Day 15-16: Lake Baikal, Russia
Day One: Olkhon Island and Shaman’s Rock
View over Khuzir Bay, Lake Baikal |
First views of Olkhon Island |
Shaman Rock |
Shaman Rock and the sunset |
Day Two: The Cape and a Campfire
The cape of Olkhon Island |
Our mean machine |
Our first stop was on a cliff overlooking a little hamlet along with some sweeping beaches. It seems like the cows on the island are amazingly nimble, as there were several standing on the cliff face or on nearby ridges in much the same way as you would see mountain goats. We spent 20 minutes snapping photos before piling back into the minibus to get our diesel-high on and continue north. Our second stop was at a beach with a few huts beside it. Two of these huts had been knocked down, with only bits of timber and masonry remaining to show where they had been. There also seemed to be the remains of a dock on the beach, which had also been knocked down. Our guide, who spoke only Russian (there were some French people who could speak Russian, but no English, so I gathered what was being said in French), told us that these derelict buildings are the remains of a Gulag. We couldn’t quite believe it at first - set as the huts were on a beautiful sandy beach, but actually it made a lot of sense. The winter here is extremely harsh and there would be no escaping from the island. We hadn’t seen any Gulags, so it was interesting to see one in such a unique location.
The cliffs of Olkhon Island |
Tethered horses at the weather station |
Campfire on the cliffs |
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