We made it to Lake Baikal, or as they call it here the ‘sea’ (or ocean on stormy days).  It’s huge, but there are reminders of Lake Champlain.  The small hills at the southern end, reminded us of Vermont in autumn.  We’ve come at the perfect peak time for foliage, the golden yellow birch trees mixing with the deep green pine.
A small village on our way to Ulan Ude.
One of our train companions was this little dog, catching a cool breeze.
The almost full moon rises outside Irkurtsk.
Sunset from the train.
One of the many stops, this one for 20 or so minutes.
The dining car.  A nice change of pace from our little cabin.
The hills turn to mountains as we near Ulan Ude.
Autumn in Siberia.
We totally lucked out with meeting Sergey, a great guy from Ulan Ude who has become a great friend over our time here.  He’s showing us photos of his wife and son, as well as the many car related projects he’s into.
Toliet on the train.  Yes, those are treads for those who dare perch on the edge.  Rememeber, it feels like a constant 4.0 on the richter scale.  Not for the faint of heart.  The bathroom did provide for a great shooting spot though, as it had a window that opened onto the side with the better view.
Out our cabin window.
Breathtaking.
Train number.
Our first sighting of Lake Baikal.  Shot from out the bathroom window.
Lake Baikal.  Huge and deep.  It holds about 20% of the world’s surface fresh water.
A small river near the lake.
Adam found a nice seat.
The beach near Goryachinsk.
A house in Goryachinsk.  Classic rural Russian style.
Ahh the outhouse.  Country living at it’s best?  Dangerously large and deep, the ever present wind really whipped through here at night.
Our little cabin.  Thanks to Tatyana and Nicholas.
The central wood fired stove kept us warm helped to dry our clothes
The freezing hand washing station.
Billboard.  Note: You do not need a coke to cool down here.  It’s cold.
Sergey and Vallera taking us up north towards Ust-Barguzan in his ‘matte black’ Mitsubishi SUV.  The roads aren’t the worst I’ve been on (Cambodia definitiely holds that prize), but they’re pretty bad.
An excited old woman and Adam share some time in an old boat.
Going up to a Buryatia temple.
Prayer flags covered every surface.  Crazy.
A forest of prayer flags.
Cairns built to represent the people in your family.
If you ever wondered where all the offerings go.
The high mountains on the edge of the lake.
And then there was fishing.
Three casts in, Sergey got his pike.
The ‘matte black’.
I think they exceeded the 10t limit.
Stalls with vendors selling snacks for the road
On the ferry across a river.
Adam standing by the river
Fall foliage was everywhere.
Russian Lada.
The dumpling house.  Yum.
Vallera playing with a local dog.
The dumplings.  Both Adam and I could live (and basically have been) on these things.  Meaty and delicious.
Many thanks to everyone who made our stay in Ulan Ude and Lake Baikal possible.  Elena, Sergey, Tatyiana, Nicholas.  You’ve made us feel at home.
We’re about to get back on the train for another 52hr stretch to Khabarovsk.  Will try to get something posted again soon.  Maybe in Vladivostok.
All of these photos and more are available for digital stock photography, prints or mounted at my Photostore
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David Seaver David Seaver is a Vermont based professional photographer.