Picked up at 09:00 our guide yesterday introduced us to his friend who took us on the trip North, we picked up 4 Chinese people and off we went the tracks were in a bad condition big ruts going up and down hill. We were bounced around in the back of the van and the 2 girls behind me ended up on the floor a couple of times. The driver could have been a bit more considerate but he wanted to do this trip as quick as possible with the usual stops. There were times he could have stopped and let us take pictures of the wild horses and the cattle or even the condition of the tracks. Basically he was an arse hole and should not be taking tourists around the island.
There was forested areas unlike yesterday and warmer hence more snow than in town. Can see how the lake has started to ice over, hard to believe a lake this big will be iced over in February. Belgium would fit into the size of the lake and it is 1642 m deep and the purest water in the world. It is the oldest lake in the world 35 million years. 544 watercourses flow into Lake Baikal and only 1 river flows from it Angara. It has the worlds thickest sediment (silt) 8500 m and is 456 m above sea level. If everyone on the planet used 500 liters of water a day the available capacity of Lake Baikal would last for 40 years.
Staying at Khuzir and touring the island has been one of the highlights here in Russia and I would highly recommend to anyone to come a visit it.
Maurice's Travel 