01.06.2011 – 01.06.2011  10 °C

Day started at a more civilised 9am today with us planning to go for a drive further down the lake shore and visiting a healing hot spring and some famous rock outcroppings.

Today the temp is really cold. I would guess (no internet or tv where we are staying) that the temp would be lucky to be over 11 deg with a really strong cold breeze blowing so we were really cold today. It is the first day that I’ve busted out my singlet and long sleeved shirt with my jacket.

We went down to the healing hot springs and it really isn’t the sort of place where you can sit and enjoy a thermal pool.. the spring comes out of the side of a mountain and runs through this algae infested creek to a bigger river.. you would need to be pretty ill to brave the spring (also considering the temp today– getting wet wasn’t overly appealing).. After a walk around the healing area we took off to see more of the lake and to see the Turtle and Lion’s Head rocks.. by this time a few of us were starting to really feel the cold so quite honestly I was out of the car for only about 10 mins before I jumped back in out of the wind.. I’m sure on a warm summer’s day LB is really beautiful but on an overcast, windy cold day it really doesn’t appeal to this little black duck.

The afternoon was taken up with a nap as by this time the rain had set in and LB had turned into a no-mans land. Around 6pm our Russian hosts heated up the Banya– banya in Russian means sauna so we spent the night sitting in the sauna and then running outside and going down a slippery slide into LB. This is to say that everyone else partook in this activity. The sauna was far too hot for me (and I was a little worried that the temp wouldn’t be appropriate for my BP) so I spent the time in the less hot ante room just soaking up the heat and relaxing and watching everyone else roast alive and then freeze!

Dinner was again mash and rissoles with our hosts putting on an outdoor campfire that we sat around until the sun went down about 10pm. Up v early tomorrow (4am start) to catch the Trans Siberian from Ulan Ude to Kungur (three days non-stop on the train)