Today, we will have a guide take us hiking through the Siberian forests. Admittedly I’m not the fittest person, although I’ve gone hiking a few times in Hong Kong and Japan, nothing had prepared me for what I am about to face today.
Starting the day off with a good hearty breakfast at homestay. Love the cheese here, I clear it out every time, lol.
Aaaaand we’ve started the hike. And I’ve already fallen behind. 😑
Up the hill and through the Siberian forest.
View from the top: endless Lake Baikal as big as the sea.
Our guide Sasha (dude) likes to “create his own trails”, ie. he’ll just walk right through the bushes without any paths. 😑 Being a city girl, I have only ever went hiking through places with trails, walking literally through the untamed bushes was so much more difficult. Every step I took was 10 times more tiring than a normal step if I had been walking on a trail, I had to feel for sure footing and watch out for sticks in my face and branches that I might trip on. I feel like I was in an episode of Survivor or something. Maybe I’ll have to start drinking my own pee like Bear Grylls soon.
There were these curious little butterflies(?) that flock these vivid magenta flowers.
Ugh, still beating through the bushes. SOMEONE PLEASE KILL ME. In this entire trip I have NOT ONCE even thought of quitting something midway, until now.
Oh god, finally a path to walk on!!! Really, we all take paths for granted.
Finally, we have cleared the woods! W00t~~~!
Boat speeding through Lake Baikal.
Finally settled on a beach where our guide Sasha started making us lunch. He told us heaps about the mountains in the area and a bit about life in Russia during the Soviet times. He’s a real hiking enthusiast, I wished I could share his passion. I go hiking to reach an incredible destination (with a breathtaking view like a vantage point on a mountain or something) that could not be reached otherwise. He’s the type of guy that just goes hiking for the sake of hiking and being in the bush surrounded by nature, regardless of the destination.
Anyway, here’s our picnic lunch on the beach of Lake Baikal.
Like Dover Beach, the beach of Lake Baikal here is just pebbles. 😑
DO YOU KNOW HOW RELIEVED I was when I heard the village is actually just 15mins walk away from here and we didn’t need to backtrack through the way we came!? Turns out we just went in a big circle in the woods.
More ribbons tied for good luck.
Hahaha, Russian Pirates of the Caribbean.
There were quite a few places that sell these smoke omuls.
We arrived back at the village shortly and after Sasha left us, we visited this market. There was a dude cuddling a small crocodile and a guy with a monkey om his shoulder walking through the market in case anyone wants to take pictures (for a fee), it was so bizarre when the crocodile dude passed the monkey dude. 😂😂😂
I don’t even know what this is, like dried fish. Reminds me of the dried fish we get in Hong Kong.
Cute li’l shop keeper. 😍
Mining is one of the main industries here so there are many jewels and geodes being sold at the local market.
Because it was the weekend when we arrived at Listvyanka, the village was actually flooded with tourists from nearby cities (probably Irkutsk) for their weekend getaway. Anyway, here’s a guy in a bubble.
The ugliest hotel I have seen in a while, lol.
Charoite is a rare purple mineral, the only deposit in the world is found in East Central Siberia and is a popular souvenir here. Apparently its mining has stopped due to the limited sources available.
Stocking up for train trip tomorrow. Btw, wanna know how to hit on a Russia chick? Get one of these cans of coke (with that exact wording!) and ask her what it says. 😂😂😂 Yes, that says “I love you” in Russian, which I found out after asking the girl at the counter and she had to say “I love you” to me. Sorry, didn’t mean to tease her like that… and I don’t swing that way unfortunately. 😑
I always see this dog sleeping whenever I walk through the streets to where my homestay is!
Took a bit of a leisurely walk along Lake Baikal after that traumatic hike.
For some reason there is no “good” way to go down to the lakeside. This was the best way although the steps are like 30cm high with no railing to grab hold of. 😑
People treating this as a beach yet no one actually swims in the lake.
According to legend, if you dip your hands into the lake you get 1 year extra life, 2 years if you dip your feet, 5 years if you dunk your head and 25 years if you submerge yourself entirely, or be killed immediately.
There’s Maria braving the lake, 25 years to Maria! *25 points to Gryffindor! tone*
I don’t really wanna live that long, so I’ll just do with 3 years by dipping my hands and feet. 😂
I know why they said you might die immediately, because the water is FREEZING COLD!!! 😱❄ I couldn’t even stand having mt feet inside for more than 1 minute!!! It was like my feet were gonna freeze right off! 💀
On our way back to the homestay, we bumped into these two Russian old dudes who I recognise from the homestay, actually I don’t know exactly who they are but maybe they are the homestay lady’s husband/relative. Anyway, one of them got out of the car to shake hands with us and spoke to us in Russian which we had no idea what was happening. Anyway, we shook his had which had one finger. So after walking through a market with a guy with a monkey on his shoulder and a guy cuddling a crocodile, I shook hands with a guy with one finger, what a day. 😂😂😂
Siberian dumplings for dinner. Tastes like Chinese dumplings except I don’t know what meat is inside, like lamb or something. Oh and you put sour cream on it.
I bought a set of hand painted matryoshka dolls! They are so beautiful! 😍 I hope freaking Australian customs will let this through. 😒
Some of the stuff I bought, a mini matryoshka, a Soviet coin and a charoite pendant.
Oh and this Vladimir Putin magnet where he’s putting on sunglasses. 😂😂😂 Deal with it! 😎
Around ½ of The World in 80 Days 