LAKE BAIKAL: Andrei, who owns of few cottage rentals 70 meters from Lake Baikal, shared some USSR-US history over coffee.
President Eisenhower was to visit Baikal during a trip to Russia in 1960. A residence for Eisenhower’s stay was to be built along the lake.
Locals, including a Gennady and Maria, were hired to carry out the construction. However, amid the building, a US spy plane was shot down over Russia and Eisenhower’s trip was canceled.
The house was nonetheless completed, giving Gennady and Maria time to fall in love as they painted and carried material. A year later, in 1961, they had Andrei.
“If it weren’t for that construction project, I wouldn’t be here today,” said Andrei, who lives 5 km from that spot where his parents fell in love.
I asked him about the most memorable moment at his rental cottage. He said it was driving Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho 4 or 5 hours around Lake Baikal.
Andrei has seven cottages on his property, which were built from 1999 to 2003. He said he moved out to the edge of Lake Baikal, where he built a home and the cottages, to get away from the city.
But, 15 years later, he says he feels like he is no longer in a village, with hotels and houses going up around him.
The drop in the ruble may mean an influx of domestic travelers to Lake Baikal this year.
-
- Andrei inside a shed where he constructs and repairs items for his cottages.
-
- Andrei pointing to a photo of what the area looked like a hundred years ago.
-
- Andrei said he parents met while building a residence for Eisenhower’s visit.
