Part 1 https://steemit.com/travel/@rubra/super-cheap-trip-or-3000-km-to-lake-baikal
Part 2 https://steemit.com/travel/@rubra/half-dead-village-gulag-and-beautiful-river
On the third day we drove through villages Skovorodino and Erofei Pavlovich (yes, this is the name of the village - in honor of E.P. Khabarov, Siberian explorer) and in the afternoon we reached Amazar - a river and a settlement in the Trans-Baikal territory.
We swam in Amazar, too. The current was fast, but it was shallow and quite warm. In general, we tried to swim in all the water that we came across, and some rivers and lakes here isn't written and there are no photos (I didn't know then that we will write about the trip somewhere).Then there were small towns Mogocha and Zhireken. In Zhireken we stopped and bought food. The town seemed depressing and aggressive, and to smooth out this impression, we had to buy more beer. We found the picturesque place in the small forest and set up a camp. The third night was warm, and I got enough sleep.
Morning mist over the tent
Day 4
We stopped in the city Chita and bought a sleeping bag (a little more than 30$). The seller told us that it's double, but we didn't get into it at night, though it was slender. But we used it anyway, as a mattress. I can't say anything special about Chita, nothing caught my eye. By the way, in that year forest fires raged in the Transbaikal region, therefore in some photos it's a little vague.
And finally I saw Baikal! The closer to the city, the more tents and people on the shore. On the ground with a sandy beach tents stood every 10 meters. We love solitude and silence and went on.
In general, the best places are on the north shore, and the further, the better. In the north side the water is warmer (something connected with the current). But the road is very, very bad. We couldn't get to further north, only 4WD cars can ride there. But we were lucky: we found a place in the forest, where the nearest neighbors were through 50-100 meters. Just drove at random and came across. This place was a small patch in the middle of the forest, and just below was a rocky beach. It was necessary to go down a few meters down, however it was easy, the climb was comfortable.
Someone before us left the wood for the fire, also we were waiting for a hearth of stones. In general, the location was excellent. We lived there for about a week. I read on the internet forums that the water on Baikal is ice-cold and we won't swim. Yes, the water wasn't warm, but we were born in the place more severe and cold then Siberia and just got used to cold water. So the water was fine (for us)
The photo shows that the whole coast consists of large stones, and the bottom is also such. But there was a path between the rocks, it started already in the water and we went on it. Looks like someone carefully removed the stones.
Silence and solitude - the perfect vacation.
On the way to Baikal, we visited national park on the Kika river. We didn't plan to go there, we got by accident.. There runs a narrow river, the water is ice, the current is fast. In general, there is very beautiful and no people. I didn't find information about this place, and I don't remember the exact location.
The next part will be final.