Lake Baikal, Siberia was my unexpected favourite of our trip. We visited in April after it had recently snowed, such a treat for an Australian who has rarely seen snow. It was exceptionally cold (around 2°c) so we waddled around all wrapped up.
There was something magical about the vast expanse of frozen lake and the small town that was almost deserted.
The colourful wooden houses with beautifully carved window frames peaked out of the snow and stacks of wood were on standby to heat them.
We played in the snow and walked through the cold to visit The Baikal Museum and had a guided tour from an
immaculate Russian woman who used a pointer to direct our attention to specimens in glass jars.
I explored a Russian graveyard where many seafaring folk and locals are
buried. The colours were amazing against the stark white snow.
Apparently the area is very animated in Summer but we were so lucky to spend this quiet time in this special place.
This artwork gives some indication of the size of Lake Baikal. I would have love to have seen it happening.
We watched the landscape change as we chugged away from Beijing through industrial to isolated towns and spectacular mountains. Before we knew it night was upon us but we couldn't sleep yet as we had to go through immigration and customs for both countries.
The process was relatively painless although they do lock the trains bathrooms while the officals are on the train for about five hours. While our passports were being processed to leave China the train with us on it was taken to a workshop where each carriage was separated and lifted up into the air for new wheels to be placed under the carriages. A very long, involved and interesting procedure which we watched with fascination.
Our visit to Tienanmen Square was complete with Chairman Mao's 5m high image watching over us.
