October 1, 2001 – Lake Baikal

We took a day trip to Lake Baikal, a lake that contains one-fifth of the fresh water in the world. It has many unique species of fish and plant life, including the only known species of fresh-water seals. We visited the Limnological Museum and were shown a short video about the lake and its inhabitants.

Our next stop was Listvyanka village, to visit the church. We stopped at an old woman's house to see some of the local handicrafts and souvenirs for sale there. Before returning to our hotel, we stopped at a fascinating seaside market and saw smoked omul (a Lake Baikal fish) and pine cones sold for nuts.

Then we headed back to our hotel.