Lake Baikal - frozen lake expedition

I did the Trans Siberian train journey from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia to Moscow in May 2018. (link to my blog --> https://www.gopsview.com/post/trans-siberian-may-18). The train journey was for 9 days, out of which almost for about 6 days Lake Baikal was following the train !!. I know how cold Siberia can become in winter. I was talking to one of the crew member in the train to check if the train operates in winter. She went on non-stop talking about the beauty of Siberia in winter. I then made up my mind to do the train journey once again in winter.

When Venky from Nomadic Road came out with a trip to Lake Baikal in winter I was excited. And when I came to know it was a self-driving expedition on the frozen Lake Baikal, my jaw dropped and was super excited. An opportunity never to be missed.

Travel Date : 22nd Feb ‘22 to 03rd Mar ‘22

Company : Nomadic Road led by Venky

Lake Baikal is a rift lake located in Russia and situated in southern Siberia between the federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and Buryatia to the southeast. With 23,615.39 KM3 (5,670 cu mi) of water, Lake Baikal is the world's largest freshwater lake by volume, containing 22–23% of the world's fresh surface water more than all of the North American Great Lakes combined. It is the world's deepest lake with a maximum depth of 1,642 m (5,387 ft), and the world's oldest lake at 25–30 million years. At 31,722 KM2 (12,248 sq mi) slightly larger than Belgium, it is the world's seventh largest lake by surface area and is among the world's clearest lakes. The lake is surrounded by mountains - the Baikal Mountains on the north shore, the Barguzin Range on the north-eastern shore and the Primorsky Range stretching along the western shore. The mountains and the Taiga are protected as a national park. It contains 27 islands; the largest, Olkhon, is 72 km (45 mi) long and is the third-largest lake-bound island in the world. The lake is fed by as many as 330 in flowing rivers. The main ones draining directly into Baikal are the Selenga, the Barguzin, the Upper Angara, the Turka and the Snezhnava. It is drained through a single outlet, the Angara.

Source : Wikipedia

This trip was an expedition trip and not my usual photography trip but I seized the limited opportunity to get a few images wherever and whenever possible. Since I was going all the way to Russia, I decided to extend my trip by 7 days to visit St. Petersburg and Moscow. Both these places have their own beauty. However, in this blog I will cover only the Baikal trip, though I have a link in this blog for a few images taken in St. Petersburg and Moscow.

The trip started from Irkutsk. Irkutsk is the 25th largest city in Russia by population and 5th largest in the Siberian Federal district and one of the largest cities in Siberia (Source : Wikipedia). I flew S7 Airlines (Siberian Airline) from Moscow and the flying time was 6 hours. Yes it was a very long flight and one can imagine the size of Russia. S7 was an amazing airline with outstanding service. A word of caution – Russia has many airports. So one has to be careful while choosing the airline depending on the flight connection.

22nd - We were dropped by the local team at The Legend of Baikal hotel at Listvyanka. It’s a beautiful hotel situated on the banks of Lake Baikal and with gorgeous view. It was a relaxing day. I retired for the day imagining the next day - a long day, crossing the lake on snow mobiles.

23rd - At the start point we were given the required dress – pant, jacket, gloves and helmet. At -10 degree Celsius, we needed all sort of protection. I opted to ride a snow mobile on my own instead of a pillion rider. I was excited and at the same time very anxious as I haven’t even touched a snow mobile in my life. Listened to the instructions, picked up courage and started riding. The initial path to cross until the lake was soft snow and then the lake is of hard snow. After a few meters I realised it is beyond my capacity to ride this machine. It definitely requires practice and skill and unfortunately I had to give up. But this was a blessing in disguise. I was put behind the lead person who is a local guy. The total ride time was about 5 hours and being a pillion rider, I thoroughly enjoyed the ride – miles and miles of frozen lake, ice formation, snow filled pine trees and narrow winding paths between trees .

That night the stay was in a mountain hut. Local team – Dasha, Sasha and Arthur took care of us so well and we thoroughly enjoyed the stay here. Next day we were driven by a local person in a carriage attached to a snow mobile. The ride was down the hill and the person was riding like a Formula One race. It was truly scary but adventurous.

24th - We picked our cars, Toyota Land Cruiser at Mamay. After thorough inspection of the cars we started the drive. This was our first day of driving in Russia. The night stay was at Reston Hotel and Spa, Ulan Ude. After a very nice sauna and dinner, I retired for the day. I know Lake Baikal is waiting for us !!

