pace. We passed through more Siberian villages as we rode up the eastern side of the lake -- you cannot see the land on the other side -- at a roadside stop there were stalls with women all selling the same thing -- smoked Omul fish from the lake. Some also sold raspberries, and blueberries. From about here we are entering the area of shamanic/animistic religion, among other beliefs including Buddhism (rife in Mongolia) and Zen. For good luck, coins were seen strewn on the ground at the layby; blue ribbons were in the tree: It was a good road, and overtaking was easy. (The only problems we frequently encounter are traffic and potholes, and on motorbikes we easily cope with both of those). Hills rose to about 900 m (Lake Baikal is 464 m OSL). A bit of rain fell, we had to put on our rainjackets -- the temp was only 14-18*C, but at end of the day it rose to about 25*C. The road moved away from the lakeside to go eastwards, and we passed through fir forests, then birch forest, then young birch, and finally onto bare flatlands N of Ulan-Ude. The city spreads out beyond the river. We bypassed the city itself, as there is not much to see, unless you like heads of Lenin, because the world's biggest one is here; I copied this picture from the web: We called at a fuel station, at each bowser there was a car parked with the