Lake Baikal, Russia: photos, description, nature, rivers, fish * Sights

Lake Baikal is the largest freshwater body of water in the world. More than 23,000 km³ of clean water is stored in its depths for future generations, which is 4/5 of the Russian reserves of the most important liquid on the planet and 1/5 of the world's reserves. Its dimensions are amazing: the length from the southwest to the northeast is more than 700 km, the width is 25-80 km. Baikal is a unique vacation spot. There are many legends and songs about the reservoir. Hundreds of thousands of travelers from Russia and dozens of other countries of the world wish to visit it.

Where is Lake Baikal located?

It is located in the center of Asia, in the southern part of Eastern Siberia. The water surface of the lake is the border of the Irkutsk region and the Republic of Buryatia. The coordinates are as follows: 53 ° 13'00 ″ s. sh. 107 ° 45'00 ″ E The distance from the southern shore of the reservoir to the border with Mongolia is 114 km, to the border with China - 693 km. The city that is located nearby is Irkutsk (69 km from the reservoir).

Flora and fauna

The nature of Lake Baikal pleasantly surprises travelers. The water storage is home to over 2,600 species of animals and birds. More than 50% of them can be found only on this lake. On the shores of the reservoir are found:

the Bears;
hares;
wolves;
wolverines;
foxes;
ermines;
tarbagans;
red deer;
proteins;
moose;
boars.

Of the marine animals, only seals or seals, as the Buryats call them, adorns the natural necklace. The reservoir is teeming with fish. Swim in the depths of the lake:

omuli (fish from the genus salmon);
grayling;
roach;
sturgeon;
burbot;
taimen;
lenki;
perches;
sorogi;
ides and pikes;
golomyanka.

The last representatives of the fauna are unique in that special swimming feathers stretch along the entire length of their body. The tissues of their sirloin are one third of fat. Almost all of the above-described fish can be caught from Lake Baikal with special equipment (rods, nets, etc.) and desire.

The fauna of the lake itself and its coast is also peculiar. Pines, spruces, cedars, fir, birch, larch, balsamic poplar and alder grow near the reservoir. From shrubs, bird cherry, currant and Siberian wild rosemary are common, which every spring pleases people with a beautiful pink-lilac color and heady aroma.

At any depth in the lake, you can find freshwater sponges - animals that consist only of individual tissues and cell layers.

Interesting Facts

Lake Baikal has a large volume not due to its huge area. According to this indicator, the natural reservoir takes only 7th place in the world. The safety of water is ensured by the huge depths of the lake basin. Baikal is the deepest lake on the planet Earth. In one of the places, the bottom is 1642 meters from the water surface. The average depth is 730 meters. To completely fill the bowl of the reservoir, it would be necessary to force all the rivers of the world to give their runoff within 200 days.

According to official data, more than 300 rivers flow into Lake Baikal. But most of them are very small. The width of the rivers flowing in does not exceed 50 meters. There are only 3 large streams that carry their waters to the lake. Only one river flows out of the lake - the Angara.

There are 36 islands scattered along the water surface. The area of the largest piece of land, Olkhon, is 730 km². On its banks there are 2 fishing villages: Yalga and Khuzhir.

The Circum-Baikal Railway runs along the southern coast - the most complex engineering structure, during the construction of which several dozen tunnels, viaducts and bridges were erected.

The main problem of the lake is the difficulty of protecting flora and fauna from poachers. Due to the large territory of the reservoir and the adjacent lands, the presence on the coast of many small bays and bays, it is very difficult to track down violators of the laws, even with the possession of modern technical means of searching for boats and people.

Holidays in 2019 on Lake Baikal

Several dozen resort towns and villages are scattered along the banks. The largest of them are:

Listyanka - a village located at the source of the Angara. It houses the only museum dedicated to the lake. Also in the village and its environs, tourists will like the St. Nicholas Church, built in the 19th century, and the architectural and ethnographic complex "Taltsy", where you can learn how to weave from birch bark and molding from clay.
Slyudyanka Is a small town on the southwest coast. It is known in Russia due to the presence of a railway station built of marble - the starting point of the Circum-Baikal Railway and a mineralogical museum.
Goryachinsk - the oldest resort on the lake. It was founded at the end of the 18th century by order of Catherine II. Its springs are great for healing, and its picturesque sandy cove for great photographs. Pictures of this resort can be found in travel guides published in the 19th century.
Big Cats - a village located at a distance of several kilometers from Listvyanka. It boasts an Institute of Biology aquarium and old vertical mines where gold was mined over 100 years ago.
Peschanaya Bay - a unique place, the only corner of the Mediterranean climate in Siberia. It is perfect for summer vacations by "savages" in tents, with bonfires and guitars.

Buses or commuter trains run regularly to these resorts. The rest of the points can only be reached by car or fixed-route taxis. The remoteness of the resort from major transport hubs dictates the price level. Thus, the highest cost of accommodation in guest houses and recreation centers is observed in Slyudyanka, the lowest in settlements on the north-eastern coast of the lake.

What to do on and around the pond?

Drink mineral water.Some of the resorts of Lake Baikal (Goryachinsk, Khakusy, Dzelinda) are balneological. People with diseases of the musculoskeletal system, nervous, genitourinary, cardiovascular systems can take healing baths in these places and drink mineral water.

We advise you to read about Lake Nyos.

Visit excursions. Along the shores of Lake Baikal there are routes of several hundred excursions. Conventionally, all walks that are carried out by guides from the Irkutsk region and the Republic of Buryatia can be divided into:

ethnographic;
regional studies;
historical;
natural history.

Most of the excursions are conducted by residents of the coast of the reservoir. They are happy to show travelers places to take great photos.

Go hiking. Hiking trails, through forests and mountains near Lake Baikal, are used for hikes of all categories of difficulty. They last from 2 to 30 days. Such tests make it possible to see with your own eyes all the beauty of nature, get a lot of pleasant impressions and acquire some skills necessary for survival (learn how to make fires, cook food in the open air, cross rivers).

Enjoy your time on cruises. On the water surface of the lake, several thousand cruises are made annually. Some of them aim to show tourists the most beautiful places of the reservoir and attractions that are located on the shores of Lake Baikal, and some are entirely devoted to fishing. Cruise routes of the first type are built so that travelers can survey the waters and bays, visit the most famous museums located near the reservoir. The cost of the second type of tours includes the rental of fishing equipment and the services of experienced game rangers who know where to find the most valuable and delicious Baikal fish.

Swim and sunbathe. The beaches of Lake Baikal are great places for swimming and getting an even tan. Most of the cozy coastal corners are covered with fine-grained sand. In the summer, when the water near the beaches warms up to + 17-19 ° C, everyone has the opportunity to swim and feel the purity and power of this great lake with their own bodies.

Learn extreme sports. Baikal is one of the favorite places for Russian extreme sports. In summer, amateurs train on the water surface of the lake: