The M55 enters the city of Ulan Ude (Улан Удэ) from the south along the Selenge River, and this morning in bright sunshine it was a pleasant, even pretty, drive. At first glance the city appears modern but with a different feel to the other Russian cities we have so far visited. A lot more timber fences around the outer suburban houses, some Buddhist shrines and generally a more "Mongolian" feel (though I should probably say Buhrat, as that is the name of the dominant local indigenous peoples).

Our Garmin GPS + OSM map directed us to the center of the city and the inevitable Lenin Square and to our surprise we found plenty of parking right next to the square. In the square is a monument for which Ulan Ude is famous, an enormous stone head of Lenin. There was quite a crowd of mostly locals taking advantage of the sunny spring afternoon enjoying the square and the surrounding shops and cafes.

We spent an hour or so at a local up market hotel getting internet before departing north out of town towards the eastern shore of Lake Baikal. A generally good, but unexpectedly hilly road (our first switch back of the journey so far) eventually brought us to the town of Gremyatsinsk on the lake shore; although at that point the lake was not visible. A couple of kilometers farther down the road and we found a large informal campground in a pine and birch forest right on the lake shore. What a beautiful sight it was, a nice grassy flat area backed by trees to the east and the still (largely) ice covered surface of Lake Baikal to the West.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon having a drink, enjoying the sun and the view. Our arrival at Baikal is one of the big milestones in the current adventure. You will notice by our dress that although the sun was shining the afternoon was still cool, 41°F.

During the late afternoon and evening the ice infront of our camping spot dispersed and a very wide area of open water appeared. By the time the sun finally set there was only a narrow stretch of ice in front of us and some white in the far distance. It was as if the lake de-iced right in front of our eyes.