The Coldest Place on Earth

As we stepped off the train we met Anna and Delphi who were standing with Tatyana our guide. It just so happens that the two English ladies we met on the train are with the same agency as us and have similar travel plans to ours. We will be spending the next few nights in a small village called Listvyanka, just outside of Irkutsk on the edge of lake Baikal. Tatyana escorted us to a van where we were driven towards our accommodation. As we drive out of the city she announces our itinerary for the day: breakfast will be waiting for us at the house (me and Ali will be spending the next 3 nights living with Olgar in her small house and Anna and Delphi with another Russian lady somewhere else in the village for 2 nights), Tatyana will then pick us up for a walking tour of Listvyanka via the church and a museum. A late lunch will be served at around 4:00pm followed by a sauna and then dinner and 7:00pm.

The icy views as we neared the frozen lake were breathtaking. It's much colder here but I guess that should be no surprise considering Siberia is the coldest place on earth. Russian scientists have estimated that the human body is not capable of noticing differences in temperature lower than -35 degrees C. The temperatures here can fall nearly 20 degrees lower than that which is why frostbite is fairly common and attacks people who have ventured out into -55 degrees not knowing how cold it actually was. Apparently your fingers or ears can snap off if accidentally hit (even lightly). Thankfully we wont be experiencing such temperatures but I'm pretty sure I will be needing my deerstalker style hat and gloves.

An hour later we arrived at the village which was a stones throw away from the lake. We were dropped off outside the house and introduced to Olgar our host. As promised she had breakfast waiting for us inside, so without hesitating we left our bags in the spacious guest room and sat down at the table. Olgar supplied us with ample amounts of excellent Indian tea as we tucked into breakfast which consisted of home made jam, bread, cheese and a large fried cakey-like-omelet. As I sat there I looked around at the interior of the log-timbered house which they call 'Izba' - the traditional and most common form of house in Siberia. A giant brick stove and chimney is situated in the center of the house which also acts as the main structural support for the roof. The solid-fuel stove is stoked from the kitchen but parts of it project into each room of the house acting as central heating. There is no running water so it has to be boiled first and then poured into the container above the sink. The water is dispensed in exactly the same way as on the train and once it has been used it is collected in a bucket below the sink hole. The bathroom is outside in a wooden shed which consists of a hole leading to a pile of hay. A small notice on the back of the wall reads "please no toilet paper here" with an arrow pointing towards the hole. Already I am faced with having to challenge several habits of a lifetime.

After breakfast we were taken to a church at the foot of the hills and then continued along Baikal to a museum which was dedicated to this incredible lake. Baikal is the deepest lake in the world and one of the largest. Of the 2630 species of living organisms in the lake, 75% are found nowhere else in the world. Scientists still puzzle and theorise about the details of the lake's formation, but it is clear that these species represent an ecosystem which has largely developed unconnected with the rest of the world's aquatic life. One-fifth of the world's fresh water lies in lake Baikal. It's also the oldest lake in the world at an age of 20 million years. This lake purifies and cleans itself which is one of the reasons why it is so clear. We watched a movie that showed 2x2m2 cubes of ice that were cut out of the frozen surface and it looked just like glass - you could see straight through it!
One unique type of fish apparently swims so far deep that it doesn't even have eyes because it wouldn't ever need them at that kind of depth. Another type of fish would explode if it was ever brought to the surface because of the pressure difference. I learnt so much fascinating stuff at this museum it was great.

Next on the itinerary was lunch followed by a nice hot banya (Siberian sauna) back at the Izba. Olgar prepared the sauna for us so that we could relax and bathe for as long as we wanted. The banya was yet another individual wooden building outside in the yard. I undressed in the changing room before entering the sauna which was heated by a large stove in the corner. Hot water could be obtained from the stove or cold water from the large vat that stood in the opposite corner. I filled the large metal bathing bowls and splashed away. The heat was great and very relaxing but I didn't appreciate nor understand the whole "bathing-whilst-sweating" idea.

Before we had time to think about what to do next, Olgar had cooked up yet another delicious feast. Our dinner rendered us so fatigued that we ended up going straight to bed. I got up in the middle of the night to take a trip to the bathroom and was stunned by the star filled sky. I didn't even know that many stars existed. It was such an amazing sight.