Executive Summary - Lake Baikal & Irkutsk

• Saw: Trees, wildflowers, a very large lake, funny hats, couple of brides, Lenin statue.

• Did: Couple of hikes, a short boat cruise, a Russian banya - whacking each other with birch leaves after an extensive process of a 100 degree (celcius!) sauna, followed by tea, followed by sauna, followed by tea,

• Ate/Drank: 'Salad' of cream/prawns/gherkins/dill/egg, more minced meat in pastry, native fish (omul) - delicious!

• Favourite part about Siberia: The Russian banya was awesome

• Least favourite part about Siberia: I don't mean to sound unimpressed but...not much to do in the area we were based.

• Life-altering revelation which has contributed to my search for universal truth: I really, really, really need to do more hiking between now and September.

• Current career thought: Creating a religion that worships the person who invented antibacterial hand gel.