25th – We started our drive towards Ust Barguzin, driving through Barguzin Valley. At a particular point, to our surprise, we were asked to exit the main road and get into the lake. This was our first day of driving on the lake. Driving on the ice is led by the Ice captain. I believe there is a group of people who take the role of Ice captains. They are the ones who decide the road on the ice for anyone to drive. After getting the instructions – no seat belt, windows down a bit, maintain safe distance, never park near another car, always follow the Ice captain – we embarked on the drive on the frozen lake.

The drive wasn’t long, probably about 35 KMS. But this gave us an orientation and prepare us for the big one. The next two nights stay was at Baikal Guest house, an accommodation built by a local fisherman family. The hospitality extended by the family was unbeatable. The sauna was an attraction here. My sauna loop - 15 minutes in the sauna, come out and stand in the open ( -15 degree Celsius), cool down the body and sauna again. Did multiple loops. This was an experience one would die for. The dinner was cooked by the local family and was a gourmet dinner and with house Vodka.

Baikal Guest House

26th – Driving around Ust Barguzin. The dinner was cooked by the Nomadic team – a mix of Indian, Turkish and Azerbaijan cuisine.

27th – The drive was from Ust Barguzin to Kotelnikovsky. We drove about 230 KMS to reach this place. In winter this place can be reached only by crossing the frozen lake and in summer by boat. There is no land access to this place. The stay was at Kotelnikovsky Hot Spring Resort and was for two nights. As the name suggests, the hotel had an open natural hot water spring pool. From the room I had to walk about 30 meters in -15 degree Celsius to reach the pool. But once inside the pool, it was a bliss.

28th – We drove towards the northern most part of the lake. As the hotel was on the lake, we were on the lake in just about 10 minutes. We drove for about 50 KMS before we hit the tarmac road. The weather was beautiful, sunny and bright. We started our return at around 2 PM and the weather started changing. It started snowing and the visibility was getting reduced. We reached the entry point to the lake at around 330 PM. We need to drive another 50 KMS to reach the hotel. The weather became worse – snowing heavily and zero visibility. We had no choice but to drive. With head lights on and maintaining the safety distance between cars, we just blindly followed the track of the Ice captain. At one point we saw a dim light of the hotel and it was a sigh of relief to all. 50 KMS drive was challenging, scary, adventurous and of course an unforgettable one.

Driving on frozen Lake Baikal..

PC - Paul / Nomadic Road

1st – We drove from Kotelnikovsky to Olkhon Island, most of the driving was on the lake. The stay was in a Yurt, a round tent and there were two tents with 3 beds in each besides the dining tent. These are not permanent structure and they keep moving depending on the behaviour of the lake. The tent is warmed up by burning wood in a fire place inside the tent. They had also set up a sauna, a cold dip pool in the lake and an open to sky hot water pool in a wooden structure. That night the temperature was probably -20 degree Celsius. Even in this temperature I enjoyed the sauna and the hot water pool. I certainly did not have the courage to take a dip in the cold pool in the lake. But the night was a sleepless night. In spite of the fire place and sleeping bags, the cold inside the tent was unbearable. But this didn’t bother me as I know that I will be back to civilisation the next day.

Yurt with Sauna and hot water dip pool. PC - Paul / Nomadic Road

2nd – Our last day of driving. We drove probably about 100 KMS on the lake before we hit the tarmac road. It was a very long drive and finally we reached our hotel in Irkustk.

Driving on normal tarmac roads ...

Ice formations seen during our drive ...

Glimpse of the places where we stayed ...

Isn't Russia and Vodka synonymous? How can one pass the test without indulging in Russian Vodka ? But indulging in Vodka on the Lake Baikal, was a totally different experience.

Vodka Vodka Vodka ...

With so many days of serious driving there has to be some fun too. During my Dubai life, I have gone in many desert dune drives. And I always used to wonder the skill the drivers should have to drive on the desert. When Venky offered the opportunity to let loose and drive on the lake, I grabbed the opportunity. Guess I also possess some skill !!!

Drifting on the ice. PC - Paul / Nomadic Road

VC : Murthy J

Driving Statistics :

Out of the total distance of 1852 KMS, about 900 KMS of driving was on the frozen lake. Thanks to Cem OZENC for providing the data.

No doubt the entire experience was awesome and once in a life time experience. The local team understood us very well and was totally supportive right from the beginning. Everything was so meticulously planned keeping in mind the experience one should cherish always. Kudos to Nomadic road for such a wonderful expedition.

PC - Paul / Nomadic Road

Images Lake Baikal --> https://russia-make-baikal.gopsview.com/

Images St Patersburg --> https://russia-st-petersbur.gopsview.com/

Images Moscow --> https://russia-moscow-feb.gopsview.com/