Baikal lake

Siberia is a vast territory of 10,000,000 square km stretching from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Okhotsk Sea shore in the east, from the Arctic Ocean to Kazakhstan and Mongolia. It is a country where the notions of “time” and “space” become truly philosophical.

Siberia is so large and varied that it can be compared with Western Europe, for they are nearly equal in size. Siberia is as many-faceted as Europe, inhabited as it is by dozens of different peoples, each having its own history ad culture, and geographically as diverse.

 In the north temperature stays below zero for nearly 8 months, while in the south it can be as hot as in the Mediterranean resorts. It has almost all climatic zones, except for the tropical and subtropical. High mountains (the Sayans) and marshy plains (the Tyumen Region), mighty rivers (the Ob, the Lena, the Irtysh, the Yenisei) and lakes (the Baikal, the Taimyr) – these are all Siberia.

Lake Baikal is a gem of Eastern Siberia. Nearly a quarter of the global fresh water stock is concentrated in it, and the water is most transparent and clean. A white disk of 30 centimetres in diameter can be seen through the Baikal’s water even at a depth of 40 meters! The lake is almost 500 metres above see level. It is 636 kilometres long and has a width of from 20 up to 80 kilometres. It is home to a unique ecosystem, which supports a huge number of wildlife species found nowhere else in the world. The most notable is Nerpa, the fresh-water seal.

There are several dozen major cities in Siberia – Omsk, Tomsk, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk and other – and each can take pride in its economic achievements and architectural monuments.

The Trans-Siberian railway line, the greater part of which goes across this region, is also of great interest. It is the world’s longest railway line (over 9.200 km) passing through 87 towns. It goes over the longest bridge (2,612 m), through the longest tunnel, the largest station and makes the most intricate loops. It has many more records entered into the world and Russian Guinness Books. It would be futile even to try and describe the views seen from the train window on the approaches to Lake Baikal.

Siberia is quite capable of providing an enjoyable and safe holiday: the visitor is offered the full range of services even at the tourist camps near Lake Baikal, in the Altai or in the vicinity of Krasnoyarsk.

Siberia. A country of safe adventure.