22 - 8. SUNDAY AT THE BAIKAL-LAKE

Jack, the young owner of the back-packer hostel Baikaler invited me, Hjalte, Claus and Karen Elise to Listvyanka, the old village by the lake, now turning into a holiday-spot. He showed us around the two roomy ecological log-cabins he was building with solar heating and power generation. The Baikal lake was blue as the sky and big as an ocean. A lot of Sunday-relaxing Russians had taken their cars the 60 kms down to the lake from Irkutsk. Karen Elise and I took a dip in the clear icy water. Later we bought warm smoked Omul fish and cold beer, enjoying it greatly by the beach. In the evening we catched a bus back to Irkutsk, our heads full of sunshine and beauty.

Nina