Lake Baikal – four great days on Olkhon Island

On Tuesday morning I got up quite early and travelled to Olkhon Island at Lake Baikal. After a six hour ride with a minibus and a short ride with a ferry, we arrived in Kruzhir, the main village on the island. The busdriver was driving like a maniac although streets were not always in the best condition. This was also one of the reason, why an older bavarian man was complaining all time long. When I told him that I‘m from Salzburg, I was supposed to be his new friend, but yeah… this was not the biggest pleasure for me. As he was staying in the same hostel, he should tell me later that he has been to Thailand as a sex tourist some 40 years ago,…. different story.
The first time I have seen Lake Baikal it reminded me of the adriatic sea in Croatia. The water was darkblue and very clear. Also the beaches could have been anywhere else. So, there‘s just one word for this – amazing. Around 5pm we arrived at Nikita‘s homestay which should be my hostel for the next four days. One hour later I found myself already making a boattour along the shore together with my scottish room mate and 2 guys from southern england. The next day, as well as my last day on the island two days later, I took it quite easy and spent most of the time reading a book on the beach. On the third day, we made a tour to the north cape of the island, visited some villages and got some nice views of this sea-like lake. For lunch our driver cooked a fishsoup over open fire for us. The fish was the Omul, a salmon like fish, which lives only in Lake Baikal. Evenings were always quite the same, but not boring at all. Drinking some beers and talking to other people.

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