If I ever got tired of hustle and bustle of a big city
and everyday routine, I would surely escape to a place with
untouched genuine beauty of nature, vast landscape, smoking
volcanoes, green succulent forests, pure mountain lakes and ridges
covered with snow. One of such hidden virgin treasure troves is
Siberia, a land which was explored and conquered by Kazak warrior
Ermak and which still manages to preserve its genuine purity of
nature and diversity of cultural heritage of numerous ethnic
groups. This is a real off the beaten track destination for those
who want to experience the harmony with nature. And new hotels and
transport links will make your visit most comfortable to one of the
world's last great wildernesses.
The area of Siberia is about 4 million square miles, it is
nearly as big as Canada. It stretches from the Ural Mountains to
the Lena River. It is unbearably cold in winter and boiling in
summer, so the best time to visit Siberia is in March when the
temperature varies from -5 to -25 C.
The real gem, the Blue Eye of Siberia, is the Lake Baikal
which is one of the most famous Russian
destinations. It is the deepest lake in the world which
contains 1/5 of all the world's fresh water. It was slashed out of
rock millions of years ago by a shift of the Earth's crust. The
lake is nearly as clear as the Sargasso Sea, and in spite of some
recent environmental concerns, its water is pure enough to drink.
The lake's size is unbelievably impressive: its length is 636
kilometers and its coastline stretches on 2000 kilometers. The
waters of Baikal have experienced a long isolation from the rest of
the world, due to this it has become a habitat to over 2500 species
of plants and animals, most of which can be found nowhere else in
the world.
Another Siberian gem is the Sayan Mountain Ring. There you
will not only experience different ethnic cultures, but also merge
into the genuine beauty of nature: pure lakes and roaring mountain
rivers, abundant forests and endless steppes. All these will create
a unique atmosphere and you may feel that the time has gone
backwards when you get to know people who have preserved the
legends, believes and way of life of their ancestors for centuries.
You may be pretty amazed to see one of the Sayan famous nature
wonders - The Sleeping Sayan. This is a mountain ridge which looks
like a man lying on his back with his hands on his chest. According
to the legend he had been guarding the reaches of the Siberian land
and after his death the gods turned him into the stone so that he
could continue his deed.
Among the city highlights are Tyumen, which was the first
Russian fort in Siberia; Tobolsk, which was once the capital of
Siberia and which is still one of its most impressive cities;
Novosibirsk with all the variety of activities it has to offer and
many others. And apart from all that, you will have a chance to get
to know better the rich Siberian history and its role in the life
and history of the Russian state like Ermak's conquest, the
Decembrists (the noble rebels who were sent to Siberia after a
failed attempt to cast down the Tsarist regime in 1825 and their
loyal wives who followed their husbands to Siberia and endured the
hard lot and severe conditions), the building of Trans-Siberian
Railway, etc.
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