22 ms·

A few years ago, got an Ural motorbike and set off across a frozen lake Baikal to find the cabin of Sylvain Tesson, a French author that spent a full winter in

by kweks 4y ago

A few years ago, got an Ural motorbike and set off across a frozen lake Baikal to find the cabin of Sylvain Tesson, a French author that spent a full winter in the cabin. http://travel.ninjito.com/images/2018-03-15-Siberia/qx-baikal-22.jpg http://travel.ninjito.com/images/2018-03-15-Siberia/qx-baika... Inspired by the sheer beauty, I went back next year, found another abandoned fisherman's cabin and spent 2 weeks .. existing. What is definitely true is that your days are very quickly filled with important tasks: skate 5km every other day to get water, trek across the forest to get wood, cut wood, maintain your fire, etc. Completely astounding experience to be so isolated and independent in nature. http://travel.ninjito.com/2019-02-30-Baikal http://travel.ninjito.com/2019-02-30-Baikal

anonymousDan 4y ago
How did you manage with bears? My brother went to Lake Baikal recently and did a bit of hiking but the locals thought he was nuts and warned him where he was headed was teeming with bears
- CGamesPlay 4y ago
  Dealing with bears is a pretty normal activity in USA national parks. You bring bear spray and attach a bell to your backpack, and you don't stand in between a momma bear and a baby bear. I also remember seeing an informational sign somewhere near Baikal that said there are about 400 individual bears on the 600km coast of Baikal, and in the winter the are hibernating, and they don't do that on the frozen surface of the lake.
  - 8bitsrule 4y ago
    Maybe his brother wasn't hiking on the frozen surface of the lake. I've learned to listen to the (not-unfriendly) advice of groups of locals anywhere, when it comes to animal behavior at least. Maybe the bears didn't find enough food in the summer.
bogomipz 4y ago
Wow, what amazing pictures. I had a few questions if you don't mind: What type of wild life did you encounter? How did you manage to find and rent the cabin? Did you travel solo?
virgulino 4y ago
Congratulations, I hope to make the trip one day. Sylvain Tesson made a documentary about his experience, "Alone, 180 Days on Lake Baikal", https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2127242/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2127242/ https://youtu.be/JlLaWBXfQxU https://youtu.be/JlLaWBXfQxU
- bogomipz 4y ago
  This looks great. Relatedly, Werner Herzog made a documentary on the Taiga: "Happy People: A Year in the Taiga": https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1683876/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1683876/
  - virgulino 4y ago
    Thank you. What Herzog did was re-edit and put his own narration on the original Russian Happy People, a 4-part documentary. I like the original much better, I think of it as the authentic view, while Herzog's version is the typical old German hippie looking at an alien world (and I love Herzog!). Still, I found it very interesting to see both versions. The original 4-part documentary, with English narration, is available on the original Russian director's YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/fbhPIK-oBvA https://youtu.be/fbhPIK-oBvA https://youtu.be/dIdHG9zyrtE https://youtu.be/dIdHG9zyrtE https://youtu.be/MnAF_amhups https://youtu.be/MnAF_amhups https://youtu.be/wjCs8qi3R0U https://youtu.be/wjCs8qi3R0U
    - 3d3456 4y ago
      > a 4-part documentary. I like the original much better, I think of it as the authentic view, It may be better than herzog's version, but it's still inauthentic propaganda. A better view would be a youtube/tiktok/etc of an ordinary person living in the area. It still is limited, but far more authentic and real than any documentary. There are lots to hate about social media is one of the positive aspects is the ability to follow people's authentic lives across the world in their vlogs, etc. One of my favorite documentaries was the 7-up series. But with social media, it killed any and all enthusiasm I had for the series because social media exposed it as manufactured and inauthentic view of one man. Better to follow brits on social media to get a better understanding of british life.
lfodofod 4y ago
> skate 5km every other day to get water Is it so shallow you can’t just make a hole in the ice?
dorchadas 4y ago
This is something I've had a desire to do for a while now (either summer or winter), thanks for sharing your writings. Going to read into that, and maybe see about planning it in the future before I'm too old to reasonably do it.
rOOb85 4y ago
Great pics! Someday I’d love to visit lake Baikal.
Chilko 4y ago
Great photos! Just wanted to say that I find your website very inspiring every time I come across it. What do you photograph with? Some of those images have quite a medium format vibe.
brokenodo 4y ago
Beautiful photography and I love the simplicity of the site design. Nice work on both counts!
YeezyMode 4y ago
I've rarely come across photography online that completely transports me. Great work on the Baikal blog!
agumonkey 4y ago
Never expected to read about Tesson here. That said I know very few of him. Is this cabin something he made and then left out when he went onto another venture ? ps: your pics are stunning

