25.02.2018
The next train ride would take me the last section of the BAM westbound and then turn east again on the TransSib to Irkutsk. I really wanted to see Irkutsk again and therefore had to do this detour. There is no other public transport to get from the northern part of the lake to the southern part in winter. In summer there is a hydrofoil connection.
My train was # 71 at 17:23+5 and would take 32 hrs for 1733 km to Irkutsk. I had coach 1 upper bunk 22. In my cabin were 2 young women. They were very friendly and even gave space to make the bed and get changed.
The train left on time and considering the late hour I went straight to sleep.
26.02.2018
I slept good and long as usual on the train. Around 09:00 there was a 20 min stop in Zheleznogorsk-Ilimsk and I went out for some fresh air and a stretch in the morning. The weather was good with a crisp -22°C, though.
Because my cabin mates were still sleeping I then went to the restaurant coach 3 coaches over and had breakfast. The menu was the same centralized menu as on the last train…. I did remember not to order eggs …. I still have enough of eating eggs …. and maybe there would be 2×2 again …. So I fell back on Borshtsh – my usual choice for lunch or dinner – but today I felt like having it for breakfast …
I spent all morning in the restaurant coach because there is the best view and I can catch up on my journal writing and just meditate while watching Siberia fly by.
The sun had come out and coming more and more west we seemed to reach more and more civilisation. We passed definitely more villages and settlements now. I was the only guest in the restaurant and for lunch I had a Sibirskaya Corona and waited for the train to pass Bratsk Dam.
The Bratsk Hydroelectric Power Station and dam is the second level of the Angara River hydroelectric station cascade in Irkutsk Oblast. From its commissioning in 1966, the station was the world’s single biggest power producer until Krasnoyarsk Hydroelectric Power Station reached 5,000 MW (at 10 turbines) in 1971. The base concrete dam is 924 m long and 124.5 m high. There are no navigational channels, because the Angara has no through ship routes. Nevertheless, the construction project includes the possibility to build a ship elevator. The Baikal Amur Magistrale railroad runs right along the top of the dam. The train passed the Bratsk dam around 12:00. On the left was the expanse of the Bratsk Reservoir which was now frozen and snowed over, unfortunately. It has a surface area of 5,470 km² and a maximum volume of 169.27 m³ which makes it the third largest reservoir in the world. At the time of its inauguration, the reservoir was the largest artificial lake in the world. On the right was the water drop and power house. That was very interesting. But since in winter it is not possible to open the windows of the train taking a good look was not really possible. But passing the dam was already a cool thing.
The city of Bratsk itself has approx. 250 000 inhabitants and is a conglomerate of industrial zones and soviet area concrete blocks.
I went back to my cabin and took an afternoon nap. At some point there was a longer stop and I went out for a stretch again and bought some pirogues from a kiosk at the platform. The rest of the afternoon I rested on my bunk, read and looked out the window.
Just before 19:00 there was the long stop in Tayshet where the BAM officially starts – or ends.
It was a 35 min stop and I had time to walk over the flyover footbridge to the station building and the monuments.
There was a monument for the BAM, a Lenin bust and of course an old steam train as well as the town’s WW II Memorial.
The station was small but is a major train hub. Here the train engine got changed once again and now we were eastbound again. Here ended my BAM adventure, now I was travelling the Trans Siberian railroad again.
Later I chatted in broken Russian and sign language with the 2 women in my cabin. Both are called Lena and are on the way to Irkutsk to work. They did not drink vodka! Rather tea. I shared some good German chocolate I had with them.
I had an early night again, though, because arrival in Irkutsk was scheduled at 01:20+5!
27.02.2018
The train reached Irkutsk perfectly on time and I got picked up by my guide Lena and driver Igor. I was going to spend 2 night in Listvyanka at the shores of Lake Baikal. The transfer took approx. 1 hr.
Listvyanka is located 70 km from Irkutsk, near the point where the Angara River leaves the lake on the western side of Baikal. This part never freezes.
Listvyanka is the most comfortable location on the lake and has approx. 1800 inhabitants. It is a bit overrated as it’s not that picturesque in itself, it just provides an easy and fast access to the lake and a vast variety of activities. Last time I was in Irkutsk in 2008 I skipped it and rather choose Olkhon Island, which is the largest island of Lake Baikal. Now in winter, however, I decided to come here. Unfortunately, a tour on the Circumbaikal Railway was out of the picture, because this time of the year they only do a couple runs a month and it just did not fit in my schedule. Pity that was, but maybe a reason to come back one day.
I was booked into UD Guesthouse which was located very centrally. Listvyanka extends approx. 4 km along the shoreline and into 3 valleys inland. The guesthouse was located in the middle, most centrally valley but close to lakeshore. It seemed fairly new and my large room was on the first floor with nice views over the lake – if it had not been so hazy.
