Baikalsee

10.07.2023 And finally I am at Lake Baikal. After about 8500 km across Russia, past birch forests and marshlands, along the Trans-Siberian Railway, with stops in cities and villages, by lakes and even under a bridge, with beautiful experiences and encounters: Lake Baikal. Foggy upon arrival, then blue on blue on blue with blue in the evening, rose-colored at sunset and icy cold. I cook flour dumplings with cucumber salad at Lake Baikal and wake up to the distant sound of the Trans-Siberian Railway.

In a kind of hut complex right by the lake. The Turbasa ('hostel') Ol Terra is aimed at families. We are supposed to pay when we leave (in a country where even at the gas station prepayment is required), and it is dog-friendly. The fact that the neighbor is probably an alcoholic, enters my room at night in her drunkenness and insults me, does not matter. The other guests and the hosts show solidarity with me, so even here I am not a hated German. A little paradise and I can't imagine what it would look like here if the tourism boom also takes hold here. What will it look like here in winter? The kitchen inventory is very shabby, so I prefer to use my own things to cook, even the gas cooker.

Later I will go to the lake, maybe for a sunset picture. In public, you are not allowed to drink alcohol in Russia....

Oh yes, the weather: sunny, with 28 to 30 degrees during the day cooler than in Germany at the moment (heatwave 37/38 degrees) and at night around 15 degrees, good for sleeping, cool for getting up.