One of the most inland places in the world, Baikal region is by no means a possible Thule ; but from long ago it's an Utopia destination for me, one of those places I dream of visiting and frequently fancy about when planning a voyage. The region where Michell Strogoff was bound to, half east half west, mixed peoples and civilizations, a liquid paradise in the middle of the immense tundra desert.
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Lake Baikal was practically unknown to Europeans until the 17th century (Russians first heard of the Baikal in 1609 at Tomsk). Since then the Baikal region of central Siberia has changed from a refugee for dissidents and fugitives of Russian prisons and Gulags, as well as a few ermits, to a destination of dream and fantasy for those who like to escape the city confusion, the social life, the conventions of civilization, and live frugally in solitude and communion with nature. Some cabins and villages lost in the north banks of Lake Baikal have for some time been the place for alternate living in deep inland Russia.
This is why Lake Baikal, in spite of being far from sea - one of the most interior places in the world - is taking a place here as Ultima Thule. Though tourism is fastly growing, mainly in the south, since Russia opened its territory to foreign travellers, most of the Lake's banks, forested slopes, bays and coves, are still a well-hidden secret known to only a few on the planet.
Lake Baikal is at the very heart of Eurasia, locked within the massif of the siberian Baikal Mountains, at
Part of the Yenitsev river basin, the Lake is fed by some 330 inflowing rivers. The main ones draining directly into Baikal are the Selenga River, the Angara River, the Snezhnaya River. But it is drained through one single outlet, the Angara River.
о́зеро Байка́л, tr. Ozero Baykal;
Coordinates: 53°30′N 108°0′E
Settlements around the Lake: Lystvianka, Sludyanka/ Sludjanka, Baikal, Nikola, ...
Lake Baikal is the most voluminous freshwater lake in the world, containing roughly 20% of the world's unfrozen surface fresh water.
It is a huge lake, a"freshwater sea" of crystal clear waters, 636 km long and 1642 m deep.
Surrounded by mountains, Lake Baikal's shoreline is covered by taiga forest - cedar, larch,pine -descending in slope to the pristine waters.
In some days it's possible to see until 40 m deep.
As expected, these waters are searched by many forms of life; here a siberian taiga lynx:
The Omul is one of the salmon-family types of fish living in the Lake; there are also Trouts, Grayling and even a few endangered Sturgeons.
Mountains, taiga, steppe, tundra, grassland, coves and bays, marshes, stretch for the 2 000 km of the shoreline:
It would take around four months, at normal walking speed, to walk all the way around it.
The average temperatures vary from a minimum of -19 °C in winter to maximum of 14 °C in summer.
Olkhon Island
At 53 ° 09' N, 107 ° 23' W, Olkhon is the largest island in the lake (70 km long and 15 km wide), and quite beautiful with bays and sandy beaches amid steep cliffs. The terrain is a combination of taiga, grassy steppe, cliffs, small lakes and even a small sand desert, against the deep blue waters of the Lake.
Cape Burkhan is the most worshipped site on Lake Baikal. This rock is located near Khuzhir village and is considered as a holy place by the local Buryat natives.
Peschanaya Bay is also famous for the sand dunes and unique trees found here - stilted trees with their roots exposed above the sand. The constant winds, which blow from the sea towards land move the sand away from the shore and form high sand hills, which are called "Moving sands", as these sand dunes constantly change location depending on the direction of the wind.
Local Lore Museum – a museum dedicated to the history and culture of the people of Olkhon and keeps a collection of minerals, archaeological artifacts and specimens of flora and fauna.
Sarayskiy Bay – located at a walking distance from Khuzir and fronting the Maloye Morye strait, Sarayskiy is one of the unique bays in Lake Baikal that has kilometers of fine sand and a temperate climate suitable for swimming.
Cape Khoboi – is located at the northernmost extremity of Lake Baikal and has a walkable ridge that leads to the edge of the mountain overlooking the lake. Tourists can marvel at and enjoy the panoramic view of the blue expanse and the northeastern mountains across it.
Mount Zhima – the highest peak on Olkhon and stands at the eastern end of the island’s taiga and is held sacred by Shamanist believers.
Khuzhir
" Et si la liberté consistait a posséder le temps ? "
Sylvain Tesson, Dans les forêts de Sibérie
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II Frozen Baikal
During the freeze-up (average January 9 - May 4) Baikal freezes almost entirely.
The huge forces create chaos on the iced lake - threatening lames of ice emerge unpredictably, adding to the magic of the place with morror-like efects.
By the end of winter, the thickness of the ice on Lake Baikal reaches 1 m.
As for human occupation, let me start with isolated cabins for fishermen and hunters, guards and scientists, as well as poets and ermits...
then, there is
The Transsiberian and the CircumBaikal railway.The Trans-Siberian Railway was built between 1896 and 1902. Construction of the scenic railway around the southwestern end of Lake Baikal required 200 bridges and 33 tunnels. Until its completion, a train ferry transported railcars across the lake from Port Baikal to Mysovaya for a number of years. At times during winter freezes, the lake could be crossed on foot—though at risk of frostbite and deadly hypothermia from the cold wind moving unobstructed across flat expanses of ice.
Finally, the setllements.
Listvyanka
Nikola
Sludyanka city, south Baikal, industry. It is a stop on the Trans-Siberian Railway.Population - 18 567
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