Day 16 February 28th 2017
After wending our way to a ballroom sized breakfast room – larger than our previous ballroom breakfast in Kathmandu XXX – we left with Tuman for Lake Baikal the largest freshwater lake in the world and excitedly for us – frozen!
About a 3 hour drive with a short stop for tea and home made biscuits at a lookout. First to the place we were staying – a Dacha in the midst of many other holiday homes close by the lake. Quickly settled and layered up we headed off for a spot of ice fishing!
We are then picked up by Mischa who takes us across a lake in his four-wheel drive to meet Alexander who has a snowmobile for transport on the frozen lake -Mischa takes me for a drive and then allows Chris to take it for a spin- an exhilerating feeling to be scooting across a great expanse of ice and nothing!
On to a small hut of blue tarp material on the lake. Inside Mischa drills a hole then scrapes out 3 other holes providing us with the cutest tiniest rods I have experienced. There began a few lovely but cold hours of ice fishing. One hole was unproductive and created laughs across language in the beginning as Chris watched the rest of us hauling up – well not quite, more like flicking up – streams of tiny fish.
When we were thoroughly frozen but with enough fish for a meal or 2 we drove back and in the last of the sun drove along Lake Baikal to view the various formations formed as the Lake froze. Large formations as waves froze layer upon layer over rock. Large thick ice shards standing out of the Lake like plates of glass.
At the end of the day a Banya – Russian sauna a warm 800C
Dinner was a simple fish soup cooked by Tuman of the fish caught today with potatoes, onions. Accompanied by black bread, pickles and smoked meat fat.
