After a long walk on the Great Baikal Trail (GBT) we now entered the village of Bolshiye Koty…

Bolshiye Koty

Bolshiye Koty (Russian: Больши́е Ко́ты) is a rural locality (a settlement) in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia situated on the western shore of Lake Baikal, 18 kilometers (11 mi) to the northeast of Listvyanka. The history of the settlement is closely tied to the beginning of gold mining near Baikal in 1842.

There are several versions of the origin of the name Bolshiye Koty. According to the dictionary by Vladimir Dal, “koty” means a trap for fish installed at the mouth of a river. Alternatively, the name of the settlement comes from the word “Kotky”, or “Koty”, a word used to call wooden shoes worn by “katorzhnik” – a forced laborer in katorga camps.

The settlement belongs to Pribaikalsky National Park. The Bolshiye Koty River runs near the settlement and into Lake Baikal. The settlement is accessible during the summer by ferry from Irkutsk or Listvyanka and in the winter via roads across the ice on the lake. It is also the home of Biostation #1, the first of ten research centers around the lake. This Biostation operates in coordination with Irkutsk State University, and in the summer hosts study programs for biology and meteorology students from the university.

There was still a bit of time for The Wandelgek to visit this tiny village before the boat that was hired, came to collect us and return us to Listvijanka.

The Wandelgek immediately fell in love with this really authentic village. There was no tourism infrastructure at all. Yes there were guesthouses and B&B’s, but they were in authentic houses and so was a little shop. But there were no roads leading to the village except the walking trails. The only other way to get there or leave, was by boat (or on winter by hovercraft). This is what it actually looks like to live in a tiny, isolated Siberian village…

More information about the Great Baikal Trail organization regarding ecotourism can be found at: Great Baikal Trail

Here are some pictures I made that capture the village ‘s authenticity quite well…

These are the type of houses The Wandelgek would love to live in… when winning the lottery…on a small island in the Stockholm Archipelago… in Summer…

This type of houses is authentically Siberian, but they do have a Swedish touch… probably because of the wooden material and the colors…

The Bolshiye Koty River (a small stream) flows through the village into Lake Baikal…

Magazin/Store

The village did have this small but well equiped store…

The Wandelgek bought himself some cans of cold refreshing blonde and dark beer…

Then he walked back through the village towards the hydrofoil pier…

This slowly decaying boat is probably still being used…

There was a bit of cattle walking through the fields…

The village was one of the villages that bordered Lake Baikal that hopefully will benefit from ecotourism projects as planned and prepared and executed by the Great Baikal Trail organization(see my previous blogpost: The Great Baikal Trail (GBT): 24 kilometres from Listvijanka to Bolshe Koty (Big Cats) (Pribaikalsky National Park/Lake Baikal – UNESCO World Heritage) Arriving at the pier, the boat still had not arrived. It was late, but that meant there was time for a beer, to celebrate the finishing of the walk, without any complaints regarding the knee… 🙂