After settling in I had breakfast with Lena at the Listvyanka Club and then we went for a walking tour. There is not too much to see here, but they have the pretty timber church of St. Nicholas.
We walked all along the shore promenade to the Baikal Limnological Museum. It was a long walk to the very beginning of the village. The Museum is dedicated solely to Lake Baikal and examines the science of Baikal from all angles. They even have an aquarium with fish of the lake and 2 happy, very fast Nerpa seals, the only entirely fresh water seals in the world which can only be found in Lake Baikal. Those Nerpa seals live mostly in the National Park area of the lake and eat so much fish to be able to survive in the cold waters of the lake, that they are rather round.
Lake Baikal is the larges freshwater lake by volume in the world, containing 22–23% of the world’s fresh surface water. With a maximum depth of 1,642 m Baikal is the world’s deepest lake. It is considered among the world’s clearest lakes and is considered the world’s oldest lake — at 25–30 million years. It is the seventh-largest lake in the world by surface area. Baikal is home to thousands of species of plants and animals, many of which exist nowhere else in the world. The lake was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. The museum was very interesting and informative.
Lena then went back to Irkutsk. She had set me up with a 1 hr snowmobile tour in the afternoon, however. Hey, they offer it, I take it! Another check on my bucket list – do I actually have a bucket list? – since I have never done snowmobile before and who knows when there will be another chance. So I strolled back to the central part of the village. Walking along the shore line I saw also a huge sign for a diving center. The little house was right by the lake and there were holes in the ice in front of it which had obviously been used today. Hmmmmm ….. I started thinking …. Noooo! I hate diving in overhead environment! I hate diving in cold water! I am a warm water diver! Nooooo!
At 13:00 I had my date with the snowmobile people, I had to hurry. I go there in time and the guide Denis looked me over and decided I was appropriately dressed. He spoke no English or German, in fact he did not speak at all! He gave me a helmet and indicated to follow him. The snowmobiles were all ready and set to go. Then a woman appeared and she explained me in very good English the very easy handling of the snow mobile and just said – Do whatever Denis does, follow him, he goes left you go left, he goes right you go right, he stops you stop, keep 10 to 20 m distance and go! You want to go in the forest or on the ice? – Of course on the ice! – Alright! Davajte! Let’s go!
The first few hundred meter were a bit awkward getting used to driving that snowmobile. Actually it was straight forward – just use your left thumb – push to accelerate – let go to stop. Break on your left – but only use it in an emergency – but then you can also push the red button on the right to emergency stop.
Once we were on the ice Denis went ahead very fast and I tried to catch up. We followed just of the shoreline to the north. The scenery was magnificent with cliffs and ice shells along the shore.
Every now and then we would stop for photos or look at the ice and cliffs. It was so beautiful. The sun was out and the sky was blue. It was about -14°C but there was a wind chill on the lake. I was warm in all my clothes, though, just the fingers were cold from taking photos …
After about 40 min we turned around and went out onto the ice away from the shoreline. We went fast with like 60 km/h, it was fun! Way out Denis found me a small spot of clear ice without snow.
I do not want to know what he thought of the crazy tourist kneeling down fascinated and staring through the black ice. 800 m deep was the lake on this spot, he wrote into the snow. Nothing to see though, only black ice …. It was not possible to see the thickness of the ice either, but it sure was thrilling to stare into the abyss.
Way to soon this 1 hr of fun was over and we had to return to base. The rest of the afternoon I walked along the village. There was the “center” at the end of the road on the northern end where there were some small shops, cafés and the fish market. I also wandered past the diving center again …. jeez, that was pulling me in …. No, too cold! I saw some funny vehicles on the ice as well. Siberians sure get hilaroius ideas!
I bought myself a beer and went back to my guesthouse. The view from my porch was nice and with- for Siberian standards – spring like -12°C in the afternoon and no wind here in the valley it was beautiful. However, sitting out on the porch in the sun was not a real option, it was too cold. But I had to take a photo!
Later on I went for another walk. Right in front of my part of the village they had cleared an ice rink in the shape of a heart. They had interesting ice sculptures around it. I love Baikal and Listvyanka and such. Walking around on the ice was nice and still I am totally fascinated being able to do that. I just cannot imagine the thickness of that ice.
For dinner I went to the Listvyanka Club, because it is close to my guesthouse and I get 10% discount. I had Sagudai of omul, which is some kind of fish ceviche. The raw fish is marinated in oil and vinegar. It was very good. I watched the sunset and went back to my guesthouse to reflect on the day.
