Baikal Web World - Travel to Peschanaya bay


Origin & Development
Legends & Fairy tales • Earth's Crust Thickness • Underwater Relief • Landscapes • History & Formation • Seismic Activity •
History of Lake Baikal
History of Explorations • Inhabitants & Settlers • First maps of Baikal • Archaeological Sites •
Lake Baikal Climate
Introduction • Fogs • Winds & Waves • Ice Conditions •
Fauna & Vegetation
Mammals • Baikal seal - Nerpa • Ichthyofauna • Invertebrates • Vegetation •
Water of Lake Baikal
Colour • Transparency • Temperature • Pressure • Depth • Currents • Budget • Chemical Composition • Pollution •
Recreational Areas
Circumbaikal Railway • Peschanaya Bays • Olkhon Island • Chivirkuysky Gulf • Wooden Irkutsk • Trans-Siberian Railway •
People of Lake Baikal
People of Siberia • Buryat nation in Baikal • Russians in Baikal •

Explanation of the local terms and geographical names at lake Baikal

Peschanaya Bay / Sandy Dunes

Peschanaya Bay is an inimitably beautiful nook of the lake where Nature has gathered and generously given man the blue sky, a vast space of Baikal, the amber-like quicksand of its beaches and the healthy air of the Baikal taiga. The bay is famous for plenty of sunny days: it is the only place on the lake where the average rage annual temperature is +3,40°C. The major part of the bay is occupied by a wonderful surprisingly clean sandy beach 15 - 20 m wide.

The soft sand and emerald green water of the lake are magnetic, but the Baikal water is available for swimming only for a healthy sound person - in August the surface waters are warmed only up to +4, +16°C.

Peschanaya Bay is the sole place on the lake where one can see miraculous "walking-on-stilts" trees, a real wonder of Baikal. They grow on a sand dune near Bolshoi Kolokolny Rock. The trees have risen above the earth on their stilt-like roots, from under which water and winds blow out the soil.

In the vicinity of the bay is located a unique site of nature - Baklany Kamen' Island. This small isle, the only one in the southern extremity of the lake, in former times was known as the biggest nesting colony of the large cormorant ("baklan") on Baikal.

Deep in the bay, in the pine grove there are houses, tents and other facilities for tourists. Immediately beyond it, extends the thick taiga forest covering the slopes with a dense green carpet up to the very crests and peaks of the mountains.

Amateur fishermen may experience real fishing happiness, and tourists dreaming of hiking may go along picturesque mountain paths to feel exhilaration and harmony with Nature that feels everyone who ever encounters "the Siberian pearl".