Just another day in paradise

Up this morning and off on more explorations. We drove down to the south side of the island and saw (from afar) a Buddhist temple that the locals built on a small island that a Shaman had named as a sacred place. We also saw a Turkish wall from the fourth or fifth century. Most of the wall was pulled down in the 20s so the stones could be used to build the fish plant/wharf. In its time, the wall was used to divide classes and different groups of people. If you crossed the wall without being worthy, it was curtains for you. Next to the wall there were two circles of stones, one large one (representing the sun) for human sacrifices, and one small one (representing the moon) for animal sacrifices.

We also saw a small cove still covered in slushy ice. So, flowers blooming on the hillside, early part of June, and still frozen portions of the lake. Crazy.

We drove through an area that was a village until about 20 years ago. All the buildings have been pulled down to the foundation now. Vlad said the Shaman’s house was still standing when he was here two years ago (aside – Vlad’s been coming to the island with his father since he was two, and brought his daughter, Zlata, out with us this trip), but it’s been pulled down now. People still go and leave gifts there, though. Vlad found an old wheel used to mill grain and a 100+ year old pot. He also found a heavenly rock. People believed when they found these pieces of marble, they were rocks of fortune. They would place it under the foundation for 48 hours, and if something good happened, it was a good fortune rock. If something bad happened, it was bad fortune, and they’d chuck it. Hopefully we found a good one!!

We drove through a small Buryat village and stopped at a nearby cemetery. Then, after a slightly harrowing drive through the woods and stop at another spirit place, we arrived at a small lake in a clearing. It was quite lovely – but the weather was starting to turn, so we headed back to our cabin. We were planning on picnicking, but with the rain, that wasn’t working out. So, the folks at the cabin set about fixing us lunch, and we went off to visit a woman named Simona down the way. She is from Germany and retired here with her husband. They have lived here for 10 years, and are now fixing up the area were they live. They’ve done some really beautiful things to their home – very artistic.

At 4:30 p.m., with very hungry bellies, we headed back for some lunch. Omul, potatoes, bread, cucumber, tomatoes – very typical Baikal fare.

After that, we headed over to the Tourist Center to pick up some souvenirs. I purchased a stack of photo cards with info about Ol’hon, so all the things that Vlad has taught us that I’ve forgot I can still share. I also got a neat little pocket address book.

Mark wanted to go climb Mois Burkhan (the Shaman Rock), so I took a little hike and got some pics of him up there.

Now, we’re just chillin’ for a while until it’s time to eat again. We leave sometime tomorrow between after breakfast and after lunch, depending on when the van arrives to pick us up. Everything is pretty much by the seat of your pants here. Hopefully we’ll stop by an Internet Café on our way back into town so I can get all this (and photos!!) online.