Saturday, August 28, 2004
Siberia's Baikal Lake gets a tourist railroad
Agence France-Presse Irkutsk, August 28
Siberia's spectacular Lake Baikal, the deepest freshwater lake on the planet and an ecological wonder of the world, now has its own lakeside railroad to take tourists into its wilderness.
A train service first inaugurated 100 years ago and neglected for the last half-century has resumed its leisurely way up and down part of the western shore.
The Trans-Siberian branch-line, closed down by the Soviets in 1954, has come back to life in a post-communist Russia more and more alive to the possibilities of tourism in this once no-go area.
The train is no high-speed express. It moves at an easy pace twice a week in summer from Irkutsk at the south end of the lake up to Port Baikal, returning the next day, dropping off passengers wherever they want. The mood is festive and the atmosphere relaxed during the 200-kilometre expedition.
Lake Baikal, a UNESCO heritage site, is 636 kilometres long and about 80 kilometres wide. The overall length of its coastline is about 2,100 kilometres.
At nearly a mile deep, it holds 20 per cent of the earth's fresh water. The Krugobaikalskaya Railway, a miracle of engineering with its bridges and tunnels hewn out of the cliffs, was constructed by Russian and Italian workers in tsarist times. It now operates between June and October with stops en route for passengers to enjoy the spectacle of surrounding mountains or bathe in picturesque bays.
Soon after leaving Irkutsk, the last, vestigial traces of mankind in the form of farmsteads or wooden churches rapidly give way to unharnessed nature.
Located not far north of Mongolia and surrounded by mountains, forests and wild rivers, Lake Baikal contains more endemic species of plants and animals than any other lake in the world, including 50 fish species.
The train moves through a splendour of forest and lake, with colours changing from moment to moment, from dawn to dusk.
"It hardly ever rains in this region," said Chief Conductor Alexander Osipov, promising an open coach on the train one day.
The figure of a lonely fisherman occasionally punctuates the stillness of the lake. Now and then you spot tourists with tents set up by the lakeside cooking a meal on open fire.
Any traveller can follow their example. They just have to ask the Chief Conductor and the brakes are applied, out they step -- to be picked four days later.
A ticket on the Krugobaikalskaya train costs between seven and 30 dollars. (5.80-25 euros). In the upper-bracket business class, a hostess is on hand serving all you can eat and drink.
The standard restaurant car has a lot be modest about, with only a little bar, four seating places and a humble selection of rolls, chocolates and drinks.
Whether first, second, or third class, Russian passengers are plentifully stocked with beer, Baikal smoked fish, and that great vademecum of the Russian rail traveller -- roast chicken.
Italian tourist Vitto Cavina, who speaks no Russian, started off a solitary traveller, but barely a few hours had passed before he was at the centre of a swarm of friendly Russian ladies linking arms with him for snapshots. "I always dreamed of travelling on the Trans-Siberian Express," said train buff Cavina.
"I think this country is wonderful -- so far there are no hotels or hordes of tourists."
Natives of the region such as writer Valentin Rasputin or librarian Yelena Kozhevnikova, both from Irkustk, make no secret of their emotions during this trip.
"Baikal is infinite and each encounter with it a sacred act," said Yelena, journeying with her husband and two children.
"We would not be able to bear our hard winters out here without Baikal in summer, without bathing in its waters, touching its cliffs and stones."
Many locals and also Japanese tourists perform a ritual at every stop -- wading into the ice-cold water up to their knees for several minutes, as one put it, "to get rid of bad energy and absorb good energy."
Baikal's water is also famed for its spiritual and medicinal qualities Unlike all other deep lakes where the lower depths are dead, asphyxiated by hydrogen sulphide and other gases, its deep waters are blanketed in fresh oxygen.
© HT Media Ltd. 2004.