Baikal was formed as an ancient rift valley, typified by its long, crescent shape. It ranks as the seventh-largest lake in the world by surface area.
Siberian winter months and be mesmerized by a glacial steel-hard surface that's etched with crevasses, bubbles, and fissures.
Sunlight filtered through solid blocks of ice leaves the surface looking like it's been scattered with turquoise lozenges.
On clear moonlit winter nights, the frozen lake takes on an ethereal, almost unworldly appearance.
During the winter, in open sections, the water transparency can be as much as 30–40 m (100–130 ft), though considerably less so during the summer months.
The largest island in the Maloe More strait of Lake Baikal, Ogoy is reached by ferry during the summer months.