To a western tourist Siberia may seem as a mysterious or even dangerous place. During my life in France, I noticed that everyone was very surprised when I mentioned about my Siberian origins and the fact that I have spent a quarter of my life “under the snow”. Siberia is much larger than its past prison populations and harsh climate, and it is larger than its gas reserves. Siberia, which occupies over 9% of the world’s land mass, is definitely a place to visit for those who want to experience the real Russia – because most of Russia is located in Siberia!
You will be surprised, but during the summer the weather in Siberia can be warmer than in France. Summers are hot throughout Siberia, with parts of Western Siberia reaching highs of 35 ° C. However, during Siberian winters, the temperature can reach lows of -70 ° C and it is very snowy.
Large snowflakes are a common occurrence in Siberia. I saw snowflakes measuring 12 inches in diameter. In many towns, a type of snowfall known as “diamond dust” is observed: snow made up of very fine needle-shaped icicles.
The famous attraction is the Trans-Siberian Railway, which connects Moscow and Vladivostok, with a length of 9,288.2 kilometers. The trip lasts 6 nights and 7 days, with stops of 10 to 20 minutes at each station. The railway is famous for the magical views along the route, which crosses eight time zones and includes Lake Baikal, birch and pine forests, and the Ural Mountains.
The midpoint of the railway line is a station called “Tayshet”, a town with population of 33,000 habitants. “Tayshet” is historically important for being the administrative center of two major Gulag labor camps
There are places on Earth whose power cannot be explained, whose energy flows from depths beyond history. There are many sites like this in Siberia, but the most breathtaking is Lake Baikal which I have already mentioned above. The deepest lake and one of the most mysterious lakes in the world! Local shamans say that this lake formed when the column of flame reached the sky. Baikal contains 1/5 of all fresh water on Earth, could you imagine? Lake Baikal is also a home for more than 2,500 species, 80 percent of which cannot be found anywhere else.
The climate of Baikal is much milder than that of the surrounding territory. The water is very clear; from the surface you can see 40 meters!
But the numbers do not explain its mystery. For thousands of years, indigenous peoples have knelt the spirits of nature. Visit Lake Baikal is a real must to explore breathtaking views, magical crystalline ice, endemic species, a unique history of Siberia, Russia.
In such a remote place, Siberia is accessible with a regular tourist visa. Only by coming here is it possible to understand reasons of so many Russian exiles – including the aristocratic revolutionaries of the early 19th century called the Decembrists, who rebelled against the Tsar’s autocracy – they were not not returned home to St. Petersburg when their sentence was handed down.
Siberia in winter is extremely moving, with snowflakes the size of leaves.
The article "La Sibérie magique" was written by Viktoriia Klinovaya in Lyon, France, 2020; especially for larussiesauvage.fr
