Lake Baikal: PH Dream Drive
A 2km convoy, 8 time zones, ice 1.5m thick and a 25 million-year-old lake. In a softroader.
We weren't taking highly modified Land Rovers or G-Wagens either but Mazda CX-5s, a car you'd probably think twice about driving through the Beast from the East, let alone weather conditions which promised -15 on a good day. To further distance us from any critical responsibilities, the manufacturer had also gone to the trouble of supplying us with cars powered by the 2.5-litre SkyActiv-G petrol engine - a unit you can't buy in the UK. However, with no more fettling than a top-up of the anti-freeze and a set of Nokian studded tyres, we were free to play in the snow. Once the briefing about driving in Russia was over with, at any rate. Beware of the locals was the general gist.
Driving across the 25 million-year-old lake is technically illegal; locals only skirt the shore doing their best not to get stuck in crevices or crashing into the crystal clear shards of ice that poke out from under the snow. So we were to be led by the Emercom National Russian safety team in a Trekol 39294. Now, that is a six-wheeled two-ton behemoth that puts less pressure on the ice than a human walking across it thanks to its gigantic tyres. The idea was that the chap in the driver's seat would plot the course for us to follow - and then pull any of us out if, you know, the worst happened.
The sound of one of these cracks forming is enough to sap anyone's confidence. Imagine the clap of a muffled gunshot heard above the whistling wind. And then think hard about the 1.5m of ice keeping you from falling in a lake one-mile deep. This near constant process is due to the seismic activity in the region and because of that, the lake is actually expanding 2cm every year. We saw it first hand when a crack wide enough to swallow a car stalled our progress. Not phased by this problem one bit, the Trekol safety vehicle just drove across the gap (it is also amphibious) and then sent the team out with chainsaws to cut through the ice and pack it back into the crack together with some snow. That's your makeshift bridge. Over you come, chaps.
Seven and a half hours later, the cars, looking a little beaten were back on solid, if frozen ground, with the trans-Siberian express in the background and the sun peeking out behind the clouds. According to Mazda it's the first ever time this route has ever been completed. A testament to the robustness of the CX-5, and our indefatigable guides across the ice. An unrepeatable experience, granted - but a dream drive nonetheless.
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Coincidentally on a ferry crossing a choppy Irish Sea as I write, I imagine Lake Baikal freezes with all the waves in place unlike the billiard table frozen lakes in Western Europe.
Trekol a stunning vehicle, out Unimogs a Unimog!
Coincidentally on a ferry crossing a choppy Irish Sea as I write, I imagine Lake Baikal freezes with all the waves in place unlike the billiard table frozen lakes in Western Europe.
Trekol a stunning vehicle, out Unimogs a Unimog!
I went to Irkutsk and Lake Baikal in Sept 1993. The lake was liquid then and utterly stunning. The lake shores were beautiful and I remember being assailed by lots of facts by the guide - much of the flora and fauna around it are unique and as well as being the largest body of fresh water in the world, I think it is also the deepest lake.
There was an interesting mish-mash of vehicles on Russian roads back then. Luckily I spent most of my travelling time in the train.
lol!That'll put the M in manly. Bet the fermented beverages on the opposite shore tasted uncommonly good, indeed. More articles like this, please!
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