SUMMER in SIBERIA and EAST RUSSIA: a LAKE, a BEAUTIFUL ISLAND, and two VALLEYS.

Our adventure in Russia continues to unfold. We have now been on our journey for nearly two months and travelled 11,000 kms by road. One exciting moment for us recently was being chased by two DPS police vehicles through a suburb of Irkutsk, sirens wailing and police loud speakers ordering us to stop immediately, but to no avail as we did not understand the repeated requests, locals just stopped and stared at these strange foreign people, after a thorough check of our documents the DPS left and we returned to our journey, just another day in Russia.

WHAT WE’VE EXPERIENCED IN SIBERIA and LAKE BAIKAL:
• More expensive shopping
• More variety in shops
• More Russian drivers bent on suicide by overtaking on blind corners and hills
• Slightly ‘Better’ roads
• The thinnest plastic bags known to man
• Good and cheap diesel ~ 70c/l
• More new beers to sample, even some bottles of nice foreign wine
• Great tasting smoked Baikal fish
• Chris’ great evening fires

WHAT WE’VE NOT EXPERIENCED:
• Pumpkin
• Consistently good roads
• Fresh bread that keeps

A significant feature of eastern Russia is the enormous Lake Baikal. On our travels west towards the Lake, we crossed two mountain ranges where the temperature dropped to near zero and we experienced long periods when it was snowing. One morning in camp, we awoke to discover two inches of snow covering our vehicles. Temperature fluctuations are amazing, the Lake is so large it has an influence on the local climate.



Heading north from Ulan Ude, our destination was the eastern shore of Lake Baikal, a freshwater lake that contains a fifth of the world’s unfrozen fresh water. The Lake is about 650 km long and 150 km wide, the deepest part of the lake is 1637 metres. It is ringed by mountain ranges of up to 2,100 metres. This makes for stunning scenery with many of the mountains snow dusted in late June.



One of the jewels in the Lake area is the Barguzin Valley. To reach the northern side of the valley, we crossed the Barguzin River on a barge towed by a small motor boat. As these areas are moderately remote for Russians and very remote for foreign visitors, the local inhabitants and magazins (shops) make us feel as if we are martians. We’ve come to term this the ‘martian factor’. The Barguzin Valley is dotted with small towns and villages, herds of good looking cattle and horses with large areas of marshland and significant birdlife. Crossing the 38 km wide valley floor for our return to the Lake was a challenge as the river was swollen and over the road by as much as a metre deep.




Driving around to the south eastern region of the Lake, required the cars to be transported by another barge across the wide Selenga River. This barge has two boats, one to push and one to pull the barge carrying the cars and trucks. An invitation from the captain of the barge, and we were ensconced in the bridge together with the pilot of the boat pushing (left with its motor running), and partook of chai (tea), vodka –Ann thoroughly enjoyed her shot of vodka - tomato and salt. Bron (referred to as Madam Bron by the captain) was ordered to take the helm. We wove a windy path from shore to shore; not so much a fact of Bron’s steerage but the lack of attention by the captain to his responsibilities aided by consumption of the Russian’s favourite beverage, but Bron brought the ‘ship’ home! This was a very amusing experience!!



Another jewel in the Lake is Olkhon Island. Traversing the strait to the Island, presented a different challenge, one of patience. We waited three hours to board the undersized and popular car ferry. A significant number of the Island’s inhabitants trace their ancestoral roots back to Genghis Kahn, when the Mongol Empire stretched through China, Russia and Central Asia. The native inhabitants are now known as Buryat people. The local inhabitants of Olkhon who we met were welcoming and accepting of our visit.



The island is bush camping at its best with large tracts of open grassland adjacent to beautiful and sometimes pebbly beaches with almost pure fresh lake water at every corner. The Island has many interesting bush tracks including those that lead to the mystical peaks of the northern cape. All this, including ferry transport, came at the princely sum of a dollar a day per person. Chris and Ann took the opportunity to dismantle and fix the lock broken by thieves early on our trip. Chris is pleased he can now unlock his own door! Alastair had less success with a headlight problem, but given the long daylight hours this has not caused any real difficulties, and he has alternate strategies in mind. During our time on Olkhon Island we did not have as much sun as we had hoped but the mystical nature of the place and its serene beauty is captivating.



On recommendations from previous travellers based on their experiences several years ago, we ventured forth in search of an idyllic campsite at Listvayanka a lakeside village adjacent to the river mouth downstream from Irkutsk. Our hopes were dashed as the commercial development on the narrow strip of level land adjacent to the lake is concentrated and there is little land available for camping. We spied a disused shipbuilding yard and a security man allowed us to camp on the site. We had the best waterfront view in all of Listvayanka. Locals also used the site for smoking fish, a very popular local food.



An unexpected delight was the Tunka Valley adjacent to the south-west corner of Lake Baikal. This Valley is wide and flat, bordered on either side by a string of jagged mountains with the occasional freckle of snow. Although commercialised we found Anshan an interesting place to walk in the forest and had a pleasant hot spring spa in Zhemchug.



The generosity of the Russian people continues; a man gives us smoked fish while waiting to cross the Barguzin River; while camped on Olkhon Island, another man approached our camp to ask if we had a plastic bag and later returned to give us the bag back with two large fish inside!!.





WISH WE’D BROUGHT BUT DIDN’T:
• more peanut butter
• more vegemite
• more vita wheats
• more waterproofing for shoes
• better language skills
• better English-Russian dictionary
• nailbrush (Shifty Tours)
• more hand-cream
• cast iron frypan (Dodgy Tours)
• heat exchanger for showers (to save having to heat shower water on the campfires)



BEST THINGS WE BROUGHT:
• UHF radios for communication between the cars
• Folding BBQ
• Butane gas stove (Dodgy Tours) – gas cylinders readily available
• Awning (Dodgy Tours)
• Australian loo paper
• Knowledge of Russia shared with us by others who had done similar trips

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