I could not get that diving center out of my hear, though, and looked it up on the internet. I sent an e-mail asking, if I could get a dive in tomorrow afternoon. If I did not get an answer, at least I tried and would not regret it later….But what can I say … Bing … 10 min later I received an e-mail stating of course I could come the next day at 15:00 for a dive! Just show up at the dive center and bring warm clothes, towel and a happy mood … plus RUB 6000 in cash. OK! Here I go!
28.02.2018
Another exciting day was ahead of me. After breakfast I got picked up at 10:45 for a dog sledge adventure, that was part of my package with Monkeyshrine and another thing I had never done before. The drive was not long, the dog sledging place was just at the end of the valley near the forest. I had to wait a few minutes in the warm room which was decorated with many medals, cups and trophies from dog sledging competitions, while the dogs were prepared. Again I got the once over and it was decided I was dressed appropriately. I left the backpack but took the camera along for the ride. Here also only the woman spoke English and the guys did not. But there were no real instructions involved. Just follow the guide outside. and sit on the sledge.
The sledge was very simple but had a cushion. Anyway it was only going to be about 30 min for the 10 km circuit. The dogs were all kinds, unfortunately no huskies. But they were already very excited to run. And off we went. The guide stood behind me and led the dogs by voice signals. They ran fast. The track went through the forest and they obviously new the way.
But every now and then there were junctions were they had to be directed. At one point we were supposed to go right, but they wanted to go left. We had to stop and I had to stand on the break of the sledge while the guide pulled the unwilling dogs over to the right. Settled in my seat again we went off ….. but the dogs had their own head and wanted to go left again! I guess they wanted to run more than the short 10 km! They probably knew from now it would be going back home again and that seemed no option for them. I had to stand on the break again and the guide pulled the dogs over again. Mainly the lead dog did not want to listen. The others were all drawn back and force between listening to the master and following their lead dog. It was fun to watch, but the guide was not happy. Nevertheless he treated the dogs nicely, but with a strong hand. And eventually they got the hint of running the right way. From now they knew the way home.
It was funny to watch the dogs behave like horses. Some needed a poop or a wee and just did it while running. They just could not do it like horses, but tried to kind of do it like them. They lifted up the tail and tried to bend their legs a bit while still running. It looked hilarious, but I was happy there was no wind, because I was sitting rather close to the dogs!
Too soon this adventure was over as well. It was very cool as well! Afterwards I got dropped off in the “center” of the village and visited the souvenir and fish market. I had a good coffee in a small café, before I walked again over the ice back towards my guesthouse and had a short siesta.
Then it was time to make my way to the next great adventure – the dive center Dive Baikal! When I arrived there shortly before 15:00 they were already preparing the ice holes. Those had frozen over in the night before and had to be opened again. I walked into the warm house at the shore which was the office, changing and equipment room all in one. Tatjana was the only one that spoke enough English. Seemed to be a theme going on in Listvyanka – only the women of the businesses speak English, the men are stoic Russians. Andre, the boss, understood and new the commands in English. Sasha, the divemaster, did not speak much at all. They did not want to see my certification, which I always carry with me just in case. I had said in my e-mail I was an instructor, though. But as usually they asked the right questions to determine the level of experience and I did not lie telling them I had never done diving under the ice and had only been twice in a drysuit. I am a warm water diver after all. They said, no problem, with 4500+ dives (that is when I stopped counting) I would be fine.
Suiting up was a challenge. I had to strip down to my thermal underwear and then put on a fleece overall. Putting on the drysuit was the hardest, but I was not allowed to touch it. Andre just commanded – foot in here, foot here, stand up, arms up, arm in here, fingers like that …. Da da towarish! – Yes, yes, yes, I am doing it! Eventually I was all ready, hood on and gloves and all. I felt the weight belt was not heavy enough, because I am rather floaty – fat floats always on top of the soup, you know. So they changed the tank for a bigger, heavier one and also a bigger BCD. All things connected and prepared, I instinctively wanted to check my equipment, but was told off not too, because of the cold. On the arm of Andre I walked out over the snow and ice to the ice hole. Fins on. My little, cheap, fake underwater action cam I also always carry, I attached to my BCD and turned it on. I had set it to 5 m free focus and 3 serial shoots. I was going to have photos of this adventure, no matter what. If only a few would turn out, I would be happy.
I told Sasha he would have to hold my hand, but he said – Njet njet! No way! – Andre said I should jump into the water – In that cold? No! – Ok, he said, I take the shovel (which was there to clear the snow) and beat you in! – Haha, very funny! – OK, sit down on the ice edge! Yes, I can do that.
I did get attached to a rope which Andre was holding onto as surface cover. So no way was I getting lost in the depth of Lake Baikal!
