Picture of the omul fish on the market
I will be arriving in Irkusk in three hours. I am so excited! It is one of the bigget cities in Siberia and has a population of 593,604 inhabitants. It will be very cold as Irtusk has a subartic climate. It is one of Siberia's oldest city, it was established in 1652. Once I get there, I i will try to find the Sibeiran log-cabin house I have reserved in Litsvianka (the closest village to the lake: 40km away form Irtusk) and take a bus to the lake, 20km from Litsvianka. The lake was so amazing and breathtaking. It was mostly frozen and some cars had actually crossed it. The lake is the 2nd most voluminous on earth; it contians one-fifth of the world's unfrozen (in warmer temprature as it is currently -32 °C) and could provide the entire wolrd with drinking water for 40 years. The square surface is of 31,722 km2. The lake is difficult to test without a wetsuit but it is known for giving swimmer's vertigo; you can float at the surface and see beyond 40m below. Lake Baikal has an average depth of 744 m (it contains roughly 20% of the world surface water). It is also the oldest lake on earth; 20 million years old. Baikal is home to more than 1,700 species of plants and animals, two thirds of which can be found nowhere else in the world. The word Baikal actually come from the word "Baï Kul" which means "rich lake". you could also see the Baikal mountians on the other side. Later on, after having taken many pictures of the lake, I headed back to Litsvianka and ate some delicious smoked Omul from the market. This white fish is from the same family of the salmon and their average size is of 37 cm! This fish is widely sold around the lake as well as Salmonid which i had for dinner. There, I took a very relaxing Siberian sauna and had dinner. During the sauna, it is a tradition to, in winter, cut a hole in the ice and jump in (crazy russians) or rub youself with snow (which I did!) I then walked around and watched the sun set over one of the highlights of my trip, Lake Baikal.
Here is picture of the Taiga I took once back on the Great Siberian way:
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