Lake Baikal

The guidebook promised 'splendid views' after the first tunnel. It was not wrong. The lake ice may be thinning, but it is still a complete cover, frozen into waves and glistening in the low morning sun.

Once down at lake level the chunks of ice pushed up against the shore are clearly visible. The surface is crisscrossed with sled tracks, and ice fishers cluster a little offshore from the villages.

On the other side of the track the views are less picturesque, but even a goods yard of rusting locomotives glows in the spring light.Read more