Our last day in Angarsk - The Day at Baikal

On Saturday the Balahovas took us to Lake Baikal and it was the perfect way to end our very long journey to adoption. It's a  vast, pristine lake measuring almost 50 miles wide and 400 miles long, and holds nearly one-sixth of all the fresh water on earth! We had seen Lake Baikal twice previously, both times via a 10-hour train tour. This time we drove from Angark to Irkutsk, and then along the 45-mile tiaga forest road to Listvyanka, which means "Larch tree place".  Our first stop was the 19th century St. Nicholas Orthodox Chruch. It was built by a Russian merchant, Ksenofont Serebryakov. According to legend,  construction of the church was started after he was saved by St. Nicholas while crossing the lake in a horrible storm. After his death, his wife Natalya finished building it. Unfortunately we couldn't photograph the interior, but it is a beautiful building! From there we went to the Lakefront and spent a few hours at the "The Crystal Seal 2009" ice village, constructed dirently on the frozen lake. Incredible Ice Sculpures,slides, a HUGE skating rink, and more.  The kids loved the slides, but I was able to drag them around to look at the sculputres! Their favorite thing I think, was a huge bowl shaped ball-pit. Only in Siberia! From there we walked out onto the lake about 1 mile or so, and just soaked up the scenery. The boys were fascinated by the multi-dimensional view of the frozen ice beneath them. There were hovercraft, skimobiles, cars and trucks - all going back and forth and across the huge lake. We had to drag the boys away at the point that our feet froze!  From there we had lunch/dinner in a small cafe, and then reluctantly drove back towards Angarsk. It was a truly an incredible experience. I never grow tired of the beauty of Lake Baikal and am always humbled God's handiwork!

Taken about 1/4 mile off the shore - on the totally frozen surface of the Lake

Skip in front of a ice covered pile of wood, near the shore.

Irina  & Harry walking through the settlement of Listvyanka

This trio had walked out about 3/4 of a mile from shore, found a snowbank, and had theri picnic lunch. The temperature was about -20F!

A boat glides across the ice covered lake.

Skip was in awe of the depth of the ice and the multi-dimensional patterns beneath the surface

God's masterpiece!

The boys and I posing with the bright sun above us, snow covered mountains behind us, and the frozen lake beneath our feet.

Ksusha noticed a coin in the frozen lake, and kept putting her hand on the spot to warm it, so she could get it out. Once she did, you can still see the imprint of the coin AND her hand!

It's SO beautiful - standing on the lake - being able to see nothing but ice and snow covered mountains!

The boys and I in front of one of the many ice sculptures. This one was flowers.

This was perhaps the craziest thing there...A bowl shaped ball pit...carved out of ice, of course. You slide down to play with the balls.

But then you need to be hoisted out with a rope. Ksusha was pulling Harry out here...

Harry climbing the ice steps so e can take another run down the ice slide...

It wouldn't be Russia unless you had provisions for outdoor bar-b-ques...on top of the frozen lake...

Inside a kid sized ice hut...

Kinda hard to tell, but the blck spot on the lower right is the top of Harry's head as he RACES down one of the ice slides

18th century Listvyanka was a key port; providing ferry services to merchants traveling between Asia and West. These ships are frozen in for the winter.....

Another gorgeous view from the lake. 

The boys liked breaking off chunks of ice and skimming them across the surface...sorta like skimmin' rocks in the summer...only different!

A panhandler by the side of the road, within the settlement.

A man powered sleigh ride. The concept was for people to sit, and someone push the wooden plank that connects it to the pole in the center. I watched people do it for about 30 minutes before Skip & Harry (and a rather large woman and girl) got their turn. I went in the middle, pushed, and...nothing. HARDER than it seems! A man (I think it was the husband of the woman who plopped herself on while the boys were getting on) took over, thankfully.

Harry, living' large, exploring his new world...

St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, built in 1846. Unfortunately you couldn't take photos inside.