Getting to Lake Baikal took 4 nights and 3 days on the train, but it was worth it. The Lake is the the largest freshwater lake on earth. It's 623 km long and 25-80 km wide and 1.6 km deep in the middle. The only bigger still body of water is the Caspian Sea. There are snow capped mountains on the far side and trees changing to fall colors on the near side. We thought it would be cold, being Siberia, but it wasn't bad. We went for a boat ride, and hiked up to a viewpoint the first day. The second day we had a picnic dinner on the beach, saw a Baikal seal, the only type of freshwater seal, and went to a sauna 5 feet from the water so we could jump in between sessions. The water was cold, but not frigid. It was quite refreshing...for about 15-20 seconds. It was wonderful to be in the country after the train and the city and we took advantage of the good weather.
Life on the train was actually really fun, especially the first day or two. We would stay up late talking, playing cards and drinking a little vodka with our new friends, 2 vets from France and a slightly scary group of Russian teens....until our cute carriage attendant lady would come and put her folded hands next to her head to signal time for bed. The Aussies didn't like to be told it was time for bed so we'd stay up a little more and then sleep until noon or later. The train stayed on Moscow time so by the third day we were really 5 hours ahead of that which made it tricky to get up at 9 to get off the train. We had a blast playing a pre-made card game called backpacker, playing Chinese poker and making our noodles and dried mashed potatoes. One night we had a birthday party for the youngest member of our group who turned 22. Along the way we bought pastries filled with potatoes and cabbage, fruit and beer from the grandmas at the stations while trying not to miss the train at the 20 minute stops. The rocking made me sleep well and we didn't go too stir crazy until the last day.
Tonight we leave for two nights to go to Ulan Batar in Mongolia. It will seem short after last time. The border crossing may take 12 hours or more though. We'll see. My group is a ton of fun. There is a British nurse-guy John who is hilarious. He keeps us laughing all day and takes care of medical problems for us. There are two sisters my age from Amsterdam who I am good friends with and I'll go visit sometime. They want to come to CA too. There are two nice english couples, three Aussies who are always ready to have a party or do an Aussie impression. "That's not a knife...this is a knife, etc:)" I'll miss them at the end of the tour. Hi to everyone. I miss you all. Write sometime so I don't have an empty mailbox.
