Baikal

An old fisherman paddled his wooden row boat towards us, and after exchanging greetings, he waving us eagerly towards shore. He beached his boat, and walked up to a shack, returning with a heap of delicious smoked fish. On his write hand was a tattoo of a lighthouse; his face wrinkled from spending too much time under the sun. Before we left he looked each of us in the eye, and through very animated sign language he warmed us of Baikal`s often violent storms. Never stray far from shore.

Indeed his warning was not to be taken lightly; Baikal is 636km long and 60 km wide. When the winds pick up the swell grows to several meters in height. Nestled in southern Siberia, Baikal contains more water than all five great lakes combined, almost 20% of the worlds unfrozen fresh water. At its deepest point, the lake reaches 1637 meters, earning Baikal the prestigious title as the worlds deepest lake.

After eating the fish we headed back into the mist, hugging the eastern coast. To our right, the lake seemed to continue endlessly, to our left small row boats were scattered along the rocky beach. The surroundings were so similar to an ocean that I almost expected the water to be salty.

Last night a rain storm passed overhead, heaving up white caps on the immense body of water. By morning the conditions had improved but the waves were still present, so we have taken the morning off waiting for the waves to subside.

By Sarah McNair-Landry