Central and East Asia - Clean Breaks: 500 New Ways to See the World - page 278

369 volunteeR at lake Baikal,
Russia

370 disCoveR dinosauRs in the
goBi, Mongolia

Called “the sacred sea” by those who live around
it, Lake Baikal, in Siberia's southern steppes, is
the oldest, deepest and most biologically diverse
lake on Earth. To help protect it, the Great
Baikal Trail Association is creating Russia's
first environmental trail system round the
lake's 2000km circumference, providing a focal
point for ecological tourism in the region and an
alternative to industrial development.
On two-week volunteer holidays throughout
the summer months, the first half of each day is
spent working on the trail, doing anything from
clearing paths to constructing shelters, signs
and other facilities for hikers. Afterwards you're
free to walk around the lake, swim or just hang
out with the other volunteers, a mix of locals
and international visitors. Accommodation is
in two-person tents (you'll need a sleeping bag)
or sometimes in homestays. It's simple living
- there are no showers or hot water and you cook
for yourselves.
Along the way you'll get the chance to go to a
Russian sauna, visit hot springs or try to spot the
nerpa, the world's only freshwater seal. And while
working alongside other volunteers snapping
branches and clearing rocks makes for good
camaraderie, this is also a wonderful place to get
away from it all, a tranquil region whose vast still
waters only accentuate the sense of calm.

The chances of finding fossils in the area
around the Three Camels Lodge in Mongolia's
Gurvansaikhan National Park are still good,
over eighty years since Roy Chapman (upon
whom Indian Jones was based) first found
dinosaur eggs here in 1921. The barren dunes
of the surrounding Gobi are surprisingly full of
animals, and not just the million-year-old ones:
gazelles, camels and woolly-legged yaks can all
be spotted on horse-riding, camel-trekking or
hiking trips from the lodge. Or you can arrange a
fossil-excavation trip to the Flaming Cliffs where
Chapman made his discovery.
Guests at Three Camels sleep in traditional
felt-lined gers, with organic meals from local
farms and the lodge's garden served in a
traditional wooden ger - built without nails.
Three Camels is commited to improving
locals' quality of life, running environmental
conservation groups in schools and providing
organic waste for use in local farms as pig-feed
or compost.
When night falls you can drift off to the
haunting sounds of Hoomi throat singers - who
control mouth, larynx and abdomen to create
multiple sounds in one voice - and hear in their
strange harmonies the paradox of romance and
rigour that epitomizes nomadic life in Asia's
largest desert.

Need to know The
programme runs from March
until September in various
locations around the lake at
different times of the year.
The Trans-Siberian Railway
stops in both Irkutsk and
Ulan Ude, where volunteers
can be picked up. For more
on what volunteering projects
will involve and how to apply,
see W www.greatbaikaltrail.
org.

Need to know The
lodge is a 90min drive
from Dalanzadgad,
accessible by bus or
air from Ulaan Bator.
Accommodation costs
from $120 per person
a night. For more on
lodging and activities see
W www.threecamellodge.
com or W www.
nomadicexpeditions.com.

Three camels in front, Three Camels Lodge behind