We were at the end of Ulan Ude and basically after we were getting out of the car, nobody was driving there. It took a while until that changed.
After less than 20 cars, there was a guy stopping who was going all the way to where we wanted to go.
The ride to the Baikal Lake
It was a fast ride. The driver was a Buriat person who is having a company who is doing something with foresting if I understood it correctly. He was on his way to drop his new employer 800 km away from Ulan Ude to work in the forest for the next few months before it gets too cold.
Marla was able to talk to him in Mongolian, which he really seemed to appreciate.
We were going at more than 120 km/h which was more than expected on those roads.
But also to be honest most of the time they were quite fine.
Half way done we were stopping at a little restaurant at which he was inviting us for some lunch. It was tasty and nice to receive.
We were quite quick at the village Marla wanting to go. Ust-Barguzin is the name of that village, which is located right at the Baikal Lake.
She found online a fancy glamping ground, which wasn’t cheap to be honest. Online was 90 Euros per night, for your own house.
Ust-Barguzin
Arriving in the little town was interesting, because literally nothing was going on there and it was just like how you would imagine a village in Russia.
We found a supermarket and checked it out. There was everything in big packages at decent prices, sadly we didn’t buy food there and waited until later with it.
The location wasn’t that close to the main road. Roughly 4km away, which is of course shit to walk with backpacks on.
So we tried to do some hitchhiking in it, which actually worked.
A sweet young couple stopped and even had a baby in the back, which is not happening often when hitchhiking.
They were very nice and dropped us off at the location. The wife also wanted to take pictures with us, which we of course were doing.
They offered us to contact them at any time, if we would need help or something else. We didn’t ask for more help at the end, but just the offer is a nice gesture.
The glamping ground
The glamping ground was right in a forest, in basically nowhere. Not far away was the Baikal Lake as well. We talked with Olga, who was taking care of the glamping ground while the owner was away.
She said it would be possible to pay with international payments. At the end this turned out to be true, but later more to that.
Our little house was very modern, fancy and had ground heating and a bathroom.
If I would not be with Marla, honestly I would have not taken that, as regular readers would expect from me.
When comparing the price with others at other places, it was a bit more pricey, but it is a fair price for what is offered. A very fancy place and it was very cozy for the temperatures which were presented outside. It was very windy and fresh outside, it was not the main season anymore, so almost no guests were at the location.
Breakfast was included, which wasn’t much.
Marla loved it and that is all that matters at the end.
Finishing off the day
The day was filled with not doing much anymore. We were going to the supermarket and had to return while it was super dark outside.
It wasn’t easy finding the campground, but with internet and gps on the phone it was at least possible. For me to be honest, quite scary, but we made it.
At night the place was lit up very well and we were cooking something in the water cooker, we did that in Georgia and it is working very well.
We ended the day, because the next day we wanted to explore the region a bit more. Also the Brazilian girl Tais, who gave us 500 Rubles in Ulan Ude, wanted to come to the camp.
Exploring Baikal Lake
After breakfast we went to the Baikal Lake and checked out nature and the water. The dog from the camp was guiding us along the way, which is supposed to be really good.
We made it to the lake and it felt more like an ocean than a lake, so surreal. It could have been also the North Sea.
It was honestly very cold, but we were excited to go swimming, so the plan was to go back to the camp. This in my mind, an easy task turned out to be some shit show.
The dog was guiding us in the wrong direction and we were wandering through the forest without knowing where we were. Everything looked familiar, which didn’t help at the end.
We were lost and didn’t have a phone with internet and gps with us, not the smartest idea at the end.
Russian Military
All of a sudden there was a fence and some buildings right in the forest. It looked like a military base, but also could have been some sort of resort. I know it wasn’t where we stayed, but I was hoping that there might be someone who could help us to find the way.
The guy we talked to gave us directions, but it wasn’t easy to understand him.
When we walked further and talked to a different guy, he was saying that it was actually a military camp.
We walked in the told direction and many cars suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It was time for another hitchhiking attempt. The first guy actually stopped, it was a soldier, but later on he said that he is not a taxi and drove off.
It was until the last car, that someone finally stopped again. That soldier was nice and actually drove us back to our camp.
Just crazy, we drove roughly 10min and I still now can’t understand how that was actually happening. After we arrived back in the camp Tais was waiting for us already, so we told her the story.
Meeting the owner
Tais wasn’t sure if she would stay at the camp, due to the price. We waited for the owner to discuss everything with him. We were agreeing to go to a Sauna with him in a village nearby.
When he showed up, Tais was getting the price for one night for her down to 40 Euros instead of 90 before.
I had in mind to also get my price down at a later time, because the payment was discussed with him.
Also we gave Tais the 500 Rubles back which felt great.
We drove to the other town and the owner was super cool. He spoke perfect English and was telling us about everything and how the business worked and so on.
The Sauna would have been 20 Euros per person, but would have been right next to the Baikal Lake.
Before the Sauna we were sharing some fresh fish and some smoked one, next to some German beer and wine. We were understanding each other well and then it was time to pay. At the end it was super nice of him, he accepted 160 Euros for the two nights, the food, the drinks and the Sauna, later also pizza and more stuff.
Sauna at the Baikal Lake
When we arrived after the meal to the Sauna, it looked very cool. Just some small wood sauna right next to the shore.
We went in with him, Tais and a friend of his. The time spent there was amazing, but the sauna was extremely hot! Tais and I had struggles handling it, also in combination with the alcohol it wasn’t the best idea, but we’ve done it anyway.
I had a traditional sauna head on and struggled with the heat. When the body heated up enough, it was time to jump in the lake.
I loved it, because it was just amazing. It was refreshing and also there was a sunset happening.
We’ve done it a few more times, before heading back to the camp.
On the way to the lake, we were singing a lot and having a good time.
We received some pizza and I bought some beer and cola for the group.
Putting fire on
We were having a fire at the camp, food and drinks. It was very cool over there with great conversations happening.
Everyone was understanding each other, even with some sorts of language barriers. Also we were all getting along very well.
It was getting late and everyone was quite drunk at the fire. The owner of the camp was taking me to his car, so he was giving me some substance to try out, he was doing it first. Still no idea what it was, but I felt a bit changed after it.
I was not fully myself anymore and I just done inappropriate things which were disrespectful, but didn’t harm anyone deeply,
Also I had struggles sleeping at first and felt bad because of things I was saying. This was the not so cool part of the night, but when someone offers you in general some substance you don’t know, just say no to it. I make mistakes, so you don’t need to make them yourself!
The next day appeared
All of us felt quite tired and a bit hungover as well, which was expected to be honest. Still I felt bad for my disrespectful behaviors, and also still now.
We were eating breakfast and I tried to recover from the hangover which took until being back in Ulan Ude.
We decided to hitchhike all three together back to Ulan Ude
What is up next?
Next week you will be reading about how the trip continued and also how the hitchhiking with three people went. So stay tuned!
