Olkhon Island

I spent a few days on Olkon Island, a half days trip out of Irkutsk at what was clearly a popular Russian holiday destination. The large island is situated in the middle of the world’s largest freshwater lake, Lake Baikal. While in winter it freezes over into a true Siberian wasteland, in summer it was more comparable to a sleepy seaside town, admittedly without the salt.

To get there I opted for the high speed boat instead of a bus as it meant I got an extra afternoon to spend on the Island the day I arrived. The final stretch from the port to Nikita’s Homestead was in an unregistered taxi that I shared with an ex Kazakhstani Army Officer and his wife, we were all heading the same way and after forty minutes of potholes and broken English we arrived at the main village.

Nikita’s is a charming collection of traditional wooden houses perched just near Shaman Rock and some of the main beaches. Whilst they seemed to mainly cater to families with young children there were plenty of backpackers there and the rooms were comfortable (even if you had to pay for the wifi).

Much to my surprise the beaches were gorgeous: crystal clear blue-green water and a mixture of fine pebbles and golden sand. As the main beach was packed I risked a climb down on of the tiny paths in the cliff face to get to a more secluded spot and happily spend my afternoon swimming, sunbathing and reading on what felt like a private beach, it was the perfect way to unwind after all that time on the train.

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Swimming in Siberia #lakebaikal #olkhonisland #Siberia #transsiberean #backpacking #Russia

A post shared by Lucy (@1ucy) on Jul 24, 2015 at 4:23am PDT

The next day I made the trip up to Cape Kahboy, the northernmost point of the island. Unfortunately due to lightning fires we weren’t able to go on land but the view from the boat was spectacular and the guide Svetlana was both knowledgeable and an excellent cook.

We had our lunch of fresh fish soup made from the Omul that the lake was famous for whilst cruising back and I ended the day with another swim, this time heading further out to manage something a bit closer to laps. For all that it felt a lot like the ocean getting out of the water and not having to rinse off the salty residue made for a lovely change.

Eventually I had to head back to Irkutsk to get my train on to Yekaterinburg but it was fantastic to be able to go swimming in open water again, something I haven’t been able to indulge in since over the Christmas holidays back home.

Also, I apologise for the lack of pictures, the island was very photogenic but my memory card had a small tantrum and wiped most of them, I recovered what I could but I’m still missing a lot of the good ones, I’m now being extra careful about backing my pictures up!

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