Baikal Lake
Many people I met in Russia commented that one of their favourite vacation spots was Lake Baikal, near Irkutsk. Of course, these trips normally take place in the summer because during my visit to this region during January 2011,the temperatures were so extreme that it was an adventure just to walk around there. The Lake Baikal lay like a white desert that was lost in the horizon. Snow was everywhere around the lake, a small village and the mountains, that formed a wall in front of the sea of snow and ice. Climbing some of those hills was an interesting adventure, grabbing the trees to climb and dodging any attempt to "figure skate" on the descent.