by kweks 4y ago

anonymousDan 4y ago

How did you manage with bears? My brother went to Lake Baikal recently and did a bit of hiking but the locals thought he was nuts and warned him where he was headed was teeming with bears

CGamesPlay 4y ago
Dealing with bears is a pretty normal activity in USA national parks. You bring bear spray and attach a bell to your backpack, and you don't stand in between a momma bear and a baby bear. I also remember seeing an informational sign somewhere near Baikal that said there are about 400 individual bears on the 600km coast of Baikal, and in the winter the are hibernating, and they don't do that on the frozen surface of the lake.
- 8bitsrule 4y ago
  Maybe his brother wasn't hiking on the frozen surface of the lake. I've learned to listen to the (not-unfriendly) advice of groups of locals anywhere, when it comes to animal behavior at least. Maybe the bears didn't find enough food in the summer.

bogomipz 4y ago

Wow, what amazing pictures. I had a few questions if you don't mind: What type of wild life did you encounter? How did you manage to find and rent the cabin? Did you travel solo?

virgulino 4y ago

Congratulations, I hope to make the trip one day. Sylvain Tesson made a documentary about his experience, "Alone, 180 Days on Lake Baikal", https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2127242/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2127242/ https://youtu.be/JlLaWBXfQxU https://youtu.be/JlLaWBXfQxU

bogomipz 4y ago
This looks great. Relatedly, Werner Herzog made a documentary on the Taiga: "Happy People: A Year in the Taiga": https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1683876/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1683876/
- virgulino 4y ago
  Thank you. What Herzog did was re-edit and put his own narration on the original Russian Happy People, a 4-part documentary. I like the original much better, I think of it as the authentic view, while Herzog's version is the typical old German hippie looking at an alien world (and I love Herzog!). Still, I found it very interesting to see both versions. The original 4-part documentary, with English narration, is available on the original Russian director's YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/fbhPIK-oBvA https://youtu.be/fbhPIK-oBvA https://youtu.be/dIdHG9zyrtE https://youtu.be/dIdHG9zyrtE https://youtu.be/MnAF_amhups https://youtu.be/MnAF_amhups https://youtu.be/wjCs8qi3R0U https://youtu.be/wjCs8qi3R0U
  - 3d3456 4y ago
    > a 4-part documentary. I like the original much better, I think of it as the authentic view, It may be better than herzog's version, but it's still inauthentic propaganda. A better view would be a youtube/tiktok/etc of an ordinary person living in the area. It still is limited, but far more authentic and real than any documentary. There are lots to hate about social media is one of the positive aspects is the ability to follow people's authentic lives across the world in their vlogs, etc. One of my favorite documentaries was the 7-up series. But with social media, it killed any and all enthusiasm I had for the series because social media exposed it as manufactured and inauthentic view of one man. Better to follow brits on social media to get a better understanding of british life.

lfodofod 4y ago

> skate 5km every other day to get water Is it so shallow you can’t just make a hole in the ice?

dorchadas 4y ago

This is something I've had a desire to do for a while now (either summer or winter), thanks for sharing your writings. Going to read into that, and maybe see about planning it in the future before I'm too old to reasonably do it.

rOOb85 4y ago

Great pics! Someday I’d love to visit lake Baikal.

Chilko 4y ago

Great photos! Just wanted to say that I find your website very inspiring every time I come across it. What do you photograph with? Some of those images have quite a medium format vibe.

brokenodo 4y ago

Beautiful photography and I love the simplicity of the site design. Nice work on both counts!

YeezyMode 4y ago

I've rarely come across photography online that completely transports me. Great work on the Baikal blog!

agumonkey 4y ago

Never expected to read about Tesson here. That said I know very few of him. Is this cabin something he made and then left out when he went onto another venture ? ps: your pics are stunning