Kingdom of ice. Part I

Lake Baikal is known as the oldest and deepest lake on Earth, containing 20 percent of all fresh water reserves. The water in the lake is so transparent that individual stones and various objects can be seen at a depth of up to 40 meters. In winter, this place turns into a kingdom of ice of various textures and shades from milk-white to emerald.

The journey began with a 6 hour flight from Moscow. At landing in Irkutsk the commander of the crew delighted the passengers with the good weather forecast – sunshine and only -31С degrees. The end point of the trip – the Olkhon island, it was still more than 300 km. On the way, the thermometer readings varied between -30C to -45C degrees. For the end of January is a perfectly normal temperature. During the year there are more than 300 sunny days. Olkhon is the largest island on the lake, on which there are several villages with a total population of slightly less than 2 thousand people. Communication with the mainland in the summer only by ferry, in winter with the onset of severe frosts the road is open across ice. In the offseason, the only transport is the hovercraft. The island is part of the Pribaikalsky National park, so industrial fishing is prohibited here. In the summer there is many tourists not only from Russia but also from other countries. Recent years, more and more tourists are coming in winter.