Day #50: Russian banya by Lake Baikal

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Today I travelled to Listvyanka, a small town on the shores of Lake Baikal, very geared to tourists (I saw my first coach party of the whole trip here!). Normally it would be beautiful, but unfortunately the weather was atrocious, probably the worst day of the whole trip so far - unremitting heavy rain and strong winds. Because of the weather and because the view was so limited, it felt like being by the sea rather than by a lake - there was no sign of the other side, just endless water, and typical seaside weather too.

I am, however, staying in the best hostel I have been in the whole trip - the Baikaler, quite well known, many travellers I met along the route had either stayed or were planning to stay. It is new, built from wood, and very homely, and full of fellow Trans-Siberian travellers. Best of all, it has a traditional Russian banya, something I had been hoping to try since I arrived in Russia.

The banya is basically the Russian equivalent of a sauna or Turkish bath. Apparently the Turkish sauna is cooler but more humid, and the Finnish sauna is hotter but less humid. I haven't tried either of those so can't compare, but I can confirm the Russian banya is very hard to tolerate! I was sharing with 3 guys (all wrapped in towels!), you are supposed to stay in for 15 minutes, then go out and douse yourself in cold water, then repeat a few times. Only me and one of the guys could stand it for 15 minutes, the other two had to leave before the timer had finished, but then neither of us could do another 15 minutes after that, it was just impossible. The other interesting feature of the banya is the birch branches that you are supposed to beat yourself with as a kind of massage, but the banya was so difficult to bear that the effect was almost unnoticeable, unless we did it wrong. Still, afterwards I did feel very pleasantly relaxed and sleepy, and I was glad to have the experience.

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