Read Sarah’s blog. Are the statements true (T), false (F) or not given (NG)?
Day 12: Lake Baikal, Siberia
Well, here I am in Listvyanka on the shores of Lake Baikal, the deepest and biggest freshwater lake in the world and I must say it’s absolutely freezing! I arrived yesterday afternoon after a couple of days in Irkutsk, my first stop on this Trans-Siberian adventure. The journey so far has been amazing.
I left Moscow on Saturday and didn’t see anyone apart from the train guard who very kindly came into my compartment every evening to make up the bed. You might think that the time would drag being alone but this wasn’t the case. It went really quickly as I spent my time reading, dreaming and looking out of the window at the endlessly barren vistas. The snowy expanses are so dramatic at night when the full moon shines from cloudless skies so it isn’t totally dark, even in the middle of nowhere.
The hotel I’m staying in now is huge and I get the feeling that I’m the only guest which is quite spooky in a way. On the first night I had supper in the restaurant and was served by three different waiters who all stood around my table looking at me. I suppose they were all desperate to do something but I couldn’t really relax and enjoy the food.
After a good night’s sleep, I got up early this morning and put all my warmest clothes on as I decided to go for a walk along the shore. The water is beginning to freeze and the ice is moving out into the lake. People say that in the old days they used to lay railway tracks over the ice so that trains could cross the lake. Can you imagine how thick the ice must have been? I don’t suppose they’d do that nowadays and if they did, I don’t think I’d want to take a ride.
It is so quiet and unspoilt here at this time of year though I’m sure it’s a different story in the summer when tourists arrive to go hiking, fishing and sailing. I prefer to travel when there are few other people around as it’s more atmospheric and you can get a better sense of what life is like for the people who live in these places.
I’m here for another day and then back on the train to Ulan-Bator, capital of Mongolia. It’ll be so different from Siberia but probably just as cold! I don’t really know what to expect but I’ve got time to read my guidebook before I get there. Hopefully I’ll be able to find an Internet café so I can write the next instalment of my Trans-Siberian adventure.
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True (T), false (F) or not given (NG)?
| 0 Sarah has been on the train for 12 days. |
F |
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| a) There were no passengers in Sarah’s train compartment. |
_____ |
| b) Sarah didn’t see any trees on the journey. |
_____ |
| c) Sarah was the only guest staying at the hotel. |
_____ |
| d) It’s possible to cross the lake by train. |
_____ |
| e) Sarah has a laptop with her. |
_____ |
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