Spiky Greetings!

That’s what was required to stay upright. After a delicious sleep on the train today, I was able to finish another photo gallery. At this link, you can find out more about my spiky biking on Baikal:

https://balloonbill.smugmug.com/Other/Biking-Baikal

There have been a number of questions asked of me by email. I’ll address the most common ones now, in case anyone else is wondering similar things.

-ICE ROADS: The only official ice road on Lake Baikal that I’m aware of is a relatively short one, only a few miles, between the mainland and Olkhon Island. A ferry makes this connection during the summer months. Although that’s the only official marked road, people are free to drive literally all over the lake. The majority of the ice driving is done at the south end of the lake, especially centered around Khuzhir, on Olkhon Island. Keep in mind it’s not like the flat ice of a skating rink everywhere, so much caution is required. You can damage or disable a car by hitting ice chunks, not a funny thing to do in frigid temperatures, strong winds and away from civilization. And there can be wide cracks, as well as thin ice near the shore where streams and rivers empty into the lake. When I asked if any cars ever go through the ice, the short answer was, “Oh, yeah”, with results varying from funny to deadly. When I asked why cars go through, I was told it’s usually not locals and there’s usually alcohol involved. I think there just might be a moral or two to the story.

-FOREIGN TOURISTS: As far as I know, there have been no foreign tourists anywhere I’ve been. Because I’m curious, I’ve asked about this. I’ve been told there have been no western tourists in ages, first because of lock downs and now because of sanctions, etc. The only foreigners I’ve encountered so far in Russia was a taxi driver from Tajikistan and another taxi driver from Uzbekistan. All the tourists shown in the photos I’ve shared have been Russian, most all of them from Moscow.

-PHONE & INTERNET: My ancient grandfathered calling plan with T-Mobile has unlimited data service, worldwide. This has always allowed me to use the map and GPS tracking functions on the phone, as well as to have internet anywhere the cell service is decent. This worked in Russia when I was here in 2019, but because of the sanctions I did not expect it to work now. Before leaving the US, I called T-Mobile and asked them about current service in Russia and was surprised when I was told that nothing has changed. A new Moscow friend gave me a Russian phone to use, but so far I haven’t needed it. My US phone does the trick just fine.

This afternoon, I got off the train in the town of Tynda, where I’ll overnight in a hotel. Tomorrow, I’ll take another 24-hour train north to Yakutsk, which will allow me to have another good long sleep on a train, being gently rocked the whole night.

Life is good!

Bill