Blogs from Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russia, Europe - page 2

Ja, das habe ich mir sibirischer vorgestellt oder zumindest irgendwie anders… Aber als ich in Novosibirsk ankam, waren es morgens schon 28 Grad plus und es wurde noch wärmer. Mindestens einmal im Leben wollte ich gern in Novosibirsk sein, einer modernen Metropole mitten in Sibirien mit einem großen Opernhaus. Man ist hier sehr stolz in Sibirien zu leben. Viele junge Leute tragen „Iˋm Sibirian“ Shirts und überall in der Stadt wird für sibirisches Essen, sibirische Mode oder sibirische Künstler geworben. Ich hatte den Eindruck, dann man sich ganz bewußt etwas von Moskau distanziert – was die können, können wir auch – sich aber trotzdem sehr russisch fühlt. Und so feiert man jetzt hier am 24.6. auch ganz stolz den 125. Stadtgeburtstag und überhaupt keine Fussball-WM (die gibt es nur im Fernsehen und irgendwo weit weg in ... read more

Ah, a whole other story! Jana, my wonderful guide....nothing like having an organised tour booked and finding you're the only one...love it! First the ferry to the station, then onto the train. Number 9 I think. Lake Baikal is BIG, and deep, the deepest, oldest freshwater lake ever, surrounded by big mountains, 359 rivers run into it and only 1 out. It holds 20% of the worlds fresh water! No time for a photo but I did spot a couple of the famous and elusive Baikal Seals, unreal. And a couple of rare Siberian Red Ducks, on the red list, I reckon ready for dinner, rare! It's a bit hazy, they've had some big bushfires so it's only when we get close to the sharp end of the lake we can see the distant peaks of ... read more

Since my first book was such a great success, and failed to get on Oprah's list, or any other list for that matter, I am trying something different. Though I actually had friends and others who wanted to PAY to buy the book "African Adventures, Addis to Capetown" through Amazon, I preferred to give them away. In fact, I still owe a book to my dear friend in Kuala Lumpur! So, to make it easier for you, and my wonderful reading audience out there. I am using Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing for my next book, "Trans Siberian Railway Solo". So, I hope you are Kindle readers. Or you can just go back to the well over sixty emails that I sent from Russia, and piece together your own book. From Kindle: Congratulations, your book "Tran Siberian ... read more

Lake Baikal is the oldest and deepest (5387 feet) freshwater lake in the world. Located in south-eastern Siberia and north of the Mongolian border, Lake Baikal lies in a cleft where the world is literally splitting apart. Expert geologists say that today's Baikal shows what the seaboards of North America, Europe, and Africa looked like when they separated millions of years ago. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. Baikal is more than 5000 feet deep, with a four mile thick layer of sediment below. Yet the cold and oxygen rich waters supports some rather bizarre life forms. One of them is the fresh water seals favorite food, golomyanka, a pink, transparent fish that gives birth to live young. More than half of the species found here can only be found here. The ... read more

When boarding the ferry to go to Olkhon island I was among the dozen or so cars that obviously weren’t going to fit on the boat, meaning another hour to wait. But at the last minute the official pointed at me and I jumped the queue. I thought that perhaps he gave preference to Russian cars, but it turned out that Agatha’s slimness was her advantage in this case. I spent a couple of days on Olkhon Island, the largest island in Baikal and a popular destination for tourists. My accommodation here chose itself: investigating whether it was worth camping on the beach, Agatha showed herself unequal to driving across sand. There wasn’t time to look for help that evening, so I resigned myself to staying in my tent. By the next day I’d befriended my ... read more