Day 4 - Living on the beach

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When we woke up and I crawled outside the tent, my breath caught in my throat the second time this trip.

Across the lake there were mountains and cliffs brilliantly lit by the sun, the blue water of the like was shining and perfectly clear but for white seagulls floating here and there, waiting for fish. Then they would fly and stop moving their wings, and sort of hover in the wind.

The ever-present wind on Baikal means that it is never too hot - even if it is 30C. The further you get from the lake, the hotter it gets. But the wind can also get too strong - and that is quite uncomfortable, temperature-wise for one, and also because of the need to secure everything you use. When we got to the beach, we had to pile rocks on our mats to prevent them from flying off and find smaller rocks for our books, stacks of crosswords and hats.

The wind also brought huge waves - and getting in and out of water was like surfing, only without boards - the hardest thing was to remain standing, which is nearly impossible, what with the force of waves and slippery stones under your feet. But we managed, and had lots of fun while we were doing it, and then sunbathed, and the day passed in a blur of sun, sand, and beach fun.

We decided to bake some potatoes for dinner, wrapping them in foil and putting them in the fire. When you cook outdoors, without benefits of a stove, running water and a supply of cooking utensils, everything takes much longer, but I would say that these preparations are so much more enjoyable - after all, in order to do the washing up, you first need to walk to the beautiful lake and get soaked while trying to fill the bucket. Then you walk back, checking out what other campers are up to. Trying to chop something without getting sand on it is a whole other story. Mike meanwhile is working on starting the fire, which also makes him incredibly busy for about 20 minutes.

But then the fire is burning, the pots, dishes and utensils are clean of sand, cans are opened and packets thrown away, vegetables are rinsed and it is ok to start cooking. Food cooks quite fast, and gets eaten even faster - and it is time to enjoy the scenery, the sound and sight of crackling fire and talk, talk, talk, or do crosswords, or simply sit side by side and look up at the stars and smile when you catch each other's eyes and realize that this is what happiness feels like.

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