Olkhon Island, Lake Baikal, Russia

On the bus ride to Olkhon Island Friday (18 August) afternoon I met some other backpackers and we ended up splitting rooms once there. The guesthouse was full but they put us up in one of the villager’s homes, which is common practice there. The main town on Olkhon Island, Khuzhir, is nothing more than a village. Only dirt roads and no street lights or signs. Just a few cars and more cows. It was fantastic and beautiful. No plumbing though. The weather was perfect and the scenery was amazing. It was difficult to grasp how large Lake Baikal is (largest freshwater lake in the world, containing 20% of the world’s liquid fresh water, 1630 meters deep!).

It would take too long to write everything down so here it is in a nutshell:
Friday (18th) afternoon – hiked around the rocks on the shore of the lake. Perfect weather.
Friday night - a big group of us went out to the town bar. Met 2 Russian girls, Ira and Olya.
Saturday (19th) - spent the day on the beach. The water was freaking freezing. Perfect weather.
Saturday night – another big group went to the same bar. Up until sunrise.
Sunday (20th) – weather not as good but still spent the day on the beach.
Sunday night – did nothing. went to sleep early.
Monday (21st) – went on a minibus excursion to the north cape of the island. Fantastic trip. Perfect weather and scenery.
Monday night – pretty mellow, hung around campfire at the guesthouse. good times.
Tuesday (22nd) morning – took minibus back to Irkutsk.