Day 5 – Cracked ice and some troubles at Khoboy
scuba divingenvironmentssiadventureice divinglake baikal
Today we headed north to the sharp tip of the Island of Olkhon. While the thermometer was showing a milder temperature of "just" -18°C, the way we felt it seemed much colder than in previous days. The wind was blowing sharp in our faces on our way to get our first coffee in our simple but warm homestead. The sun was missing as well. After loading the equipment and tanks onto our tried and tested 4x4 UAZ plus trailer we were ready for new adventures. The drive, however, was not only much longer than yesterday, but the ice also showed its wild side and left us for about 90 minutes driving on a quite bumpy trail. The cracks and ice floes were not only challenging for us, but also for our trailer, and consequentially we lost it on our way. The trailer hitch simply broke away and we got a lesson on how flexible and skilled Russians are when it comes to repairs... What else do you do in the middle of an ice desert? Either you fix things or you are in trouble. We fixed it and our guides did an extremely good job! With 1/2 hour delay we finally arrived at our dive spot which was called "Khoboy" which means "Incisor" in English. The locals call it also "Diva" which is much nicer, but Diva was showing its teeth today... The spot welcomed us with its beautiful formations of broken, meters high ice floes that stuck out like teeth in all directions. The diving in these kinds of formations was completely different to yesterday. No more crystal clear ice but blinding and white like snow, and due to the broken formations there was an ice thickness of between 5 and 6 meters! You immediately feel small as a human being in this wild and stunning environment. Just an hour prior to sunset we were lucky; the sun came out and Lake Baikal started to show us its beauty again. Since it was still snowing, "Diva" appeared with a rainbow around her rocks and indicated that tomorrow we might get a nice day again. If the weather is indeed good tomorrow this place will see us again! We hope to see you then as well!
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