![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/environmental-studies\/files\/2011\/11\/baikal-cows-potatoes1.jpg\")
<\/a>25 Bates students spent almost three weeks in a tiny Siberian village, right on the shores of Lake Baikal.\u00a0 On the day we prepared to leave residents of the village were feverishly digging potatoes, in advance of a winter storm (on September 25) in the forecast.\u00a0 We made it back to Irkutsk, the regional capital, via hydrofoil – despite high seas and snow.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Professor Costlow’s research has included a trip to this legendary lake north of the Volga River.\u00a0 According to tradition, the lake hides beneath its waters the city of Kitezh – which was saved by divine intervention from raiders from the south.\u00a0 Both during the 19th century and through the Soviet era the lake was a pilgrimage site; today religious seekers and outdoor enthusiasts both find it a place of respite.\u00a0 Nearby the lake lies one of Russia’s closed conservation areas, or zapovedniki<\/em>: unlike national parks, these are areas where tourists are not allowed – they are left completely alone, to provide benchmarks for scientists striving to understand ecological dynamics in sites with minimal human impact.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/a>Bolshie Koty, the village where Bates students lived and studied for three weeks, is nestled in a small valley where one of the 365 streams flowing into Baikal cuts through mountains and forest.<\/p>\n<\/a>The Island of Olkhon is situated about half way up Baikal; the lake itself is almost 700 km. long, and near Olkhon is more than a mile deep.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n