Lake Baikal is the world’s deepest lake and consequently its largest by volume, containing close to 23% of the worlds fresh surface water. It’s located in Southern Siberia, visit during winter to early spring you may not be struck by its intimidating depth but by the all-encompassing blanket of ice stretched out on its surface, thick enough to support a highway of traffic during the coldest of the winter months.
I visited Lake Baikal in March 2018, at that time of year it was pleasantly warm and the ice, though solid up to the shore, was beginning to show signs of melt and heavy traffic had stopped, the horizon still and empty. I took timid steps onto the lake at first, disconcerted by the crunch of my feet and wary of the long way down if the ice were to give way. The stillness was broken by a surreal image of an old Lada driving at a fair speed towards me, navigating the undulating terrain, the driver hunched over the wheel and passengers cheerfully eyeing me as they passed. I began to trust the ice thereafter and upon reaching a nearby village, further signs of life on the ice.
