turka/lake baikal 2

July 28th and 29th. I had been offered by Tanya an opportunity to return to lake baikal, this time as a guest in a homestay, with a siberian family in the coastal village of Turka. It would be a 3 hour minibus ride through the mountains to the village, where i could find the home using a rudimentary, hand-drawn(by tanya herself) map. I left the hostel at 7am and headed to the city to find my bus, which proved to be more difficult than i expected. The 'bus station' was little organized, after securing my ticket i wandered around the hordes of travellers hoping to understand where i should be waiting. Luckily, a man who spoke a few words of english struck up a conversation with me, and happen to be heading to turka himself. Unluckily, he was totally wasted, and disregarding the seating assignments, instisted on sitting next to me. The next hour was a bit annoying, having the man continuously trying to hold a drunk conversation with me, using basically two phrases.... the first being "no, i don't", which he used after anything he said in russian (apparently he doesn't do much), the second "you my friend" which he used every time i showed my disinterest in the first. The teens in the seats behind my were entertained at first, but after a while their amusement descended into pity, for which of us, though, i wasn't sure...After consulting with the bus driver about where to disembark, Tanya's map actually was clear enough to lead me to my destination. The home was about 200 meters downstream from a river that flowed from the lake. A truly stunning location. I arrived just in time for a delicious home cooked lunch of potato soup and sausage rolled in cabbage leaf, and met the other guests, a russian family from western siberia. Through hand gestures, a dictionary, and my limited knowledge of russian, i accepted an offer from my host to be driven to a beautiful, secluded beach on the lakeside.I took some sun, and then when the time was right, my first dip in the pure water of baikal. It didn't last long..although it was the most refreshing water i had ever felt, it was also, at 16 degrees celsius(60 farenheit), the coldest i had ever felt. I took turns, 20 minutes in the sun, 20 seconds in the water...the reflections of the hills on the opposite side(30 miles away) reflecting off the mirrored surface. After being picked up 3 hours later, i enjoyed another home cooked meal, and walked along the riverside to watch the sunset over the lake, as a beautiful array of colors turned the sky from blue to black.The next morning i was awoken to the sounds of the breakfast bell for a plate of sausage and eggs. As i opened the door to my cozy room (for which i paid 22 dollars, 3 meals included) i was greeted by the father of the russian family, which dormed next door, holding a long fish, which he had just caught in the river...kind of ruined the surprise of what was being served for lunch...At around 10, the russian family and I were accompanied back to the beach. Not being able to converse much with them, i decided to walk down the shore a few miles. In about an hour's walk i met maybe a dozen other bathers, enjoying the solitude and peace and watching the sand's shade transform from golden to auburn to black...Later in the afternoon, i bid my hosts goodbye and boarded the minibus back to Ulan Ude, which we reached safely despite the harrowing experience of a flat tire, and thanks to the skillful maneuvering of our driver.A fitting way to bid farewell to a wonderous nation, as i was to catch a bud to Ulan Baatar, capital of the amazing country of Mongolia, the next morning.