Before I could think I was in the icy water. The drysuit did its job, it was not cold. Put your head in the water and breath – Yeah, no problem! I had not been in the water in 3 years, but it is like riding a bicycle. It was not even cold in the face, there is not much skin visible anyway with the hood and the mask on. Air temperature was -14°C, so it was colder outside than in the water, anyway. Sasha was already below and gestured to come down. OK, this is not so bad! It is not as dark as I imagined! Down I went. I did hold onto Sashas drysuit for the first few minutes. I am a chicken after all. Nevertheless, I was clicking the camera all the time! Soon enough I got used to being under the ice and let go of Sashas arm. We were in very shallow water, max. 5 m to start with, the main objective was to see the ice from below and it was awesome! The sun was shining through the snow on the ice and they had cleared more ice holes, so it was not dark. The air bubbles below the ice made interesting patters. I was awestruck by the beauty of the ice!
The bottom consisted of rocks and sand and some small water plants and there were some kind of shrimp. Those were spiny Brachyuropus, which are found at both shallow and deep depths. These conspicuous and common amphipods can reach a body length up to 7 cm and red-orange is its natural, living coloration. The “gigantism” of some Baikal amphipods, which has been compared to that seen in Antarctic amphipods, has been linked to the high level of dissolved oxygen in the lake. And I was playing with them!
I got the hang of the drysuit soon enough and put some air in it to keep warm. It was fantastic to be diving again. My kind of meditation! I was so proud of myself, I had decided to do this! It was awesome! After a while Sasha gestured to follow him out under the ice leveling off at about 10 m depth. The bottom dropped away below and it was dark there. That was nothing for me! Oh no! Just the thought of the lake depth dropping just off the shore to 800 m was enough to get me almost hyperventilating. I had to hold onto Sashas arm again and got into a meditative breathing pattern to calm down. Yes, I am OK I signaled, but please let’s get back toward shore where I can see the bottom! I could see him grinning at me and rolling his eyes! Argh.
As soon as I saw the bottom again I was fine and we followed the shoreline some more. Slowly I got cold hands. Sasha later said, the water temperature was +1°C. He had some fun under the ice as well, pumped air into his drysuit and turned upside down to walk under the ice showing off.
I could not get enough of this ice patters from below. Unfortunately, I did get cold after a while and it was time to get out. I did last 22 min and the max. depth was 11 m! It was magnificent! One of the highlights of this voyages, I would say! I dived under the ice of Lake Baikal! I cannot even find the right words to describe how spectacular it was!
Climbing out of the ice hole was easy, because they again took everything off me and then Andre just pulled me up. Sheesh, it was cold outside! Tatjana took me back to the warm house and the first thing I got was a hot herbal Samogon! She said – Ex it! Hop hop! No thinking! It is the best thing after an ice dive in Lake Baikal and a tradition! Now you passed the challenge! You did it! – YES! I did it! I dived under the ice of Lake Baikal! And it was fantastic!
All happy and changed back into my many layers of clothes I waved the Baikal divers good bye. I was so happy, I went to the next souvenir shop to do some shopping. I needed something special to remember Lake Baikal. What could be better than something out of charoite. Charoite is a rare silicate mineral, first described in 1978 and named for the Chara River. It has been reported only from the Sakha Republic, Siberia, Russia. Charoite is translucent lavender to purple in color with a pearly luster. It has an unusual swirling along with its intense color, which can lead many to believe at first that it is synthetic or enhanced artificially. Though reportedly discovered in the 1940s, it was not known to most of the world until its description in 1978. It is said to be opaque and unattractive when found in the field; a fact that may have contributed to its late recognition. I desided on a ring for me and a pendant for Mom.
For an early dinner I went to Proshly Vek Restaurant which came highly recommended for its ambience, fish menu and Baikal views. I did not get disappointed. I got a nice table in the upstairs section of the wooden house by the window.
I ordered a Siberian specialty – Stroganina of omul – a dish of the indigenous people of northern Siberia consisting of raw, thin sliced frozen fish. Around Lake Baikal, the dish is referred to as raskolokta. Traditional stroganina is made with freshwater whitefish found in the Siberian Arctic waters such as nelma, muksun, chir, and omul. This dish is popular with native Siberians. In order to keep the slices frozen as long as possible, the stroganina is served on non-metallic frozen plates or in ice-cold bowls with salt and black pepper powder. It is usually eaten with the hands while still frozen. It was very special and I did it eat it while reflecting on ice diving! For main course I had muksun white fish in aluminum foil, which was also very very good!
Later I walked one last time over the ice to the ice sculptures. The sunset and the rising full moon were beautiful today and truly a stunning finish of a very fantastic day at Lake Baikal! One I will probably never forget!
Tomorrow I am off to Irkutsk!
