Going to the dogs

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Fresh off the train, having deposited our stuff at Jack's hostel, we headed off for the small village on the shore of Lake Baikal - Listvyanka.

From a very dilapilated bus station we got an ancient bus to the village, and headed up a hill to a Dog sledding company. They had 27 dogs ranging in age and size and often raced them. Having never done anything of this sort before we spent some time petting and getting to know the dogs.  They seemed very energetic and excited.

Minutes later I was holding on for dear life

The dogs relaxing before their run.
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The staff members carried the dogs to a sort of holding area, where they were lined up in the order they would be harness and the whole pack went wild - jumping up and down and barking their furry heads off. They really seemed to want to run.

Once they were all harnessed up, Cathal opted to go first and after some instruction - mostly along the lines of - "brake here, hold on tight", he set off.

He was gone for about 45 minutes and when he came back he had some small cuts on his face. Seemed like he didn't stand on the brake hard enough, came off and the dogs kept going, dragging him through the snow. Still he'd enjoyed it, so I stepped up next.

Niamh returns triumphantly from her run.
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Minutes later I was holding on for dear life, and relishing being dragged along by six excited dogs. They are incredibly strong and really want to just run, so when it's time to brake you have to just off the runners and push both feet onto a little metal anchor with all your strength.  The hairy part was having to go round a truck and do a 90 degree turn. The dogs don't always allow for the fact that the sled doesn't turn quite as efficiently as they do.

I was off about an hour, and didn't fall off or have any mishaps. We took a rest halfway through to let the dogs catch their breaths, but the minute I stepped back on again they just took off - uphill.

The dogs were eager to get started.
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I heartily recommend dog-sledding to anyone. I was a little worried at first about whether the animals would enjoy it, but can honestly say they did, and the staff command them verbally.   Take a look at the pics - some happy dogs.