10. The Mysterious Island of Olkhon
With one spare week left before my final concert in Russia, I wasn’t sure where to go. Then, a friend in Moscow told me stories about Olkhon Island, located right in the middle of Lake Baikal, and I was hooked. I had visited the lake briefly last year with Tangel Trio (via the tourist hub of Listvyanka), but this time I wanted to go deeper.
Lake Baikal, located near the Mongolian border, is the deepest lake in the world and the planet’s largest freshwater reserve. It is so vast that you can access it from countless cities and directions.
I’ve always believed that great places inspire great art, so I set out with a plan: a composition project inspired by Olkhon.
Getting there was an adventure. From Omsk, I took a 3-hour flight on IrAero (an airline I’d never heard of) to Irkutsk, saving me a grueling 48-hour train ride. I landed at 1 AM in the middle of a massive thunderstorm. With seven hours to kill before the 8 AM bus to the island, I camped out at a 24-hour pizza place near the airport, calling friends in Argentina to pass the time (thanks to the 11-hour time difference).
After a marathon of flight, bus, ferry, and another bus, and two days without sleep, I finally arrived. I slept for 14 hours straight that first night.
Olkhon is a mystical place. The inhabitants are mostly Buryats, a Siberian indigenous group. There are no banks, no sewer system, and the streets are often empty except for the occasional cow gazing indifferently at you. Shamanism is alive here; you can find sacred spots with offerings all over the island. English is rarely heard, the languages of choice are Russian, Buryat, and Chinese.
I stayed at a guesthouse near Shamanka Rock, the island’s main spiritual site. I spent most of my time outdoors with some new friends who work in local tourism.
The beauty here is overwhelming. I’ve seen incredible lakes in southern Argentina, but I never expected this island to rank among the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. You can check out my photos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/LxNQDu9jbd5KLfWL9
As for the music? I sketched out a tango for piano and orchestra. I’ll transcribe it once I’m back in Argentina to see if it sounds as good in reality as it does in my head :). But the music is just a bonus. The real treasure is the memory of this island, one of the most beautiful places on Earth, yet mysteriously unknown even to many Russians.