village Listvyanka so we were met by a local and bundled into a car much to the annoyance of Ben who not only hadn39t booked transport but also hadn39t booked a hotel yet he ow http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Lake-Baikal/blog-731756.html Apologies for the delay but normal blog service is being resumed slowly...Katya met us at the Irkutsk railway platform and whisked us to Listvyanka on the shores of Lake Baikal about 60km away.The drive took us swiftly onto the main road linking the two towns cutting a swathe through the forest.The town of Listvyanka consists of one road that stretches 4.5km along the lake shore with 3 valleys t http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Lake-Baikal/blog-730569.html That39s the deepest part of Lake Baikal located in the middle of Siberia where I spent the last couple of weeks after St. Petersburg and Moscow. The average depth is over 200039 easily making it the world39s deepest and most voluminous lake. The pictures do not it justice as it the lake is gigantic. Now in Krasnoyarsk well west of Lake Baikal but still in Siberia.1US 33p. Russian ru http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Lake-Baikal/blog-724450.html After a train trip that lived up to expectations 12 hours of actual moving on the train 6 hours of inexplicably sitting on the platform doing nothing 6 hours of border processing we arrived in UlanUde at the sparky hour of 11pm. After a quick glimpse of the giant Lenin head in the city square it was off to the hotel. The next morning we shivered our way onto the bus with the expectation of http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Lake-Baikal/blog-722490.html We arrived in Irkutsk early evening and stayed in the Transiberian Hostel highlight of which was a dog named Mushy Russian for fly apparently. He was a very friendly small black Labrador that sang when cuddled. Irkutsk is a pleasant city and was warmer than wed been used to the next day was spent wandering round the centre and the markets also searching in vain for a tour to Lake http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Lake-Baikal/blog-716566.html Listvyanka settlement is a small village on the southern coast of Baikal located at the source of the Angara river. Nestled between the coast of the lake and foothills of the mountain range surrounding LakeBaikal the main embankment street of Listvyanka is extended along the coastal line for over five kilometers. For many visitors the first acquaintance to the great lakeBaikal begins with a trip http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Lake-Baikal/blog-674996.html I was quite amazed that I woke up on time right before the alarm was due to on even though I had very bad moment before I went to sleep due to some other fellows in the hostel were thunderous snoring but I still had a very good sleep after my long tiring rides from Olkhon Island.To see this great lake in Siberia there is another way to explore The Circumbaikal Railway. The 94km long railway http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Lake-Baikal/blog-655143.html No trip to Siberia is complete without going Lake Baikal while no trip to Lake Baikal is complete without going Olkhon Island. I was not planning to visit this huge island when I was planning trip to Lake Baikal as it39s not so easy to get there and takes plenty of time considering the distance around 110km from Irkutsk the trip takes exceptionally long. Lake Baikal located in Siberian Fa http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Lake-Baikal/blog-655110.html As my flight from Moscow approaching Irkutsk after 5 hours the largest city in the Russian Far East and the city next to the world39s deepest lake Lake Baikal I woke up just before the the sun rises and I slightly open the window shade the view out of the plane was impressive and as the plane got closer to the airport in Irkutsk I started to see more signs of city but even being the la http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Lake-Baikal/blog-654791.html Gracias por preferir leer esto antes que ver la tele. Great choice guysDe la isla de Olkhon regres a los dos das a Irkutsk. Y adems en la misma furgoneta que la que nos haba llevado all. Afortunadamente en el viaje de vuelta no tuvimos que trapichear el precio con el ladino que a la ida nos tang 200 rublos. Ya os contar esa historieta cuando nos veamos okPues eso que recup http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Lake-Baikal/blog-654279.html Irkutsk is the most popular stop off point for TranSiberian travellers as it neatly breaks up the journey from Moscow to Beijing. Most travellers however make the pitstop here because of Lake Baikal. Before and during this trip many people whom I spoke with raved about Olkhon Island the largest and remote island on Baikal located 5 hours drive north of Irkutsk. Slightly disappointed from m http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Lake-Baikal/blog-644200.html Siberia El lejano este. 11.149 KM en 30 dasHarbinVladivostokkhavarovskKomsomolsk.Na.AmureLago BaikalIrkutskChangchunLa palabra Siberia viene de Sibir nombre de un Kanato turco que gobern la regin desde finales del S XIV. En 1580 los cosacos liderados por Yermak tomaron la fortaleza de Tyumen capital del Kanato turco de Sibir. Hacia 1639 los cosacos ya haban llegado al Mar de Okh http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Lake-Baikal/blog-637432.html Half way through my trip time to do some statistics 45 days have passed 18 places visited 53 people met o With 10 I spoke mostly English o With 1 German o With 1 Swiss GermanI guess you can do the math thats a lot of impressions and information So for the next two weeks Ill switch from Russian to mainly English and change my status http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Lake-Baikal/blog-632423.html